Everyday I'm Hustlin'!

I have made this blog to show people just how easy it is to live cheaply, if you have the determination to do so (and are not so squeamish about used items!).

I am not particularly a coupon girl, so I am here to showcase other ways of making your money go further for you.


You spent HOW MUCH?!?!

You spent HOW MUCH?!?!
Zombies aren't afraid of used brains. Why should you be afraid of used items?

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Value Village

I keep hitting up the same Value Village because it's the best one in this city.  Obviously any thrifting place you go, you're going to find some price ambiguity - the Sally Ann in Vanier is way overpriced compared to the one in (surprisingly more affluent) Beacon Hill. It's the same with the VVs. I like this one because it remains consistent on book prices. I'm finding the VVs are getting a bit snippity with their clothing prices; the popularity of thrifiting is hitting home and it just makes good economic sense - but I did snag a couple shirts this week.



I love trees, and so finding the green shirt was a real treat. It's a bit big, but it's so cottony and light. I can't tell if it's an upside-down tree, or if the bird is sitting in the roots of the tree. I also love this cat shirt - I don't wear a lot of pink (actually, this is only my second pink shirt ever) but the cute kitty got me. It's always Caturday around these parts. And finally, the last t-shirt, which describes how I feel in relation to other people and the world on a daily basis. Total for shirts: about 10 dollars.





Some great CDs - the Glee movie soundtrack, because I fucking love that crazy, unrealistic show, and I don't give a shit what you think about that. A new Matt Good CD, because even though he only uses three chords, he wrote Strange Days, and I love him forever. And finally, a really strange Karaoke mix cd - they're regular songs, but remixed into dance tunes!This should be good for the bar. There's no mood killer like doing some sad, slow song after everyone's pumped up! Total for CDs: 8 dollars.



Some books - another one about hidden children, to add to my others. An interesting thought from this book; "Shame leads us to build false lives." Also a book by Carl Rogers, who really helped with humanizing therapy and adding a human-empathetic response to therapeutic exchange. I'll add that to the entire shelf of other psych books I have, but am still to read (I have a reading list a mile long). I also found some awesome children's books. The Suess one will be re-sold, but I am going to try to collect the originals of Curious George. Also found a copy of Where The Wild Things Are for a buck. Who just gives this book away? It's in perfect condition. I'll be keeping this one too. Total for adult books: 6 dollars. Total for children's books: 3 dollars.

I also found this awesome flip book that pairs vintage photos with funny sayings. I'll be sending this to my other bitchin' friend Strange Fruit but here are a few of my favourite pages. This was 2.99.





Finally, I got a whole Little People set. I've seen these for sale on Kijiji and so I thought I'd buy one and try to re-sell it to see what I can make off it. I paid 6 dollars for the whole thing, and I've listed it for 20 - if that doesn't sell after two attempts, I'll take it down to 15. This is a foray into reselling children's toys.



All in all, good thrifting this weekend. I have to go hit up an old place I haven't been to in a long time soon - but without a car it can be a little tedious sometimes.

Beaker and his new cat toy thank you for your time.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Salvation Army


 Some pretty sweet finds tonight. I only went for about 40 minutes because I got a surprise call from a friend to hang out. Tonight's total was $13.05 (.05 for the bag - I should remember my little compact one). But thrifting mixed with some sweet throw-ins is an excellent Monday.

"Are you trying to tell me something?"
This is a very awesome collection of boy-smells from my friend. They're all brand new. There's axe spray, a couple adidas sprays, some axe life-brand bodywash, dove bats, an axe pack, polo cologne, banana boat sunscreen, biotherm lipbalm (I'm keeping that one!) and some sworn-by excellent hair conditioner (ok, one used, but if anyone recommends a great conditioner to me, I'll try it!). There's some other conditioner, balea body wash, some after shave thing and I think that's it! Total cost: a super friend, which isn't a cost at all. WINNING!







I had a run on children's books tonight. So, some for Duck, a Panda in French for the girl child, and some books to auction on Listia. Ooh! A plug!  I must mention them. They're like Ebay, except you sign up and start trading credits instead. Some people offer free shipping, although I find it's sometimes a bit challenging to get people to ship up to Canada. They seem to find that intimidating. But I've had lots of good experiences getting great stuff from there. I'll make a blog post one day of some of the stuff I've gotten. If you click on the link to sign up, it gives me a referral (it helps us get more credits). You also get credits by listing stuff. I like to list books and other flat things that don't take so much shipping. You can see my current auctions in the widget on the side.

Anyways, back to the finds!

Mini-books: Mud Puddle (Robert Munsch!) and Red Is Best.. 19 cents each

What Am I? The concentric eyes are really cool! Also Tub Time - I loved the drawing in this.
Papaya le panda - very colourful and cute story in French!


Some French Munsch and one that always does well - Love You Forever.
Also, I couldn't resist getting this. Dr. Who and I have been watching episodes of Star Trek (the old one, with Kirk!), many of which I am seeing for the first time. I love it! Now I need to re watch the movies because they will have a whole new level of meaning to them! So when I saw this, even though it didn't have the record, I kind of had to have it.
It was the pictures that got me. 


When I was lugging all this (and a bit more) home tonight, I stopped in at Smashy's to show her the awesome Axe love (and to leave a present). She told me how she bought this enormous bottle of Mayo in Carleton Place for THREE DOLLARS! and then she brought it home and realized it's Miracle whip. She hates it, but I looooooooooove it! So I threw her some change and now this bitch is gonna make a sandwich. And a CD.

Also thrifted tonight:
- Karaoke cd (they're little treasures in the thrifty sea)
- A "splashed" hoodie (pictures will come eventually!)
- A cool green tee with a downward tree (or is it roots?) and birds sitting int he branches / roots - I'll wear it tomorrow!


All for $13.05!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Village Pillage

There were no great sales happening today, but I did find some pretty neat stuff on this trip.


First up is a Star Wars Puzz 3D of the Millennium Falcon. I'm going to give this to Paul. I got it for 7.99, which is a little more than I like to pay for these types of things, but it was Star Wars. This retails online new for about 70-80 dollars, which makes it a great find.

Funny story; when I saw this on the shelf I lept for it. A friend who was with me said that another woman had seen it about the same time and was also going for it but I swept in like the bitch thrift eagle I am and zoinked it. 








Next up I found this awesome collection of Shel Silverstein poems and drawings. The suggested retail price is 24.99; I bought it for 2.99. I'm going to keep this in my collection of kids books for Duck and Sweet P when they're a bit older.






















Some very cool skull candle accessories - stick a tealight in and it will look like a bunch of dead heads! It doesn't need to be hallowe'en for me to enjoy this. 2.99 








And last but not least, THE COOLEST barrettes I have seen in a long time - they're each part of a snake. They're pretty heavy and made of metal, and only 2.99.

















Other items bought today: 

- Striped Old Navy sweater (9.99 and definitely the most expensive thing on the list)
- panda key chain for Miss Tiffie; Beijing Olympic games key chain with mascots for me (1.99 each)
- Window insulating kit (2.99)
- Plush Poison binder, brand new (3.99; retails for about 19.99) 
- New placemats (green and blue to match my apartment) - .99 each (x4)