have your house painted! Yep, the first step in the painting process, power washing, is scheduled for Monday. Our garage sale doesn't begin until Thursday and Friday and it isn't even at my house. Thank goodness for that.

It is forecasted to rain quite a bit next week, so they are likely to get delayed during the process. I guess that means I have more time before I have to pay them!!

Next week is the last week of my girls dance and tumbling classes. They have recital rehearsal next Friday with the actual recitals on Saturday.

How many votes that my next week is a little more stressful than usual?

There is no completely wrong way or right way to have a garage sale, however certain things just lend to a better sale! These tips are just based on my experience and I'm thrilled that you have been adding your suggestions along with me.

Garage Sale Tip #3: Setting the Stage

First a clean garage is very important. Of course, it is not possible in most cases to empty the garage completely. However, most things can be moved to one side, the back or a corner. I like to then cover those things up, so they can't be seen. I don't want to explain 50 times that my lawn mower is not for sale! I have used a tarp hung from nails to cover our things up. You could use duct tape if you didn't want to put nails in the wall or ceiling. If you don't have a tarp, consider a sheet, blanket, shower curtain, table cloth or painting drop cloth as alternatives.

Sweep your garage floor to eliminate much of the debris that tends to accumlate. If a clothing item is dropped on the ground it will get less dirty. Dirty clothing is hard to sell!

Set up tables. Personally, I avoid garage sales that are primarily boxes lining the driveway because I don't want to dig through boxes. I like to browse tables! Borrow tables from neighbors or relatives. You can make a table from a pieces of plywood and sawhorses. Maybe you don't have sawhorses, but can find something else that would prop up a piece of wood nicely. If you want to get fancy, cover the tables with plastic table clothes. We usually skip this, but it does make a sale a bit upscale.

Group like items with like items. It is easier for the buyer to look at things when they are grouped together. It's hard to find clothes for your child, if they are set up with toys and books. Seperate clothing by type, size, and gender. It is okay to use boxes or plastic bins to help group like things together. If they are small enough they can be put on the tables, otherwise it is okay to put them out on the driveway or under a table.

My neigbor's husband made a clothing rack primarily out of 2x4's and a clothing rod. It's a bit unstable, but it works great to hang the adult clothing. We have hung clothes from the garage door rails. This helps buyers see the really nice items you have. I've noticed that putting the items up sells them better, we just keep restocking those hanging items! You could buy a clothing rack, or use a tension rod somewhere in your garage. I think we have even hung clothes from a tall step ladder! Think outside the box and look for places to hang the clothes.


Remember to set up a table for where you will accept payments. We prefer to have ours near the front of the garage where we are in the shade, but can see everything happening during the sale. You'll need a calculator, notebook, pens, tape, sissors, safety pins, additional price stickers, dust clothes and plenty of grocery bags. Put the items you will use the most on the table in a container, the remainder in a box or basket nearby. A small garbage can is very handy, too.

I like to use the slow times to reorganize the merchandise too. Things get moved around while buyers are looking and contemplating their purchase. They often just lay things back down anywhere. I put like items back together and fold clothing.

Don't forget safety! You want wide aisles for people to browse without tripping. If you don't have room in the garage, you will have to move those things to the driveway or yard.

What other tips do you have regarding setting the garage sale stage?

Single Guy commented on my last garage sale tip, regarding sale signs, that one must always take down your signs immediately after the sale! Please remember to do this for the safety of your neighborhood, your home and the beauty of your community.

Garage Sale Tip #2: Price to sell

My neighbors and I each price our own items for the most part. I'm a little more organized and have my pricing done before we begin set up. This year we each have a different colored dot. In past years, when we had white dots, we used a different colored marker to write the price on with!

We price everything to the nearest quarter. We really try not to price items for nickels or dimes. If something isn't worth a quarter, combine it with another item to make it worth a quarter. Otherwise, you should add it to your 'free' box. People love a free box. Last year, one man took the entire free box!

Pricing to sell, also means that you should be willing to accept a lower offer. With this in mind, just price each item and know that someone who is interested in the item will pay your stated price or will ask to buy it for less. Always say yes to a reasonable offer, or at the very least counter their offer.

