A Blessing or a Curse?

Today was Yard Sale day at our house. In my downsizing world this could be considered both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, this was a slam dunk. How could I not get rid of at least ONE thing with the array of items splashed across our driveway and displayed in our garage? On the other hand, by having a yard sale I got rid of all of the easy targets in my house in one fell swoop. Had I clung to these treasures and carefully rid myself of them daily, the challenge would be relatively easy. But, alas, that is not the plan in this journey. Instead I will wake tomorrow with a few less easy downsizing options.

In staying true to form, I will only count this big sale as one item on my "How Am I Downsizing?" list. And really, we sold so many items for a dime or a quarter I lost count by 9am. So, here is a breakdown of the financial aspect of the sale:

Approximate Gross Sales : $313
Less Yard Sale supplies: $6.63
Net profit: $306.37

Not bad, huh? Well, here is where it gets a bit sticky. Remember my blog about a certain coworker named Suzy Shopper? Apparently she not only enjoys free makeup but also loves to shop and therefore has accumulated a few too many garments over the years. When she heard I was having a yard sale she asked if she could bring over some clothes to sell. I welcomed her with open arms figuring more stuff to sell means more happy customers. Suzy S. arrived this morning with her own boutique complete with a real life clothing rack for displaying her wares. She set up at the end of my driveway and began luring in females with her name brand shirts, sweaters and jackets - many of which were N.W.T. As I've confessed, I am a sucker for a bargain. And so, I began to form my own pile of keepers off of Suzy's rack. How could I resist a trendy Banana Republic coat or a pea green Gap pea coat? Shayla, my budding fashionista, jumped into the game and selected several tanks and shirts for her back to school wardrobe. At the end of the day, I paid Suzy $45 and can honestly say it was a steal considering the quality items I've added to my closet.
The irony in my shopping at my own yard sale is that I had laid down the law with my kids first thing this morning by stating unequivocally that they could not purchase anything from the neighbor's yard sale. Guess the goose and gander thing didn't hold true today. What I'm not sure about is where to account for this expenditure in my net profit for the day.

The sale with the biggest impact on our family was the TV. In June we made the decision to take a cable holiday for the summer. After a few months of no television and an extra $70 a month back in our budget, Dajuan and I made the executive decision to extend the cable holiday indefinitely. With no need for the 36 inch monstrosity in our living room anymore, we hauled it out to the garage and put a price tag on it today. It sold within 1 hour - and was finally picked up a short time ago. While we may not go TV free forever, this represents a monumental shift in our use of our free time. The kids have adjusted nicely and perhaps most shockingly, Dajuan doesn't seem to miss his late night channel surfing at all. For all of the benefits of a TV free household, I would have practically paid someone to take the big screen off of our hands. But today, I was happy with the $150 it netted.

Perhaps the biggest attraction of the day was the kids' Bee-Bop stand. Putting their best entrepreneurial feet forward, they prepared these southern style Kool-Aid popsicles and sold them for a dime each. At the end of the day they counted their money and found that they had made over $9.00. Apparently the low price and adorable smiles encouraged many buyers to add a tip. Way to go girls!

As we wound down for the day, I regained my downsizing wits about me and made the decision to pack most of our leftover goods in the van for a Goodwill run. Dajuan agreed and did the big drop off before dinner. And so we have significantly less stuff today by way of a gigantic downsize. Much like too many glasses of cheap wine, I may feel the repercussions of today's gluttonous purging of goods in the morning.