Speaker 1: Episode four to twenty Save money with salvage Stores.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 2: save money, embrace simplicity, and live your life. Here your hosts,
Speaker 2: Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
Speaker 1: my name is Jill, and today we are talking about
Speaker 1: salvage stores. What they are. You probably know what they are,
Speaker 1: but don't like, don't think you know what they are,
Speaker 1: you do. And we're going to share the types of
Speaker 1: salvage stores, how to find them, how to identify them
Speaker 1: if you already know them, and then tips for shopping them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and some you're probably familiar with and others you
Speaker 3: may have never heard of. And that's what we hope
Speaker 3: for today is to send you on a little scavenger hunt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a drive buy them every day and not know
Speaker 1: what they are and be scared to go in. And
Speaker 1: we are going to overcome that stigment today.
Speaker 3: Yes, But first, this episode is brought to you by collecting.
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Speaker 1: I love collecting money. It is so nice.
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Speaker 1: It's just a good way, a way that helps the show.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash ci. So, all right,
Speaker 1: we are talking about salvage stores today. If you are
Speaker 1: looking for the deals, as always, if you don't need it,
Speaker 1: it's not a good deal. But if you are hunting
Speaker 1: for deals on things you need, check out episode three
Speaker 1: seventy nine, how to get affordable quality Versus cheap quantity,
Speaker 1: and then episode three forty one, Why you Shouldn't Sleep
Speaker 1: on estate sales. We love those two episodes.
Speaker 3: It's a nice little curation. They're not exactly the same,
Speaker 3: but they're adjacent. They are a deal adjacent.
Speaker 1: Deal adjacent, and salvage stores are deal adjacent as well.
Speaker 1: Some people are obsessed with them, some people hate them,
Speaker 1: and we are going to fall somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, So here's what they are. They offer scratch
Speaker 3: in dent items for products that are nearing or have
Speaker 3: past their best buy dates for a major discount. Now
Speaker 3: those best buy dates. That has to do with food,
Speaker 3: because yes, there are salvage stores for food, but there's
Speaker 3: salvage stores for pretty much all other types of things
Speaker 3: you may want to purchase, furniture, appliances. We'll go through
Speaker 3: all of that, but essentially, they are these discount stores
Speaker 3: for maybe items that are slightly damaged open box people.
Speaker 3: They're just not flying off the shelves like the distributor
Speaker 3: thought that they would, and so you can get it
Speaker 3: at a steep discount.
Speaker 1: Yeah, or there's been a rebrand and they want to
Speaker 1: get rid of all the old brand and you know,
Speaker 1: put the new brand. So salvage stores sometimes get a
Speaker 1: reputation for just housing a bunch of cheap crap. And
Speaker 1: that's not wrong. Sometimes they do earn that reputation, but
Speaker 1: it's not strictly cheap stuff. There are some cases where
Speaker 1: you can find some quality stuff. So there we're going
Speaker 1: to go over We're going to dive deep into three
Speaker 1: different types of salvage stores, and we're gonna mention some articles.
Speaker 1: But there was just not an article that aligned with
Speaker 1: the vision I had for this episode. So we're kind
Speaker 1: of going rogue on this one and just relaying information
Speaker 1: from several different articles.
Speaker 3: We've gone rogue before and it kind of put the
Speaker 3: wind beneath our sales. To realize, it's our podcast. We
Speaker 3: can do what we want.
Speaker 1: Wind beneath our sales, wind in And that's what happened. Guys.
Speaker 1: This is why make you outline with a with an
Speaker 1: article that was written by somebody with an editor and
Speaker 1: so I don't apologize though, I'm not gonna apologize. So
Speaker 1: there are three different types of salvage stores that we're
Speaker 1: going to cover. The first is grocery, next is architectural,
Speaker 1: and then overstock. So grocery salvage stores obviously that's food
Speaker 1: and so, like Jill said, they have a lot of
Speaker 1: things that are nearing or have just passed their best
Speaker 1: buy dates. In one of the articles I read from
Speaker 1: the Kitchen the Kitchen with no Eh, they research and
Speaker 1: found that really the only food that cannot be sold
Speaker 1: after the date on the package is baby formula, so
Speaker 1: all other foods are fair game. All the best buy,
Speaker 1: used by and sell by dates are freshness suggestions from
Speaker 1: the manufacturers, so it says they're not a ticking time
Speaker 1: bomb for when it's unsafe to consume. And all salvage
Speaker 1: grocery stores are required to take the same food storage
Speaker 1: precautions as conventional grocery stores, and health inspectors visit regularly
Speaker 1: just like they do at conventional ones, so they are
Speaker 1: required to examine perishables.
Speaker 3: And there are some helpful guides online for what you
Speaker 3: can imagine for different can goods that might be passed
Speaker 3: their best buy sell by use by dates. Those are,
Speaker 3: like you said, the manufacturing dates that are put on
Speaker 3: that it has nothing to do necessarily with food safety guidelines.
Speaker 3: It's more food freshness, and so there are some helpful
Speaker 3: guides to say, if it's acidic, you can go this
Speaker 3: amount of time past the sell by date. If it's meat,
Speaker 3: here's your kind of safe window past that date, So
Speaker 3: of course you're going to need to do what's comfortable
Speaker 3: for you, but just know that those are not expiration dates.
Speaker 3: It does not mean that the food is now rancid,
Speaker 3: and just kind of check where the window of safety
Speaker 3: might be. And so a lot of these things, cereals,
Speaker 3: canned goods, other kind of shelf staples, but sometimes produce too,
Speaker 3: can find themselves at these food salvage stores and they
Speaker 3: wind up there because maybe an item has been discontinued
Speaker 3: or it's not flying off the shelf, if there's been
Speaker 3: a rebrand described gen or they are nearing or at
Speaker 3: their cell by date. Again, they can still be sold
Speaker 3: past that. They are allowed legally to still sell you
Speaker 3: those items even though the date on it says sell by,
Speaker 3: because again it's it's freshness, not danger to.
