The List

Craigslist.org.
It's the best thing since sliced bread if you're looking to buy or sell something.
However, I would advise against personal ads or help wanted ads on this particular internet vehicle.  Google these keywords with craigslist.  You'll see what I mean.
They say one man's junk (by that I mean unwanted possessions) is another man's treasure.  As I get older, more and more things in my home are finding their way out via Craigslist.
I hate just throwing things away arbitrarily.  It goes against everything I believe in.
When my paternal grandfather was still alive, he often worked as a neighborhood handyman.  Anytime something broke, he could fix it.
This was long before the whole 'green' thing became chic.
If someone junked a car, threw out an old automatic washer, or TV set, he was on it and stripping out any salvageable parts for future use, for himself or a neighbor in need.
It was a community service in a sense.  He saved a lot of people a lot of money by not having to call a repairman or buying something new.
We've become a throwaway society.  TV sets and other major appliances were only discarded when a vital component broke on it and parts were no longer available or the repair costs would almost render buying a replacement a better value.
Clothes were mended, not simply thrown away because of one little hole or threadbare spot.
This wasn't just because the value system was different, but simply because we were more careful with our money back then.
It was most often a single-paycheck household.  Dad went to work.  Mom did not work outside the home.  Her business was raising the family, making sure the bills got paid, and everything else that Dad didn't have time to worry about.
The money Dad earned went further when not a single penny was taken for granted, and 'waste not, want not' was the order of the day.
And the day was LONG, I might add.
My wife Margie often threw things away without giving it a second thought.  But then I would say 'let me see if I can sell it on Craigslist.'  Or even eBay.
She agreed.  She knows what kind of family I come from...so she had no problem with it.
Thus far, I've sold water-skiis, old kitchen cupboards, an Intex pool kit, two old bathroom mirrors, and gave away a bathroom countertop after I had no luck selling it for cash.
I don't make a fortune by doing this, nor a living for that matter.  But if what I can turn useless junk into cash, hey...why not?
I myself have bought an amplified DJ speaker system, workbench, a baby swing for my daughter, another one for when my in-laws watched her shortly after she was born, just to name a few.
Not everything I own has to be brand-spanking out-of-the-box new.  I can get 'like new' for much less, and have more money left for other things.
I personally would rather see something of no use to me get used by someone who would have a use for it.  It's always better than ending up in a landfill.
And not only that, it's better to save money by choice, rather than necessity.
Thanks, Grandpa.


NEXT WEEK:  Getting my burn on