Merry Christmas!
Check it out...
Before adding one last gift just before I left to visit my family, I'd done my entire Christmas shopping from the curbs and thrift stores for 6 people for $12. I didn't have to go to one retail store, which is ideal given the new spike lately. I really wanted to be 100% recycled out of principle, but two thrift store items were $2 and $10 before tax. Ultimately, I added that one more item I'd previously bought for myself, but knew my brother-in-law could use it much more.
^This all brought my grand total up to $42. Not too shabby. See the quality of the stuff below and realize that you probably will have a hard time telling if it came from a store or not. In reality, almost all were personally saved from my curbs, and I'm proudly keeping them alive within my own family.
Hunting and giving in a way that helps the environment just a little also feels more fulfilling than buying stuff on Amazon Prime to be delivered to my door. I don't think the latter approach will ever be satisfying to me, but I suppose that's because I can casually shop from the curbs for free instead.
Here's the full layout:
Without looking below, try to guess which 3 items were not salvaged from the curbs. Only three! Again, two were thrifted, and one was bought elsewhere.
I made a super tower of the recycled items and weighed them in at roughly 24 and a half pounds. Here's the result:
Let's take a closer look:
- Used LEGO Duplo barn I custom built and filled with ~15 farm animals and 3 human figures. On top of the large green barn doors, it has nice windows on two sides, and two secret printed farm themed bricks hidden under the roof to be found later. Priceless for young nephew.
- New without box La Prairie Cellular Treatment Illuminating Face Powder. Believe it not, this actually retailed for $250, but I'd say I'd have gotten $90 for it since it didn't have the packaging, and it was probably a few years old.
- Used LEGO drag racer and driver. It zooms forward when you pull it backwards. Priceless for other young nephew.
- Barely used Augustinus Bader "The Rich Cream" for facial hydration. This retails regularly between $120-$150. I'd value this at $50-$60 since it was used maybe once or twice, and it's not pack fresh.
- Used LEGO Hulk large minifigure that resells for about $22.
- 2x Vinebox wine boxes containing 9 full servings of different wines curated from around the world so people can conveniently expand their horizons. All 18 tubes of wine are fully factory sealed and in their padding. They retail for between $75-$90 each box. Without a liquor license, I can't resell these, so they had to be a gift!
- Sealed new Playmobil ambulance motorcycle worth about $18.
- Sealed new police motorcycle worth about $18. The pair for the win.
- Fully tested used Super Nintendo Classic Mini Console with pre-loaded 21 games easily worth $125 as is. The 2D graphics in some games were hard on my eyes, but the nostalgia was worth it.
- Sealed new tens muscle stimulator worth $30.
- Sealed new Sonicare Diamond Clean electric toothbrush worth $90-$120 depending on marketplace.
- Used wireless massager in original box, with charger, paperwork, and 56 minutes of battery life that resells for $65-$75. Again, for brother-in-law with back problems.
- New candle from a luxury department store with the label intact for $25. Part of my family lives near Paris, so it was meant to be.
- 2x brand new facial mud cleaning sets that sell retail for $50-$75 each. Two people will have some spa sessions at home during the holidays.
- A used steel drum made in Trinidad & Tobago that resells for about $80-100.
Here's the recycled tower with the answer of what was and wasn't salvaged. Now you know what wasn't found outside.
Steel drum $2, new Sonicare toothbrush $10, new muscle stimulator $30.
Also, everything was perfectly spotless clean except the Nintendo wall plug and the blue face cream bottle that had some lotion on it.
Here's the wrapped version:
I often hide a few gifts and give out riddles. I only hid two gift so far for my young nephews as their last gifts to close with, but will likely think of something fun on the fly once I'm up in a few hours. It's time for bed now and to not wake anyone up on my way upstairs. I don't need any Santa trip wire sirens going off right now.
The Usual:
As those who know me over the years can appreciate, the value in my post isn't in the entertainment from the handful of items I post about. It's about the passion and hustle I consistently exhibit off-chain to produce the posts, and goal of motivating others to address this problem. Hive is not the answer for me. It's a platform to promote a good cause. Actions in the real world are the answer in my book.
Thanks as always for your interest and support.
Please reuse, repurpose and recycle.
Merry Christmas!
