Bartering And Horse Trading (Part Duh)

Hi mick silver. We were just discussing how long, cold and rainy the winter was. Spring is now here and we can get outside to work many needed projects.

Garage, estate and moving sales (GEM) should start in volume later in April. Lots of folks having to move with the summer months coming. Should be lots of GEMs to pick up this year what with the economy being what it is. Just be careful in getting the right items as well as the right price.

The other day my son and I went to the local thrift store. There was a bag sale going on. It was $5 for all the men’s clothing racks’ items that you could stuff in this huge plastic leaf bag. They had been donated such a great quantity of clothing that they were overwhelmed and needed to make some room. Most of the items had $2 to $4 price tags on them. It was almost embarrassing; this was as close to a giveaway as it gets.

When I got home and emptied the bag there was 7 pairs of pants, 22 shirts and 4 spring jackets; 33 items in total. At an average of $3 each, the total if the bag sale were not going on would be about $100 ! A 20 bagger ! Thrift stores can be a goldmine, especially in the winter. Should be lots of winter clothing for sale with the warm season ahead.

But what would be the retail price if all these items were new ? Well, there are a couple of ways to look at it. First, the current retail price is only a guidepost since these are used items; their resale price is relative to their condition and name brand and demand. Second, these clothing items were purchased with the future in mind. As I wrote in my previous post that Jim Willie had predicted an 80% devaluation in the dollar, clothing items were almost all imported. It seems logical to me that when the dollar falls on an international scale, the imports prices will rise while items we make here will not cost nearly as much.

This is just one example and there are many, many others. Could be most anything that is imported. Things that we don’t make here in the U.S. For instance, what about imported car parts ? Will a wheel bearing for a Volkswagen rise from $5 now to $25 after a 80% dollar devaluation ? I would expect so. Additionally, with this enormous price rise, I expect that availability would be greatly decreased. Where I could buy 10 or 20 bearings right now, I may be able to find only 1 or 2 bearings in the future. Or maybe none since the sellers’ shelves wouldn’t have much backup inventory in the future with their wholesale prices also rising 5 times.

We must be aware that something as seemingly insignificant as not having a $5 wheel bearing will prevent our having use of our car. Isn’t it ironic that the old story of “for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of the shoe, the horse was lost; for want of the horse the battle was lost and for loss of the battle the kingdom was lost.” Ironic because the nail is now the wheel bearing. We are in the same situation as folks were many hundreds of years ago. And wisely having these little, seemingly insignificant things will keep your kingdom intact.

This analogy is all too true in manufacturing. I know; I have been there wherein transmission parts coming from Germany were delayed for two to three months and all of my competitors were shut down. I had foreseen this potential and had stocked thousands of dollars of new imported parts to supply my customers as well as the new customers coming from my competition. I was swamped with business until the parts finally landed on our shores. And all of my employees were rebuilding transmissions while competitors were idle. Must have cost them a fortune.

In my case, not having a $5 bearing would have prevented my rebuilding a $1,300 transmission. Talk about the tail wagging the dog.

A 6 bag of men’s socks is about $6 now at WalMart; will they cost $30 in the future ? After all, they are imported too.

On a related topic, what of house prices after a dollar devaluation ? Will an existing house that is now $200,000 be $1,000,000 in the future ? I don’t think so because an existing house is already built, it is not something imported and there are alternatives to buying a house. You can double up or rent; try doing that with a pair of socks. Just kidding but you get the point.

Although the price of a house may rise in dollar terms, I believe that it will greatly lag behind this 80% dollar devaluation of which Jim Willie predicts. Remember that most houses are sold through a bank loan. Will banks be lending in such a volatile environment ? And if so, what will they charge in interest ? And with high unemployment, who will be buying ?

The overview is that we are looking for an equal purchasing power of our income through time as we live through this coming dollar devaluation. If you believe that this is the way things will unfold, we should be thinking of prepositioning our assets as well as our understanding of how to navigate through the coming years. I know, gold and silver have stood the test of time. I agree here but this is but one prep item. I believe that gold and silver may well not be the premier trading material at times, particularly when food is scarce.

A roll of toilet paper is a good example of a harmless trading item. There are others such as new socks. Sleeping bags, jackets and used clothing also come to mind. Note that all of these items are nonrenewable resources; once they are traded/sold they cannot be replaced without having to buy them from a reliable source such as a manufacturer who are mostly overseas nowadays.

Growing food is a renewable resource that my son and I are thinking about. We are in the process of getting rid of the cows we have since discovering that they are too much work and expense for the reward. Hamburger would have to go to $20 a pound in the market before we would reconsider. When the fields are clear of cows we may decide to grow crops but they would have to be profitable or we will wait and do something else. At least the options are there for us. As long as we continue to pick up about a ton of free fruits and veggies a week, we see no need to plant a crop.

Gotta go and do some welding and drilling on hydraulic controls on my Ford 550 backhoe. Something I have never done before but to have it done would cost about a thousand bucks. If I can do it myself, the parts cost is around $25. I wish I could say I’ll pocket the $975 but it doesn’t work that way. HaHa

Best wishes,

Agnut

Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance.

watch walmart for fruits trees . i planted 15 trees for the price of one at the end of summer deal . but you need to get those trees in the ground now it take afew years before you get fruit from them so start now . you and son may need that fruit . as far as the cows have some folks go in on the meat that way you pay for the cow and you have meat thats what i do . be safe mick

Hey ya'll. Been busting ass lately on deals and haven't had much time. Been real tired. Wish there was about 30 hours in a day. Agnut's advice about keeping your contacts is more important to me now than ever. Been over run with stuff that I wouldn't have been able to move a year ago if I didn't have an outlet. Just want ya'll to know I think this is one of the best threads on the net.

Hi Mick Silver. Good advice. We planted 16 fruit trees a few years ago and they are doing well. We got a little fruit last year and should be getting more each year as they mature. I know it is a slow process and this planting should be done as soon as feasible.

Your post has me thinking of whether I should plant a large grove of fruit trees and wait for several years until they bear fruit in any quantity or I should plant seasonal crops and reap harvests much sooner. My younger son would have to be the one to decide since he will hopefully be here much longer than I.

The last two cows were picked up yesterday and the last 5 hens will be gone in a few days. My son and I are changing focus toward the property itself. We have a lot of sculpting to do on the landscape. The fields need to be set up for gravity irrigation, something I will be relying on a friend to do with his backhoe and possibly with my larger Ford backhoe. Rain runoff is a big consideration here.

So why no more cows and chickens ? After a few years of taking care of cows we have come to the conclusion that their cost is about equal to buying a side of beef and having it processed. And I can get free range chicken eggs from a friend for $5 per 18, a little high but the quality is excellent. Now our time is free to pursue developing the property.

We have three chest freezers with enough beef for at least three years. In fact, I have been trading beef for work around the place. It’s not a strict pounds per hour trade but more a thank you for helping out.

A friend and I were removing steel parts from transmission cases but discovered that the scrap price had fallen to 25 cents a pound which is not worth the effort. So we will put this off until prices return to at least 50 cents a pound. A new friend who comes from Iceland told me that there are huge aluminum foundaries there that the Chinese process their bauxite into aluminum ingots and then ship them back to China since the geothermal energy is so cheap there. This seems to be indicative of international trends.

Recently I have been reading Jim Willie’s and Jim Rickards’ predictions of a coming devaluation of 80 to 90 percent or more of the dollar. If true, imports will cost 4 or more times what they cost now. And since I have been in transmission repair for so many years I have to wonder what the imported rebuilt transmissions will cost at the dealerships. Will one that is $2200 now be $8800 or more after this devaluation ? I just can’t see that but rather believe that local rebuilders will be more in demand. The internal parts the we do have to import are but a small fraction of the total cost (mostly labor) and even if they do increase 4 or more times, we will actually be better off than we were. In other words, the work will come back to our shores. Time will tell as there are so many variables but I am stocking up on new hard parts in anticipation. At the least my parts inventory will provide potential for the future.

When we think about it, a roll of toilet paper is a form of wealth. So is a can of beans, a pound of coffee, a box of nails, a pair of jeans and a multitude of other items we use in making our lives more comfortable. To possess these items is to be able to not have to worry from needs.

So what is a dollar bill; is that wealth ? No, my friends. A dollar is a promise of value in the future, not a value in itself. No intrinsic value beyond a poor substitute for a sheet of toilet paper. Once we get that through our heads, we become aware that these dollars can be traded for things of intrinsic value/wealth. At least they can be traded now; I cannot predict what or how much they may be traded for in the future. This is the raw nature of unbacked fiat currency.

This is why I and others like Ponce have been stockpiling many, many items that now have and will have value in the future. Tools, food, clothing, toilet paper, firewood, propane and so many things that we now take for granted but may well be absolute necessities in the future.

So who is rich ? The one with lots of money in the bank or the one with a stockpile of necessities ?

Physical silver and gold ? Certainly better than fiat dollars; as long as they will be appreciated after a collapse. Has anyone considered that we will not have an outright collapse but rather a gradual diminution of our lifestyles ? Silver and gold are concentrated forms of wealth/value but only if others with the items we need recognize them as such. Don’t get me wrong; I believe in holding some silver and gold but ONLY as part of our wealth. What we have in our possession is a reflection of how we view the world and the future. Holding silver and gold as 90% of our possessions in hope of becoming wealthy is, in my opinion, an imbalanced situation. This is why for several years I have been accumulating a wide variety of useful items. I must admit that it hasn’t been easy since I am only human and cannot see how the cards will fall someday. It has been a great juggling act with my income against my perceptions.

Ponce says that the only thing worse that knowing the future is to know and not to prepare for that future.

There has been very little in garage and estate sales but the season is about to get underway. A couple of days ago at the local thrift store I found an almost new Land’s End winter coat for $3. I couldn’t pass it up. Sure, spring is upon us and then summer and then fall. But what about next winter ? We are like the grasshopper and the ant story. One starves and freezes and the other rides comfortably through the hard times. It’s all about looking to the future and having vision. That $3 won’t keep me warm next winter, will it ? Well for a minute if I light it up. Hey, found another use for fiat dollars !

Best wishes,

Agnut

“Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.”
Dalai Lama

“Preparation does not guarantee success, but the lack of preparation guarantees failure.” -- Japanese proverb

i have 3 or 4 apple trees that have been in pots and withstood much abuse (0 degrees F for weeks) and keep coming back.

i figure it's time to give them a chance to spread their roots. got a place picked out, near an underground spring that is identified by certain types of wild-grass. i'm hoping the ground there won't be too muddy/ wet.

i started all of the trees from seed.


sometimes i wonder if the 'standard procedure' - to buy grafted trees - is related to the need for nurseries, to sell trees.

some people have told me that i'll get 'mushy apples'. we will see.

when God/ the Universe gives you mushy apples, make applesauce ? (or Apple-Jack :) )

Hi govcheetos. Flattery will get you everywhere ! Thanks.

Sounds like you have been going crazy making deals. Feast and famine and all that.