Speaker 1: You, and the fresh stuff is gonna really what's in
Speaker 1: season locally to you. That's really going to determine the
Speaker 1: fresh stuff that you get in there. So the second
Speaker 1: one architectural. They resell hardware, windows, doors, and other home details,
Speaker 1: so they're going to be more building materials versus your
Speaker 1: antique shops and thrift shops. And so this is where
Speaker 1: when we get to salvage stores. You can find really
Speaker 1: great quality if you know what to look for, and
Speaker 1: we'll go into that later. But architectural salvages are what
Speaker 1: you when you see the designers on HGTV going in
Speaker 1: to find all of these really unique pieces for those houses.
Speaker 1: They're going to architectural salvages, and sometimes they'll be going
Speaker 1: to antique shops. But I see I watch a lot
Speaker 1: of I've watched a lot of them over the past
Speaker 1: two years because they give me hope for the renovation,
Speaker 1: and I see it. I was like that they're going
Speaker 1: to architectural salvages. So if you want to be a
Speaker 1: little more HGTV, or you have time, like maybe you're
Speaker 1: not renovating a whole house, maybe you just want to
Speaker 1: replace one or two things, they can be a great
Speaker 1: way to get higher quality building materials at a lower price.
Speaker 3: I'm going to add an addendum to the architectural category
Speaker 3: and say that there's also salvage stores for furniture and appliances.
Speaker 3: I'm going to talk about examples for that too, but
Speaker 3: also the actual third category we wanted to highlight was overstock.
Speaker 3: So some of these are exchangeable words for salvage stores, like,
Speaker 3: if salvage doesn't sound familiar to you, overstock or open
Speaker 3: box like, there's a lot of Yeah, there's a lot
Speaker 3: of these words that can kind of encompass the same thing.
Speaker 3: So overstock stores are particular type of salvage where stores
Speaker 3: like Target, Walmart, even Amazon will send their excess, their overstock,
Speaker 3: they're discontinued, or their returned items that you can then
Speaker 3: get at a discount.
Speaker 1: Yes, so let's go into examples that you may recognize
Speaker 1: and some examples that you may not. So you can
Speaker 1: find these stores in your because they are usually small,
Speaker 1: independently owned, and local, and we love that. We love
Speaker 1: supporting local businesses, and this is one way you can
Speaker 1: do it and save money. It's not all shopping the
Speaker 1: kitchy knickknacks at farmers' markets to support small businesses, it's
Speaker 1: these these things so groceries like. So, yes, you will
Speaker 1: have your national chains, you'll have your save a lot,
Speaker 1: your price right your grocery outlet. But a lot of
Speaker 1: the times if you google, uh, just salvage grocery store,
Speaker 1: you'll find some local ones. There's a there's a website
Speaker 1: called buy salvagefood dot com. Buy Salvagefood dot Com, where
Speaker 1: you can find all of the salvage food grocers in
Speaker 1: the country, and a lot of them are gonna be
Speaker 1: aimed like X discount grocery, like Saint Pete Discount Grocery,
Speaker 1: Lakeland Discount Grocery, or maybe like a They're all independently owned, right,
Speaker 1: so even these actually even like grocery outlets, it's a
Speaker 1: national chain, but each grocery outlet is individually owned, So
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that's with price right and save
Speaker 1: a lot, but I know grocery outlets are locally owned.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I learned by going to that Buy Salvage
Speaker 3: Food about ones in our area. I'm thinking, yeah, I
Speaker 3: don't know. I feel like I know all the different
Speaker 3: spots around. They might be a little bit more of
Speaker 3: a drive for you, and that's where you'd have to
Speaker 3: weigh out is it worth it or are you happening
Speaker 3: to be in that area and you can kind of
Speaker 3: tack it onto your trip because sometimes the discounts you
Speaker 3: get there can be really amazing. So this also would
Speaker 3: apply to like the misfits market. I'm sure a lot
Speaker 3: of us have gotten ads for on Instagram Imperfect foods.
Speaker 3: I'm realizing this is a little bit like what I'm
Speaker 3: currently doing. It's local to Saint Pete. It's called Adduce Produce,
Speaker 3: So if you're in Saint Pete, check them out. But
Speaker 3: they supply to restaurants, produced to restaurants, but all of
Speaker 3: their leftovers they give to residences for a discount price.
Speaker 3: So every two weeks I get a different box with
Speaker 3: just an assortment. I never know what's going to be
Speaker 3: in it. It's always a huge variety and very exciting,
Speaker 3: but I get it at a discount because it's their
Speaker 3: leftovers from what the restaurants didn't take. Yes.
Speaker 1: Yes, So that's another way support local businesses, save money
Speaker 1: and literally getting fresh produced delivered to your house. I
Speaker 1: love that. Next is architectural and so these are are
Speaker 1: these are these are very hyper local because a lot
Speaker 1: of the stuff in these uh these salvages are large doors, windows,
Speaker 1: like machinery, stuff like that. So and it's sometimes it's old.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's from older houses or houses that renovate, like
Speaker 1: you've got habitat for humanity restore. But then you have
Speaker 1: also these places that take overstock from so it's kind
Speaker 1: of like a hybrid of architectural and overstock because they're
Speaker 1: taking overstock from like home Depot and lows, right, So
Speaker 1: I know we both there's one in our area that
Speaker 1: we've both bought so many things from. Jill has an
Speaker 1: interesting story in her last encounter with there. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we will talk about later.
Speaker 3: Oh well that was kind of that was like a
Speaker 3: tools and that kind of a thing. Yeah, that they
Speaker 3: primarily only get things from Home Depot, but it and
Speaker 3: that's one of the side pieces. We'll get to tips
Speaker 3: in a little bit. But because their family owned and operated,
Speaker 3: a lot of times you're not going to get necessarily
Speaker 3: the warranties from the manufacturer, that kind of.
