"Renting" furniture?

I move - a lot.  This will be my ninth move in the past 17 years of being married.  One thing I've learned is not to get too attached to things.  The comfy sectional sofa that is perfect in one home, just doesn't fit in the next.  So out it goes.  This is one reason why I love Craigslist.  I can buy and sell until everything fits.

It occurred to me this week that in a sense we rent our furniture.  Well, we sometimes borrow furniture for free!  Here are two recent examples.  When we moved into our current home, I wanted a shelving system that would look built-in.  I found the perfect thing on Craigslist and paid $250 for it.  Three years later, I want to keep part of it but not the whole thing.  So, I sold part of it for $50.  I probably could have sold the whole thing for the same $250 I paid for it.  Around the same time, I bought a wardrobe for our bonus room that we use as a bedroom.  Our new home has tons of closets, so out it goes.  We paid $95 for it three years ago and this week we sold it for $115.  So, we made $20 for "renting" our wardrobe the past few years.

The wardrobe that made me money.

A few tips for shopping on Craigslist:

Do your homework and know what it would cost new.

Always offer less than the listed price.

Consider the resale value.  Think - "Can I sell it for the same amount later?"

Remember that classic pieces and colors sell faster.

Habitat for Humanity's ReStore

We recently sold our house and are fixing a few things for the buyer.  We had a few broken pieces of vinyl siding thanks to having kids (kids that like to practice baseball in the backyard).  Who knew it would be impossible to find matching siding for the repair!  My husband spoke to manufacturers, installers, warehouse stores, and more, only to find that it was not to be.  So, on a whim he went to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore.  There he found a similar enough piece for only $1.  He was able to take a piece off of an inconspicuous place to repair the bad spots.  Then he painted the ReStore piece to match the house and placed it on the now-empty inconspicuous place.  Viola!  The siding repair man said he would charge $100 just to come look at it; my husband repaired it for a total of $30 including the siding, paint, and tool.

Can you even tell this is not a exact match?

Well after that amazing find, I decided to go look around the ReStore for ideas for the new house.  What I found was a box of glass mosaic tiles to put a backsplash in my kitchen.  I had priced these before and knew that the mosaic tiles cost $9 for a 12x12 sheet.  The ReStore had a box of 20 sheets for $25.  That is a savings of $155.  It should be just enough for my new kitchen.


Habitat's ReStore is great place to find new and used items for your home.  From furniture and rugs to cabinets and flooring, it is full of great deals.