Loving Craigslist....

If you have never checked out Craigslist then I highly recommend it!

There are lots of great deals out there....

When we first moved into our house, I found a posting from someone wanting to get rid of some leftover gravel from a landscaping project who was willing to deliver all for free! So we got a small truck-bed full of free gravel. This came in handy when we made some minor landscaping changes.

When we adopted O.C. and Baxter (dogs) we wanted to crate-train them. However the cost of new dog crates is expensive. So we found a small crate (for Baxter) which ended up getting passed on to my brother for their dog and then to another friend for her dog...well worth the $5 we spent. We got a large crate that the boys (that's how we refer to our dogs, our cats are "the girls") now share and we got a fold-up travel crate from someone else. We got all 3 crates for less than the cost of one new one!

Last year we were in need of a cheap (I am talking less than $1000), but fairly reliable second vehicle. This pretty much ruled out dealerships and most newspaper listings. We really wanted a truck, SUV, van or something that could hold more than our little car (we love our little Kia, but it is little). So we took to looking on Craigslist and after checking into a few options, we found a 1994 Oldsmobile Bravada (SUV) in our price range! We actually picked it up on James' birthday! Now, this vehicle has had some minor issues (this was expected) but overall has been great. It easily fits all of our hockey gear and has room for passengers at the same time! We are slowly making improvements on it, but at least it runs...it gets James to and from work, both of us and our gear to hockey and used for random other local trips.

So the latest deal is from yesterday...

We don't have a table in our dining room right now, partially because the boys' crate is there and partially because we have a table but most of the chairs are broken. So I was looking at Craigslist (I do this periodically, just to see if there is anything that we "need") and saw a posting for a pedestal table w/ leaf and 6 chairs...now this is not uncommon, but you never know what they will look like and often people over-price their stuff. So they included a picture and it looked good enough and the price of $75 was hard to beat. So I emailed right away and got a call back in about 10 minutes with directions. I went to the ice rink to switch cars with James (I had our Kia). I drove to the seller's house and took a look at the dining set... a little used, but in good sturdy condition and I am pretty sure it is solid wood, not veneer! I bought it and brought it home :) Hey, I love a good deal! My short-term plan is to refinish the table and chairs in a darker color (we have leftover stuff from doing our kitchen island) to match our taste, currently the set is a light pine. Ultimately I want to build a taller pedestal (or just add onto the current one, I haven't decided) to make it a counter/pub/bar height table. Then I want to either put new legs on the chairs to make them counter/pub/bar stools or just get new stools.

Those are a few of our deals! If you are in need of something cheaper than new and are okay with used (although there are some new things that people are getting rid of) check it out! It may save you some money, give you a good project and keep stuff out of the landfill.