DIY: Embracing the idea "How Hard Can It Be?": Some things in life are free...or cheap...and most of the time, old.

I think I learned at a very young age what it meant to get a bargain. My mother and I would spend hours and hours every Saturday morning scouring the papers for garage sales or estate sales, reading maps for directions, and burning gallons of gas driving the truck around town looking to get a deal. Twenty years later, I look around and realize the majority of our 2500 square foot home is filled with items that are second hand, from my family's homes, and even antique.

Three places define my home shopping:
Estate Sales
Antique Stores
Flea Markets

Successful garage sale shopping is an art and you must learn the techniques, or at least do what we do:
1. On the one day of the week that you have zero plans, wake up at 6am.
2. Look at the ads online then insist on buying a paper..."just in case".
3. Constantly refer to houses as "Oh, we went to a good garage sale there once". And go every weekend so you can spot old signs that someone forgot to take down.
4. Heckle bad sales or mislabeled "estate sales". Make sure you chastise them for not showing you the inside of the house...since often, that's better than buying things.
5. ALWAYS stop at sales that look like they're run by art students. You'll never regret it.

I look around and do have my favorites, here's just a handful: