Craigslisting My Way Through Summer

I love this time of year. I love buying things for the porches. I love buying landscaping materials for the yard. I love going to the dollar store and stocking up on swimming supplies. It makes me feel like summer is already here despite the fact that the weather is not quite there yet. So for the past month I've been Craigslisting and have come up with some pretty good scores. Check out my deals below (taken with my iphone in panorama mode). All the furniture (sofa, side tables and patio set) came up to less than $125 and that outdoor sofa still had the plastic on it! To see a larger version of the picture just click on it.

If you're looking for bargains too the stuff I bought this year were as follows: The outdoor rugs I bought at Home Depot for only $19.99 a piece (6'x8'). The side tables at the Christmas Tree Shop for only $11.99. The plants I got at Walmart (I know Walmart's not the best place for plant shopping) for only $11.99 and the pots (which you can't really see but they are almost 20" and have a nice circle pattern) were only $9.99 at Home Depot.

The table and chair set I bought last year on Craigslist for only $49.99 and the umbrellas I bought on sale last fall for only $9.99 a piece. I use a service called AdRavage which you can set to send you notifications whenever an item is listed with criteria you choose (like price, location, etc.) It's free and it's gotten me so many good deals! The good ones are always the ones to go fast!

So all together, this entire patio (not including the kids playhouse) came up to $227! I don't think you could even buy a single patio set for that much brand new.

Now I'm working on my front porch but I feel like something is missing. Maybe some hanging ferns? Would that be too much greenery? Those outdoor pillows I bought yesterday at Walmart for only $7.50. The chairs I picked up from the curb years ago.