Today is a great day for bargain hunters.

The Monarch Park annual street sale is starting to heat up. This year some neighboring streets got in on the action, and there's a lot to see.

Most of what's out on the street right now is crap. Garage sales are like that. But there's a lot of quality items waiting to be scooped up too.

The real point of a garage sale is to keep unwanted items out of the dump, (and maybe make a few bucks on the side). Why buy something new if you can get it for a fraction of the cost? We often forget about the "Reuse" in the three R's.

Garage sales are especially useful for those with children. They grow out of clothing almost as quickly as they get bored of their toys. Garage sales are a great way to get the kiddies some new fun without having to fork out a lot of dough. I saw a little girl who was carrying a bag of beads the size of her head. She looked pretty satisfied, and Dad did too.

My favorite finds included a beautiful cherry wood dining room set, a full sized traffic light and a kitchen sink.

The sales will run until 3pm, and from the view I have from my living room window, there's still a lot to buy.