As the End of Summer Draws Near...

The end of summer sadly includes the slow decline in garage sales. We enjoy Saturday morning garage sales so much, and although there will still be at least a few weeks worth remaining, we will be out of town (Michigan trip and Purdue football games!), so for our sake, the garage doors are closed. I thought it would be fun to cap the season by highlighting some of our most exciting purchases this year, all of which combined cost less than 35% of what we made having our own garage sale a couple weeks ago. To put it all into perspective, I'll compare the purchase prices to things we like in Indy :)

Our largest purchase was this wicker/resin outdoor patio set! We were thrilled to find them for an incredible bargain, and technically they weren't even part of the sale. We had to go into a couple's house to check them out after Lynne inquired about outdoor furniture. Not pictured, a second chair, which lives on our front porch (under our newly hung Purdue flag!). All four pieces cost less than a night at the Symphony on the Prairie at Conner Prairie (two tickets and sandwiches)

The next three items were an even bigger steal. After bartering the price down, we didn't get it as low as we wanted, so we waited, came back at 4pm, and ended up getting three pieces of furniture for what we were originally willing to pay for only two. I fell in love with the trapezoid tables, which doesn't happen very often with furniture. We put them back to back to make a great table in our sunroom, and the hutch matches perfectly and makes a great place for us to place our keys and things while making the sunroom much more complete. Normally, if you see something you love at a sale, you better get it, because it won't be there when you return, but waiting, in this case, really paid off! All three pieces cost less than two tickets to a comedy show at Crackers in Broad Ripple (not including the costly 2 drink minimum!)

Lynne really enjoys this candle holder, which she put in our fireplace for the summer. It really is a nice thing to have instead of an empty fireplace, and lighting the candles in the evening gives a cool effect, and it cost much less than a cupcake at The Flying Cupcake down the street.

Lynne also was really excited to find this set of antique rubber stamps at a sale. Some are words, some are pictures, and they work really well in these giant glasses in our family room. They came with a stamp pad, so maybe one day we'll even use them. Overall, they're cheaper than dinner for two at Boogie Burger in Broad Ripple.

Our first super-bargain of the summer was this amazing mirror from Restoration Hardware. The original store price makes me laugh, it's so ridiculous, but it was in perfect shape and cheaper than dinner for two at Yats at 54th and College.

Not pictured, I also got a nice used bike (Lynne got a brand spanking new one for her birthday, too). My bike cost less than the a full tank of gas, and can always be used to ride around Indy and experience all these great things mentioned above (including garage sales)!