Yeah, the contacts we make and keep are so important. I have so many now that my card file, rolodex and address book are all getting full. Thing is, there are several contacts that I will need in the future. However, it seems that as I need a specific specialty, they somehow show up if I ask around.

One important thing is to have a list of items you are looking for and ask each seller if he or she has or knows someone who has what you are looking for. This way you are now exposed to whatever this other person knows. And it can be quite expanding.

Long ago a wise man told me that success is determined by how many people we can effectively communicate with. Relationships follow from akin spirits; the best ones from our being positive, generous and caring. Others will see what we are doing rather than just talking and come to their own conclusions about us. Actions speak louder than words.

Along with a list of connections and items we are looking for should be a list of where we can sell/trade items we find. Sure it is good to be able to sell on Craigslist or Ebay but knowing a record collector, antique collector, car collector all are potential buyers as well as strong sources of specialty information we may draw upon.

These outlets as you refer to govcheetos are like icing on the cake. And time is of the essence in being able to sell an item. For instance say you had an antique oak ice box made from the 1930s and had picked it up at a garage sale for the ridiculously low price of $60. At that time you could have sold it quickly for $350 since the general market value was about $500-650. But you kept it in storage for 5 years while the general market value remained at the same $500-650 price. Sure it would have been nice to have sold the ice box for the peak price soon after you had acquired it, but sometimes a quick profit in order to have cash for the next hot deal is wiser than holding out for the maximum price. I’m not talking about the time value of money but rather the turnover rate as part of the flow of deal making. That $350 icebox sale cash could have been pyramided into a fortune in that 5 year time of having just sat on the icebox.

This isn’t always the best since the profit margin is less but works when we don’t have a large stockpile of cash AND we also have many potential deals in the offing.

If we have a large stockpile of cash we could advertise what items we do have at full price and not be concerned that they sell soon. We can always drop the price but it is almost impossible to raise the price once we have offered it. It all depends on our personal cash flow situation as well as the quantity of hot deals to be made.

And don’t forget to trade your fiat dollars for real money, especially silver. Recently there have been a few financial articles warning about an 80-90% or more crash in the purchasing power of the fiat dollar. Nothing like leaving a sinking ship to board a submarine (as in under the radar). HaHa

By the way I just talked with a large PM dealer who filled me in on where the silver market is and his opinion of where it is going. I’ll write a thread in the general section as soon as I can find the time.

Best wishes,

Agnut


"When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril."
~ Harry Truman

They assume an authority which is nowhere so dangerous as in the hands of those who have folly and presumption enough to fancy themselves fit to exercise it.
--Adam Smith

A man who is not afraid is not aggressive, a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free, a peaceful man.... We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it... the desire for an answer is essential to the understanding of a problem.
... J.Krishnamurti

Hi gun driller. Mushy apples to applesauce or Apple-Jack; not a hard choice for me. Good luck with the apple tree planting. A friend told me to take some chicken manure in a bucket, add water and mix it up. Then to pour a ring around the fruit trees. Not too close though; about 2 feet away from the trunk. As it soaks into the soil the nutrients will attract new root growth as well as fertilize for the growing season. Gotta watch out for the chicken poop being too hot though.

Now that we have one steer in the freezer and the others sold and gone, we are thinking about what to do with the land. We don’t want to raise pigs or cattle again. Planting a crop might be best in the future. Or putting in a huge fruit orchard but that requires several years waiting until they mature. So instead we are planning to work on the land in preparation for either decision. At the same time we will focus on organizing what we have acquired over the years.

And most importantly I will be getting out there garage and estate sailing. The season is upon us and I expect things will be going nuts within the next few weeks. My daughters will be coming for a visit in a few months and I don’t want our place to look like a wrecking yard. So every day my son and I have been devoting a couple/few hours in moving things around and throwing away the useless crap. Yesterday we moved 9 boxes of clothing into the barn for long term storage.

I still have many, many boxes full of items which haven’t been labeled. Some I haven’t looked at for years.

Busy, busy, busy. Still picking up a total of almost a ton of fruits and veggies; I go 3 or 4 times each week. About 50 folks are getting these fruits and veggies, all low income. I’m one of them too ! Anyway, I’ve noticed that recently there has been a great increase in interest in filling their bags. When I drop off at the local thrift store, the employees/volunteers swarm on my truck like never before. And Saint Mary who has 8 adopted children has been taking as many as 9 boxes at a time which she processes and puts in the chest freezer I delivered last week. One smart lady. Also a great cook who supplies much of the meals we eat ourselves. A totally unexpected bonus for us bachelors.

The secret of giving is that it is impossible to give more than you receive. It comes back in such unexpected ways.

I have the least cash on hand since I can remember but the most blessings. So who is richest ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

You cannot do all of the good the world needs, but the world needs all of the good you can do.

You see your doctor once a year, and your farmer three times a day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by agnut

Hi gun driller. Mushy apples to applesauce or Apple-Jack; not a hard choice for me. Good luck with the apple tree planting. A friend told me to take some chicken manure in a bucket, add water and mix it up. Then to pour a ring around the fruit trees. Not too close though; about 2 feet away from the trunk. As it soaks into the soil the nutrients will attract new root growth as well as fertilize for the growing season. Gotta watch out for the chicken poop being too hot though.

Now that we have one steer in the freezer and the others sold and gone, we are thinking about what to do with the land. We don’t want to raise pigs or cattle again. Planting a crop might be best in the future. Or putting in a huge fruit orchard but that requires several years waiting until they mature. So instead we are planning to work on the land in preparation for either decision. At the same time we will focus on organizing what we have acquired over the years.

And most importantly I will be getting out there garage and estate sailing. The season is upon us and I expect things will be going nuts within the next few weeks. My daughters will be coming for a visit in a few months and I don’t want our place to look like a wrecking yard. So every day my son and I have been devoting a couple/few hours in moving things around and throwing away the useless crap. Yesterday we moved 9 boxes of clothing into the barn for long term storage.

I still have many, many boxes full of items which haven’t been labeled. Some I haven’t looked at for years.

Busy, busy, busy. Still picking up a total of almost a ton of fruits and veggies; I go 3 or 4 times each week. About 50 folks are getting these fruits and veggies, all low income. I’m one of them too ! Anyway, I’ve noticed that recently there has been a great increase in interest in filling their bags. When I drop off at the local thrift store, the employees/volunteers swarm on my truck like never before. And Saint Mary who has 8 adopted children has been taking as many as 9 boxes at a time which she processes and puts in the chest freezer I delivered last week. One smart lady. Also a great cook who supplies much of the meals we eat ourselves. A totally unexpected bonus for us bachelors.

The secret of giving is that it is impossible to give more than you receive. It comes back in such unexpected ways.

I have the least cash on hand since I can remember but the most blessings. So who is richest ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

You cannot do all of the good the world needs, but the world needs all of the good you can do.

You see your doctor once a year, and your farmer three times a day.

---

One thing about chicken manure if you do this , mix it up and let it sit for a few days to age a tad. That stuff is Hot, (non heat way) And dilute big time and if it is a fresh mix it can burn anything around it depending on the mix. Again not in a temp way but a way strong mix. I love chicken crap for the stuff I grow, but have learned to mix into a 5 gallon bucket and let it sit a week before using, hard to explain. A little can go a very long way when mixed into water,

Good stuff!

Hi Dogman, love your avatar. Right, chicken poop needs to be handled carefully. I’ll take your advice and let the mix cure for a week or so. That is, if I can find the time AND don’t forget ! WOW ! What a crazy world with so much to do and so little time and energy to do it in. Sometimes I don’t know if I am bragging or complaining. Whoda thought that being retired would be so much work ?

My son and I were at the local thrift store the other day and they had a 40% off sale on everything in the store. I got two London Fog jackets, one light one for $!.50 and another long heavy duty one with a hood and zip in liner for $3 (probably cost a couple hundred bucks new). I always look for quality names because they are better constructed and have a much higher resale value.

Got a monster George Forman rotisserie for $7.50; looks like it could swallow a small turkey. Also got a blender for $4. There is going to come a time when I will pass on such bargains but I unfortunately haven’t found my limits. Anyhow, it always feels satisfying to be trading fiat dollars for a plethora of quality used items for pennies on the aforementioned dollars. I know it’s a gamble as to whether the items I buy today will be in great demand in the future but when I look at the paper dollars in my wallet I laugh inside at the ridiculousness of it all. Has our society gone stark raving mad ? Or is it just me ?

Here’s a couple of articles I copied the other day :

20 Tips for Shopping a Yard Sale
Navigate the high seas of yard sales, and find your way to weekend treasures.

By Theresa Breen

April 11, 2014

The warmer months are upon us. Grasses are greener, trees are billowing with newborn buds, and telephone poles are ripe with freshly stapled signage announcing the weekend's upcoming yard sale. Take a deep breath, ignore that fragrant smell of lavender and lilac, and focus on the sweet, sweet scent of savings. Here's where to start your yard-sale-season dominance.

Begin by [1] AGGREGATING LOCATION INFORMATION and [2] SAVING THE DATES. Often, neighbors will try to sync their sale with other sales in the area to boost business, so keep your eyes peeled for postings in you local coffee shop or around town. If you are planning to venture outside of your neighborhood, then [3] CHECK OUT LISTING SITES such as YardSaleSearch.com or Craigslist, which can offer a compiled list of sales in any radius.

There's an app for this! So [4] DOWNLOAD APPS like Garage Sale Rover or Yard Sale Treasure Map that let you plan your attack by plotting out Saturday's agenda right from your smartphone. These apps also let you sort through sales by categories, such as baby clothes, furniture, and antiques, making it easy to find the stops that will have the items you want.

Once you know when and where you're going, [5] SET YOUR ALARM … FOR SAVINGS. Novice yard-salers may stroll by a sale late in the afternoon, but not you. The best items will go quickly, so don't miss your chance at scoring big. Save the snooze button for next weekend. It's also worth noting that some yard-sellers may be okay with early arrivals. For instance, you might show up at 8 am for a sale advertised as starting at 9 am. The unspoken rule is that you must politely ask the seller for permission to start shopping before the posted hour. If you violate this rule and anger the seller, you're pretty much guaranteed to lose your bargaining power.

Many savvy sellers have credit card swipe devices such as Square, but don't count on it. Cash is king, so [6] BE SURE TO BRING PLENTY OF IT. You never know what you will find and how badly you will want it when you do, so be prepared. [7] SMALL BILLS WILL SERVE YOU WELL TOO, in case the seller doesn't have any change. It could be the difference between spending $18 versus $20 on a must-have item. These small savings can add up!

Having cash on hand will also be valuable when it comes time to haggle. Being able to close the deal with cash is a tried and true method of bartering, so [8] DON'T BE AFRAID TO NEGOTIATE. Most sellers price their items high knowing that they will be talked down, so never pay sticker price. Remember the magic phrase: "What's your best price on this?" Right away you are opening a dialogue for negotiation.