You will get rid of more stuff if you say 'yes' to a lower offer. One of my neighbors doesn't say yes often to offers. Guess who still has some of those items in her house? Yep, she still items someone was interested in her home because she wouldn't take $5 less! I think she's getting more motivated to move things on this year.

We pull all stickers from our items as we sell them. Each person has a page in a notebook, marked with our name and divided with a paperclip. We stick our corresponding sales stickers to these pages. This makes it very slick to total each person's sale items at the end of the day. Personally, it is one of my favorite parts, counting the money! I'm sure that doesn't surprise you.

What are your pricing tips?

The garage sale I'm holding with my neighbors is next week. I am looking forward to the cash, but really looking forward to getting rid of a pile of stuff! Over the next week I will post my favorite garage sale tips:

Tip #1: Make bright easy to read signs.

I use fluorescent green, yellow or pink posterboard and a broad tipped black marker. I only use one color per sale. I fill the entire board with information. Include address or intersection, days and times. A large arrow on the bottom of the sign is also very helpful. Make sure the letters on your sign are thick and bold. In fact, aim for two inches thick and 4-8 inches tall.

I actually use two pieces of posterboard per sign and tape them together on the top and sides with clear packing tape. I slide it over an old realtor sign or a large piece of cardboard with a stake attached and then tape the bottom of the posterboard together. This makes for a very sturdy sign.

If you think it might rain, you can cover the entire sign in clear packing tape! Put the signs out during the late evening before the sale on nearby intersections. We live off a major street, so we put about 3 signs at major intersections about a mile away each. We also put one right at our main corner and a smaller one in our yard, so people know they found the right place!

Good looking signs are important. If you are not getting compliments on your signs from buyers, you are doing it wrong!

We made a deal tonight with our out of town relatives. We will sell them our Ford Taurus for $2500 in October of this year. I think we would get less as a trade in, but more if we sold it privately to a stranger. So we met in the middle! Good for us. Good for them.

I will still have it sitting in the driveway for the next 6 months, but at least we have a plan. I guess they would probably like it if I drove it around once in awhile! I should make a weekly date to drive it for ice cream.

Hmm...can I put this towards my Ebay Challenge money? If so, I don't have to sell one more thing to meet my $100 per month average. No. I will continue the challenge and keep the car sale out of it!

The money will definitely go towards the emergency fund goal. That will help quite a bit considering I'm about to dip into the 'new' emergency money to fund part of the house painting.

We are going to sell our paid for car. A 2002 Ford Taurus with nearly 120,000 miles. We bought it used in 2006 for $8K. In the last 4.5 years, we have spent nearly $4K in repairs. It has been pretty reliable, but it seems every time we turn around that something needs to be fixed or addressed. Yes, some of it is maintenence, but much of it is failure of the original design. I'm not even going to get into the problems here.

The deployment is prompting our desire to sell it. It is really hard for one person to drive two cars! As a stay at home mom, I'm not driving that much. We will save on car insurance and registration for a short period of time. The sale will also bring in some cash. Oh, and DH has been salivating over getting a truck for over a year now. He will get one when he returns.

We are pretty sure we will sell it to an out of state relative. They have a Taurus and love it. They will have a 16 year old in October. We are going to take it to a dealer to see what their offer would be and use that as our spring board for negotiations with them. Yes, we have checked a couple online sites, but the prices are a bit varied. We also want an opinion from someone who actually sees and drives the vehicle.

If we come to an agreement on price, I will actually have to hold the vehicle for the relatives until October. They don't need it until then. They are also still saving the cash for it. Of course, I'm pleased with that, since they will not have a loan.

Remember my post from a couple days ago, where I didn't have any listings on ebay and didn't expect to make any sales during the month of April? I lied. Not on purpose of course!

I sold a book on half.com!! I have over 30 books and cds listed. Someone (a public library) bought one. Yipee!

