Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thrifty Thursday!
The topic for this week's Thrifty Thursday is Craigslist! Our family really likes Craigslist. We use it both to get ride of items in our home and buy new ones! We have been looking for a while for a new bike for our 7 year old. The 20 inch bikes in the store run close to $100 depending on the model. We knew we didn't want to spend $100, so we turned to Craigslist. It took a few weeks of periodically checking listings, but we finally found a winner for $35. We were able to buy a Schwinn bike like the one above for $35 rather than the $109 it is at Toys R Us. The bike was in excellent condition and we saved $74!
In the past we've also sold a dresser we bought for $15 at an auction for $80, a brand new indoor composter I bought off craigslist for $50 (retail value $500) for $275, a trike we bought at a yard sale for $10 that our kids never rode for $25, a $5 Little Tikes cozy coupe car we bought at a yard sale for $20. We were also able to buy a piano for $200 on Craigslist.
Like all things, it's buyer beware. Make sure you do your homework about the item and find out what it's really worth. I don't like people coming to our home to buy something, so we try to arrange a public location to meet up. I also don't like giving out my home phone number so I'll use my cell number if I need to talk to the seller. Also, for safety's sake I always have my husband do the transactions. If something seems off of fishy about the deal, walk away. Saving a few dollars isn't worth risking your own (or your family's safety).