[9] THINK BEYOND YOUR IMMEDIATE NEEDS. You may find great gifts and seasonal decorations, so stock up while the price is right. Buying Christmas ornaments or lights in July might feel a bit strange at the time, but when November rolls around, you'll be glad you dropped the dough in the summertime. Kids' toys are big sale items; this could be your chance to score cool birthday gifts for the youngsters in your life at a great deal. (Just make sure you thoroughly wipe down the toys with sanitizer before gifting.)

[10] TOTE A BAG. You may forget to bring them with you as you rush into the grocery store, but just this once remember that they are in the trunk of your car! They will come in handy if you need to carry multiple items. It's good to carry newspapers for packing fragile items too. If you're a Bubble Wrap hoarder, congratulations! That stuff is perfect for yard-sale wrapping.

Did you start your Saturday intending to buy that 17th-century armoire or a giant rooster sculpture for your kitchen counter? Maybe not, but just in case some must-have heavy-duty item crosses your path, you will need a way to cart it home. Be prepared by [11] BRINGING THE RIGHT TOOLS‚ measuring tape, rope or bungee cords to secure larger items to the car, and screwdrivers for disassembling any large pieces.

If you're eyeballing big-ticket items such as speakers, laptops, and household tools, be sure to [12] GOOGLE THE NAMES AND MODELS ON YOUR SMARTPHONE to make sure what you're buying is worth the price . And don't be shy about asking the yard-sale host if you can [13] TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT. Typically, all sales are final, so make sure you haven't purchased an electronic paperweight.

[14] BUNDLE YOUR PURCHASES AND OFFER ONE PRICE FOR THE LOT. Sellers want to get rid of stuff just as much as they want to make a buck, so they're probably more likely to give you a great deal on four items than just one.

[15] KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. Make a list or carry one in your head. This will reduce the chances of frivolous purchases (also known as wasting money).

[16] FLATTER THE SELLERS. Try, "You've got some great stuff here," or "Wow, what an amazing collection or antique linens!" This will make the sellers feel good about you, and make them more likely to bargain. If you feel odd about the flattery bit, [17] MAKE SMALL TALK. There is nothing more off-putting than a silent shopper. You are on this person's property, so you are a guest. Be a good one and you're more likely to get a good deal.

If you really want a big-ticket item, [18] PAY FULL PRICE FOR IT ON THE SPOT. Then, keep shopping, and offer less for any additional items you want to purchase. A bargain is almost guaranteed on those subsequent purchases because the sellers won't think you're cheap.

[19] SHOP WEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS. Oh, don't look at us like that. You know it's true. You may find gold there. Literally.

[20] GO BACK AFTER THE SALE. They won't sell every item. What they do not sell, they might throw out. After all, there is no better price than free.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home...-sale-16686328
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Some tips from an old Grandma:

*Do not forget to BUY WHAT YOU DO NOT NEED OR WANT, BUT CAN RESELL QUICKLY ( OR TRADE TO SOMEONE ELSE) FOR A HUGE PROFIT!

*BIG NAME $50+ perfume that the lady thinks STINKS and got as a gift is often sold for $.50 or a buck. It STILL keeps most of it's value on ebay, even if opened, or without the original box!

*I bought some very high end FAMOUS MAKER, like new, Men's Canadian SNOW BOOTS for $5 and had a couple of guys bidding each other UP to BUY THEM FROM ME BEFORE I EVEN LEFT THE SALE WHERE I BOUGHT THEM! I think when I left the last bid I turned down was $25.

*I bought a police scanner I did not need from one yard sale for $2 and plugged it in at the VERY NEXT yard sale and traded it to them for $20 worth of their yard sale items!

*UNwanted, unneeded GIFTS, that the seller did not pay for themselves ARE OFTEN UNDERPRICED! One upscale home yard sale had a $350 Milwaukee HAMMER DRILL for $2 or three bucks (can't remember) that the guy and his sons said they had gotten for Christmas "from Grandpa" but they said nobody used it because it was "too heavy" had a cord, and they used their lightweight ($20) Black and Decker instead. I bought myself a Milwaukee Sawzall that I wanted, but couldn't afford, with what I made off reselling that drill!

*Know the value of things!!

*BRING A "JEWELERS LOUPE" a tiny 10-20X magnifying glass to look for karat marks on gold, and a pocket, battery operated gram scale for precious metals will quickly give you the weight of gold jewelry or sterling silver objects and a good basis for estimating their precious metal "melt value".

Grab any FREE CANDLES, hotel sewing kits, hotel mini-first aid kits, hotel soaps, shampoo, hand lotion etc. Or cheap fishooks for your emergency "preps" and "bug out bag."

*Bring a fabric measuring tape, FRESH BATTERIES, (AA & AAA & 2014 button) bring a pocket voltmeter, (presuming you know how to use one) jewelers screwdrivers, a flashlight, gloves ( for digging into old, spider filled, boxes in the garage, )

*DON'T BE TOO SHY OR FORGET TO ASK ABOUT STUFF YOU DON'T SEE FOR SALE!! If you see some kind of interest in GUNS, but no guns for sale -PRIVATELY, QUIETLY, ASK about any ammo or firearms they might want to sell, BUT NEVER WHEN THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE DISTRACTING THEM, AND only if you can show them a concealed carry permit, which will reassure them that it would be sold to someone LEGALLY ALLOWED to own firearms. OTHERWISE, THEY HAVE NO SUCH PROOF that you are indeed allowed, as you claim!

*Do NOT OVERLOOK the TREMENDOUS SAVINGS represented by buying your CLEANING PRODUCTS AND SPICES at Estate and/or Moving sales!! I often get a HUNDRED DOLLARS worth of spices for a buck or two at such sales!!

*DO NOT PAY $.25 or $.50 A JAR for canning jars at an estate or moving sale WHEN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THEM!! OFFER $10 or $20 "for ALL THE CANNING STUFF" and watch them jump at it.

*There is money to be made if you can find a 100% wool BLANKET (not throw)for cheap, say ($3-10), MORE money if it is queen size,(or double) and even more if it still has the makers tag, is in pretty good shape or is mothproofed, the blanket BINDING missing, torn, or worn condition is unimportant, and easily replaced. THERE IS A TREMENDOUS DEMAND NOW FOR USED, ALL WOOL BLANKETS!! You could get $100-150 for it, USED! Even good, thick, used GI wool blankets have risen tremendously in price.

When you are MAKING AN OFFER, REMIND THE SELLER that there are ALWAYS TWO buyers in the deal! If he refuses your offer HE HIMSELF IS "buying it again" and trading away the $20 or $50 he could have had in order to again "possess it" in vain hopes of getting ANOTHER $3 or $5 more from someone else. It helps to ram home the above point, HOW? IF he holds your offer in his hand and actually has TO GIVE BACK YOUR MONEY in order to KEEP the item he is actually trying to sell! I find also, that saying "If you had ($MY OFFER) would you RIGHT NOW, GO BUY THIS AGAIN?" If they say NO, Then put your offer in their hand and your offer won't likely be refused if they have to hand back the money to refuse it!

The craziest way to say the above is to bring something that THEY ARE SELLING to the seller and say "I am selling this ($5)jeans, sweater etc. for two dollars, (you hold out to them) would you rather keep the two bucks or BUY THE JEANS back with the two bucks you could have had?"
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showt...g-a-Yard-Sale&

Best wishes,
Agnut

Hey, time for some braggin’ rights ! Just got back and am not yet finished unloading the truck. I hadn’t been to a garage sale in months and one was in the papers and Craigslist that caught my eye. A moving sale with an 80 year accumulation of items. Since prices were not given in the ads, either prices would be too high or it would be a goldmine.

Had to get up at 6 AM to get ready and be there for the 7AM giant moving sale. It was in the local papers and the Craigslist ad said 7AM and the other said 7:30 AM starting time. My son and I got there just before 7AM and were taken aback to find that there were several buyers milling about.

Undeterred, I went into one of the three buildings and began picking up items and stacking them outside. There were many hundreds of items to look through. The larger floor woodworking equipment was of no interest since I already have enough. So I cruised the benches, shelves, floors and hanging racks.

The husband and wife were very nice people and were selling their home to move to rural Arizona. Their house was spectacular and was offered for about 750K. Now this tells me that the equipment was possibly top quality and well cared for. Also, the ad had read that the sale items had been collected for about 80 years. I rightly concluded that many items would be old school American made equipment, my favorite stuff to dig through. Quality, American, old and usually under priced. What more could any demented, frothing at the mouth buyer ask for ? I had fallen into a bed of roses.

The following is a list of items I got with prices to give a relative price to value and to get you to frothing at the mouth too, for Saturday is tomorrow and that is usually the biggest day. Fortunately I’m retired and free to chase down any deal, no matter the time, day, distance or weather. The weekend warriors’ worst nightmare since I can usually get there first and snag the best deals.

2 camping bags with pillows, sheets and blankets for $2 each.
3 broad brim hats for 25 cents each
3 measuring cups, 2 Pyrex for 25 cents each
31U.S made, router bits in wooden box, many new, for $10 total
Tap & die set (Greenfield, the best quality) 15 taps, 5 dies, drill bits, tap & die tools in a wooden box $30
Farm T post driver (I call it a slammer bammer) for $5
Craftsman 3 roller Heavy duty tool stand $10
25 quart canning jars $4
1 gal, plastic gas can 50 cents
2 ½ gallon plastic gas can 50 cents
2 pair LaCrosse U.S. made rubber boots for $1 a pair
3 U.S made rubber boots, 1 pair high top leather boots for $1 a pair
3 new photo albums for 300 photos each 25 cents each
Sharper Image electric back massager $3
6 foot heavy steel bar for chipping concrete $8
9 DVDs for $1 each
3 new inside extension cords for 25 cents each
Milwaukee Sawzall in metal box with 62 blades (mostly new Milwaukee brand) for $30 total
Box of 52 U.S. made punches of various sizes for $20
6 cans of Coleman propane $5 total
23 circular saw blades, some 7 ¼, some larger, some carbide, some new for $20 total
4 quarts premium motor oil for 25 cents each
Turner propane torch kit in metal box with full bottle for $15
2 rolls of 4 foot high wire fencing for $1 each (don’t know how long, just looked like a steal)
Jumper cables new in box for $2
4 books : Craftsman Power Router & Hand Tool Know How
The Magic OF Your Radial Arm Saw
All About Pruning by Ortho
Haynes Honda & Acura Repair

Plus a smattering of small items I needed. Almost forgot; I asked the lady if she would give me a break on a quantity of things I would be setting aside and she said she would. At the end of my frenzy she gave me 10 % off the total price. I figure I paid about $188 with NO sales tax, thank you very mooch.

My looking back at the items above got me to thinking I had bought items for mixed reasons. Not that this bad but perhaps a good thing. Some items I was buying were for my needs, some were for family and friends, some were future bartering and horse trading. And some were items I had never seen before which played to my innate curiosity as to how things work and how they are made. These I just had to have for further examination. I have always been a sort of frustrated mechanical engineer.

