Upsides to the Down Economy/ One Woman's Trash...

Today I participated in an All American rite of passage. OK. I'm not sure if it's All American (as I've witness versions in London) or a rite of passage, but what I'm talking about is a good, old fashioned Garage Sale. Yes, even in this time of E-bay and Craig's List, there's still a place for this familiar weekend ritual. I have concluded that you're either a garage sale person (as in having and shopping at them) or you're not. I am. My husband, on the other hand, hates them. He reasons it's just as easy, and tax-deductible, to give our junk to Goodwill. While he may be right, having a yard sale motivates me to go through my stuff, re-assess, decide what to keep and what to get rid of and organize! I didn't make much money with this garage sale (it was a hot, muggy day), but my stepdaughters made more than a hundred bucks. In addition, I found a lot of loose leaf paper (about to be thrown out in some binders), pens, pencils, a t-shirt to work out in and $25 from my last garage sale! While it is a lot of work, it's always interesting and entertaining to have a garage sale. I especially loved the lady who wanted to buy Lauren's Louis Vuitton knock-off purse from Chinatown for a buck.

"No, five dollars," I said. She countered with:

"It's not even real."

"Yes, but my husband paid $30 for it in Chinatown."

Her last stab at it: "I'm sending it to Haiti."

"I don't think the people of Haiti need a fake Louis Vuitton. Food, clothes, shelter, yes, but not a fake Louis Vuitton."

We held firm and ended up getting $5 bucks for it, from somebody else. I also met some of my neighbors and the girls, who had hid at my first garage sale, collected items to sell, priced, displayed and marketed items, negotiated with customers (sometimes in Spanish), calculated amounts and made a little spending money. After it was over, we decided what would go to Goodwill, what to the consignment store, e-bay, Craigslist etc... The printers and paint have been set aside to dispose of at place that accepts them. And we packed the rest of it away...

for our next garage sale.