Do's and Don'ts of Garage Sales

I am a Garage Sale junkie and have been for the past 20+ yrs. I have come across some doozies of a sale both in a good way and a bad way.

For some (like me) the Garage Sale season represent a treasure hunt each and every weekend. The excitement of not knowing what you will score is what keeps you going back week after week.

However, some make the experience a dull one, so here are some of my rules of thumb for those attending a sale and those having a Garage Sale.

Having a Sale:

We all have stuff we no longer need or want and what better way to get rid of it and earn a little extra cash than having a Garage sale?

1) Pricing your items at a reasonable price is KEY! If you don't you are only going to find yourself packing the items back up and storing them in your garage. We all think our stuff is worth more than it actually is. Look, it is a Garage Sale you are NOT a retail store, it is there for you to get rid of.

When asked by someone at your sale how much an item is - don't go into a long story about where you bought it and what you bought it for. Just say your price and be willing to negotiate, odds are that the person knows very well how much the item would have been new from the store. If you think your item is worth more than what it will fetch at a Garage Sale then list it on EBay or the like.

2) You have gathered your items and priced them right now it is time to advertise. Placing an add in your local paper is wise and I suggest you do but there are those of us that just go out and hunt Garage Sales down and it is your SIGNAGE that will get us there. BIG, BOLD signage is the best with CLEAR arrows pointing those to your sale. I can't emphasise this enough - a good sign with good arrows is truly appreciated by your shoppers. **Not everyone will have read your ad in the paper so if early birds arrive and you asked for no early birds in your ad, politely tell them your starting time - but, by sending them away just know that you probably will lose a sale.

Of course once your sale has concluded be respectful and remove all your signs. Many times I have seen a Garage Sale sign and gone to that address only to learn the sale was the previous weekend. VERY annoying to say the least and a waste of my time.

3) Display your items as neatly as possible. Although a lot of us don't mind sifting through boxes upon boxes it is much easier if things are out of the box and on tables, you will sell more items that way.

4) Whatever is left at the end of your sale can be donated to your local thrift shop. Or what we like to do with some bigger items is mark them free and put them on the curb. 9 times out of 10 they are gone by nightfall.

Going to a Sale:

1) Upon getting to a sale do a quick over view of the entire sale and see where you'd like to start. Does something catch your eye right away? - if so don't hesitate go grab it even if you don't know what the price is yet. You can always put it back if you don't like the price, but if you don't grab it right away someone else might and you'll be S.O.L (S*&t out of luck)

2) If you have many items you want ask for a box fill it with all you want then agree on a price for the lot. Doing this you may actually get your items for a lot less than if you did it individually. Have a tally in your mind when boxing it up and offer less, don't get offended though if they high ball you - if they do then you go price it piece by piece. Chances are you will get a good deal either way.

3) When negotiating you don't want to go too low in your offer. Generally speaking and for example if an item is $10.00 offer $7 or $8 and not $5. Too low of an offer can quickly offend the seller and then they may not even want you at their sale, and you'll know about it.

4) If you can't come to an agreed upon price you can use language like "I'd be happy to pay you X amount" or simply say "Okay thank you, I will leave it have a nice day" and go on your way to the next Sale.

Hope you enjoyed these Do's and Don'ts for Garage Sales.  Happy hunting.

I'd love to hear your tips and tricks as well as what your biggest score was. Please leave me a comment below.

5 reasons Why it is important to be bored

This day in age kids have just about every gizmo and gadget under the sun. An iPod, iPad,

cell phones, lap tops, computers, video games and now there is even DVD’s in the car. They are

constantly stimulated and never get any down time.

When, God forbid there appears to be nothing to do they announce “I’m bored!” And the proverbial

hand to the forehead takes place as parents.

Here are some reasons boredom should be embraced and happen on purpose.

1) Constant stimulation is not good for children’s mental development – they need down time to have inner reflection

2) Being constantly stimulated via social media or DVD’s and the like stun imagination – Daydreaming involves the same processes that control imagination and creativity.