There is more than one way to be doing bartering and horse trading. Most people that haven’t had much if any past experiences in B&H, these people think of B&H as trading one item for another with any compensating differential in perceived value worked out by the parties. For instance, two B&H persons could be bartering 6 chickens for a pig. If both parties agree that that is fair, the deal is made. However, if one of the parties feels that his item is more valuable, he should speak up and renegotiate until an agreement of both parties is reached. This is, I believe, most of what the unfamiliar think. And to my way of thinking, these unfamiliar folks may fear that not reaching an agreement would cause them all kinds of personal anxiety.

A sort of an approach-avoidance conflict; approach because of all the benefits and avoidance because of the fear of anxiety. There is another possibility and that is that social pressure combined with a lifetime of programming from Madison Avenue and peers is too high a hurdle to clear. So they sit and complain about the glare of the oncoming inflationary fright train instead of getting the Hell off the tracks they are on.

Always be aware of this approach-avoidance conflict in your own thinking process. A poor purchase can be painful but a missed opportunity can languish for a long time. It has been said that Americans know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Not true for those of us astute enough to have studied diligently in the school of hard knocks. This B&H is a learning process; it takes time and experiences. And a dream for freedom to acquire what we want and need.

Well, I hope the above list of items and prices paid will give y’all some accurate values, although prices can be all over the board. Depends greatly on the seller and his motivation. At least they may whet your appetite for all the possibilities just waiting to cross our path. Gotta be in it to win it.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. I wrote this last Friday night and have been polishing it since. HaHa

Wow Agnut- that was a steal away day.

I got a few good deals but nothing like your steals.

I picked up 2 brand new army butt packs and a 30 rd 3-mag carry pouch for $15. My daughter looked these up and showed me the cost was about $30 each.

Copper wire....maybe 30 feet long. 14 AWG- about 15 pounds for $5.

a box of old heavy duty wrenches... maybe 30 wrenches and some other tools, including a unique old brass pliers for $10.

I just missed getting an older Husquvarna chain saw. The people were not available and some gooky guy came up after I had arrived and got the attention first. I didn't notice the name but saw it was an older style chainsaw so I disregarded it for the first pass. It looked like it had little use. Gooky got it for $30. I should have grabbed it when I first got there and held it. Lesson learned.

In another place I had bypassed dozens of brass figurines. I used to buy any brass I could find. I should have gone for this one. The owner let them all go to a scrapper for $20. That was probably 40 pounds of brass and some cool little figurines. The wife was mad he let a scrapper take them.

Hi Spectrism. Sounds like you got some good deals as well. Not buying an item fast enough can be disheartening . That is why the first thing I do is look at the items for sale and then immediately ask the seller if they will give me a discount for a pile of items I want. I set out an area nearby and begin gathering the items that are most obvious bargains. Only then will I begin to take my time in looking over the items which may be bargains. I need to have a “SOLD” sign to put on my pile because other buyers often want these items too and it can be distracting to both look at items and at the same time guard other buyers from raiding my pile.

Your Husquvarna chainsaw, a quality brand, would have been a good deal. I have 6 Stihl chainsaws and believe that they are the best I have ever seen. They are not offered used for less than $60 to $100 but are worth the extra cost in performance and maintenance. Get familiar with all the model numbers before buying one and you will know if a particular model will suit your needs.

Spectrism, all the little items we pick up will amount to a huge pile in time. That is what I have been doing for years and you would be astounded if you saw all I have collected. It would take you a day just to see it all.

Garage sailing is like dredging for gold in a river. Sometimes the vacuum fits in a tight crevice and sucks out a small fortune. Then, moving on to other areas, the effort yields little. It is a hit and miss venture wherein we need to maintain a positive perspective and active imagination. There are no failures in garage, estate or moving sales (GEM). Sometimes I may buy nothing but meet new people or learn something new.

That last garage sale I attended was the kind I have experienced before. They come along from time to time, some large strikes and some small strikes. You will never know if you don’t get out there and discover for yourself.

Waiting for silver and gold to take off into the heavens can be frustrating if one has the wrong attitude about their purpose. They are an insurance policy. I have no gold and little silver because for the last several years I have been buying and putting away a multitude of items that I may personally need someday as well as items I have immediate need for. That said, I have more heavily weighed toward buying items that I believe will be more valuable to others in the future. For example, I have been collecting canning jars for the last 5 or so years. Buying them for as little as 5 cents each. A lady I call Saint Mary who has 8 adopted children has a problem; too much month left at the end of the money. Since I have been dropping off fruits and veggies to her three times a week, I discovered that she is well experienced in canning. A real country mama. So I gave her 200 jars and the additional 25 jars I got at my last garage sale. I still have 600 more jars in the barn if she needs them as I drop off more fruits and veggies. She is very smart and sees where the food prices are going and having hundreds of free canned foods will help tremendously in the future. She knows that even if she were to can up a thousand jars, the time will come when she and her 8 ravenous teenagers will run out when they cannot replenish their canning stockpile. At the very least, this prepping will provide a cushion against the times to come. The ant and the grasshopper story comes to mind.

The 5 pairs of rubber boots I also got will go to my niece and nephew and sons.

The two rolls of 4’ wire fencing will go to friends nearby. We trade all the time; work, items and chicken eggs.

The tap and die set may go to a friend who had lost all of his tools in a huge fire. A fantastic mechanic who can do just about anything. I know, because I have been a professional mechanic for over 40 years, have employed many mechanics and can quickly spot what I call a “natural”. They are like an unsung genius, whom I have a hard time in getting them to do anything for me because they are always in high demand, no matter what the economy is doing at the time.

A couple of years ago I was at a garage sale and had picked up a Milwaukee Sawzall in a metal case. I was carrying it around before paying for it and a man with his wife spotted it in my hand and the man said, “I was looking for that but you got it first.” He was very nice about it; no anger, just sadness. So I told him that he could have it; I had another one at home. You should have seen the look on his face when he heard this. I gave it to him and he paid the $50 price taped on the box. Actually I had lied; I did have an inferior quality Ryobi brand saw which was on its last legs. That deal that day was one I recall from time to time to remind myself that dealing is with others who are always more important than the deal itself.

I had always wanted a Milwaukee Sawzall but it was obvious that this nice stranger needed it far more than I did. Pay it forward, goodwill; call it what you will, it is a win-win situation. So the Milwaukee Sawzall I got last Friday was a sort of cosmic karma coming home. Besides, the $30 price I paid with the additional 62 blades was a far better deal for me.

I wish that I could better convey all the wonderful peripheral things that occur along with bartering and horse trading. Most important is that I have found new friends at these garage sales. People who I can share with.

There are swap meets going on every weekend somewhere, however I haven’t ever made friends through them. Why ? Because GEM sales are up close and personal; many of them are your neighbors. Think about that and let it sink in.

I have always felt that we Americans have isolated ourselves with the TV, internet and phone. GEM sales are an excellent way to meet people and make friends if you are so inclined. With money being tight lately, it should be a no brainer to get out there and find what you need. And not just for yourself but items for your friends and family. And you never know, you might even pick up a new friend along the way. They are free for the taking but the most valuable treasures out there.

Best wishes,

Agnut

A man is most complete when he is his own insurance policy.

Been real busy lately. Did a few garage clean outs that yeilded a bunch of old tools. Some I will keep, some sell, and some pass on to others who need them. Done a few boat deals that have been profitable and turned the money into a few trailers that will help me in the future. Always trying to double triple or quadruple and then put the funds into something that earns it's keep. Picked up on a tip in a bar that reminds me of old pirate lore. A couple was going through a nasty divorce and the husband was pissed she was getting off with a bunch of stuff he had paid for. He took all the silver ware and her jewelery and threw them off their dock before the house was sold. Said she wasn't going to have it. Me and a buddy gonna do a little underwater re con in the river. Supposedly the stuff has been down there about 6 years now.

Keep it up everyone!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by govcheetos

Been real busy lately. Did a few garage clean outs that yeilded a bunch of old tools. Some I will keep, some sell, and some pass on to others who need them. Done a few boat deals that have been profitable and turned the money into a few trailers that will help me in the future. Always trying to double triple or quadruple and then put the funds into something that earns it's keep. Picked up on a tip in a bar that reminds me of old pirate lore. A couple was going through a nasty divorce and the husband was pissed she was getting off with a bunch of stuff he had paid for. He took all the silver ware and her jewelery and threw them off their dock before the house was sold. Said she wasn't going to have it. Me and a buddy gonna do a little underwater re con in the river. Supposedly the stuff has been down there about 6 years now.

Keep it up everyone!!

---

Total immersion metal detectors do have their places. Have story's of divorces, south Louisianan (coon ass) brands are a hoot!

Hi govcheetos. IF we were to add up all the little items we got at GEM (garage, estate, moving) sales, I think we would be amazed at how much we have saved in relation to their store price. These small items such as oil, cleaning chemicals, furniture stain and polish, hose clamps, chain and a million other items that would cost many multiples at retail. Also we should add in the cost of NOT having these items and having to take the time, travel and cost at a store. You see, if you were to add these hidden costs to our GEM purchases we would have a more accurate picture of the power of GEM buying. Also, don’t forget to add in the sales tax since there is generally none in GEM transactions.

I tell you (like you don’t already know. Snort of derision here), the more I look at GEM buying, the more I feel that it is financially suicidal to do otherwise. If Ponce’s prediction that America will resemble Cuba’s scarcity of most everything, anyone with the foresight to have lots of useful items will be like a trading post. Of course it would best be operated with charity and fair trading with our neighbors, for the profit was already baked in the cake as a result of our having planned well in advance. Who knows what a pipe wrench or a garden hose or electric wiring or a hoe or nails will be worth if America becomes isolated and marginalized ? My barn and storage buildings are packed with items I have picked up over the years. Anything from hundreds of books to cooking equipment to candle wax to pipe fittings to spare bicycles. I can’t remember where everything is but I believe that it all will find a home someday.

Govcheetos, you have a better plan that I do with your buying and then either using, selling or storing away items. I have to admit that I have mostly been putting away items for the hopefully not too distant future. Perhaps I should be selling more items I acquire for profit and then pyramiding that into a fortune. I just have a hard time in letting go of a bargain, thinking that it will be more valuable in the future. However, I do sell and trade some of the larger items such as cars, boats, bicycles, brake lathe, compressors, etc.

I have been trading some items and giving away some items. Giving away ? Am I nuts ? Nope, because everything comes back one way or another. We can’t and should not think only of dollar profit; the dollar is a false indicator of success in dealings. Let me explain.

A couple of weeks ago a friend was rebuilding a 6 cylinder Volvo cylinder head and he had replaced the valve guides but he couldn’t find the right size reamer. He couldn’t find this particular reamer in the surrounding 40 miles. He called me and I recalled that I had bought a box of reamers a couple of years ago. I checked and found that I did have just the size he needed. He came over and used it and could finish with the job. Now I didn’t charge anything for the help; that is just goodwill and will pay off in the future in some way. Not necessarily for me but when we put good vibes out there, they resonate outward throughout mankind. Generosity is its own reward.

I have been planning to be there for my family, friends and neighbors. I want to be like the trading post I mentioned above. This has been going on for years here and when the wheels fall off the economy/dollar I expect an increased need for what I have collected. Instead of buying gold and silver I have been putting my efforts into what I believe will be needed in the future.