Speaker 1: You're not getting the corporate customer service.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but this one. Yeah, not just doors and windows
Speaker 3: and that kind of thing, but all of the tools
Speaker 3: and literally anything Home Depot sells they sell at a
Speaker 3: fifty percent discount. So that's very fun. And my addendum
Speaker 3: to that is the furniture and appliance stores as well.
Speaker 3: So many many furniture stores that you go to will
Speaker 3: have a separate section or room just right on property
Speaker 3: of their maybe returned items or not as popular or
Speaker 3: trendy items, just kind of in the back, more dimly lit.
Speaker 3: They don't really want you to know about it. Every
Speaker 3: furniture store I've ever been to and you try and
Speaker 3: find where is this discounted spot, they don't want you
Speaker 3: to know. They want you to buy the couch that's
Speaker 3: right up front. But if you ask, hey, do you
Speaker 3: have a discounted section, returned or showroom items that you
Speaker 3: know you can sell at a discount, many places will
Speaker 3: have that. There's also this one spot called American Freight
Speaker 3: that'll be a lot of open box appliances, so scratch
Speaker 3: and dent. That's another thing you can search when you're
Speaker 3: looking for these items is scratch and dent, open box.
Speaker 3: American Freight is all over the place, so if you
Speaker 3: have one near you, that's a great option. But again,
Speaker 3: these are the types of words you can be searching
Speaker 3: when you're looking for these items. All of our appliances
Speaker 3: in our kitchen are either from Facebook Marketplace or some
Speaker 3: of these scratch and dent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I find a lot of the furniture is being
Speaker 1: sold is being liquidated to resellers who sell it on
Speaker 1: Facebook Marketplace. So instead of having these large storefronts for
Speaker 1: resale furniture, which is very expensive, it's smaller resellers who
Speaker 1: have you know, these smaller like almost sketchy looking little warehouses.
Speaker 1: That's what our couch. We just bought a new couch.
Speaker 1: We upgraded from our thirty dollars goodwill couch to a
Speaker 1: thousand dollar Costco liquidation couche. So and it is such
Speaker 1: an upgrade. It is like a four thousand dollars couch
Speaker 1: that it was from the showrooms, just from the floor,
Speaker 1: the Costco floor, and it needs a little repainting on
Speaker 1: the legs, but the couch is Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I think we had talked about this before too,
Speaker 3: but I think it's worth mentioning in this context. A
Speaker 3: lot of times, so your your mattress deliveries, your your
Speaker 3: mattresses without box springs from all of those different brands
Speaker 3: who deliver mattresses rolled up to you and offer a
Speaker 3: thirty day money back guarantee. When they send them back,
Speaker 3: they actually send them typically to a third party person
Speaker 3: who then they don't tell you this. You have to
Speaker 3: kind of figure it out yourself. We're telling you this.
Speaker 3: They are allowed to clean them, sanitize them. They haven't
Speaker 3: been used more than a couple of weeks, sometimes less
Speaker 3: than that. And resell them. So some of the sellers
Speaker 3: that you see on Facebook Marketplace selling mattresses, you don't
Speaker 3: have to be schethed out by. They are selling mattresses
Speaker 3: that were just tested, they've cleaned them, they've been certified resellers,
Speaker 3: and you can get the very mattresses that you were
Speaker 3: curious about. Now you're not going to get your thirty
Speaker 3: day money back guarantee when you buy them from a
Speaker 3: third party retailer. And some of them will also sell
Speaker 3: furniture like both are well, no, I guess just our
Speaker 3: table is from a reseller like that. There's different companies
Speaker 3: who will also provide money back guarantees on dining tables
Speaker 3: and chairs and it's just not worth it to them
Speaker 3: to bring it back to their warehouse, so these third
Speaker 3: party sellers will sell them on Facebook Marketplace. So then
Speaker 3: the final example is these overstock stores. So that's the
Speaker 3: ways that you can find them is by searching those
Speaker 3: keywords overstock, salvage, liquidation. The bin spot is an example
Speaker 3: of that. There are also other bin stores for Amazon
Speaker 3: that you can find and kind of get like dig
Speaker 3: through the bins and only pay a couple of.
Speaker 1: Dollars called like hot bins something that they have with
Speaker 1: a Z. I think, yeah, they're all again locally owned
Speaker 1: and operated. Yeah, because you can buy like you as
Speaker 1: a normal like nobody. No, but that's a hard harsh
Speaker 1: thing to say as us as like you know people.
Speaker 1: That's what I meant to say. I can buy Amazon
Speaker 1: will sell you bulk liquidation things. I saw a lot
Speaker 1: like it has a special Amazon bulk liquidation website that
Speaker 1: they're selling like bulk children's clothing. It was like five
Speaker 1: hundred dollars for the lot, and I thought that would
Speaker 1: be a really cool place if you're trying to like
Speaker 1: do a clothing drive for like like foster homes.
Speaker 3: Or like they just get two thousand yellow T shirt
Speaker 3: size medium.
Speaker 1: So I didn't look into what was in the bull corners,
Speaker 1: but I just thought and I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: what a great way. Yeah, there's ways instead of giving
Speaker 1: them like the clothing that nobody wants to wear. Then
Speaker 1: you know, actually, I don't know, that's just my first thought,
Speaker 1: but you could. I could go on there and I
Speaker 1: don't need a special license or correction to buy bulk stuff.
Speaker 1: And that's where you get hot bittensze. Somebody like me
Speaker 1: have that idea and just bought a storefront and opened
Speaker 1: hot Bit.
Speaker 3: But then when you go to a place like that,
Speaker 3: you can buy the smaller quantities. They are the company
Speaker 3: who's paying the five hundred for a lot, and then
Speaker 3: you can go in and get what.
