Why pay more?

It was nearly two years ago when my life was first changed by a little wonder called craigslist. I first heard of this wonderful place while working at Trustmark. We were told that you could go here and place job ads for free.

After that discovery, I started to lurk around the site a bit and see just what else craigslist had to offer me. Let's just say I have not been disappointed!

For those of you who are yet acquainted with this dear friend of mine, I'll give you a brief introduction. Craigslist is a local site where you can list ads for FREE. I still have yet to figure out how such a site exists, as there is no apparent way for the site to make any money.

Gone are the days of actually having to pay the newspaper to place an ad for an item you are wanting to advertise (furniture, electronics, cars, garage sales, etc.). In fact, I dare say that the free craigslist site is much more effective than the newspaper that charges! My first experience with selling on craigslist was a black china cabinet. It was beautiful, I just did not have room for it. Let's face it, there is a limited crowd of people searching for a black china cabinet. I placed ads in the trusty old Commercial Appeal, on EBAY, and even had a Garage Sale, with the sole purpose of trying to get rid of the thing! No luck. Whatsoever. I had all but given up, when out of nowhere, craigslist showed up in my life. I listed it. It sold. The very same day. Wow!

My selling didn't end there. I have since gotten rid of a love sac beanbag, a loveseat, and a beloved dodge avenger (which truly had seen better days!). The car sold within two days of being listed, I might add. I can't imagine getting better results anywhere else!

All of this selling made me curious about what there was out there for me to buy. Basically it is like a giant garage sale online. You can search for what you are looking for, and although it may not be there today, if you are persistent, you will almost always find whatever it was you were wanting. I bought every piece of furniture that is in Allie's room for a whopping grand total of $220! That's right. How can you not find the joy in that?! Buying for me is really only fun if you know that you got an incredible deal. If I had bought new, I imagine I would've spent well over $1,000, so I'd deem that an incredible deal! The dresser and crib had never even been used! I also talked all three people into delivering the furniture to me at no extra cost! It just doesn't get any better than that!

My advice to you would be that if you are on the lookout for something, anything really, check out craigslist first. You never know how much you might save! I have taken this theory to heart, which is I guess why some have affectionately dubbed me the craigslist queen. Also, if you do decide to buy, please NEVER pay the asking price. There is ALWAYS room for negotiation!

I'll leave you with this picture, because it is just too cute not to share. No, I didn't buy the bumbo seat on craigslist, but I did get it used for only $15 with the playtray included. (For those who aren't familiar with the bumbo chairs, this together would retail for $50!)