I just talked with Ponce and he gave me a great idea. All the clothing we buy for the future could be put into suitcases and labeled. I can get suitcases from the local thrift store for free if they have some flaw which does not affect my usage. These suitcases will adequately protect the contents which could be almost anything that would fit inside. In fact, I have several empty suitcases in the barn. I have seen many suitcases at garage sales and up until now didn’t recognize their usefulness. Most of them could be stacked as well as put in storage most conveniently. So in the future I will be collecting them in my travels. I recommend putting the items in a plastic bag first to protect against humidity. Maybe throw in a mothball for good luck.

Your diving for the silverware and gold jewelry has me wishing I could be there, just to see how it turns out. Ponce told me that the immersion metal detectors are very expensive. If so, could you use a long extension cord to the coil and a to a boat where someone could signal the diver that he had hit pay dirt ? Just a thought. Good luck on that and want to hear from you.

Your success is everyone’s success; any positive action is uplifting and therefore adds to humanity. I wish that more people could see it that way. I never understood greed or envy; they are both such a waste.

Gotta go. Loading a truck and trailer full of boxes to go to a friend who enjoys burning them. Whoops, got put off till tomorrow. So I had some time to take apart the Falcon 4 wheel cart to replace the 8 bearings. I only paid $5 for the cart 5 years ago but am still too much of a cheap bastard to buy the bearings. If I had one of my metal lathes set up I could make the bushings from some scrap pipe. So the hardware store will be an extra stop in town.

My son and I have been given an extra day today to pick up fruits and veggies at the local supermarket. Yesterday we got boxes of strawberries; I gave most away and kept about 30 pounds which we prepped and dumped in the freezer. I tell ya, life is better than good. We’re livin’ large on a small budget. At 67 I’ve finally learned to use my head for something better than a hat rack !

Best wishes,

Agnut

This was a post over at Timebomb 2000 :

“It's good to keep spare parts for things you really like for that reason. We had an old maid here who ran the library for over 50 years. She drove a 1952 Plymouth she bought new. My uncle owned a garage for decades and she would always bring it in for oil changes and such. One day she called him saying she couldn't get her car to move. He towed it in and the transmission was out of it. This was about 2005 or so. She asked him if he could fix it and he said yes if he could find a good transmission. She said, "No problem. I've got 2 brand new ones in the corner behind my bed I bought for spares when I bought the car. She was still driving it when she died at age 98.”

Another testament to buy used quality American and some foreign items :

Vent - Things don't work!!!
http://www.timebomb2000.com/vb/showt...don-t-work!!!&

I scored up a brand new Schott pea jacket today, for $25, from a coworker. Brand new tag still on it. Now's the time to get deals for the winter. I've never owned a jacket this nice before.

This is the jacket.

http://www.schottnyc.com/products/cl...elton-wool.htm

I had some good success today. My first stop- and I was the first there.... a family was clearing out the parents' house and just wanted it empty. Anything they could make for it was a distant second. They were pushing stuff because they just wanted it all gone. I picked up a box of assorted old and new tools for $10. This has about a dozen screw drivers, a dozen nice wrenches, 2 boxes of allen keys, vice grips, all purpose tool, etc. I haven't finished going through this.

I got some cobbler mounts and a bunch of cast iron baking frames for $5. For an additional $2 I got a Skil saw and a power drill.

I saw on a table some metal things. Silver draws me like a magnet.

I found a little Sterling silver goblet about 2.5 inches tall and a glass inkwell surrounded by Sterling leaf. There were a couple other things that I couldn't make out so I threw them in the group. They took $5 for this. The goblet weighed about an ounce.

Another location had lots of tools but nothing I desperately needed. They told me to look at the free pile. There I grabbed a box of stainless flatware and a box of old style rubber sealed jars. The jars are great for sealing things that might rust... small tools, nails, etc.

At another location a grabbed a box of copper and brass components weighing about 20 pounds... for $20.

At another location I picked up free some plastic milk carton style bins. I find these useful for organizing and stacking things.

There was a town-wide yard sale thing happening. This made it possible to get to things before others since there were so many sellers. Gotta be early at these and move fast.

Good to hear from you Hitch. I did pop up the Schott website and looked at the quality merchandise. This is high end which the general public mostly is unaware of since they buy less expensive jackets never realizing that the highest quality is a better value because it is so well made in both materials and workmanship. And it will last years beyond the mass manufactured merchandise. I still wear a London Fog jacket that I bought new over 25 years ago; the leather collar is shot but the rest of the jacket and zip out liner are still in good working order. I wear it around our property when I am working in cold weather. I am sentimental, I suppose, like the Peanuts character Linus and his security blanket. I do have six or seven other London Fog jackets and coats that I have picked up at GEM sales over the past years. But I only wear two of them; the others are held in reserve along with about ten other quality jacket brands I also have. Trading material as well as a lifetime of winter jackets. What could go wrong ?

Since silver and gold are intermediaries between buyer and seller, I have bypassed their necessity and will be bartering and horse trading directly with what others have, whether in labor or items they have that I may want or need. I have already been doing this for some time and it works out well. It is a good sideline now but good practice.

Picture a time in the future when many items may not be available, either through international isolation or increased price relative to income. What will be the value of a quality jacket when there are none around or the price becomes prohibitive ? A quality jacket that was purchased now for $5 may well be the best potential for purchasing power increase in the future. We should be aware that people will change their perceptions of value when the dollar/economy goes south. I think that the only reason that prices of used items are so cheap now is that pride of buying a new item is still standing in the way of the sensibility of obtaining good used items at a mere pittance. And nobody factors in that the dollars they are paying for a new item were after taxes paid dollars. Also, used items almost always do not have a state sales tax added on. Some people may think I’m nuts buying almost exclusively used items but who is the crazy one here with huge credit card debts ? Not me !

Always remember that you are a sane person living in an insane world; learn how to deal with it to your advantage because it ain’t gonna get better in the future. Many millions of people are deeply in debt and it won’t take much to send them over the precipice. I pulled back even more years ago and now can sit and watch the world go by (hopefully not bye-bye).

Best wishes,

Agnut

Confuseus say : Life like lovemaking; if it hurts, you are doing something wrong.

Hi Spectrism. You got some real steals there. And I can see from your post that you are at the top of your game. I bet that you are always open and listening for opportunities. That’s how we grow; it never ends.

Your tool box buy is the kind of thing I absolutely love to find. Sometimes there can be a thousand dollars worth of tools if bought new and few realize that $50 is a screaming bargain. Around here the farm and ranch estate sales can be a goldmine. I once got a Snap-On ¼ inch drive torque wrench for a quarter. A quarter for a quarter. Tell me that God is not a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh !

Funny how we collect the small useful items as we wade through the enormous number of items for sale. I still have bags of small items I had purchased years ago that I thought would be smart to have. I’m using some of these items and the others are spares or trading material. I don’t know what will happen or how it will play out but I have oodles of good items and clothing and believe that they will come in very handy in the future.

Much of the fun in going to GEM sales is that we can find things for our family and friends that they may never find for themselves. It is a most satisfying feeling to give an item to someone and watch their face light up. Young kid or old kid; they both love getting surprises. And not the kind of items you find in a store but an item you or they would never see in a store. Could be foreign, could be antique, could be from an era when they were growing up or wished they had. I still yearn for a toy ferry boat that I had when a child. Perhaps the reason I am still attached to that memory is that I was in a hospital having eye surgery and some other parent took the toy and I never saw it again. I only had it for a day. So you see, the heart of finding items that others will treasure requires us to know that person well. Everybody gives clues of what they yearn for; you just have to be listening. I’ve given away some of my enamel on copper painting collection. I know where the pieces are going and that they will be loved and cared for. I gave one away tonight and will enjoy seeing it in her home; I’ve had my pleasure with these pieces and hope that someone else will get as much pleasure as I have. Besides, there are many, many things to collect and enjoy until it is time to move on. No guilt, no shame, no alimony. Just sharing something that has touched our heart.

I have to share a fuzzy story. The other night I was looking at one of my enamel on copper paintings; it was an early 1900s French Limoges era piece of a wooded area with a stream running through the middle. There were rocks in the stream but some caught my eye; they didn’t look quite right. Mind you, this enamel measures only 3 ½ by 5 ¼ inches but is highly detailed. I had to get out a magnifier to see these “rocks” which turned out to be three wolves fording the stream. I’ve had this enamel on copper for ten years and had never noticed the humorous message from the artist, speaking to me through the decades. He is saying, “Look closer or you‘ll miss out”. I also believe that the artist was showcasing his skill at extreme control. I was awestruck when I first discovered the minute details.

Sounds like you prize the old American made items like I do. Sometimes I will buy an item just because I want to see how it is made and how well it works. A blast from the past.

Here is an article showing that the older gas cans are becoming desirable because the new bureaucrat mandated gas cans must have been designed by someone who couldn‘t change a tire. I have many of the old 5 gallon cans that I bought for a dollar or two. The new ones at Walmart are about $14. This is just another example that it is wise to seek all kinds of older, well made items.

Five Years of Gas-Can Hell!

http://tucker.liberty.me/2014/06/10/...efer=libertyme


Your Skil saw and power drill buy was another steal. Nothing like having a backup too. The future is more uncertain than it has ever been with internationalization of items we need. A drill made in China can work for a long time but if it fails in a month or year, what is your recourse ? Buy another one ? Can you see the insanity ?

Millions of people are deeply in debt because they believed that they had to buy everything new. For many decades we were the engine for industry but are no longer employed and therefore not able to afford new items, especially with their prices being so high. And when you throw in the lack of quality, it should be a no brainer to seek a wiser purchase.

Have you seen the photos of the millions of new cars around the world that they are not able to sell ? My one ton 1990 Dodge diesel truck cost $2,600 when I bought it seven years ago and a new Dodge diesel is over $52,000 now. That is 20 times what I paid for my Dodge and it has been working satisfactorily for years. Besides, I am an old school mechanic and appreciate the simplicity of the pre 1998 mechanical fuel injection. A friend was visiting yesterday with his 2006 Ford diesel. He looked under the hood of my Dodge and was aghast at the lack of wiring and plumbing. However, under the hood of later vehicles looks like a nest of snakes. KISS; keep it simple, stupid. Yeah, that should be on the desk of every bureaucrat and engineer.

Sure, I drive an older vehicle but I have no debt. Debt is the downfall for millions of good folks, particularly in a downward spiraling economy such as we have been, are and will continue to experience.

My saying is that “the filthiest four letter word in the English language is debt“.

The world seems to be Hell bent for leather in going stark raving mad.

So what’s it going to be ?
A debt jubilee or WWIII ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

Those without a moral compass can still be highly magnetic. However, not to gold, silver or lead. Non nefarious metals.

I like the older stuff that is heavier gage- better quality. Can't stand the cheap stuff from China.