Speaker 1: I buy, the five hundred yellow, so you can buy
Speaker 1: one for like a penny.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I will also mention that Goodwill often resells Target
Speaker 3: items and Walmart and Walmart items. Yeah, Allie's is a
Speaker 3: salvage store as well, So go out there google these things. Again,
Speaker 3: only get the things that you actually need, because it's
Speaker 3: not a deal if you don't need it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I had the best luck searching googling overstock stores near
Speaker 1: me because when I search for salvage, I get the
Speaker 1: architectural salvage. When I search liquidation, I get actually the
Speaker 1: wholesale sites where these resellers are buying their wholesale liquidations.
Speaker 1: But when I searched overstock stores, I started getting the
Speaker 1: hot Bins and the Allies. So that might help you
Speaker 1: if you've got these other salvage stores near you. So
Speaker 1: next we're going to talk tips for shopping salvage stores,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna start with grocery. So my first tip
Speaker 1: is to pay attention to mailers and sign up for
Speaker 1: emails if you want to see what they have in stock.
Speaker 1: And this goes This actually goes for like overstock ones too,
Speaker 1: because I'll get the for Allies. We don't have any
Speaker 1: salvage grocery stores near us, but we do have an Allie's,
Speaker 1: and I'll get ads for them all the time, so
Speaker 1: you can go in and see. You don't have to
Speaker 1: go in every week to see what they have. You
Speaker 1: can get the mailer or the email to see what
Speaker 1: the big draws are to see if you want to
Speaker 1: go in.
Speaker 3: But most of the time the real deals are going
Speaker 3: to be in the store, not in the ads, so
Speaker 3: it is worth doing a perusal. But I would say
Speaker 3: going in knowing typical pricing of groceries, Like any store
Speaker 3: that's kind of promising a deal or you think is
Speaker 3: a good they have good prices a lot of times.
Speaker 3: That's only for certain things. There are going to be
Speaker 3: other items on the shelves that are not actually a
Speaker 3: good deal, So be sure that you have that awareness
Speaker 3: that not everything is going to be an absolute steal
Speaker 3: or discount of an item. Know what things are worth.
Speaker 1: Yeah, But just because you see some things are not
Speaker 1: a deal versus the grocery store does not mean you there.
Speaker 3: Are no deals, right, Yeah, So you can stock up
Speaker 3: on the staples again, as long as you're comfortable with
Speaker 3: kind of how long it's going to take you to
Speaker 3: use them, how far past a sell by date is it.
Speaker 3: Are you comfortable using those items? Is it recommended to
Speaker 3: use those items? But that's the way that I will
Speaker 3: approach grocery discount grocers like this because they're not super close. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it is just like a once a month type of thing,
Speaker 3: just to see what do they have on certain shelf staples.
Speaker 3: You can get a lot, but also you can get
Speaker 3: meats at many of these places. So whatever you can freeze,
Speaker 3: many of them do have a freezer section, So stock
Speaker 3: up on those items. That's how I've used them.
Speaker 1: I just realized you took me to my first grocery
Speaker 1: salvage store in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3: WHOA, yeah, that sounds right.
Speaker 1: First when I what is it called.
Speaker 3: Swan's pantry, and that sounds right, And it was dimly lit,
Speaker 3: not every light bulb was on in the place it
Speaker 3: was we had a ball and everything's like stacked up
Speaker 3: on pallettes like they're not they're not trying to wow
Speaker 3: you there. This one also sold bulk items as well,
Speaker 3: like you could measure out your beans and rice and flower.
Speaker 1: Great for zero weights. I know you're trying to make
Speaker 1: less waste. These are also great places to do that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what we flashback, That is a flashback. And then
Speaker 3: I think that night we went to like the Dollar
Speaker 3: Theater because that still assisted. Then we really did. We
Speaker 3: lived what we ended up speaking.
Speaker 1: About Country place for dinner.
Speaker 3: Which is cash only in twenty bucks will feed for people.
Speaker 3: It so did. Man.
Speaker 1: If you ever wonder why we started a podcast together,
Speaker 1: just remember like those trips that we like, we came
Speaker 1: to visit you in Pennsylvania and that is what was
Speaker 1: in And that was before we started Frugal Friends.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was before we were just out there living it,
Speaker 3: just live in. And then we also went to a
Speaker 3: boat show we.
Speaker 1: Did in city in like Manhattan or so.
Speaker 3: We were threading that radical middle needle from the very beginning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were walking through yachts in this big convention
Speaker 1: center in New York City.
Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, what a dream we were, like we were
Speaker 3: yacht and press.
Speaker 1: We're so young, all right, So next, so uh stock
Speaker 1: up on these beloved staples. But know that in some
Speaker 1: stores certain items, certain staples like bread, chips, tortillas, those
Speaker 1: are actually stocked by suppliers and won't ever have any deals.
Speaker 1: So this will go for anywhere where you buy food,
Speaker 1: a good eighty percent of it will be this salvage stuff.
Speaker 1: But they want to have a well rounded, like full
Speaker 1: grocery store, right, so there's gonna be some things that
Speaker 1: they can't consistently get salvage, and those have suppliers. That's
Speaker 1: gonna be for any that's even for the like my
Speaker 1: father in laws, you pick farm, you know, they bring
Speaker 1: in outside produce from other local farms that they don't
Speaker 1: grow because they want to have like a more well
Speaker 1: rounded offering, you know. So it's always the eighty twenty
Speaker 1: rule on these things. So just it's not the it's
Speaker 1: not gonna be the same staples for every grocery store.
Speaker 1: But know that when you are seeing prices that are
Speaker 1: pretty comparable to regular grocery stores, it doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: salvage stores are a scam. It means that some of
Speaker 1: them do have suppliers for some.
Speaker 3: Things, right, yes, exactly, And the more the merrier. If
Speaker 3: you've got a lot of these grocery outlets in your area,
Speaker 3: that just means they're going to be competing with each other.
Speaker 3: So that's a good thing for you the customer.
