About Me

Denise

"Develop a plan that is so amazing, so glowing, that you are willing to walk blurry-eyed to work everyday to make the money necessary to reach the light." Sparky

I'm a freelance journalist and crafter who dreams of starting my own business-- a hometown Tiki bar. I am a former New Orleans Bourbon Street bartender.

The tiki challenge: I must find creative new revenue streams, apart from my career.

**Five year tiki goal: $40,000**
**2009 Tiki fund goal: $2,500**
$2427.43 to go

**Total tiki money: $3,032.74**

***Savings Goals for 2009***
$10,000 into savings/ EF
$2,000 into 529 plan
$2,000 to Roth IRA
$2,620 extra college fund
$600 into new car fund
Total: $17,200

Pay $3,000 extra on student loan. Balance: $0. PAID OFF
As much as possible to IRA

***Progress Report***
$7343 savings, $2657 to go
$1800 to 529 plan, $200 to go
$100 to Roth, $1900 to go
$400 to new car fund, $200 to go
$175 to IRA
$2,620 to extra college fund, GOAL MET
Total: $12,438, $4762 to go

Student loan extra: PAID OFF

**Non- financial goals**
Write a novel in a month
Lose 10 pounds
Grow 100 pounds of veggies

**Progress**
0 pounds lost-- pregnant!
4 pages written
53.54 lbs. veggies grown

My Pages

yard sale was a mixed bag

June 22nd, 2009 at 08:51 am

Well, I had no idea how much work having a yard sale is.

After hours of prep, hanging signs, setting up tables and then sitting outside, I only made $100. After you deduct lunch and what I paid to put an ad in the local paper,(in addition to my free craigslist ads) I only made $40. How depressing.

The only positive is that I managed to get rid of some bulky items to clear room for the new Bean. The bad news is that I have a giant pile of stuff to still get rid of in the garage.

I am torn about what to do. Do I pull the stuff out again later in the summer and have another sale? Call the thrift store for pick up? start freecycling it one item at a time?

I'm feeling like a prisoner of stuff. I don't want clutter and I don't want stuff!!

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “yard sale was a mixed bag”

creditcardfree Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 09:10 am

I'm sorry your sale didn't go as you planned financially. If you have another sale, maybe you skip the newspaper ad to save some money. Also, make your lunch ahead of time to have on hand during the sale.
monkeymama Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 09:33 am

Yeah, yard sales aren't my thing.

We sell everything we can get $10-$20+ for on craigslist and ebay (depending on our mood - I just donated some things since it had taken so long to get to it).

The rest gets donated - they pick up in our neighborhood almost every other week though, which makes it simple.

I'd either make a thrift store run or just freccycle it in bulk. You don't know how many times I have seen a mish mash of stuff listed on freecycle that said, "Must be gone by today" and usually the stuff will get picked up. OR people with more time and energy will pick it all up and try to sell it, etc. It is not hard to unload unwanted items. Which is what I would do if I felt a prisoner of my stuff. (Getting rid of things one at a time is not very practical).
BuckhornGal Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:45 am

I think you summed it up when you said "I don't want clutter, I don't want stuff". A suggestion: get it out on the driveway. Let neighbours and friends know you are having a free garage sale. List your free garage sale on freecycle. Just get it out there and have everyone pick through what they want. At the end of the day throw out anything damaged or broken, then after the sale day make a thrift store run and you will be done. If you do it over a few days you will feel that you made a big difference in a short time. Good luck and thanks for keeping it out of the landfill!
tynana Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 05:43 pm

I actually found that no matter how much I made at a yard sale it always seemed like the money was then needed for some type of emergency. My Karma - not to ever get ahead but only break even.

The best thing I ever did was post on Craigs list - yard sale leftovers must take everything. You can list as free or maybe put $20.00 takes it all.

Good luck
CouponAddict Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 06:06 pm

I have noticed when I do rummage sales certain things sell better at certain times, clothes in the fall when school is going to start up, other items during the summer. It sounds like you do not want to do another rummage sale for samll profit so I would try listings big items under a free classified ad, then donate the rest.
Ms. Pearl Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 pm

I hope I can make 100.00 at my sale on Wednesday...that would be awesome! But I have no investment except for the ingredients for the cookies we are making but they usually sell.

Thrift-o-rama and the quest for a Tiki Bar

One girl's quest to shore up her personal finances and save for her own business

yard sale was a mixed bag

6 Responses to “yard sale was a mixed bag”

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