Tallahassee, FL - If you're looking for anything vintage, chances are Karen Loewen has it, and of course, she's selling it.
Loewen, an entrepreneur, says, "When I get them in here and they find something they like, they buy it. The difference is, three or four years ago they would have bought 200 dollars worth of stuff and put it all on their credit card. Now, I find that I get more cash, I get more debit cards."
For the first time in a while, Karen says people are spending more of that cash.
And she's not alone.
Across the state, sales tax collections are up, helping cut a six billion dollar budget deficit in half.
From teapots to trinkets, it looks like Floridians are buying more stuff, but hold the phone - the optimism may be short-lived.
A shortfall's still a shortfall.
Rob Weissert with Florida Taxwatch points out the budget is still being kept afloat with federal stimulus money.
Come next year, that cash will disappear, and the state will have to come up with an extra 2.5 billion dollars in medicaid and education funding.
Weissert says, "It's really not a time to sit back our laurels. We need to take this as a positive that we won't have the shortfall we were looking at, but we still need to take this opportunity to make Florida's government better."
How?
Well, by making more cuts, of course.
But Karen is more optimistic, predicting with business on the rebound, the state won't have to worry about finding more money.
"I'm going to hang in there, and I've been doing this for 10 years now, and what else would I do - go out and get a job?!"
After all, she has a passion for the past, and a burning hope the future brings better times.