Speaker 1: Locally owned and operated.
Speaker 3: When it comes to these architectural salvage stores, some of
Speaker 3: our tips include bringing the specifications with you, detailed measurements,
Speaker 3: make sure that you have what you're looking for on hand,
Speaker 3: maybe even your own tape measurer too, to make sure
Speaker 3: that the items that you're looking at are going to
Speaker 3: fit within your spaces because a lot of times we
Speaker 3: do kind of have to modify our plans a little
Speaker 3: bit in order to get the deal. So making sure
Speaker 3: that you know what's the max amount of space that
Speaker 3: I have for this, I can't go beyond it, because
Speaker 3: they're not just going to have all options available to you.
Speaker 3: They're going to have these options, and if you want
Speaker 3: to make one of them work, it's going to be
Speaker 3: important that you really know exact measurements.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and there are even like special salvage stores that
Speaker 1: not even stores salvage yards that that do just one thing.
Speaker 1: So like when we got our house, there was a
Speaker 1: window ac unit in one of the windows that they
Speaker 1: had just taken the glass out of. There was no
Speaker 1: glass in it, and it's a bay window, and bay
Speaker 1: windows are not cheap. And there's two bay windows, so
Speaker 1: it's not like we could just replace one and you know,
Speaker 1: we have the other one that has to match it.
Speaker 1: So we went, well, Travis, Travis went to a window
Speaker 1: salvage where all they had was windows.
Speaker 3: Eric's been to a door one. Yeah, there's a dude
Speaker 3: who just has doors. That's yet there are dudes that
Speaker 3: just our dudes out there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that just have one thing and have a lot
Speaker 1: of it. So he went to a window salvage yard
Speaker 1: with his specific measurements for this jalousy bay window and
Speaker 1: got a window that had the right glass and he
Speaker 1: just took that one page of glass that we needed
Speaker 1: out of that window wasn't a bay window and put
Speaker 1: it into our bay window.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's great.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's it can save you a lot of
Speaker 1: money from not having to replace two bay windows.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but I think along with that, make sure that
Speaker 3: it is compatible, it's code compliant. Most states are gonna
Speaker 3: have requirements for your doors, for your windows. Some windows
Speaker 3: now are not up to compliance, so be sure that
Speaker 3: what you're putting in isn't going to get you in
Speaker 3: trouble and cost you more money than you will.
Speaker 1: Thought salvage stuff. It's it's great for decorative purposes, but
Speaker 1: it may not be right for structural purposes anymore. So
Speaker 1: just make sure. And then some of them may have
Speaker 1: lead paint on them. I know these these people do
Speaker 1: a really good job of trying to make sure everything
Speaker 1: they have is safe, but sometimes they just it passes
Speaker 1: by them. They may not know. So yeah, do your
Speaker 1: due diligence on anything you bring in your home and
Speaker 1: ask staff for what you need. So these places are
Speaker 1: by nature overwhelming, and that can be a big barrier
Speaker 1: to entry for people even trying to find what they need.
Speaker 1: But know that you can go, whether it's the architectural
Speaker 1: Savage Store or it's a you know, a dude with doors,
Speaker 1: you can go to the people that work there and
Speaker 1: tell them what you need and they can kind of
Speaker 1: guide you where to go. You're not on your own,
Speaker 1: You're not dumb for needing help. It is very normal.
Speaker 1: Don't get overwhelmed. If that can like break down that
Speaker 1: barrier to entry for you trying these things, then know
Speaker 1: that you can foresure, ask for it.
Speaker 3: Most of them are so thrilled and they know the
Speaker 3: store like the back of their hands.
Speaker 1: And again, they are small, locally owned businesses and they
Speaker 1: are willing to help. They want and need your business,
Speaker 1: and yeah, and so let's support them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the same thing applies to your appliance and
Speaker 3: furniture stores as well. Ask about it, tell them what
Speaker 3: you need, bring your measurements along with you, and use
Speaker 3: social media as a guide to help you not only
Speaker 3: find these stores, but start to understand what these stores
Speaker 3: are offering. Oftentimes they'll post their recent find their recent
Speaker 3: for sale item on Instagram or Facebook marketplace, so you
Speaker 3: can even dip your toe in the water that way
Speaker 3: from the comfort of your own home before you go in.
Speaker 3: And again, though, if you are getting specifically appliances or
Speaker 3: things that would typically come with a warranty, still feel
Speaker 3: free to ask about it. There are some that can
Speaker 3: still provide the manufacturer warranty or maybe even a third
Speaker 3: party type of warranty, and others who do not, so
Speaker 3: it's still worth an ask if it's something worthwhile to you.
Speaker 3: I know we've kind of valued getting warranties on fridge
Speaker 3: and washer washing machine because those things do typically need
Speaker 3: a lot of repair over the course of their lives.
Speaker 3: They are appliances that we don't want to be replacing
Speaker 3: every five years. So if there's a warranty that says
Speaker 3: it'll last for fifteen and they're gonna come and do
Speaker 3: the parts and that kind of thing, those are specifically
Speaker 3: on those two appliances are the warranties that we have
Speaker 3: splurged for. So just keep that in mind. At these
Speaker 3: salvage stores, you can get the discount and then maybe
Speaker 3: pay slightly more but still less than you would have
Speaker 3: full price to make sure that that thing's still gonna
Speaker 3: last you.
Speaker 1: And it's still safer than just buying it from a
Speaker 1: dude on Facebook marketplace. Yeah, exactly, a warranty, okay. And finally,
Speaker 1: overstock stores, go in with a list. This is the
Speaker 1: place where I mean, you're gonna you're gonna overspend the
Speaker 1: most in these places. If you've ever thought of yourself
Speaker 1: as a maximis sta, this is for you. Go in
Speaker 1: with a list, a maximalist. Yeah, don't, don't. It's not
Speaker 1: a deal if you don't need it.