3) Quiet time without even a book is very important for creativity and allows for us to be mindful of our surroundings, gazing at the clouds and listening to nature.

4) Boredom can allow us to decompress and recharge in a healthy way.

5) Time away from gizmos and gadgets will lessen the addiction to them.

So the next time you hear “I’m bored” Get excited and show your children how to be bored and

embrace it – it is good for them (and you).

Kathleen's Babble Blog: Embrace Trailer, The Body Image Movement

Kathleen's Babble Blog: Embrace Trailer, The Body Image Movement: This women loathed her body, she couldn't stand to be in her own skin. Looking in the mirror was painful to her. It wasn't unti...

Embrace Trailer, The Body Image Movement

This women loathed her body, she couldn't stand to be in her own skin. Looking in the mirror was painful to her. It wasn't until she looked at her young daughter that she thought about how she left about her body and how she would transfer those thought onto her daughter if she didn't change her own thoughts.

She wanted to have the perfect body and put in the effort to get it. She even entered into competitions, then went back to her "normal" size & self. Her before "fit" body and after "normal size" body images went viral seemingly overnight.

She has started a movement - Body Image Movement. She is talking to women and empowering them to love themselves as they are.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just love ourselves as we are? Embrace yourself as you are!
Check out her YouTube video "Embrace", The Documentary Trailer here.

Do you remember her and her story?

Watch her Documentary trailer, here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsfs5POp0aQ

Why do we lie to our children?

Don't bite my head off without hearing me out!!!

 

First of all I love the holidays every one of them and I love some of the traditions we have in our family. But one year my husband and I just looked at each other and said "What the heck are we doin." Not only was Christmas getting bigger each year so was the Christmas "bill". This particular year we have no extra money to spare on gifts, but we had to keep up with the lie for fear of damaging our kids emotionally.

 

 

Christmas had become about buying gifts (we could not afford) and lying and it just started to feel WRONG to us.

 

 

"Mommy how it is possible that Santa gets to all the children in one night." One of our kids asked us this particular year and without skipping a beat we told them it was magic and that they had to believe.  Ouch!!! Yet the next day one of my kids lied to me and they got sent to the timeout chair.

 

"Mommy there is a monster under my bed." No sweetie there isn't monsters aren't real." Double ouch.

 

Something is just NOT right with this.

 

Why can't we have the sense of wonder and awh without the lying?  Why do we feel like 1 present under the tree isn't good enough - we need MORE for it to feel right.

 

Christmas is a time to reflect on our lives, spending time with loved one and the birth of Jesus Christ.  Instead it has become about consumerism and out right lies. & it is becoming more so every year that people are now saying Happy Holidays for fear of possibly insulting someone who is not Christian and not saying Merry Christmas...... so sad. But the Holiday is Christmas, that is it's actual name.

 

We have since apologized to our children for lying to them over the years with regards to Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairly and the like.

 

There has got to be another way.........

 

What are your thoughts? 

 

 a lie is a lie!!!

 

 





Why I am a Vegetarian

 

 

 

I became a vegetarian for a number of reasons but mainly because I had a moment of consciousness. I was having discussions with my daughter about animals and the treatment of them during the "processing" process. I just couldn't eat meat anymore. I thought of the poor animals and the fear they must be experiencing and I just couldn't bring myself to eating them any longer.

 

When you see how these poor creatures are really treated and slaughtered - MURDERED is a better word why would you WANT to have that karma in your body. They don't have a voice, they can't tell you they are scared and hurting.  I mean if you take a second to really think about it - you too might reconsider eating meat.

 

I don't think I was ever a huge meat eater growing up in fact both my parents were Vegetarians for decades until recently. In high school I took a baking class and learned a lot about bacteria in the kitchen and salmonella and I was turned off chicken for fear of getting sick. Even now when my husband is making chicken I cringe at the thought of bacteria. 

 

As a child my parents took us to Europe and while visiting a family member the discussion came up about eating horse meat.  I remember thinking how odd and yucky that sounded as I was a huge lover of horses. It was later told to me that I had just eaten horse meat for dinner that night. They laughed at me and I ran away crying.  To this day I don't know if they were playing a trick on me or if I really did eat horse meat.

