The Motherlode

In trying to set up a “schoolhouse” atmosphere for homeschooling, I ran across some privileged information. Actually, it is not privileged, it is public. But apparently y’all don’t know about it. This information was so intriguing, Leah and I had to load up in the VAN, and drive almost two hours one way, to verify this information and experience it for ourselves.

I present to you… state surplus.

It may not look like much there, but, oh what treasures are hidden, like diamonds in the rough…

So here’s the deal… whenever a state-run agency doesn’t need something (from a ballpoint pen to a vehicle, to real estate), they sell it through auction and/or their warehouse sales.

Crazy stuff.

I have a netbook but for some reason I wanted to take home one of these clear edged keyboards…

I am such a sucker for office supplies… I may have come home with some organizing accessories…

There were file cabinets in an array of colors (this is only a small sampling)…

And chairs, oh the chairs all wanted me to take them home! Am I strange? These were cute muted colors…

And I lingered longest over this sea of chairs I think…

I was just looking for ones I had an excuse to bring home. I found a couple. Those orange ones near the bottom were cute, and up in the back right those ones in yellow, red and blue? They are very cool. I don’t know what material they are made of, but it gets me every time.

I made Leah push the cart and babysit my children throughout the duration of the trip. She knows that is the price she pays for shopping with me.

Oh, that 50% off sign lied… EVERYTHING was 50% off.

There were bin after bin after bin (literally) of what I’m guessing were pocket knives that had been confiscated at schools and such…

And even tons of cars in the parking lot for sale, including dump trucks, school buses and cop cars…

Don’t worry, I didn’t buy a cop car. This is what we came away with between the two of us…

Minus the shopping cart and the rolling trolley thingy. And there is one book case already in the back of the van. This stuff was stacked to the ceiling, and we almost had to take it all out to buckle Mark when he yelled "I'm not buckled!!!" as I tried to drive off, but was able to stretch over the pile and reach the buckle with one hand.

The breakdown? My purchases were -

three hard plastic chairs @ $1/ea (that is not a typo)

two desks @ $1/ea (again)

wood play kitchen $5

scale $1

game $1

pull-down map $2.50

school chalkboard with cork top rail $5

six glass goblets at $0.25/ea

five wire baskets @ $0.50/ea

two laptop chalkboards @ $0.50/ea

Grand total $26. and some change!

That is amazing! You might feel like I paid $26 for a pile of crap, but I have been on the market for this stuff and these deals were amazing. I had purchased a flimsy chalkboard online for $48 the same size as the one I got for $5! And I priced a real one (like the one I got for $5) at well over $300 new! And those $1 chairs are $80 new!

I’m loving all my school house stuff. And since I love you guys, I will share the ‘privileged’ information with you all. Just in case anyone else out there is crazy enough to check it out.

Here is the auction and store information. Note: the 50% off at the Auburn location was due to the upcoming consolidation of two warehouses, and in the coming weeks it will change to 75% off and then things will be sold by the pallet. After that they will be moved to the Tumwater location and that location will remain open without the discount. Still, I would have bought the chairs and desks if they were $2 instead of $1!!

I am going again tomorrow (that crazy) to show the goods to another friend and to pickup some stools that I was retarded not to buy the first time. I’ll try to get back here tomorrow to link you when Leah tells us about her purchases and to share what homes I found in my home for the new finds. That was a weird sentence. Time to go to bed!