Did a bathroom project 18 months ago and put in new under-sink valves. 6 months ago I discovered a puddle under the new sink and caught it before it could do damage tot he new cabinet. The leak came from the actual sweat fitting. There were two pieces assembled- the sweat/solder side and the threaded side. The leak came from between them. A few days ago, the second of the 4 valves started leaking. I discovered that by a puddle int he basement.
So I replaced 3 of the 4 so far, with made in USA valves that are single piece.

Agnut- I like your way of looking out for things that others will value. I will take that concept in my travels. I have found books for my daughter and I let family pick through my finds for anything they want. There is much pleasure in giving things away.... to the right people. Thanks for your wise ideas.

Hi spectrism. Yeah, some of the imported fixtures and a lot of other items are junk. I think that they must be laughing at us; I can’t imagine that they are seriously thinking that their products will hold up for long. Thin metal, plastic that shatters when you try to cut it, poor plating, motors that disintegrate; I’ve experienced it all and know that I would be better buying a used faucet from a garage sale. Not always true; there must be some quality imports out there. Right ? Anyone ?

Thanks for the compliment but I was forced to be wise (if that is the word for it). I didn’t get where I am, wherever that is, by making only wise choices. I made some stupid mistakes along the way but have learned to not repeat them. There is always time to make new stupid mistakes however. So always be vigilant; I may grab an item that looks like a steal but later put it back upon reflection.

This brings up what has often been on my mind. What we collect and possess will be revalued through time. Could be antiques or an item that will be desperately needed. Right now a large Tupperware container can be found for 50 cents to a dollar. What will it be worth in a post collapse economy ?

Either any good quality items will be in demand or nothing except food and fuel will be in demand. It all depends upon where our society lands (and we are in freefall right now). New quality items are expensive and we here in the good ol’ USA may be internationally marginalized in the future. Can we make blenders, toasters, cooking utensils, machine tools, nuts and bolts, bearings, fan belts and hoses, Venetian blinds, or any of the thousands of items that make our complicated world operate smoothly ? And even if we were to manufacture these items, what would be the cost to the consumer ? I sure wouldn’t count on cheaper or easily available. We Americans have led a relatively sheltered existence for several decades but I feel that that is about to end. That is why I collect good stuff for trading material.

I didn’t go to any garage sales yesterday or today because I did go to an estate sale on Friday and shot my wad. By the time we were let in there were 40 people champing at the bit. I first went to the Stihl weedwhacker but it was a little one and the price was $95; too rich for my blood. A few years ago I had bought a commercial Stihl for $5. It just needed a fuel filter and I have been using it unmercifully since. It uses a .095 string which kept slipping out. So I came across a roll of Stihl .130 for a dollar. I crammed it in and it has been tearing up the landscape ever since. A Stihl is a steal.

I know the lady who holds these estate sales and she is a hard worker with fair prices. Just because one item may appear too high for me (admittedly I have been spoiled by the $5 Stihl), that didn’t dissuade me from grabbing all the other good deals. ‘Nuff said, here they are :

Metric tungsten 40 piece tap and die set $15
Standard 32 piece tap and die set made by Greenfield. Old U.S. made in wooden box $35
4 nesting tables- made by George Zee of Hong Kong. Kiln dried and ornately carved $65
Gardening cart for repotting $20
Impact sockets from 3/8” to 1” $3
5 wire cutters, needle nose pliers, electrical pliers for 50 cents each
Snap-On ratchet 50 cents
G.I. Canteen set with cover and belt, new in box for $1
Craftsman 10” crescent wrench $3
Floor box fan $2
3 drawer rolling tool box $15
Chicago Pneumatic impact gun $10
Jumper cables in hard case $5
50 drawer rack filled with loads of hardware $5
Large Nicholson file $1
Propane torch $1
Box misc. good stuff $3
Another box misc. good stuff , 31 items $2
Block and tackle with 4 rollers and rope $3
Craftsman 6 hp power wheel mower. Runs but has noise. Parts ? $10
3 Corning Visions glass pots with lids $5 each

I did pretty well and had a lot of fun. What better way to spend a morning than with good company, a few laughs and some good deals ?

I am happy to share my good fortune on the internet but have to admit that I only tell family and a few friends. You see, I am also the eyes and ears for them when out garage sailing. No sense blabbing around to potential competition.

Spectrism, glad to see that you also look out for others when out there. Nothing like playing Santa Claus through the year.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. I still hit garage and moving sales but only if their ads look promising. My all time favorite is the estate sales. As the economy swirls downward, there should be some great steals out there. So keep your powder dry and always think of the future. In other words, don’t be broke when you get a break.

P.P.S. By the way, someone did buy that $95 Stihl weedwhacker while I was there. It was over $200 new price. A bargain is in the eye of the beholder.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by agnut

P.P.S. By the way, someone did buy that $95 Stihl weedwhacker while I was there. It was over $200 new price. A bargain is in the eye of the beholder.

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having just paid $45 to rent a 4 string Stihl weedwhacker from Saturday noon to Monday 10 AM ... $95 is a good price.


i like the version where you take off the string and put on a circular saw blade.

works great for removing blackberry etc. it's like having a laser-beam attached to your arm, everything gets mowed down.

just don't fall on it !

I found a box of navigator and charting supplies from an old seaman. I got that for $10 for my daughter who can using the drawing tools. While there I got a couple heavy duty bags- one a GI type sea bag and one is a large bag with waterproof treatment inside... good for diving gear.

Many miles and many nothing places with junk.

This past weekend I was a few minutes late to putting a claim on a scuba tank with regulator and depth gage... there was a price of $33 on it.... not sure what it went for but the prospective buyer was hovering over it trying to get the owner's attention. There is typically a common courtesy of backing away from such things when someone else is already engaged. A few years ago a pushy broad tried to snake half my deal and I was shocked by how aggressive she was.

While I missed out on the scuba gear, I did pick up a nearly new screened yard tent for $6 and a motorized knife sharpening stone wheel for $3.

At another small place I found a welding mask/helmut for $1. The lens was dark green and unscratched. I tested it against the sun.

Fresh in my memory was the guy who walked off with beautiful brass figurines for scrap! I came upon a place and saw that the people had things on tables they clearly were just trying to get rid of. Any money was good but they really did not want to carry things back inside. Metal objects catch my eye. I saw a table covered with brass figurines. Must have been 30 or 40 of them. I asked the woman how she was selling them and she said maybe 50 cents each. I asked what I could by the whole table of brass items for. $10 she said. Done! It seemed like forever loading them into a box.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spectrism

I found a box of navigator and charting supplies from an old seaman. I got that for $10 for my daughter who can using the drawing tools. While there I got a couple heavy duty bags- one a GI type sea bag and one is a large bag with waterproof treatment inside... good for diving gear.

Many miles and many nothing places with junk.

This past weekend I was a few minutes late to putting a claim on a scuba tank with regulator and depth gage... there was a price of $33 on it.... not sure what it went for but the prospective buyer was hovering over it trying to get the owner's attention. There is typically a common courtesy of backing away from such things when someone else is already engaged. A few years ago a pushy broad tried to snake half my deal and I was shocked by how aggressive she was.

While I missed out on the scuba gear, I did pick up a nearly new screened yard tent for $6 and a motorized knife sharpening stone wheel for $3.

At another small place I found a welding mask/helmut for $1. The lens was dark green and unscratched. I tested it against the sun.

Fresh in my memory was the guy who walked off with beautiful brass figurines for scrap! I came upon a place and saw that the people had things on tables they clearly were just trying to get rid of. Any money was good but they really did not want to carry things back inside. Metal objects catch my eye. I saw a table covered with brass figurines. Must have been 30 or 40 of them. I asked the woman how she was selling them and she said maybe 50 cents each. I asked what I could by the whole table of brass items for. $10 she said. Done! It seemed like forever loading them into a box.

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Not sure on scuba, but do not those tanks have to have hydro tests every so often, and a use lifetime?

Know here some oxy tanks get to old for refill and had to buy new ones!

Android Forum Runner

Gundriller, I didn’t know that it was so expensive to rent a Stihl weedwhacker. The one I turned down was a small version of the one I have and it wouldn’t have been able to do what I need to do. We have huge areas of blackberries and I will likely use a chainsaw followed by a tractor pulled three point tiller. Gotta get the roots out or they will be back in a few years. I’m not sure if I would trust myself with a saw blade on my weedwhacker.

Tonight I’m hurting from operating the Ford 550 backhoe all day. Supposed to go bowling tomorrow night. Yeah, right.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. Everything grows here in the Pacific northwest like crazy, what with all the rainfall. Got a field that I mow with the Kubota and Woods Billy Goat. I‘m not a farmer and don’t know what I should grow; seems like a lot of work for a little profit. I believe that will change in a couple of years, maybe even next year. We’ll see.

Hi Spectrism. Looks like you got some interesting items for yourself and your daughter. I am often surprised by the things I see that I had never seen before or that even existed. For instance I have a Hobart coffee grinder that was in a market back in the 40s or 50s. It had just been rebuilt and the seller was holding it for a friend who just never got there to pay for it. I talked to him for a while and he decided to call this friend to ask if he still wanted the coffee grinder. The friend said to let it go so I picked it up on the spot. Now you may wonder what I am doing with this machine; it is heavy and takes up space. When I had chickens I thought to use it for grinding up dried corn. I heard that the fine meal was far more efficient that the larger kernels. Also I have a lot of wheat berries for making flour. The Grain Master mill I have had for years tends to clog up and I thought that pre grinding the wheat berries beforehand would make my work easier. And ya never know, I might even grind up some coffee beans someday.

I know, it can be disheartening to search for a while and turn up little. But there are the times when we hit the mother lode (or is that load ?). I will be the first to admit that I come home with a small load once in a while. Better to have not bought much than to have bought a lot of items that have marginal value. Save your money for the next time when there may be a huge quantity of hot deals. As I wrote in the past, this economy is devolving and we haven’t even seen the bottom when good items will be offered for a pittance.

I suggest looking at more distant areas where the pickings may be much better. I first look at the estate sales; usually lots of items that the inheritors just want to see gone in order to clean out the property in order to sell it. Older wealthy neighborhoods are better than newer tract homes. Farm and ranch sales means that there may be lots of tools and implements. They are like me where we have room to accumulate many items even if they take up a lot of space. You may want to look up auctioneers and people who hold estate sales and get on their mailing lists.

I read Craigslist for garage sales in my local area. All I do is go to the garage sale section and punch in my town and find many sales that are not in the local paper. Many of these ads have photos wherein I can see if there are items I may want or need.

We can be aggressive with our buying but with wisdom and consideration for others. By this I mean that we should have our plan all mapped out before we begin to look over all the items for sale. We don’t have to beat anybody out of a deal; we just have to be there first.

Do we have a list of the items we saw in the ad ?

Have we arrived early ? Nothing like missing a steal because we were a minute too late. Some sellers will let us in earlier than the ad states, so get there early. The best deals are gone first. The other best deals are the ones we recognize that others gloss over. That is where our experience and imagination come in. A while back I decided to get my lazy ass out of bed and be at the gate early. The first thing I saw was an antique three door ice box. The seller was asking $75; I offered $60 and she took it. As I was loading the ice box into my truck a woman came up and was practically drooling at my find. She had been a minute too late; you don’t want to be her, do you ? By the way, there are two similar oak ice boxes on Craigslist; one for $850 and the other for $995.