 

I know that a lot of people can't imagine a dinner without the staple of meat, but it can be done and you really wont miss it.  If you think about the shear mass of meat that is need to keep up with the demand on a daily basis it is mind blowing. Not just your dinner table think globally and about all the fast food places that pump out burgers by the second. It is actually sickening to think about it. Cows are continuously artificially impregnated to keep up with the demand once the calf is born it is taken away from it's mommy and the process starts all over again for the cow - how heart wrenchingly sad.

 

I would love to be Vegan and will work my way towards that.

 

Ellen explains why she became Vegan:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teob40hWJ6g

 

Recipes for Vegans/vegetarians:

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=edgy+veg

 

Here are a few documentaries to watch if you so desire, they are thought provoking and hopefully will give you some perspective on this topic.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19qSsUI79Ro Vegucated - very good documentary

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oq24hITFTY Food Inc.

 

 

I am still learning and plan on continuing to learn new ways to be conscious about animals and the treatment of them as well as our environment.  Hope you will too.  Thank you.

 

#vegetarian #vegan #animals

 

 

 

 

 

 





Give me a break

This is not a picture of me btw - but it is the closest picture I could find of an average looking lady working out.  Below is an actual picture of me working out.

I have been actively working out for years now.  I have been using the treadmill, doing weight training, cardio, yoga and HIIT to name a few.

Am I seeing a difference in my body?  A little and it feels good.  What does that say?  I need to change it up. Guess I have hit that dreaded plateau.  But where should I go from here, to whom shall I get accurate information from?  It can be very confusing. Do this don't do that eat that not that, get this amount of sleep drink this much water...etc. I have even heard a trainer say that you can do a really great workout but that sitting all day will Veto it.....wth?

I go to YouTube and look up different workouts and do them at home cause I really don't like the gym scene.  What I have found is that a lot (not all) of online trainers have 5-10 minute workouts with 3 lbs weights - as if that is going to do ANYTHING for you. Ok in fairness if you are a TRUE beginner at exercising then any amount of working out is good, just get started.  But come on, to try and sell this is absurd. GIVE ME A BREAK. Here you are watching these lovely men and women who are tight & fit & yummy looking trying to tell us that "you got 5-10 minutes a day? Then workout with me and you will see results"....no you wont!! What you will see is disappointment and the feeling of being a failure.  Those trainers workout for a living with years of experience and workout for hours a day to get that physique - don't let them fool you.

Check out this (annoying) 5 minute video I found on YouTube - listen to her language and how she is trying to sell this quick workout for your arms.....mean while she is a well known instructor working out for decades & probably hours a day in and out.

http://youtu.be/OzhKXShsp3c

Here is what I have noticed for me and my workouts (may not be true for you)  I find if I rotate cardio, strength (10 lbs. each dumb bell & working on increasing that) HIIT, Yoga.  At least 30-40 minutes a day (rest Sundays) I generally look and feel better.  Also a few months ago I started really looking at the food I ate. Lower carbs (but not eliminating them), ate more veggies. Once I did that I started to see even greater results. 

I heard someone say don't eat to fill up - eat to fuel up.  This resonated with me. 

Use food as fuel not as a filler. As best you can, eat things that are closest to nature, & not processed and drink water, get into a challenging exercise routine. Everything in moderation, even moderation.

My Bottom line:

We are all different and what might work for 1 person may not work for another. Keeping your body tuned up is vital on so many levels. So to sum up Watch what you put into your body - find a routine to rotate through on a REGULAR basis that really challenges you and you WILL see results. Maybe not in the 6-8 weeks these online trainers tell you - but eventually you will and it WILL be worth the effort. Do it for your future self, you will be happy you did.

If you have any workout tips to share please comment below, thanks.

Oh - here is the picture of me working out.  I try.....and keep trying.... :) Right now I am doing the Jessica Smith November Fall Challenge. Here is a link to her web site: http://www.jessicasmithtv.com/