This is it, friends,the kickoff of the season. It's just before 7AM as I write this post, the sun is glaring in my face here on Cape Cod, and my yard sale shopping companion is five minutes from a shower. Life is good.

If you're going out on the circuit this morning, I'd love to hear from you. If you're still on the yard sale learning curve, here are a few suggestions.

A few days ago, I mentioned bringing assorted denominations of cash. Also bring your checkbook. Often - though certainly not always - sellers will take a local check, particularly on a larger item.

If you haven't already acquired it, you will want to invest in a detailed street map of your sale areas. There's nothing more frustrating than wandering around in circles, particularly these days with gas at such a premium. And yes, as many bloggers wrote this week, many of us will be staying closer to home this season.

As consumers search attics for fast cash, resale shops are seeing a glut of merchandise. For-sale listings on Craigslist are also way up. We can be sure that there will be more sellers and less buyer money around as the yard sale season begins.

I've been a yard sale addict for more than 25 years. My buying habits won't change very much - except for the fact that I'm also part of the wave of downsizing/decluttering baby boomers and like everyone else, I'm watching what there is of my money. Since I'm also a social worker, I don't want to profit from anyone else's misfortune, which makes me a little uneasy about what it's going to be like once I start my Saturday routes. I expect that I'll make the same kind of offers - looking for the same kind of percentages off - that I always have, looking for a fair price. As a real estate agent recently explained, "A fair deal is when both the buyer and the seller are both just a little dissatisfied." No one gets the best of anyone.

There does seem to be something sleazy about the idea of buying someone a "thrift gift." How cheap can you be? Here's a different spin and all it takes is a bit of thought and creativity.

Like any kind of gift buying, gift shopping at thrift stores is easier and more fun for people you know well. This is particularly true for people who have passions of their own - the friend who loves sailing, dogs, cooking or art, for example - is the person to have at the back of your mind as you travel the thrift shop circuit. There are also occasions that readily lend themselves to thrifty gift shopping.

Here are a smattering of ideas:

• If you are visiting a friend in the hospital, you don't need to drop $20 at the hospital gift shop. You can find a great vase for $1 or less and fill it with twice as many beautiful flowers for half the price you'll otherwise pay.
• Look for small covered boxes. You can frequently find nice ones for $1 or $2. Add a piece of jewelry and give it to your favorite teenager.
• Buy a pretty basket - watch especially for the ones designed to hold letters. Decorate it with ribbon, fill it with stationary and add a nice pen.
• For a friend starting a new job or opening an office: art, a dictionary, thesaurus or desk encyclopedia, a covered glass candy jar (which you'll sanitize in the dishwasher and fill).
• For the new mother: books on babies and children. These can often be picked up mint - either because the mother already had it, received three copies, or didn't have time to read.

Come back tomorrow for five more thrifty gift ideas!

While you're thrift-shopping about town, you may want to keep an eye out for resale items. If you're planning a spring yard sale, participating in a fundraiser flea market (where you rent space for a day or a weekend) or have a digital camera and might want to sell on eBay, you may be able to make money while saving money. You can also buy for consignment but "buyer beware," - be sure you have a well-located consignment store in mind and that you know the prices. It gets even more interesting once winter ends and the yard sales, usually the best venue for this kind of buying, begin again.

If you shop yard sales, thrift stores, church sales or auctions, inevitably you've noticed the dealers. Watch them. Awhile back, at a sale, as I assembled an LL Bean backpack, an army blanket and a flashlight (right, we were going camping). Meanwhile, a man in his sixties arrived. He selected an a 1930's planter and from the same box, an old framed mirror and a numbered print of a fisherman in a yellow slicker. He'd snagged the prime resale items and left before I was halfway through shopping with wife/mother eyes.