Saturdays are not for sleeping in, they're for garage sales.

I am the cheapest person I know.

Don't get me wrong, I love spending money. Who doesn't? I just don't like spending a lot of money. My ex wife used to bitch about how cheap I am because I was always looking for the best deal or complaining about how expensive stuff is.
I make "decent" money but am by no means rolling in the dough. I'm fortunate enough to have very few bills and no debt, so I do okay. Yet I am constantly on the lookout for a good deal. Obsessed with finding a good deal is more like it.
I hate paying retail for anything and it's rare that I do. I was even kinda pissed the other day when I saw that Goodwill raised the prices of their shirts to $4.85. Yes, almost my entire wardrobe is from Goodwill and secondhand stores. Not only is it cheaper, but it's recycling.
No, I do NOT buy shoes, underwear, socks or bike clothes secondhand! I have some limits (although I did buy a beanie at a garage sale for .25 once)
Damn near my entire house is decorated with a mish mash of used stuff I've picked up at garage sales or thrift stores or with things that have been given to me.
I really love this time of year. Not only because of the beautiful bicycling weather, but because the garage sales in my neighborhood are off the hizzle. I said hizzle!
You can't swing a dead cat around here without running into a yard full of somebody elses' unwanted crap.

"One man's trash..."

It's almost embarrassing to admit, but I put aside about 2 hours every Saturday to roam the streets of East Sacramento going to yard sales and garage sales. I like to think of it as quality "me" time. I even have a planned route I drive that I will not veer from. Shit, this is starting to sound a bit OCD.
But there's nothing cooler than finding that one thing that would just look so perfect in that one place in my house (which looks pretty damn nice if I do say so myself.)
I also love to haggle, and in order to be a true cheap ass, you have to be willing to haggle and be good at it. There can be no shame when you haggle. Last week a lady was selling a sweet hammock for $3. I offered her $2. Now I have a badass hammock.
Garage sales are some cutthroat shit. All parking laws go right out the window. You can park on the wrong side of the street half on the sidewalk with your door open and engine running and it's okay, because it's a garage sale.

I've found bicycles, bike parts, knick knacks, furniture, mirrors and decorations that I could never afford to buy at retail. A lot of which I turn around and sell on Craigslist for WAY more than I paid. Last summer I probably made a good $1200 selling used bikes that I bought for next to nothing, fixed up and flipped.

No, I am not one of those crazy people that buys all kinds of weird things that he doesn't need and I don't have a house cluttered with ugly crap. I do know when to say when.

I'll likely be posting pics of my garage sale treasures in the coming months. Don't be j, but I have a sixth sense for finding really cool stuff. It's a gift, really. So don't you go out there trying to be as garage sale savvy as I am, because you'll likely end up quite disappointed.

Peace!