Monday, August 18th, 2008 |
How To Have Garage Sale Success
We helped a family member out with a massive garage sale this past weekend. There were plenty of negatives which could have got us down and produced a bad turnout: it was tax-free shopping weekend, it was hot, and it rained. Still, we stayed positive, put in the hard work, and ended up making around $500. More importantly, we got rid of a bunch of unused stuff. A few suggestions for having a successful garage sale:
- Rest Up - Garage sales mean early mornings. With all the stuff you’ll be moving around all day, you’ll need a good night’s sleep before hand to get you started off on the right foot.
- Advertise - Use online services (like craigslist.com or your community message board) the week and day before to advertise your sale. Be as specific as possible about the items you’ll be selling. Also consider placing an small ad in your local paper. Lastly, the night before you should get signs out on all the major intersections leading to your house.
- Prepare the Items - Don’t just have piles of clothes and stuff. Categories and organize your things as much as possible. Get them up on tables for easy viewing. Try to make the sale resemble a retail shop as much as possible. Consider pricing your items. I’m on the fence about whether pricing is worth the time, as some people might be discouraged when they see a price and not make a smaller offer; others may be discouraged by no price because they don’t like to haggle. When in doubt, don’t price it. They’ll ask.
- Have Help - Consider recruiting a friend or family member to help you out. It’s good to have an extra hand in setting up your stuff, and a second pair of eyes for watching people while you do your dealing.
- Define Your Definition of Success - Be honest with yourself about what a garage sale is: you getting rid of stuff you don’t need for a bit of extra cash. You’re not going to make a profit on these sales because it’s used goods. Hopefully by now you’ve received your value from the goods. If not, get ready to pay your stupid tax. Your main goal should be to just get rid of the stuff. Whatever cash you make, in my opinion, is just a bonus.
QuickHits
Alright, on to the QuickHits… I participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance #165: College Football Edition this past week at No Debt Plan. I also was included in the 138th Edition of Festival of Frugality - The First Principles at MoneyNing, and the Carnival of Money Stories #72: Back To School Edition at Broke Grad Student. Thanks for hosting guys.
My favorite posts from the Money Life Network last week were:
Posted in Money Stories, Personal Finance Links | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 |
(please excuse this slightly off-topic post)
The Buzz About PF Buzz
I know a boat load of you pf bloggers are already using PF Buzz (around 200 at publish) but I thought I would try and convince those last remaining few out there to get with the program. As well as re-ignite some who may have signed up and never really used the service. You know who you are.
In case you didn’t already know, PF Buzz is a “social bookmarking site that focuses on sharing the best personal finance and money articles…made by a personal finance blogger (Pinyo from Moolanomy) for personal finance bloggers (You and Me).” Forget Digg. We’ve got our own social site now. Bottom line: It’s a fun site if you’re into personal finance and it has positive benefits for most everyone that gets involved. Check out the PF Buzz Blog and Forums for a little extra buzz.
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Posted in Blog, Personal Finance Links | 9 Comments »
Saturday, August 9th, 2008 |
I’m currently listening to some Guster, one of my favorite bands. I thought I’d dedicate this edition of the QuickHits to them. If you have some time they’re definitely worth a listen. Just let this song play while you browse the QuickHits. All the links should open in a new window.
Hope you’re enjoying the nice weekend and taking in all the Olympic coverage. That opening ceremony was unreal, right?
Many great posts in the of blogosphere this week…
From The Reader
The Blog Carnivals
Thanks to the hosts!
From the Money Life Network:
“Frugal Things To Do In…” Map
Last but not least, here’s something that the Money Life Network members and others have been building:
Looking for some frugal things to do in your city or one you might be traveling to? Click on a marker to visit a blog post covering the frugal things to do in that city. Pretty cool, huh?
You Can Still Participate
Just a reminder that the “Frugal Things To Do In…” writing project is an on-going thing, and hopefully a valuable resource for years to come. If you’re a blogger, you should write your own article about the frugal things to do in your city. Be sure and contact us if you do and we’ll add you to the map.
Have a great weekend.
Posted in Personal Finance Links | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 |
If you were given $50,000USD (tax free) today, what would you spend it on? That’s the question on Hank’s (from My Investing Blog) mind. So here’s my answer:
50K would be enough for me to split amongst different goals. I’d pay off a little debt (5K), build a better cash savings (5K), buy another piece of real estate (30K for down payment), and use the remaining 10K for our 2008 IRA contributions. Easy!
If you’d like to get in on Hank’s contest, there’s only a few days left so hurry over to Hank’s Holiday Handout #3! where M.I.B Is Giving Away $300! You can also answer here in the comments, but to be eligible for the contest you’ll need to visit My Investing Blog.
Posted in Personal Finance Links | 4 Comments »
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 |
Best Of: July 2008
July is officially over. It’s been another busy month. I had a lot going on personally and here on the blog: we took a week or two to do our mid-year financial check-up, we paid off one of our car loans, learned about some frugal vacations we could take, did a book review of (Not) Keeping Up With Our Parents, shared some frugal things to do in Dallas, TX, talked about secured and unsecured debt, and created a dashboard-style view of our finances. Told ya…busy. Still, I didn’t get to share an update on our savings and debt reduction goals. That, I promise, will come early in August. (more…)
Posted in Blog, Personal Finance Links | 5 Comments »