Small sale, though. Net proceeds $4.74

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40
March: $55.50
April: $4.74

This sale really pulls the average down. Or maybe its April the fourth month that pulls the average down. I'm now at $77.13 per month. I am going to rely on the garage sale to pull me back up!

I've paid the bills and have $345 to add to our emergency fund goal! It was a bit difficult to find the funds, but round them up I did.

The money comes from DH's travel reimbursement, an anniversary gift, extra funds in our general escrow account, a couple small rebates and survey checks.

There has been quite a bit of spending here primarily for my husband's deployment needs as well as a few small home projects we are finishing up. I'm looking forward to the finances getting back in order soon, so I can really get things moving forward!

Emergency Fund Goal Balance: $1,408

This is a busy month at our house and I honestly don't have the time for ebay sales. I do have one item on craigslist, but after a week, no inquiries.

I will be back up and running in May. We have a garage sale scheduled mid month. I'm hoping the proceeds from that will help offset my lack of sales in April.

April is a great month to be selling jackets, shorts, spring and summer clothing and outdoor items. I have already gone through my girls closets and had them try on last years clothes. The outgrown items are in the garage sale pile!!

Yesterday was a day of refunds. I returned a Land's End shirt to Sears, it was bigger than the marked tagged. I received $10.18 back.

I had a refund, rebate really, from an item I purchased over the holidays. This resulted in $5.00!

And the smallest refund, I've ever received by check arrived yesterday from the lender of our home equity loan. A big whopping $0.35! A stamp costs more.

All of this money ($15.53) will be part of our next emergency fund deposit, since we all know little amounts add up.

Have you received a very small refund? What do you do with money like this?

are here today to bring me my May flowers!! Unfortunately, some of the rain came with some severe weather, so I'm staying in today instead of shopping.

The cleaning tasks went very well this week. Here's my final update:

[x]clean inside kitchen cabinets
[ ]clean outside kitchen cabinets
[ ]touch up paint kitchen cabinets
[x]dust intake vents
[x]wash out large trash can
[x]wash van (I'll probably go to a car wash)
[x]vacuum van floor & scrub floor mats
[x]hose out the garage floor

My kitchen cabinets are painted white. We bought the house this way. Unfortunately, white cabinets do not stay clean and develop a residue that more grime sticks to. Ugh! I clean them at least twice a year, probably more. It is a chore that does pay off in beauty, but it very hard to get myself going on. Honestly, right now I can't say when I will get to them. I'm that unmotivated.

I earned another $3 from Pinecone Research! It seems since I signed up to have them direct deposit my payment into paypal that I get more surveys. Or maybe it is just coincidence and surveys are just picking up in general. Any thoughts on my theory?

I now have over $10 in my paypal account. Once we get our mid month paycheck, I will include this with our emergency fund contribution. Maybe I'll have another survey or two before then!

I took a quick look at my capris and shorts. I have sizes for current weight and my lower weight from a couple years ago. I kept just one of each of the old size, and tossed the rest in the garage sale pile. I'd much rather be the lighter weight...but it is what it is!

I just sold an item on ebay for $12.50!

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40
March: $68.00

My monthly average is now: $105.43

The girls and I finally got back to doing a little sorting in their rooms and a basement storage area. We found quite a few things to toss, recycle and sell! In fact some of the toys they chose to get rid of surprised me a bit. But I'm okay with it since it feels so freeing to move this stuff on.

I finally sold the item I had on craigslist for $15. I shouldn't complain. It only took 3 days. That is actually pretty quick. My ebay listing is taking longer!

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40
March: $55.50

Monthly average: $101.26

I am exceeding the $100/mo average goal I set for myself again. Yipee!!

I guess it's time. Time to track the van loan. It is one of our 2010 goals, to pay it off. Or at least get much closer to zero!

The current balance is $18,137.47. I'm going to start the ticker there, even though the original loan was larger. We bought the van in May 2008. If we pay it off this year, that makes the borrowing time only 2.5 years. Not bad!

I expect we will pick up the payoff pace in June or July. For now, just expect regular payment updates each month beginning in April!

Update on survey cash out mentioned yesterday: it was deposited yesterday in my paypal account. Only one day after the request. Yipee!

