An excellent way to save money is to patrol the neighborhood for garage and yard sales.

Preparation. Garage sales usually begin on Friday and end on Sunday. You should begin preparation on Thursday night. I can hit every garage sale in my city within one day.

1. Purchase a local newspaper. Turn to the garage sales section or see if your local newspaper is online.
2. Highlight every garage sale within 15 miles of your home.
3. Rewrite the garage sales onto a sheet of paper and categorize them by the following:

The day of the garage sale: Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday.

The time the garage sale ends. Some garage sales end as early as 2pm. You don't want to miss those.

Specific items you are looking for. If they advertise an item you want badly in the newspaper, chances are it won't be there long, so get there early. Get there 15 minutes early each day. (unless the newspaper ad specifically states "no early birds")

Plan your route. Try to save time and gas by taking the shortest route between garage sales. Use Mapquest or Yahoo Maps.

If you pass a garage sale that wasn't advertised stop and visit that one. It may have been visited by fewer people meaning there may be better stuff.

Haggling. Always try to negotiate 20% off higher priced items. Purchase multiple garage sale items at once. People will usually give you a better deal. Never insult the person, e.g., offering $2.00 for an item they are asking $20.00. Don't look anxious to buy.

Purchasing for yourself. You can save tons of money at garage sales once you get the hang of it. I recently bought 30 light bulbs for $3.00. Find a department store with those kind of prices. I will probably never have to buy another light bulb as long as I live.

Purchasing to resell. Garage sales are a great place to find items to resell on Ebay or at flea markets. The profit margins can be insane! Last weekend I bought Weeds Season 2 on Blu-Ray for $3.00. I will turn around and sell it for $20 on Ebay. A few words of caution... You have to know your stuff. For example, I would never buy antiques personally because I don't know the first thing about them.

The age and condition of an item is extremely important. A rare brand new item sells for ALOT more then one in excellent condition. If you come across something that you can no longer buy in stores or a piece to a missing set, it might be valuable on ebay.

Replacements.com buys China, Crystal, Silver & Collectibles.

Update: 08/22/2008 I just sold Weeds Season 2 on Blu-Ray for $17.50 on Half.com!