Speaker 3: And it's not a deal if it's just going to
Speaker 3: be a bunch of deals that end up becoming clutter,
Speaker 3: and none of it was exactly what you wanted at
Speaker 3: that point. It'd be better to buy something new at
Speaker 3: full price than a collection of things that are almost there.
Speaker 1: Yes, oh my gosh, Yes, yes, yes, And there are
Speaker 1: definitely some things you should avoid at these stores. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's anything I would avoid at either of
Speaker 1: the other ones, except like maybe lead paint at an
Speaker 1: architectural resale. But avoid furniture unless it's like a good
Speaker 1: quality furniture outlet. Even some of these furniture outlets I've
Speaker 1: gone to, they're just not great quality furniture. You have
Speaker 1: to be very picky, and you're often better at going
Speaker 1: with a consignment or a thrift store for furniture. So
Speaker 1: just be really, really cautious about furniture. And then also
Speaker 1: avoid fast fashion. So we're not buying clothes at Tjmax
Speaker 1: and raw yes, because it's already in worse condition than
Speaker 1: it was when it was at Target or Walmart or wherever,
Speaker 1: and it was already a poor quality there.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna push back on that. I will get clothes
Speaker 3: from those items, because sometimes they do sell the brands
Speaker 3: that are more long lasting like, not all of it
Speaker 3: are these some of them are, but some of them,
Speaker 3: like you can find your I don't know at athletic
Speaker 3: where that is typically very expensive. I do think if
Speaker 3: you're a digger, you could.
Speaker 1: Find but that's rare because sometimes and it's the same
Speaker 1: with outlet stores like Gap Outlet. Gap outlet isn't getting
Speaker 1: gaps rejects. They're getting like half half quality of the
Speaker 1: regular store because they're testing product lines at gap outlet
Speaker 1: and if it sells well at the outlet, then they
Speaker 1: sell it at the retail store TJ Max Ross, those
Speaker 1: stores get a lot of those, so you can just
Speaker 1: feel the quality even if it's name brand and this
Speaker 1: have a lot with shoes. You'll see name brand good
Speaker 1: quality brands in the shoes. They're not the actual good
Speaker 1: quality of the brand. They are testers to see what
Speaker 1: sells well so that the brand can make it at
Speaker 1: good quality. So use your discernment and if it feels
Speaker 1: of poor quality, then it is regardless of the name
Speaker 1: on the tag.
Speaker 3: Wow, do you know what is good quality? Though at
Speaker 3: a low price?
Speaker 1: Always and there's we never have it with this one.
Speaker 2: The bill of the week. That's right, it's time for
Speaker 2: the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams.
Speaker 2: Maybe you've paid off your mortgage. Maybe your card died
Speaker 2: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's bills, but blow bills.
Speaker 2: Bill clon, this is the bill of the week.
Speaker 4: Hi Jen, Hi Jill. This is you're an a from
Speaker 4: the beautiful Fingerlakes area of upstate New York calling you
Speaker 4: with my bill of the week. I recently had surgery
Speaker 4: on my back and got the bill and a cost
Speaker 4: one hundred and twelve thousand dollars. Yes, you heard right,
Speaker 4: one hundred and twelve thousand dollars for my surgery. So
Speaker 4: I re listened to the episode by doctor Ellington on
Speaker 4: negotiating your medical bills, and I applied for financial aid
Speaker 4: to the hospital where I had my surgery, and lo
Speaker 4: and behold, I only had to pay slightly over two
Speaker 4: thousand dollars for my surgery.
Speaker 1: Crug win.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much to both of you and to
Speaker 4: doctor Ellington for all your wisdom. And that's my bill
Speaker 4: of the week. Take care, love y'all.
Speaker 1: Bye. Oh my gosh, Renee, we have gotten so like
Speaker 1: that is one of our best episodes today. It's negotiating
Speaker 1: medical bills with doctor Virgie Ellington, episode two thirty, and
Speaker 1: it has saved so many people so much money. Medical
Speaker 1: bills are one of those vital few where else can
Speaker 1: you save one hundred and ten thousand dollars on?
Speaker 3: This is so interesting, Renee. I'm so glad that you
Speaker 3: remembered that episode and went back to it, which is
Speaker 3: one of our hopes with that one. Like required listening,
Speaker 3: it is on my list of something I will reference
Speaker 3: back to. I literally just recommended this episode to a
Speaker 3: friend yesterday and this is I'm so sorry, Jen. Never
Speaker 3: before have I told someone you have to listen to
Speaker 3: this episode. I'm sending it to you, like I don't
Speaker 3: plug us like that. I want my friends to be
Speaker 3: my friends and my listeners to be my friends because
Speaker 3: they want to be my listeners. But I don't want
Speaker 3: to force my friends to also be a listener. But
Speaker 3: she was talking about medical debt and I was like, actually,
Speaker 3: I'm just calling it it's required listening. I'm going to
Speaker 3: send it to you. I don't know any other resource
Speaker 3: that breaks it down like this, And here you go,
Speaker 3: and you may or may not love the podcast that's fine,
Speaker 3: but I do want to be a help to you.
Speaker 3: It's so funny that it comes up again for you.
Speaker 1: Why do you dislike our podcast?
Speaker 3: I don't. I just don't want people to feel pressured
Speaker 3: like that they know that I have this thing, and
Speaker 3: now you have to be a podcast listener. I just
Speaker 3: don't do it. But that's how strongly I feel about
Speaker 3: this particular episode that I actually send it to her
Speaker 3: in a text message, like, here you go, here's my podcast.
Speaker 3: I'm shamelessly plugging because they do think it'll help, and Renee,
Speaker 3: it helped you one hundred and ten thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: She even we had a while ago somebody had a
Speaker 1: medical bill that you know, it was just really difficult,
Speaker 1: and she emailed because of our podcast. She emailed doctor Virgine,
Speaker 1: and doctor Virgie helped her figure it out. That's amazing.
