Preparing for a Successful Garage Sale

So next week we are having a garage sale!  Hallelujah!!  We have so much stuff sitting around that needs to be gone, its not even funny!  Last month we had a minor flood in our basement, and that has forced us to really go through everything that has been sitting down there.

Three years ago we moved into my parents house, they moved out, but left some of their things behind.  So in those three years, none of their stuff has been touched and our stuff has just accumulated down there.  So now is the time to purge and purge a lot!

I like to call myself the garage sale know it all, ha!!  Ok so maybe not really but I have thrown quite a few successful garage sales in my time, and also quite a few not so successful ones.  So I am going to share what I think it takes to make a successful garage sale.

1)  Pick your dates!
2)  Gather your items to be sold.
3)  Pricing and setting up.
4)  Put up your signs.  If you are going to place an ad in your paper I would make sure that is done a week before your sale.
5)  Start early!!
6)  Take those signs down when you are finished.

The first thing I like to do is pick my dates that way I have a goal and can work towards it.  For us I usually like to have them first thing in the summer or early in the fall.  

Next I start gathering items to be sold.  Usually throughout the year I am putting things down in our basement with the purpose of selling them.  So those items are easy to get, but then its time to go through our closets and drawers.  I make the kids go through their toys and get rid of any that they don't play with anymore, or just don't want.  I like to go through our clothes and get out everything that just doesn't fit right, or I don't like anymore.  With my boys clothes I will keep the older boys clothes, if they can still be worn by another child, and then the babies clothes get put in the garage sale pile.  On a side note, I just cleaned out all of the bins of clothes that I had been saving for my boys, and I went from about 10 overflowing tubs to 6 perfectly packed ones! Score one for me!!  Ok so pretty much every square inch of our house gets gone through, that way we can make the most out of this sale.

After I have gathered all of our items for the sale, then its time to price!  I have heard that people go about this in different ways.  Some don't price anything, some price everything.  Me, I am middle of the road on this.  I think it works great to put like items together on a table or in a box and just put a sign that says "Books $.50", "Shirts $1", and so on.  That saves a LOT of time and energy!  I also prefer to price and set up at the same time.  I think that saves a lot of time as well.

Here is my take on pricing.  I price my items pretty cheap, if I really want them gone! Nothing less than $.25, if I think its worth less it goes in a free box.  Everything is priced in quarter increments too, I don't like dealing with nickels and dimes.   Other things like furniture, I always ask a little more than I really want, because people will haggle to get a better deal.  I have learned that if I price it a little high then I don't have to think twice about lowering it.  And if it sells for the original price, then yeah!!   For example, I put a price of $20 on a high chair, but I would be ok to take $15 for it.  So when someone comes and asks if I will take $10 I can easily say, how about $15.  Most of the time that works and I can get the $15.

When setting up, I like to arrange items like you would see in a store.  Kitchen items together, books together, toys together, etc.  It makes it easy for people to find that they might be looking for.

The day before the sale I will go around town and put up our signs.  I usually place about 5 signs throughout our town.  Since we live on a main street that's pretty busy, I don't bother to place an ad in the paper.  I do suggest putting an in ad in your paper though, especially if your house might be difficult to find or you have especially "good" items you think will draw people in.  I also head to the bank that day, making sure to have plenty of change!!  I usually get a ton of $1's and $5's, and a few $10's.  Don't forget the quarters!!

On garage sale day, we always start early!  We are set up and ready to go by 8:00, in our town that's perfect!  I can usually catch people on their way to work and we always have the early birds ready to grab their worms, so to speak!

After the garage sale is finished, everything, and I mean everything gets donated!!  NOTHING comes back in my house!!  Don't forget to take those signs down too, I have forgotten before and had people show up later in the day a little upset that we were closing!

Here's to a successful garage sale!!  Do you have any tips that I may have forgotten?  How do you set up for your garage sales?  I would love to hear your suggestions!

Schedules for 2013-14

I am a very scheduled person.  I like to know what is going to happen and when.  My first born is the exact same!  So I always make up schedules for us to follow, that way we are kept on track and know what we are supposed to be doing at any given time.  

Here are the schedules that I have worked up for us to follow for the upcoming school year.  As always these are subject to change, and if its like last year change frequently!  

Noah’s Schedule for 2013-14 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-10:00	Free Play/ ipad/ computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer
10:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
10:15	History	History	History	History
10:45		Science		Science
11:15	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:00	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket
12:30	Math	Math	Math	Math
12:45	Language Arts	Language Arts	Language Arts	Language Arts
1:00	Latin		Latin
1:30	Activities	Activities	Activities	Activities
2:00	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud
2:30	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time
3:30	Snack/Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside

Elijah’s Schedule for 2013-14

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30	English	English	English	Dictation
8:45	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading
9:00	Bible	Bible	Bible	Bible
9:30	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math
10:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
10:15	History	History	History	History
10:45		Science		Science
11:15	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
11:45	Piano	Piano	Piano	Piano	Piano
12:00	Spelling	Spelling	Spelling	Spelling
12:30	Handwriting	Typing	Handwriting	Typing
1:00	Latin	Art	Latin	Art
2:00	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud
2:30	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time
3:30	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside