Used Stuff Saves U Money (well, saves us money)

The best used item for 2009 was a toilet.

My coworker remodeled her master bath. She got a new toilet. We took her old toilet. Her house is only about ten-years-old, so the toilet is in fine condition. I didn't like the one we had in our main bathroom. We used her vanity, and two sinks as well. And, on the walls, some of the paint was from the 'mistake' stack at the paint store. Our main bath remodel turned out quite nicely. About half the materials were used, and half new.

Wyatt saved his own money and bought an Xbox 360. Used. Then, so he wouldn't take over the family room, he got a used TV. Better than that though - we got it at the landfill. We went to our local landfill to drop off some electronics waste (always dispose of computers, phones, etc., correctly.) The televisions were stacked and shrink-wrapped on a pallet. The guy in charge of the electronics waste was kind enough to let us check to see if a few of them still worked. One did so we brought it home! It does have an annoying line and some dashes. It could prove distracting during a very dark scene in a movie... but hey, the price was right and it's about a 22" screen. FREE!!!

While we're on used appliances, two years ago, we bought an oven for $50 at the Habitat for Humanity Resale store. It works fine. The one we replaced had a worn thermostat, and a new thermostat was $123. We bought our dining room chandelier at Habitat, as well as a beautiful $129 Kohler faucet for $26!