It's a party day at our house. Actually, the party is at an pizza arcade. We are celebrating my daughter's 13th birthday which is next week. I'm taking the girls and a couple friends for the lunch buffet for $5.99 per person. I will need to buy game cards, too. I have a $10 gift certificate to apply to transaction. It should be a fun time!

I'm still waiting to sell my one item on craigslist. My buyer didn't show last night, but said I could sell to someone else. I have emailed the next person on the list. I hope to sell it soon!! I had plenty of interest.

I requested a $16 cash out from a survey site yesterday. I was pleased to find out that they will be able to deposit the money into my paypal account! For some reason, it still takes two weeks before it hits my account. It took me over a year to meet the minimum of $10, so I think I'm done with them. American Consumer Opinion Poll, if you want to know.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I did a little cleaning up in our basement yesterday. I found two things to give away for free. One to sell. I posted them on craiglist. And the responses? Geez, I've never had so many emails arrive in my inbox at once!!

The free items were a non working printer and garage door opener. One has been picked up, the other is sitting outside now waiting pickup. I have four other people to email if it doesn't go soon. People love free non working things apparently.

The one item I have up for sale should be sold tonight. I had the most responses for this item, which makes me think I may have underpriced it. I will make $15.

I also listed another collection of toys my girls have decided to part with on ebay. I started it last night as a five day listing, so it would still end on Sunday. I like Sunday endings, so I can get the item in the mail on Monday. That is if they pay promptly!

In my basement cleaning, I put all my garage sale items in boxes. I have about 10!! They are on a table and ready to be marked with prices. I need to go get labels before I can start. It's still two months away and I expect to find some more things to sell!

I'm adding $41 to the emergency fund goal. This is from ebay sales primarily.

Old Balance: $779
Add Funds: $41
New Balance: $820

Right now this money is sitting in a checking account. I intend to move the money to our money market account each time we have $1000 saved.

Only $6,180 to go to the goal!

I definitely found some things to sell at the garage sale in the spring when going through the girls closets yesterday. We still need to go through their dresser drawers. Maybe today? I have a cold virus that is wearing me out.

I had two auctions end last night on Ebay. The sales were $40.50! I'm pretty happy with that. One item is a collection of toys from my girls younger days. Now I have a whole empty bin to use elsewhere in the house!

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40
March: $40.50

I need at least $11.21 in sales before the end of the month to meet my challenge goal. The challenge goal is to average $100 a month in sales. I'd say three months into the year, I'm doing pretty well.

The girls are on spring break this week, so today's task is to clean their rooms. I'm sure we'll find some things they have outgrown. Many of which can be sold.

When they go back to school, I'm going to dive in with some deeper cleaning. I think the dirt and sand in the garage will be the first to go!

I'm adding $779 to the emergency fund today. The advance from the Army sure helps!

Old Balance: $0
New Funds: $779
New Balance: $779

Only $6221 left to meet this goal! I hope to find myself adding little amounts from time to time as well. As I write that, I realize I can add the interest the emergency fund earns each month too. Cool.

Ebay update: both auctions have bids!

I'm back listing on ebay this week. Only two listings. My goal is an average of $100 per month. Since January was a good month, I was able to slack off a bit in February. I need at least $52 in sales this month to keep pace with the goal.

Wish me luck!!

2010 Ebay Challenge Totals
January: $201.89
February: $46.40

I typed an entry and lost it. Here's the condensed version:

1) Pinecone survey payment $3.00. Paid by Paypal. Love how quick it is.
2) Shopped for shoes. Bought nothing. Now two no spend days in a row.
3) As part of my spring cleaning: cleaned my washer with bleach and washed out garbage can.
4) Not motivated to do ebay right now. Have lots of items. Deciding on date with neighbors for garage sale. Need snow to melt and warmer temperatures.

I received 10 bucks in the mail yesterday from NFO MySurvey. It arrived very quick considering I requested it on February 13th. Two weeks.

