Community yard sale today!

I always go back and forth about doing a yard sale - it's a lot of time and work and then people just want a bargain and don't want to even pay the low prices I put on things.

Today we did ok - we didn't get rid of too much, but made $31 - better than nothing.  The leftovers are being donated this week.  To Lupus, FOHA (to their upscale thrift store) and then Birthday Blessings Inc who is a friend's charity.

The things learned today -

1.  Always ask for double of what you want.
The person is going to offer less.  This happened SEVERAL times today.  I had a BRAND NEW purse that I was selling for $5 and was offered $3 a couple of times.  Come on!  Same with a brand new clock - I was asking $10 and then they offered $5.  Same with stuffed animals - I was asking $1 for a beanie baby (brand new), and they offered 2/$1.  I rather just donate and get a better tax deduction!

2.  People do not pay attention when driving around at yard sales.
I don't know how many times people drove by looking at our yard and there was either a car behind them or coming towards them.  Same with just pulling over at a moments notice.

One of our neighbors came over with their dog, Apryl - who has met Theo before, but he was in one of his moods and was growling at her.  Then he was growling at Apryl's dad too.

Don't know if it was because we were at our house and he was "protecting" it or what.

One of the things that I got rid of was a bunch of containers (shoeboxes and larger containers). I used them A LOT when I was stockpiling.  I haven't been stockpiling or couponing that much since I started my business (and that was 4 years ago!).  It became more of a chore than fun.

I still use coupons, but it's mostly online coupons that I print with MyPoints.com and using Couponmom.com for the sales on that week. Even then, there are times, when I'll do all of the work (look up the sales, match the coupons) and then not go shopping.

When I do have multiple coupons for items and they are on sale, I do stock up, NOTHING like I used to do.  I think some of it is because we are eating a little better - less processed/boxed foods. Still, when I do have a major shopping spree, I do save majorly - like 60% savings.

OH! We had a really good "dining" and "shopping" experience today.  We went to Chipotle - the one we always go to and it was CLEAN - like they were on top of cleaning as soon as the customer was gone, and the floor was swept.  I could tell that the manager was at the register because she gave excellent customer service -saying the extra comments, etc. I said something to her before we left - that we hadn't seen this place this clean in a long time.  I asked if she was new and she said she wasn't but I don't think we have ever seen her.

Then we went to CVS for water. The cashier was AWESOME. Chit chatting and asking if we needed help and making a joke "getting some water uh?" (because we got 4 cases).

Tell you what we were both in a good mood when we got home - just because it was a memorable dining and shopping experience.

Adventures: The 127 Sale - World's Longest Yardsale

For months now, my sister-in-law and I have been planning a trip to The 127 Sale - World's Longest Yardsale.  We have talked about this sale for years (since it was featured on HGTV) and it's been a bucketlist item for me.   

This trip really did not go as planned.  Basically from the start.  Originally I figured that we would be there the whole time (Thursday to Sunday).  Unfortunately, my sister-in-law had to work on Monday, so no big deal, we'd come back on Sunday.  For planning, I originally thought 100 miles/day but overnight decided on 50 miles/day (THAT was a good idea).

The original plan was for me to drive up to NY with the Jeep.  Well, the check engine light had been coming on a lot (at least once a month since May).  It's always been code 740 (torque converter).  We were told in July 2011 that we would need a transmission, but after a reset and a flush, the code didn't come on again until September 2012.  The jeep has been driving fine, but we figured that we would at least get it checked out before I went on this long trip.  Bad news - it really did need a new transmission.  First gut instinct was "new car" (90K on the car & 10 years old), but then after thinking about it overnight, we changed our mind (no job and new car payment = bad plan) and got some estimates.

Backup plan in effect - I would take the Elantra to NY and we decided to take my brother's car (now my SIL's car) to Ohio.  The Impala is bigger than the Elantra.  That way we could get some stuff in the car!  Bonus change in plans - My SIL's sister, Helen, decided to come with us.  The more the merrier!  Hence another reason why the Impala would be better.  At home, originally we thought that we would have to wait until I got back home until we got the Jeep fixed and Dan would drive it to work and if it broke down, he would just have it towed and then get a rental.  HOWEVER, believe it or not, the Jeep dealership was the best price/deal for the transmission AND we got a loaner car during the work.  WOOHOO!

So trip up to NY was fine (Tuesday).  Wednesday, we were going to leave about 3 pm.  My SIL text me that she was coming home early because she thought she might be getting an UTI and was going to head to the doctors.  Doctor's visit went fine, SIL got antibiotics and was going to down a bunch of water.

Since it was a drinking evening (and I mean water/fluids, not alcohol), we stopped a LOT.  But we were all fine with it.  We had a blast on the ride out.  Luckily, we all get along.  We finally arrived at our hotel about 11 pm.

Thursday, SIL felt better and we had a great day.  We probably stopped at over 75 yard sales.  Some multiple sales in one location.  We started probably about 9 am and by about 3 pm, I was done.  We weren't really seeing anything interesting and I think all of us were about done.

I picked up bunch of old (like 1940's) cat and dog figurines.  I have my mom's dog figurine collection so those old figurines call to me.  I also picked up one small depression glass dish that caught my eye.  And I picked up 2 glass pendants.  I ended up spending about $20.