Speaker 1: It's I mean, she's a gem. It's required listening for
Speaker 1: a podcast.
Speaker 3: Thanks for sharing, Renee. This is super celebratory. If any
Speaker 3: of you all are listening and you've got a celebratory
Speaker 3: bill that was reduced by six figures, or your name
Speaker 3: is Bill, or you just want to call in because
Speaker 3: you're a listener, and a friend Frugal friendspodcast dot com,
Speaker 3: slash Bill, leave us here Bill, and now it's time
Speaker 3: for the liner round.
Speaker 1: All right. Do you go to salvage stores and what's
Speaker 1: been your best buy so far? Yes? I do go
Speaker 1: to salvage stores, not grocery salvage, but I do occasionally
Speaker 1: go to Alie. Sometimes I don't really buy anything there,
Speaker 1: but will go into. Look if I get the mailer
Speaker 1: and something is, you know, piquing my interest, I'll go
Speaker 1: in and browse. Travis loves Ross I think, I mean,
Speaker 1: Ross is like the worst quality everything.
Speaker 3: To me.
Speaker 1: I am not a Max Ainista. I am so the
Speaker 1: opposite of a Ross, TJ. Max Marshalls.
Speaker 3: I have found my best deals at Ross, honest to goodness.
Speaker 3: As far as shoes go, sometimes you do get just
Speaker 3: it's the one shoe in your size of a nice
Speaker 3: brand for me that have held up, like a col
Speaker 3: Han sandal and yes, I have had that for like
Speaker 3: eight years now. Eric has found Sperry's like we've We've
Speaker 3: found them. And things that are typically really expensive like pots,
Speaker 3: large pots for plants like ceramic, that are usually over
Speaker 3: one hundred dollars. I've found there for twenty bucks, so
Speaker 3: you kind of have to know what it is that
Speaker 3: you're looking for there, and it is hit or miss.
Speaker 3: But I have gotten my best deals specifically at Ross
Speaker 3: over like the adjacent ones like Over, Marshalls, TJ Max,
Speaker 3: Home Goods, Ross has.
Speaker 1: But I trust Ross a little bit more because they're
Speaker 1: not trying to be unenjoyable experience, like they are a
Speaker 1: true salvage store. But I still like, I'm not a
Speaker 1: hunter either, Like I don't enjoy hunting for products or clothes.
Speaker 1: That's why I shop secondhand online. I just I'm not
Speaker 1: I physically don't like it, but I so Travis will
Speaker 1: go into Ross. He loves Ross, and I've actually been
Speaker 1: holding off sometimes will if I get something specifically from
Speaker 1: my mother in law for Christmas, I know it's going
Speaker 1: to be from TJ Max or Marshals, and so I
Speaker 1: will try pretty much everything I don't want. I will
Speaker 1: try to return to TJ Max and Marshalls just because
Speaker 1: they're the same thing, and some of the things they
Speaker 1: will take and some of them they won't, and then
Speaker 1: they'll give me a gift card for what they do take.
Speaker 1: And I've been holding on to several of these gift
Speaker 1: cards for years because I just don't go. But I
Speaker 1: have like returns because I don't want the products.
Speaker 3: That's a so you're just saying all the ways you
Speaker 3: don't use salvage stores.
Speaker 1: But I do love the architectural salvage I love those
Speaker 1: one in dun Eden. There's a great one in Sarasota. Well,
Speaker 1: so again I'm more of a browser. I just think
Speaker 1: there's like some fantastic stuff. But you know, we got
Speaker 1: the windows. Travis does most of the shopping. Anything he needs,
Speaker 1: he first tries to get it on like he'll look
Speaker 1: up on Facebook, Markplace. A lot of these places will
Speaker 1: advertise like their best stuff, and then you'll look, you
Speaker 1: know at you know this window and see that it
Speaker 1: comes from a salvage and then you can go and
Speaker 1: find what you really need. I think my couch is
Speaker 1: the best recent thing that I've gotten because I still
Speaker 1: consider that salvage because it was from Costco.
Speaker 3: Man. I couldn't even count over the years. I mean,
Speaker 3: most of the stuff in my home is some version
Speaker 3: of a salvage store. Appliances, like I'd say that's the
Speaker 3: best deal is probably our refrigerator. I think it's it's
Speaker 3: like a six thousand dollars fridge that we got for
Speaker 3: eighteen hundred. Because it's got a few dents on the front,
Speaker 3: like it still works. Then I just cover up with
Speaker 3: a magnet. All yeah, furniture. My couch is from It
Speaker 3: used to be a floor model and it was thrown
Speaker 3: in the back of the store.
Speaker 1: But our bed, our mattress is one of those returns. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a mattress return.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love them. I specifically restore too. If you
Speaker 3: are in a renovation, that's a really good spot to
Speaker 3: go to. They will sell a lot of materials. I
Speaker 3: think we've gotten flooring at a salvage store at one
Speaker 3: of the renovations we've done.
Speaker 1: It's nice mm hmm. Sometimes you can find vintage tile
Speaker 1: in these places, yep. Because people will just have boxes
Speaker 1: of tiles, you know, that they've had for decades in
Speaker 1: their garage and then they will give them away and
Speaker 1: to the thrift store. And I think the thrift store
Speaker 1: probably sends it to restore, yeah, or maybe they just
Speaker 1: bring it to restore about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's where you can get creative, Like you may
Speaker 3: not have the exact amount that you need, and then
Speaker 3: that's where you can identify oh, what else can we
Speaker 3: fill this in with? And it then makes your project
Speaker 3: really unique to be able to get creative around how
Speaker 3: do we make this product work? Now? Sometimes it's just
Speaker 3: a round peg in a square hole, but force it.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it really works.