Do we know the area and what other sales are also going on at the same time ? I map out a route which considers location with time of opening as well as what items are offered. I know, it is sometimes hard to coordinate locations with opening times but most any plan is better than no plan.

Have we calculated our risk/reward ratio ? Is the cost, time, fuel and wear and tear on our vehicle worth the effort ? One way is to look back over the last 10 or 20 sales we have attended and add up all the items we bought divided by the out of pocket expenses. That is a rough average of our benefit, not yet divided by the hours we spent. That would give us our profit per hour. I know, this is only a crude formula and we all need to modify it to suit ourselves.

Do we have enough money to pay for whatever items we may find ? Going to a gunfight with only one bullet isn’t portrayed in any of the westerns I have ever seen. And neither is going fishing with only one hook. By the way, having a wad of one dollar bills is a good way to break the ice with a seller. Some of them hadn’t the foresight to have change and will appreciate your offer to help them. I’ve done it many times.

Do we have an open mind, considering every item for its other possible values ? A roll of electrical wiring is usually made of copper wire. Sometimes there is a free pile with copper, brass and aluminum odds and ends.

Do you have a list of items family and friends want ? Maybe 10% of what I find is for them. Last week I found a pair of Harley Davidson riding boots; they were only worn twice and looked new. Size 10 ½ , perfect for a family member I had in mind. I heard they were from $125 to $150 new; I got them for $35. When I took them over to him, his eyes lit up and he said that his old ones were worn out. At the same sale I had bought a pair of Timberland boots for myself for $20; also like new. Buying items for family and friends isn’t just saving them money. It shows that you care for them and are thinking of them. This is most important in relationships. People close to us remember our birthdays and some holidays but a surprise gift says so much more; I see it as more precious that an equal value of gold or silver (hope this doesn‘t get me kicked off the website).

Do you ride alone or take along a sidekick ? If so, be careful. Some will grab the deals you want before you have a chance. I have had it happen to me and I’ll tell you, it didn’t feel good. I had to rethink the circumstances wherein I would ask someone to ride with me. Taking a young person you know well could be good. Taking someone who is looking for items you don’t want could work. Just be aware that you may be creating a garage sale monster (like yourself).

And finally, what about taking drinks and food ? A notepad for writing down phone numbers and deals that fall in your lap while talking to sellers as well as other buyers ?

A magnifying glass for the sterling silver insignias ?

Gotta go and get something to eat; all this writing is making me hungry.

Best wishes,

Agnut

glad you guys are doing good . I have not been to any sales this summer . I need to get out more , been cutting hay for over two weeks now we are almost done now ... glad it rain today so I could get a break ...

Been real busy lately it seems. Always check for sales on craigslist and usually go, but if the sales look weak or are far and few between I'll get a little extra sleep. Been having a ton of luck with word of mouth. People come by or call me and bring me something or tell me of an item they know of that can be had for cheap or free. I'll keep the good stuff and sell the rest or sometimes give it away to people I know needing that certain item. They give you a strange look when you give them something and don't expect to get paid, like somethings fishy. I tell them they can help me out one day if I need it. Having cash on hand is essential. You never know what you're gonna run across just riding down the road. When I go garage sailing I always have lots of ones and fives on hand too. Sellers love buyers who can make their life easier. Good to know what others are looking for or needing too. Can be a money making opportunity if you can supply something that you have cheap and ready access to. Know a guy that wants a bunch of sago palms. I get these for free because I know where to look, throw them in a black plastic pot with dirt and sell them to him for 10 bucks. At any garden store they would be 24.95 plus. A charter boat captain I know mentioned he was always looking for old toilets to build secret artificial reefs for bottom fishing offshore. I talked to my connection at the dump and got him 50 in a week. He looked at me amazed when I pulled up with a 14 ft trailer full of them. Needless to say I get as much fresh fish as I want for free. These connections grow into other connections when these guys mention me to people they know and have good things to say.

Went diving for the lost silver mentioned earlier and found just some old bricks and beer bottles. Maybe next time lol.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Once you find your niche and learn to work it you'll be as busy as you want to be.

Always a pleasure to read this thread.

Hi mick silver, I can sympathize with you. When winter ends, we seem to frantically work ourselves into exhaustion doing doubletime to make up for our having been inside for so many months. I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation.

In my case, I am grading in a parking area for about 8 cars, a circular drive and a picnic area under a tall pine tree. Sort of a dream coming true. May not get to digging out the catfish pond next to the seasonal stream this year but it sure has been on my mind what with the prices I saw in the supermarket this morning. The Ford 550 diesel backhoe has had starting problems lately; probably something simple. I recently had to take out the hydraulic pump and put in a new seal. A real pain in the ass. But when the backhoe is working right it does a tremendous amount of hard labor in a short time.

Here are a couple of related articles that I think everyone should read and really think about. A reset of the dollar currency would have all encompassing consequences for every one of us.

70 % devaluation US dollar.....?

Official 2014 IMF Forecast Based on ‘Magic Number Seven’-Steve Quayle

http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthre...tion-US-dollar

Is The Fed Going To Attempt A Controlled Collapse?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...olled-collapse


Is July 20, 2014 to be a significant day ? Perhaps, but what is important is to be as well positioned as possible when that day does arrive. I see everyone around me with their denial clubs at the ready to knock down any “negativity”.

As a result, I see financially dead people. Millions of them.

They just don’t know it yet.

Isn’t it ironic that the zombie movies are popular now while the viewers do not realize that they themselves may well be the zombies in the future ?

People with money in the bank, with stocks, with bonds, Treasury notes, mortgages, credit card debt, student loans, pension funds, annuities and so on are all vulnerable to a currency reset. I have none of these “paper promises” and divorced myself from them a long time ago. However, I am still vulnerable to what others may do to upset my defensive position (zombies). I’m not kidding myself; the world has become a dangerous place and I believe will soon be more so.

Best wishes,

Agnut

Hi govcheetos. You are one of the very few who get the fullness of what bartering and horse trading is about. The overview of your post says that you are now trading old toilets for seafood. I’m sure that there is a funny quip to be had here somewhere; I’ll leave it to your imagination.

But there is much more; you have established a relationship with a professional fisherman. And everyone he knows. That is genius; my hat is off to you ! In the future you might even be able to sell the fish for the fisherman at a better price than he would otherwise receive. A seafood broker; it has a nice ring to it. And all begun with a load of old toilets !

This bartering and horse trading goes far deeper than most folks realize. The person who can make it a part of their lifestyle can benefit in ways they had never dreamed of. You just provided a great example.

We live in a world of limited resources facing exponential growing demand. It is a fact, not an opinion. It is foundational to facing the reality of our future. This is why I have been collecting what I believe will be in demand through the future. By buying good used items for a small fraction of their retail new price I am endeavoring to preposition myself and family for as little disruption as the years unfold.

We who are accumulating items for future bartering and horse trading must be aware that these items will be nonrenewable resources. In other words, we may not be able to replace them in the future as we can now. Physical gold and silver are also nonrenewable resources and are items of concentrated value. Let’s not kid ourselves in that once we spend the gold and silver, it will be gone.

So it is incumbent upon us that we focus some of our efforts on what renewable resources will be in demand in the future. The first on my mind is the ability to grow food, enough to have excess for trading. It has been said that you see your doctor once a year but you see your farmer three times a day. I have a field which is waiting for the time in which our efforts will be worthwhile to do the hard labor of raising crops. I also have the equipment needed to save having to do all the labor manually. Just need more diesel fuel set aside.

Govcheetos, your Sago palm idea is great. I have been talking to my younger son about raising plants from seedlings to sell to folks who are in residential housing and want to grow fruits and veggies at home. We have about 40 rhubarb plants in pots and are planning to relocate them to a permanent location so that they can grow and multiply.

Another possibility could be raising animals for meat. This includes fish and a catfish pond has been in my plans for a long time. The last depression saw many citizens raising chickens as a saving grace; this will also be wise this time. Just because you have no acreage does not preclude you from finding someone willing to share their space in trade for your efforts. I remember seeing large shared gardens when I was in Germany in the 70s. Theft will be a problem in the future but with sharing growing areas, the security may be shared. Security in numbers.

Next would be skills that others need. I am an old school mechanic and can repair and fabricate many things as needed. I still want to find a vertical mill and metal lathe. I have a MIG welder, a stick welder and an acetylene torch along with many tools to get the job done. This is but one specialty; there are many others with varying potentials. The key is that we need to position ourselves in some skills that will be most valuable in the future, a future which is fraught with uncertainties as to how in demand those skills will be.

Within bartering and horse trading is the skill of providing what others need. If we are to do this as a primary basis of income, this absolutely requires us to have an organized listing of our connections as well as where we have seen items in the past. Many years ago I was a core broker for car parts and provided transmissions and other parts for rebuilding programs. I started small and grew as fast as I could find what they needed. As I expanded nationwide it became overwhelming but also wonderful for my family wherein we could accumulate more than enough profit to absorb the ups and downs of the times. Seasonality affects all kinds of businesses and we must always take that into account. The Grasshopper And The Ant, storing away for the winter.

It does seem unavoidable that we will have some serious disruptions in the near future. Success will go to those most adaptable to these changes. Physical, spiritual and emotional fitness will all be crucial. There are going to be loved ones depending upon you; they just don’t know this yet.

Best wishes,

Agnut

P.S. I have been invited to post bartering and horse trading also at GIM2. I don’t know how this will work out yet but will continue here on GS-US as usual. I hope that both websites can appreciate and care for each other; after all, we all have the same goals in wanting to understand what to do for ourselves and our loved ones. There are so many great people who post from the heart at both websites that I feel that we are a family separated only by an epiphany and some keystrokes.

thanks agnut for your post . we have a small green house I have for some time been thinking about building a bigger one so we could sale vegs plants just so we could add to are silver and help us grow more food in colder parts of the year . now I need to look for some old windows I guess I will be doing some horse trading with someone in the next week are so for the glass to add on .... be safe one and all mick ... ps the world is not getting any safer nor do I see it being any safer in the years to come

Hi mick silver. Have you considered getting used sliding glass doors and framing them in to make a greenhouse ? I have 4 doors set aside and could find more if I would only take the time. Check with glass shops and maybe scrap yards. Where do used glass doors when they are replaced ?Some are free and some are $10 for a pair. Don’t know what I will do or how but I still pick up more doors as they show up. Maybe only glass doors facing the sun would save a lot of money. I figure I could build a greenhouse thirty feet by ten feet for under a thousand dollars if my sons and I do the work ourselves. And since we are in the Pacific northwest a couple hours from the Canadian border, we should have a greenhouse to extent the season to grow veggies and additionally save enough money to recoup the cost of materials within a year or two, especially with the veggie prices going through the roof. I’m sure you know how much tastier and healthier home grown veggies are.