About 30 miles out from the 2nd night stop/hotel, we decided to just go to the hotel.  Once we unpacked, we headed to dinner and then we were basically ready for bed.

Friday morning, we were in Van Wirt, OH and we were thinking about hanging around there for a Ribs Festival along with the yardsale.  We got ready and then, SIL said "I think we need to go home, I'm not feeling well and I don't want to end up in the hospital here"  That's all it took and we were on our way home.  Let me back up and say, on the drive to OH, whenever I saw a hospital sign, I would always ask "do you need a hospital?"  And on Thursday, Joanne said that she almost said "we need to turn around" on the drive to OH.  I knew if she said we needed to go home, she defnitely wasn't feeling well.  She was WAY TOO excited about this trip to let a little belly ache ruin it.  We (Helen, Joanne's sister) and I could tell she wasn't feeling well during the drive.  Joanne wasn't talking at all.

Friday, we got back to NY about 6 pm.  We took some backroads and took our time.  I figured I would head back home a little early (Sunday instead of Monday), but got to spend some time with each of the nieces & nephew.  Friday, was Maegan's turn - dinner at Friendly's.  Saturday was VJ's turn - dinner at Texas Hot then No Bake Reese's Bars with Chrissy.  Sunday, VJ rode home with me so we got plenty of time together.

Let me say that we came back to a construction mess (we left one too).  Joanne is getting their bathroom redone so no shower for a couple of days, just a toliet upstairs.

Jeepy is back at home and is working fine.  Hubby drove the loaner car - a Jeep Patriot - while I was gone.  This is the 2nd time I've driven a Patriot & I didn't care for them either time - especially this time since there were NO UPGRADES on it - no power ANYTHING (windows, locks, nothing).

Satellite radio was the only good thing.

However, was only for 2 days - it ended on August 1.

The Housewife Tour 2013 - The Week in Review (with some Adventures)

Projects:
So, not too many projects completed this week, but putting a BIG dent into organzing and pricing for the yard sale on the 18th!

We have so much CRAP!  I still need to spend time on basement storage- where everything ends up that we don't use.  Up until the yard sale, I'm posting things on Listia and on Ebay to see if I can sell them that way.  Especially the items that I know will not sell at the yard sale or I won't get offered what I want to get out of it.  People are looking to spend pennies at a yard sale and I price my stuff low to begin with.  I rather get some money (or credits in the case of Listia) out of it than donate.  Donating is the last resort.

I still have a lot of old/antique stuff that I need to look up for pricing.  That's a process!  Anyway, if I can at least get rid of some stuff sooner rather than later, that works!

I did add a wreath to the front door this week.  AC Moore had new large flowers that they didn't have when I was there a couple of weeks ago for a wreath project.  I thought it would look good in the meantime until I get the project done.  It pretty much matches the real flowers that are on the porch.

Adventures this week (minus the pups):

Just some fun adventures I wanted to mention that happened this week.

This was the 2nd week of the digital scrapbooking class at Orange Leaf.  We went over Memory Manager 4.0.  I tell you, having a class every week is keeping focused on getting at least something done with my digital stuff!

I had lunch with my long-time friend, +Nancy Williams.  It's about the company and not the food as we had lunch at Wendy's!  I'm not saying that Wendy's isn't good, but I bet you thought we would be at some sit down restaurant.  We both mentioned how we don't get to Wendy's that often.  I only get there if I'm traveling and don't stop at McDonald's.

Since Thursday, I have been a single (dog) parent.  Hubby is up at the family cottage in Canada with is uncle & cousins for a summer-prep/opening the cottage weekend.  If it was longer than 2 full days, our whole family would have gone, but it's just too long of a drive (12 hours) for Esa all at once.  It wouldn't be a problem for Z.  He would just curl up and sleep.  Esa doesn't relax in the car like Z.

Yard Sale and Great Strides Walk

What a busy weekend!

Yesterday was the community yard sale.  Tons of stuff to get rid of, but only made $51.75.  Better than nothing - I never expect to make much on yard sales.  I just want to make something and then donate everything else.  I am starting my online sales again.  We'll see how that goes.  I kept whatever I think I can sell online (books, music, video, "old" stuff).

Today was the Great Strides walk.  We went to the Leesburg, VA walk instead of the Elliott City, MD since the Ehrie's are now in California.  Fundraising went well.  Dan raised $325 and I raised $400.

I am very sore right now and was tired on the walk, but it is so worth it.  I kept thinking about Grace and everything she goes through everyday to stay healthy.  Esa and Zed did great on the walk.  It was a little humid so Esa was panting alot.  We had to stop several times for water.  This was her first long walk since being diagnosed with Lyme disease, so I'm sure she was tired because of that too.  On the way back, we tired to find 3 geocaches, but Dan only found one.  When we stopped, Esa laid down and was so tired, I was able to let go of her leash without fear of her taking off.  She even saw a squirrel and didn't move! 

We stopped at Roy Rogers and grabbed lunch to bring home and then Dan went to work.  The pups and I took about a 2 hour nap (and the pups have been napping more too).  So much for the other things I wanted to do today (grocery store, drop off recycling, drop off donations)!  I've spend the rest of the day updating my online sales on Amazon.

I did talk to my nephew - he's coming down the first weekend in June on his way back from NC.  Woohoo!  Perfect timing too - there's a concert I want to go to that weekend!