When times are tough and money is tight, you might be looking for ways to save money. Or maybe you just want to be able to save a little more for your retirement, or you’re focused on reducing your carbon footprint. In any case, one great way to save money as well as to reduce waste in the world to buy some items used.

Buying used items is not something that everyone feels comfortable with doing, but the benefits on some things will far outweigh any potential risk. Still, do your research and know which items are  When it comes to buying old baby equipment for instance, then that is not a good idea, since they may no longer meet the current safety standards.

5 Things You Can Buy Used to Save Money (and the World)

You might be surprised to know that there are some items that are just fine to purchase used in order to save money. Let’s go over 5 of those now.

1. Clothing That Is In Good Condition

You can buy clothing that has been used as long as the condition is good which means it has no holes, and the fabric is sturdy. All you need to do is to throw it in the washing machine, and then it will be clean. And it will be good to be worn. You can find fashionable and appealing clothing that are used and no one will know that it was worn before. New clothing is expensive and you will save a lot of money this way.

2. Used Gift Cards

Used gift cards are a thing? What? Yes! Here’s the deal. Many people are given gift cards that they have no use for so they are never touched. And therefore, some of them sell them for a small profit. You can go on sites such as Gift Card Granny or  Cardpool to find gift cards that you may be able to use. And these are cheap. They usually are good for 180 days after purchase but you will need to learn about the website’s policies.

3. CDs

Do you collect old music CDs? That is a great thing to buy used and they are extremely cheap. There are some outlets that are likely local to your area that sell used CDs. They are much cheaper than even monthly subscriptions of many music platforms.

4. Furniture

Just like clothing, as long as the furniture is in good condition, you can buy used furniture by looking at local classified sites. You can even clean it up well and it will look as good as new. Even if you are the DIY type, you can fix it up too. Used furniture is going to be a lot cheaper than new ones.

5. Electronics

If you don’t care about getting brand new gadgets and the old ones that you are looking for are nowhere near being obsolete, then you can buy used electronics for a low price. This goes for old tablets and smartphones that are still being supported by software updates. That is an example.

Those are just some things that you can buy used that are completely safe, and will save you a lot of money! Plus, they’ll save the environment.