Yard Sale

I have discovered a secret to "yard sale-ing." First, you start by really hating your junk and wanting to be rid of it. Then, you decide that it doesn't matter too much what it's worth or how much you receive for it. This makes the third and fourth steps easy: you don't need to spend a ton of time preparing for the yard sale (assigning values, making price labels, advertising the sale) or even sitting out at the side of the street hoping customers will show up. Just put up one or two signs that say "Everything's $1" and you'll get people's attention. You don't have to haul your stuff to the junkyard or thrift store-- they only go as far as your lawn and then they magically disappear into people's cars! When I did this last Saturday with my small sale (it helped that I live on a street corner with a fair amount of traffic), the entire sale lasted 2 1/2 hours, but was only that long because we spent nearly an hour chatting with neighbors who were out and about. Once the large items were gone, I quit and packed the other stuff in two boxes. My toddler got to spend a couple of hours outdoors without me trying to coerce her to get back in the house, and I was a few bucks richer. What a win-win situation!