It’s better to buy these items second hand

Good morning Dinks.  They say that the best way to save money is to reduce, reuse and recycle the personal items that you already have.  If you use less, if you share and if you find other ways to use your current personal and household items then you will save hundreds of dollars per month.

I personally try to reduce the amount of items that I use and the amount of clothes I buy.  This year I am also trying to cook at home a little bit more so that I can eat out (and spend money) a little bit less. We are three months into 2013 and I am happy to say that I do cook at home a lot more than I did last year.  This is partly due to my newfound love of grocery shopping and cooking but it’s also partly due to the fact that the office building where I work is not located anywhere near good restaurants where I can eat on the go.

Do you reuse your items?

Maybe you swap clothes, furniture and household items with your friends and family.  Hand-me-downs used to be seen as a way for families with lower incomes to save money but now hand-me-downs are a way for trendy thrift-sters to be fabulous and frugal at the same time.  The thing about hand-me-downs is that in order for someone to receive them someone else has to buy new items.  My mother gave Nick and I her old living room set when she bought a new one.  I love home furnishing hand-me-downs as long as they are in good condition.

Closet swap parties are another great way for people to reuse their old clothes.  Friends and family get together for a dinner party and they each bring clothing and accessories that they no longer need or wear. After dinner everyone swaps their unwanted items for their friend’s items and everyone goes home with something new.

How do you recycle your unwanted items?

MSN recently published a list of popular items that you are better off buying used.  Are any of your personal items on the list?

– Bicycles.  This spring I will be in the market for a new bike and I thought about buying it brand new, but now I think I’ll check out Craigslist.

– Textbooks.  If any of our Dink friends are in school then you know that buying a used textbook is much cheaper than buying the book brand new.  When I buy a used textbook I feel less guilty about marking it up with highlighter.

– Cars.  I bought my Honda Civic brand new and admittedly I overpaid for it.  I loved having a new car but I know people who always buy their new cars used.

– Household appliances.  New refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and washing machines can be very expensive but I’m not sure if I would ever buy them used.  I guess we should never say never.

– Furniture.  I know that it can be much cheaper but I don’t think that I would buy furniture from someone that I don’t know.

What items do you buy used?

Photo by ben

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.