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Original Tips 26-28; Coupons, Collecting, and VCRs

26. Coupons and sales


This weekend, I went to a terrific fashion sale where everything, I mean everything was $1!!  I bought a pare of Cole Hahn shoes, silk scarves, Sag Harbor outfits, Talbots blouses, J.G. Hook, Koret of California, a girl could go mad!  I got an invitation through networking at work, and through a friend.  I also found wonderful things at a neighboring state's tax free day.  With coupons being given online and in store, and a zillion reward cards out there, take advantage of the sales and discount cards that you can.


It can be overwhelming, but with a little practice, you can save a lot of money.  Even big chains like Schnucks and Dillards have terrific sales, and the runoff can end up at dollar stores or at thrift stores, still with its original tags.  For more sales ideas and free items, I'll try to post some of my Dress for Success booklet, and recommend the book, "The Scavenger's Manifesto."  It's available on Kindle, and if you have Kindle Unlimited, even better.

 27. Collecting is always a great way to recycle and make use of things. Collect for art materials, store inventory, personal enrichment or investment, for children, for fun. People who collect tins, baskets, and boxes use them for storage as well. People who collect vintage pens and pencils use them and sharpen them whenever they can. People who collect buttons often use them on their clothes.

Old shoes sometimes make good flower parts, and old bowling balls make interesting garden ornaments. Victory Garden and other shows have made good use of incorporating them into garden landscape. Same for old signs, old wheelbarrows and garden implements, wooden doors and fences, statutes, old tires, old claw foot tubs, milk cans, and tractor seats. They have found new life in garden landscapes. DIY scarecrows or other scarecrows as collectibles serve dual purposes as well. For one night special occasions, luminaries from paper bags are still a great effect, especially if you use LED “fake” votives which are save and effective.

Since I first wrote this passage six years ago, Material Culture studies have really taken off, as have some more off the wall disciplines involving "haunted objects."


Whatever.  Collecting is still upcycling.  The popularity of American Pickers and related shows like Oddities and Cash in the Attic, Pawn Stars, Auction Kings, etc., should tell us that before we toss it, we need to repurpose it.


In the same town as American Pickers, LeClaire, IA, is my friend's store, Reusable Useables.  She has a wonderful stock of all kinds of things for crafts, art, study, home making, decorating, and collecting.  All are donated items given new life through a unique system of paying a very small basic fee and weighing by the pound.  She also teaches are classes and ways to recycle.  Angie has one of the most useful, unique, and enjoyable businesses I've ever encountered.

The new CEO of About.com, owned by The New York Times, has jettisoned nearly all the collectibles sites.  He doesn't seem to think anyone is interested.   He just doesn't' get out much.  the Time itself has been featuring articles on people's collections in its arts section.  The long lines I find at auctions, antique shows, church rummage sales, and the fierce online bidding competition make me want to beg to differ with him.  He's young; maybe he'll grownup and realize the error of his ways.  Maybe we need start him on a Pokémon collection?

 28. If your VCR still works, don’t toss it. Make use of videos. 


Just basic old videos are still objects of desire to many collectors, just as vinyl records, 8-tracks, and cassettes are.    Don't toss them.  Donate them; there are many schools online that would love them, and still many libraries.  Also, cult and popular films sell and are kept in any form.   Unusual videos are still on my list, and I still watch them and enjoy them.  I am not old, or outdated, so if I'm doing it, I know others are, too.

More original tips redux and recipes, too!!

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