From bowling balls to washers and dryers. In a resale shop, like Goodwill, you can find almost anything. Just ask UTSA students.

“My favorite place to shop is thrift stores.” Lauren MacTaggart, a senior in technical communication, said.

There are plenty of stores to choose from in every part of town.

“The best one is Community Thrift Store on Military south side. They have everything you can imagine,” Amy Zamora, senior anthropology, said.

If you are looking for furniture, SAMMinistries Furniture for a Cause on Blanco Road is great place to find desks, chairs and other household furnishings. According to their website, 100 percent of the proceeds go towards helping the homeless.

If you are not looking for anything in particular, check the surrounding neighborhoods for community yard sales. Many neighborhoods around UTSA hold annual yard sales. Multiple households come together a couple of times a year to host jumbo yard sales, which allows bargain hunters to visit numerous sales and buy an entire household worth of goods.

For Drew Scroggins, senior communication major, yard sales are the way to go. He found a small refrigerator for $15.00.

“Still works very well; it is like 30 years old,” Scroggins said.

If making cash instead of saving cash is more your thing, consignment shops are a way to make extra cash. Consignment stores work about the same way as eBay, but they have been around a lot longer. A person can offer an item for sale in the shop, and get a percentage of the revenue from the sale. Usually the items are clothing or household goods. You can find great deals on high dollar items at a fraction of the cost of retail.

If you’re looking for sports equipment, do not fear. There is a new game in town, which is relatively close, that carries any type of equipment you would ever need. Play It Again Sports in Austin specializes in reselling new and used sports equipment. Going to Austin may be a long drive, but if golf equipment is what you are looking for, that is the place to go.

Accessing classifieds ads, online or in print, is one way to find bargains without leaving home. People rely on classifieds to put the word out. Everything from pets, farm equipment, musical instruments, tickets and jewelry can be found at a glance in the newspaper, on craigslist and on eBay.

Don’t be spooked about purchasing other people’s cast offs; their loss is your gain. Today’s economy forces us to look for better ways to save, reuse and recycle things that would otherwise be taking up space in a landfill. Halloween is coming, so check out a resale shop or a yard sale to save some cash and find your costume.