Yard Sale Bust

Well, our yard sale was pretty much a bust.  We held it on Friday and Saturday but came away with very little cash in hand for all our work.

I even put out a few of my collectibles (not many because I know that a yard sale isn't the place to try to sell them).  I was disappointed that one of my items (1950's era red plastic rocket shaped salt & pepper shakers) got snatched up by a lady while I was inside and who told my friend they were in the 25 cent bin.  I probably paid between $15-20 for those 10 years ago.  I knew I wasn't going to get that amount at a yard sale, but I also wasn't going to sell them for 25 cents!

Anyway, on a positive side I did sell my high chair & car seat.  I was glad I didn't have to lug that back to my house (we had the sale at my friend's house, so I had taken a ton of stuff over in 2 different trips).  And, when it was all over, everything that was left of mine got loaded in my van and taken directly to Goodwill.  The only thing I saved were my vintage coats (I have a friend who may be interested in them).  Otherwise, I cleared it all out.  It was very cleansing!

And, now I have to urge to cleanse my house even more of unused/unwanted items.  Having the yard sale has given me fresh eyes.  I look at my stuff differently.  How much of it could I really not stand to part with and how much would I not even know the difference if it suddenly disappeared?

The moral of the story?  While I still love going to yard sales, I think I've had my fill of trying to have my own...at least for a good long while.  Right now, it seems so much simpler to donate.

Finally, I wanted to share this link with you.  A friend shared this on facebook yesterday.  And, while it's not really related to yard sales, it does offer up perspective about things...what we have.  I remember years ago on a Saturday afternoon as I was dropping off yard sales leftovers at a thrift store and had to wait my turn because dozens of other people were doing the same thing, another man who was there looked around at the piles and piles of stuff and said, 'You know, there's really no such thing as a poor American.'

While I don't completely agree that there are no poor Americans, I get the gist of what he's saying....even those who would consider themselves at the low end of the totem pole have so much more than we realize.  And on that note, I leave you this link.  Take a minute to check it out.

 It's a collection of about 19 photos.  It doesn't take long to scroll through, but is very powerful.  It's called 'Where Children Sleep'