Speaker 1: Sometimes very fun inspire creativity, yeah, which is lovely. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I hope we've inspired some creativity in you to
Speaker 1: get creative and how you purchase groceries, home building supplies,
Speaker 1: your nicknacks, your kitchen knickknacks, and that you will try
Speaker 1: some of these salvage stores that maybe you haven't before.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much for listening. If this episode
Speaker 1: help you, we'd love if you could leave a rating
Speaker 1: and review on Apple Podcasts and or Spotify like this
Speaker 1: one from NBH twenty one twenty four. Love this pod
Speaker 1: grounded and practice yet inspiring. Thanks frugal friends.
Speaker 3: Wow NBH twenty four And see that's an example, short
Speaker 3: and sweet love it. You did not have to take
Speaker 3: much time, but you have encouraged us and you've helped
Speaker 3: others find a podcast that might be some of these
Speaker 3: things that they may be looking for. So thanks for listening.
Speaker 3: Thanks for leaving us reviews. If you haven't, please do so. Again,
Speaker 3: it can only take a minute. It only has to
Speaker 3: take a minute.
Speaker 1: Bye Bye. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani.
Speaker 3: Is there anything on your list that you would like
Speaker 3: to find at a salvage store?
Speaker 1: We do need backslash tile, but that has to be textured.
Speaker 1: White tile can be subway or square. I think I
Speaker 1: know what I want. But I did once find this
Speaker 1: beautiful pink tile at restore and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: how can I use this? Yeah, and there was no
Speaker 1: place to use its paint. Yeah, but I loved it
Speaker 1: and I wanted it so bad.
Speaker 3: Oh my story. I had gotten a steam cleaner at
Speaker 3: this salvage store. I guess. Yeah, it's a discount for
Speaker 3: Home Depot items. So again, anything home Depot cells, they
Speaker 3: sell it fifty percent off. But they now own all
Speaker 3: of the products. They are no longer associated with home Depots,
Speaker 3: so none of Home Depot's warranties.
Speaker 1: Locally family owned. Yeah. I don't know why I have
Speaker 1: to keep repeating that. It's an important distinction to make.
Speaker 3: Okay, So i'd been there before, I had bought items,
Speaker 3: I'd been pleased, and I had been wanting a steam
Speaker 3: cleaner because I've been imagining that that's going to be
Speaker 3: the answer to all my clean problems, like my floor,
Speaker 3: my high gloss tile floor. So I get this steam cleaner,
Speaker 3: and not only does it not clean the way that
Speaker 3: I had hoped that and I was promised that it would,
Speaker 3: but it also was shooting out this black smoke hours
Speaker 3: into cleaning. And yes, the water was still full on
Speaker 3: it because I did check all of the things like
Speaker 3: why is gray smoke coming out of here? And it
Speaker 3: was coming off onto the cleaning pad that was attached
Speaker 3: to it. So I'm thinking, all right, for multiple reasons,
Speaker 3: I'm taking this thing back. They have a very strict
Speaker 3: return policy because, as they told me when they tried
Speaker 3: to guilt trip me into not returning it, we are
Speaker 3: a family owned business, SPAMP. This hurts us. I'm not laughing.
Speaker 3: I mean I am laughing. It's not funny that they're
Speaker 3: a family owned business.
Speaker 1: Not all customer service is the same across all these
Speaker 1: salvage stores. Some is better than right. Yeah, and.
Speaker 3: I do want to continue shopping them because they're family
Speaker 3: owned and I want to support that. But also they
Speaker 3: do say that if the product doesn't work, they will
Speaker 3: give you a refund, So I did push for that
Speaker 3: and they did end up but I did have to
Speaker 3: talk to like three different people and they kept talking
Speaker 3: about how their family owned and I just kind of
Speaker 3: felt like my eighty dollars return on a steam cleaner
Speaker 3: that was smoking was allowed given their policy.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So when you do go read the return policies
Speaker 1: and abide by they only accept things that don't work,
Speaker 1: then you better tell it don't work. But they will
Speaker 1: and they fired it up. They did, they tested it.
Speaker 1: This ain't home deepot. Yeah, they're gonna you can't lie.
Speaker 3: And so know that if they're not a big box
Speaker 3: that's one of the benefits of a big box store
Speaker 3: is that you their return policy is very loosey goosey,
Speaker 3: and at a mom and pop store it's not going
Speaker 3: to be. So also make sure that you know what
Speaker 3: you're buying, You've read the reviews, you're pleased with it.
Speaker 3: To balance that out with a good story. There was
Speaker 3: a time where I was looking on the hunt for
Speaker 3: an immersion blender. It wasn't something that I wanted to
Speaker 3: spend one hundred dollars on, It's just something that I
Speaker 3: was keeping my eye out for that was on my
Speaker 3: list of things I'm looking for at a discount, and
Speaker 3: sure enough they had an immersion blender that was typically
Speaker 3: eighty bucks for like thirty five dollars, and I've been
Speaker 3: very pleased with that immersion blender.
Speaker 1: I have made my fair.
Speaker 3: Share of pestos and Caesar salad dressing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we thought it to things from that place as well,
Speaker 1: and we almost bought our vanity. If you're doing a
Speaker 1: kitchen or specifically a bathroom renovation, I would say, if
Speaker 1: you're doing a bathroom renovation that that type of resale
Speaker 1: is so great because they will take the vanity top
Speaker 1: will break, and so home Depot or Lows will send
Speaker 1: it over there and they will put on a brand
Speaker 1: new courts countertop, probably of better quality than the one
Speaker 1: that they sold at Home Depot, and then sell it
Speaker 1: at a lower price.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're not everywhere, and it's not as if every
Speaker 3: town is going to have these options, but it is
Speaker 3: worth looking and educating yourself because I didn't learn about
Speaker 3: some of these places until years into living here. Certainly,
Speaker 3: I was always discovering more about what's available in Pennsylvania,
Speaker 3: and sometimes these stores pop up. They weren't there before
Speaker 3: and now they are
Speaker 1: So there you go there's your spicy salvage store story.