“Hi. My name is Tami C. and I am powerless over garage sales … and yard sales … and rummage sales … and even thrift shops.”

I suspect my husband would like me to utter those words, as it would mean I was finally seeking help for my obsession with garage sales. I am so into the things that I consider “garage saling” a verb.

But as far as I know, there is no 12 Step program for people addicted to garage sales. And I’m glad. This is a habit I have no desire to kick. I love spending my Saturday mornings driving around strange neighborhoods, eyes on the alert for bright pink, orange or green signs heralding the opportunity to paw through the discards of my fellow human beings. Many of my home furnishings, household goods and décor were purchased at garage sales. I love a bargain, and I love the hunt for one even more.

Las Vegas is a great place for outdoor sales because the weather is almost uniformly good. While spring and fall are the biggest seasons, sales continue through the heat of the summer, and there are even one or two sales in December and January.

I locate garage sales in several ways. First, I check the classified ads in the Review-Journal, where garage sales are listed according to their location. This is typical for just about any large city, but in Vegas there isn’t all that much consensus on the dividing lines between sections of town. A garage sale held in the vicinity of Flamingo and Eastern might be in the “East” section one week, “Southeast” the next, and “Central” the week after that.

Other times, I just drive out to a neighborhood looking for those bright poster board signs. The problem with this detection method is that sometimes I follow arrows from signs put up the week before. Or maybe I’ve been the unknowing subject of a sociological experiment to see how long a person will follow signs proclaiming “Big Sale.” In my case, pretty long.

Just recently, I have discovered another listing source for sales – Craigslist, which also lists by neighborhood, with the same sometimes confusing results. Many Craigslist sellers include photos, which is a plus.

The key to garage sale success is knowing the kind of neighborhood that might have the items you seek. If you are looking to furnish a new place, and are open to a variety of styles, keep your eye out for “moving” and “estate” sales. Those are the sales where people will be selling off everything, especially large furniture items, and you can find them in neighborhoods all across the valley.

If you have a particular style of furnishings in mind, you will need to be a bit more savvy. For example, right now my biggest goal is to find some light fixtures and furnishings in the Mid-Century Modern style. With that kind of target, I’d be foolish to look in the newer housing developments like Mountain’s Edge or Aliante. Instead, I need to focus on the vintage neighborhoods where some misguided folks might be ripping the fixtures out of the house they snapped up, or where the now-grown kids have finally persuaded their parents to update the furniture to 21st-century styles.

For antiques in general, and good quality artwork and décor, I focus on established but not quite shabby neighborhoods, such as the older parts of Summerlin and Green Valley. The over-55 communities, which often have yearly communitywide sales, can also be a great source of vintage items. They are also wonderful places to buy those kitchenware and game table items given away by the local casinos.

Until grandchildren start arriving, I have no use for baby items. But once I get the word from one of our kids, I’ll head to those newer developments for prime hunting ground. New developments are fairly easy to find – they tend to be on the outskirts of the valley, and often have many builders’ signs touting available homes. If a drive to the suburbs doesn’t interest you, look at the less expensive areas close to you. Starter homes are the place to look for all that kid stuff that gets outgrown almost before the tags are off.

Adult clothing is not my thing at sales – I can seldom find my size – but there are terrific bargains to be had. For clothes hunting, head for a neighborhood where folks are likely to share your taste – starting, perhaps, with your own.

On a good garage sale day, I’ll find many cool things costing small amounts of money. But that’s only part of the appeal for me. The truth is, I just like looking at other people’s stuff and contemplating the personalities revealed. Some things are obvious, such as the lifelong dedication revealed in a collection of owls, cats or frogs. Others are more subtle, like a weakness for trendy things revealed in a pile of once-fashionable colors and styles. Usually, though, it is the odder things that catch my attention. I wonder how this woman managed to collect five toasters, why that ironing board never had its plastic wrapping removed, and what the story might be behind that 3-foot-high, pink ceramic hippo.

And here’s a puzzler. Bridal gowns, worn and unworn, are not uncommon at sales, but I once found a wedding album for sale — complete with photos of the seller in her bridal gown. I understand getting rid of reminders of a failed marriage, but most disappointed wives would just toss the album. This former bride was selling it. Intriguing.

And that is the part I like best about garage sales: They offer me little glimpses into the lives of strangers.