Funny, but not until I have an adequate quantity of like materials can I clearly envision how it can all go together to make something in my dreams. When I reach what I call critical mass in acquiring the materials I get itchy to get the job done. These projects don’t get done by themselves….or do they ? At least it seems to me that the gathering of the parts takes on a life of its own after a while.

When you have a Volkswagen beetle and are driving it down the road, you see all the other Volkswagen beetles too. Same is true for focusing on what we are looking for at the GEM sales (that’s garage, estate and moving). Having a want list works for me as well as being open to possibilities for whatever I see. Hey, that rhymes !

Plastic buckets from the local bakery or empty buckets that held Kitty Litter are free and useful for many applications. We have filled about 60 buckets full of redwood pieces I dug out of the ground….so far. Free for the digging; probably saved a couple of hundred bucks. The redwood is going all around the house with brick borders. Mostly done now and it makes the place look like people live here instead of Neanderthals (we‘ve got ‘em fooled now). We recently discovered that 50 or more years ago our area was logged. It must have included redwoods because we are finding old trunks and stumps in the woods. We even have a stump that is over 6 feet across. It is probably rotten and would fall apart if I were to hit it with a shovel. It is so beautiful that I have decided to clear the area around it so that we and visitors could see it by as we drive in and out.

Having acreage in the country is a heckuva lot more work than tending a suburban home but it is worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears. Reminds me, I gotta get the stereo hooked up; three thousand LP albums stacked away are crying to be appreciated. I think I bought the stereo last summer and have yet to hear it. Crazy busy but better than being bored, eh ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

Quote:

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Originally Posted by agnut

Hi mick silver. Have you considered getting used sliding glass doors and framing them in to make a greenhouse ? I have 4 doors set aside and could find more if I would only take the time. Check with glass shops and maybe scrap yards. Where do used glass doors when they are replaced ?

Best wishes,

Agnut

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One idea is to use those sliding glass shower doors. I got 2 identical ones at garage sales, free. They are about 31 inches wide, 4 1/2 feet tall, with the frosted glass. At bathroom supply places, the whole set (with extrusions) is about $175.

I tried selling them on Craigslist. A few nibbles but no bites.


I guess it depends on temps. Maybe in some places it would be better to use double-pane windows. You can get those free at garage sales too, but the chances of getting identical ones free is small. A good design would somehow accomodate varying sizes ... maybe allowing for varying widths, all the same height.

Hook up with a company or better yet the workers of a company that replaces windows. You can get the old sliding glass doors for free. A friend of mine has a green house eight panels deep and two panels wide. Drilled through the aluminum frames to attach them to 4x4 posts. Even has them set up on a gable roof frame.

thanks all ... I have all the glass I need but getting the time is one thing . plus I have all the wood I need for the green house . well this fall I will start work on the house once I am done with all the stuff I have under way right now ...

Hi all. Am back from an exhausting day of garage sailing. There were three community sales going on in the same general area and I attended them all. It was a lot of looking and a little buying, as it should be. The bargains that stand out are gone if you don’t get there early. I did get a Werner folding ladder for $10. A large remnant of new carpeting for $3; it will be used somewhere someday, no doubt about that. Got an electric smoker for $10. Picked up 8 three year old cedar trees for $4 each. Got 4 DVDs, good stuff. Got 5 vinyl records for $1 each. Got a ½” drill for $10 with hole saw kit. Got a couple of nice hacksaws for $1 each.

I already have most of the above items and got more of them for backups, loaning and trading material. If a tool breaks I just use the spare rather than have to take the time to get dressed, drive to the hardware store, return, change my clothes again and continue the project. Sounds like a no brainer to me.

A few days ago I was picking something up and happened to be in the neighborhood of my favorite thrift store building material outlet. I was looking around, not expecting to find much, when I spied a couple of cans of a clear wood preservative and realized that I would need it for the deck we are supposed to begin building (if the county would cooperate). Anyway, one 6 gallon can was new and unused and the other had a couple of gallons still there. I got them for a total of $7. My carpenter friend said that they would have cost a couple of hundred dollars in the store. I haven’t even bothered to look it up; I just know that $7 is a friggin’ steal. Especially what with our money becoming pricey toilet paper in disguise.

Garage, estate and moving sale prices have been going up over the last several years. Or has the dollar been losing purchasing power, also known as on the path to worthlessness ? So don’t expect the same prices as we encountered 8 years ago. Just how much has the dollar lost if we have been losing 9% a year compounded ? The problem is that our income has not been rising commensurate with these 8 years. I believe prices of used items would be much higher as well as the store prices if our income wasn’t stagnant. This is what I called hyperstagflation years ago and it is an insidious process.

Gotta go.

Best wishes,

Agnut

if Home Improvement (indoors and out) and Survivalism was an Olympic Event, i'd put my money on you guys, and the neighbor i referred to as 'Magic Neighbor'.

Magic Neighbor, Shawn, is the brother of the previous owner of the neighboring property. I had a list of about 30 home improvement things that needed fixing, he ripped through them. Did some for free, charged me 'mates rates' (New Zealand language, $20 an hour) for the balance.

like if that TV show Home Improvement was for real. sort of an 'Ultimate Handyman' event.


part McGyvering
part just knowing your stuff

i guess the horse trading goes into the preparation.

it could make a good TV show ?


this morning i'm going up on the roof. having lost a friend & co-worker to a roof accident (biggest funeral i've ever been to), i know the seriousness of a simple task like checking a skylight for leaks.

got a friend coming by for what will hopefully be an extremely boring job, holding the ladder.

Be careful on that roof Gundriller. Everytime I get on one I think, "This is how you go if you're not careful" Know a couple people who have had family or friends die by falling off a simple 8-10 ft roof, Know another guy that has nerve damage in his leg from falling off a 2 story. His back is all screwed up too, has to get his sons to do a lot of the work he used to do. So be careful, whatever you're gonna make on the job isn't worth it.

Funny thing about the TV Show. A while back I said someone should make a show about me and follow me around for like 48 hours or so and see all the different stuff I get into and different people I deal with. Rich, poor, good, bad, etc. Part of the giimick would be that I hate TV and hardly ever watch it except for the weather. Sort of a paradox, a tv show about a guy that hates tv.

Agnut everyday I think about the rising prices and devaluation of the currency. I really hate to think about what things will be in another 5-10 and beyond. Something else, a lot of people that 5 years ago I would have said were tough, get through anything, survival types are proving otherwise. Grown men with families who owe money on everything, play video games like kids, buy unnecessary guns and the toys that go on them so they can post them on some facebook page for the whole world to know how stupid they are. Won't work, and those that do complain about having to actually do anything. There are fewer and fewer everyday that an honest, hard working, man who takes care of his loved ones and respects his Creator can relate to.

Sorry for the rant, get em' while you can.

How to force yourself to clean the gutters -

rent a ladder for $10.

+, be cheap.


Mix.


Then (maybe) you'll be thinking, "I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $10 for that ladder and not clear my gutters".

I also used it as an opportunity to knock down some hornet's nests. Fortunately they were empty, mostly.

Hi gunDriller and govcheetos. How old are you guys ? The reason I ask is that as we get older we lose the ability to react as quickly, our sense of balance isn’t as good and our bones are more brittle. When getting on a roof or ladder our ego and pride says that we can do the job. But reality is a hard teacher. Let me tell you a story.

Back in the 1930s my father who as a young man had the rare ability to walk a tightrope without any balance pole. His father ran the equipment for a logging company and would run a line high in the trees so that my father could walk it. This was during the depression era. Circuses wanted him but his father said that working in a circus was not for decent folk. Probably right, as I have seen in some movies lately which depicted what a traveling circus was like. See the movies Water For Elephants and Carnivale.

The war came along and my father went back into the U.S. Navy. He said that he could show off and do handsprings on a steel ship deck and also could walk on his hands up and down stairs.

My father spent 26 years in the Navy, running the airplane repair facilities around the U.S. Places like Norfolk where he was flight deck officer on the Valley Forge aircraft carrier. I can recall the times he took me to tour the ship and how enormous everything was.

My father had been through the entire battle of Okinawa during WWII. He said that he was on a ship and had been transferred to another ship wherein the ship he had left was blown up the next day and most hands lost. That had to have an effect on him. He said that the kamikazes were attacking constantly and seeing some of the old timers having nervous breakdowns and being taken to the rear and being patched up. As soon as it was determined that they were able, they were brought up to the front again because there was a shortage of experienced men; there was no other option. War doesn’t wait.

As a child and young man I traveled with my family to the military bases around the country. Norfolk Virginia, Millington Tennessee, Adak Alaska, Miami Florida, Willow Grove Pennsylvania, Barbers Point Hawaii. Lots of interesting characteristics in each locale and pretty wild for a kid growing up. This continual pulling up stakes and moving every year or two must have had an effect on me because I moved many times through the decades that followed. Wanderlust doesn’t perfectly describe it; you’d have to live it to feel the fullness.

My father finally retired after a second career as a civil service metal corrosive engineer for the Navy. He was now what we call a triple dipper, receiving three retirement checks. Besides that, he was in real estate for years and was already wealthy by most standards.

So where is this story going ? Well, in the 1990s he was fully retired and had plenty of money. What does he do ? He wants to sweep the flat roof over the garage. His wife said to not go up there and he said to her, “What are you trying to do, make a cripple out of me ?” That was the last thing he said before he fell backward off the roof.

He also said the last thing he did was kick off the roof so that he didn’t land on his head. Instead, he landed flat on his back.

He was rushed to the hospital where he was in intensive care and recovery for a long time. The doctors said that his spinal injuries would make him a quadriplegic for life. I was told that the medical care cost a million dollars before he got out of the hospital. He did learn to walk, although with great effort. It took years until he was able to hold a spoon to feed himself.

After the accident, I can’t count the number of times he told me to not get on the roof without safety devices.

I moved from southern California about 10 years ago to help take care of him. More important to me was to be close to him to enjoy time together, time that the demands of his career had all too often taken precedence over our father-son relationship. Hopefully, you who have children are well aware of this.

I’m relating this story to tell anyone who reads it to never, never, NEVER put yourself in a situation before thinking of the possible consequences. Pay a professional to do the job.

We work hard all our lives so that we can retire and enjoy the fruits of our labor: our newly found free time and most important, our family and friends. So falling off a roof is an example of just one of the life damaging things we can do.

A few years ago I was at a garage sale loading items while standing on the tailgate of my pickup truck. It was wet and I slipped and fell to the concrete below. It was only a few feet but I was going head first. Incredible, a tall huge stranger caught my head before it hit. My left shoulder hit hard and still gives me a little reminder of that day. The bruise from knee to ankle faded in time. By the way, this stranger and his girlfriend became friends and have visited me and my family many times. You never know what will happen out there; good and bad. You just need the courage to do rather than only dream. I didn’t mean to turn this into a bartering and horse trading story but there it is. Threads of activities weave a most fascinating pattern throughout our lives. Sometimes we need to sit back and reflect until all the colors and designs become clear.


Best wishes,

Agnut

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein


"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success. "
Ralph Waldo Emerson