I haven't been attending to my SwagBucks account. I had an email about their anniversary with a code to obtain 10 swagbucks. When I redeemed it I noticed that I already had 30 points in my account. Last time I logged in I used all my points to donate to the Red Cross for Haiti relief. Turns out the 30 points came from people who signed up under me. So, if you at one time signed up under me...thank you! As a result, I decided to add the swagbucks banner back to my sidebar.

I'm going to try to use Swagbucks for my searches along with MyPoints. Maybe I will earn enough to buy Christmas presents off Amazon this year! If you want to try to do something similar, click on my sidebar for a link to the program. I'll let you know how it is progressing from time to time, too.

I have eaten out in restaurants twice this month. Once with a friend and once with my husband. I ate out with hubby today. He arrived back home yesterday!! I only get him for another day. Then he has training in another state.

Today we went to TGI Friday's with a coupon. I will just say he picked a more expensive meal. However, with the coupon my meal was "free" and as was my water.

We then went shopping!! He needed a new backpack. The one he traveled with was starting to tear...and not at the seams. Ugh. And he needed a new toiletry bag, toiletries and shower shoes. I'm glad I set aside some cash for these things.

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I signed up for paypal payments for my Pincone surveys. Those are quick! I took a survey on Saturday and was just paid today. I'm glad I made the switch.

I'm taking a break from selling on ebay. It does become a bit of a chore at times. I also have a lot going on here at home with my husband out of town. In fact, I had to get up early and shovel the driveway! I'm volunteering some of my time up at the elementary school book fair, as well.

I have more things to sell, so I will get back to it in the next week or two. How is everyone else doing with their sales?

My valentine is in another country and I still got an email wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day! I'll take it.

We don't usually go all out on this day anyway. Some cards and a few flowers are given. This year, I bought the girls each a card, and one bag of candy that I divided up for them. I snuck a few pieces for myself, too. Tonight we will have pasta for dinner by candlelight, which is also a tradition.

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I requested a cash out from My Survey last night. I will get a $10 check in a couple of weeks. It seems they are awarding fewer points for each survey.

Last week, for Super Bowl Sunday, we opened a block of Kraft cheese to find mold on the sides. Eww! We threw it out. I ran to the store for more (picked another brand). On Monday, I emailed Kraft about the issue. Kraft responded with an apology. They are also sending me a $2 check to reimburse me for the purchase. Kraft is good!

I withdrew $120 of my ebay and book sale proceeds from my paypal account. This money will arrive in my account in a couple days.

The really exciting news about this is that it will all go to the home equity loan! I think I can get the loan to under $2K once we hit pay day. You know that makes me happy!

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I did get to talk to my husband twice yesterday before his plane left. That always relaxes me. He's probably still in the air...it is a long flight!

My ebay auctions just ended. I sold 5 items for $41.01! Two auctions did not sell. I'm not going to list those again right now.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40

I made another half.com sale today! I will add $5.39 to my Ebay challenge totals. I have 7 listings on Ebay that end Sunday, so I will have another update then.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $5.39

I didn't get the email about the half.com sale until late this afternoon, after the mailman had come by already. I will mail the item tomorrow. If I can fit the item in my mailbox, I save myself the trip of going to the post office.

is becoming flush with funds! I usually don't hold any money in there, but with the ongoing ebay sales the funds are accumulating.

Yesterday, Powell's books deposited my proceeds from the books I sent them. They did reject one small paperback and deducted $0.50 for it. I'm okay with that.

I also decided to let Pinecone Research start depositing my survey payments in my paypal account as well. I look forward to getting paid more quickly! Now, I just need them to send me another survey. It seems like they have dried up a bit. My last paid survey with them was early January and before that it was in October.

Right now, I'm thinking I will just hold on to my paypal funds. I might designate it the Christmas fund or at some point cash out and send it to the home equity loan. The latter is probably the best idea. We'll see if I need it to make my mid March goal.

I just sold 4 more items on ebay this evening for $23.67! I also listed another 7 items that will end next Sunday. These new sales mean my total for the Ebay challenge this month is twice my goal of $100!

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89

What are you waiting for? It's time to sale that clutter on ebay!