The neighborhood where I live is adjacent to a more upscale neighborhood. As a result, I come across some pretty good free piles. Here's what I came across on my walks this past week.
An exercise ball chair with stand. These retail new for between $50 and $70.
A Krups 12-cup coffee maker. Amazon has this model on their site for $199.00. I found the same model in white on eBay, used for $28.00
A Rival Crockpot, 5-qt. eBay has similar crockpots selling used for $30 to $45.
We picked up the ball chair for my husband to use in his home office, hoping it will help with his chronic pain. The two appliances are large for our household size. However, I know I can use the coffee maker when we have guests. Our current coffee maker is a 4-cup model. 12-cups will be nice to have. I saw the crockpot and thought of the holidays. It will be nice to have an extra crockpot for big holiday meals.
I think folks in my area are seeing these as the last couple of weeks to set items out in free piles before fall rains arrive. I'm grateful.
Wow! Those are good finds. I've never seen an exercise ball chair. That's interesting. I hope it will bring some relief to your husband.
ReplyDeleteI'd never seen the stand either, Live and Learn. Thank you. I hope it helps with his pain, too.
DeleteI agree with "wow"! Free? I would have snagged them as well. I have the exercise ball but never saw the chair for them before. I visit estate sales for things that I buy for my kids. I found a large crockpot for my daughter because she couldn't take any of her kitchen stuff home from the country she lived in. She makes large quantities of food on weekends in her slow cooker and that feeds her all week long as her work days are long. I find a lot of really good deals but they're not free but they are inexpensive. I've gotten my son a kitchenaid mixer, my daughter an instant pot, a teapot for another daughter, all kinds of wonderful things.
ReplyDeleteA KitchenAid is a fabulous find at an Estate sale, Alice! It sounds like you find lots of great kitchen items for your adult kids, and I'm sure they appreciate them.
DeleteThose are nice freebies!! It's great that people are willing to share what doesn't work for them any longer. I'm a big fan of thrifting. I've found nice new condition books for our young granddaughter, and glad that her parents welcome my thrifted finds. I try to buy everything (with a few exceptions) used before buying new. Sometimes I think I'm hoarding too much buying pre need especially as I get older. Time to stop buying more and start using down.
ReplyDeleteLaura
Hi Laura,
DeleteWhat a wonderful gift to provide some near-new books for your young granddaughter. I'm sure she loves getting them from her grandmother and treasures each one.
I would never be able to find quality freebies like that around my neighborhood. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI have seen the ball chairs--they are often used in classrooms for kids with ADHD (concentrating on balancing helps focus their attention). You'll have to let us know if your husband feels like it is helpful to him.
I also would have snagged the coffee maker and the crockpot--partly because I'm starting to think about items my kids will need when they move into their own places. I find it's a tricky balance between what to save (very glad we saved our countertop microwave when we had our kitchen remodeled, as my son is making good use of it in college) and what not to save, as I also don't want tons of stuff hanging out in my basement for forever.
Hi Kris,
Deletemy daughter (who is a sub teacher) says the schools use these ball chairs for some kids with ADHD just for the purpose you mention.
When I grabbed the 2 kitchen appliances my thought was if I find they are not useful for me, I can always put them out on a free pile myself. But I think the coffee maker will be useful. I'll have to see if I find the extra crockpot as useful or if it just takes up more space. I don't have a basement, so my storage space has a more obvious limit. Glad your son could use your spare microwave.
My daughter did her Master's degree thesis on something like this perhaps with alternative seating in the classroom and even had that put into the classroom in the country she was living in at the time. --Alice
DeleteNice finds! Never heard of the stand for the exercise ball, but that's a great idea for a bit more stability.
ReplyDeleteHi Cat,
Deletethe stand was a new one to me, too. My daughter (who was walking with me that day) had seen them used, though.
I have a ball chair, I purchased it second hand so when we sat at our desk top computer we might use better posture. I replaced the ball when it had a slow leak. I paid for it to be inflated to the proper psi at a medical supply company. I re moved the back feature. You have to pay attention when you are sitting on it at a desk. Maybe it’s only me, if I get up too quickly it can roll away before I’m fully standing. Makes you practise your balance though.
ReplyDelete