While I'm thinking about this

Hello Tag Poppers

I wanted to share with you some information that you don't normally hear about, relating to this hobby... and that is, the problem of bringing furniture or other items into your home that have fleas or worse yet...bedbugs.

I wrote in a recent post about my avoidance of bringing certain items (mattresses)  into my home that can be purchased second-hand. For me, I  would rather sleep on the floor or a couch until I have saved up enough money to purchase a new mattress.  It is just the way I am.  I have a 'thing' about used bedding and/or other personal items and refuse to buy them unless they are new.

However, not everyone shares this thought and apparently you can get mattresses and other furniture for some unbelievably low prices.  IF you choose to go this route I want to share with you that you must be vigilant in your purchases.  If any item you purchase has fleas, ticks or worse yet, the dreaded bedbug, you are asking for trouble and the possibility that you will end up spending much time and money to rid your home of this trouble makers.  As one who does not like bugs AT ALL, but who puts up with them when camping with the family, I would not take kindly to having to deal with bugs inside my home.

The reason I am bringing this up so early in the blog is to help make you, the reader, aware that a good deal may not always be a good deal and you must enter into all your transactions with less emotion and more intelligence and patience.  Always  make it a point to ponder your purchases and be prepared to walk away if you see signs of any potential problems.

Case in point.
A fellow tag popper purchased an air purifier for her home.  Within days of the purchase, her cat was beginning to scratch.  FLEAS! Poor thing.  $10.00 for the purifier, $45.00 for cat flea and tick treatment. :(

Also...I, myself, purchased a desk for my daughters bedroom last summer.  We brought it in, wiped it out (it looked like it had been stored in a basement or garage for a while.  Anyway...as the summer heated up, the desk began to smell musty.  It had some type of mildew, easily cleaned with vinegar, but
unfortunately, reoccurring.

On the the bright side, we were able to take the desk outside into the side lot and use it for gardening.  It looks cool nestled under a big bush-like tree and we keep garden tools in it. (Should pin it on pinterest).
But that purchase as well as the problem that ensued with the air purifier purchaser are alerts for us to be aware of potential problems.  I pop tags for the fun of it and to save some money, I don't want to end up spending money to fix a problem from a purchase.