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When we lived in Troy, Ohio, we had a garage sale and, if memory serves me correctly, did not do as well as we hoped. When we moved from Troy to Eaton, we transported boatloads of stuff that was to be put in a garage sale someday. We had a garage sale and the only stuff that really moved was the tacky rubbish my mom contributed. When we moved from Eaton to Richmond, we brought the same stuff and then some with us to put in another garage sale which never transpired after living here for 8 years. After re-reading Don Aslett’s Clutter’s Last Stand and moving on past my Fly-Lady baby steps, I started hauling everything to Goodwill and pitching. I was groomed by a professional pack rat so this has been quite the growing experience. I love my mom but she keeps everything! She’s getting there, though. She’s been getting rid of stuff, something that’s very hard for her, and me, to do. She’s more practical – "I might need it someday." I’m just sentimental – "Lenae wore that, and that, and that…" But the one thing from Mr. Aslett’s book that won’t leave me alone is where he states the truth that we spend so much time caressing our STUFF that we don’t have time to touch the people in our lives.
That being said, my daughters decided to have a garage sale. So I said, "Go ahead, but whatever’s left goes to Goodwill. No saving for the "next garage sale." Aren’t you proud of me? For the past 2 days, we have watched people come and take some of the weirdest stuff. We’ve learned what people want:
I use to put my designer clothes in garage sales, the ones from when I was a fashion major and wore a size 7. Nobody wanted them. They want the stained, faded, missing buttons, and/or torn clothes.
The stuff my kids bought at garage sales when they were small. Corinne bought a ceramic cat for $.25 when she was younger. She sold it today for a dollar. Junk appreciates.
The art kits they received as gifts that they never used did not sell. However, the baggies of "art supplies" that Natalie made up did.
Good clean toys did not sell near as well as the ones that are missing pieces, are broken, or that grew mildew after being in a leaky storage shed.
Some knew a good deal, though. My mom brought home tons of camouflage and hunting gear from my dad’s place in Kentucky after he died last May. Several fellas showed up with a determined look and you could tell SOMEBODY told them about this here garage sale with camo for sale! They made a beeline for that stuff.
So, back to stuff. It amazes me how we can accumulate SO MUCH! And it’s embarrassing to think we brought it into our lives, embraced it, wrapped our time and energy around it and made it apart of our family. Especially when it spent most of its life in a box in storage shed waiting to be worth 50 cents and sold in a garage sale. I could have started naming everything after relatives had I not finally figured out it’s just stuff!
On a positive note, I’ve decided to grow a dendrite or two so that whenever I see a garage sale, I’m reminded of Philippians 3:7, 8 and 13b & 14 – "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… But one thing I do know: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
That being said, my daughters decided to have a garage sale. So I said, "Go ahead, but whatever’s left goes to Goodwill. No saving for the "next garage sale." Aren’t you proud of me? For the past 2 days, we have watched people come and take some of the weirdest stuff. We’ve learned what people want:
I use to put my designer clothes in garage sales, the ones from when I was a fashion major and wore a size 7. Nobody wanted them. They want the stained, faded, missing buttons, and/or torn clothes.
The stuff my kids bought at garage sales when they were small. Corinne bought a ceramic cat for $.25 when she was younger. She sold it today for a dollar. Junk appreciates.
The art kits they received as gifts that they never used did not sell. However, the baggies of "art supplies" that Natalie made up did.
Good clean toys did not sell near as well as the ones that are missing pieces, are broken, or that grew mildew after being in a leaky storage shed.
Some knew a good deal, though. My mom brought home tons of camouflage and hunting gear from my dad’s place in Kentucky after he died last May. Several fellas showed up with a determined look and you could tell SOMEBODY told them about this here garage sale with camo for sale! They made a beeline for that stuff.
So, back to stuff. It amazes me how we can accumulate SO MUCH! And it’s embarrassing to think we brought it into our lives, embraced it, wrapped our time and energy around it and made it apart of our family. Especially when it spent most of its life in a box in storage shed waiting to be worth 50 cents and sold in a garage sale. I could have started naming everything after relatives had I not finally figured out it’s just stuff!
On a positive note, I’ve decided to grow a dendrite or two so that whenever I see a garage sale, I’m reminded of Philippians 3:7, 8 and 13b & 14 – "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… But one thing I do know: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
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