Ah, an opportunity to speak on a religious note: In church a few weekends ago, our Old Testament reading was Leviticus 19:9-18 And I was struck by this passage: Quote: (9)"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. (10)And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God. I decided that, though I am not a farmer, this applies to me. The "gleanings" in my life are the outgrown kids' clothes, the furniture I no longer need. That I am not intended to wring every last drop of financial value from everything I have. But that I am supposed to leave the small-value things I don't need anymore, so that they can be used by those to whom their value will be larger. And THAT is why $2 for a wool suit. And that is why the idea is simply to move those things along. It's great if your church can make money from your "gleanings," but that's not God's point. He didn't tell those farmers to take the gleanings to the temple for the priests to sell, or even for the priests to eat. You're supposed to pass up the earnings potential in order to make them available to the people who so badly need them. Of course, your church rummage sale quite probably does benefit those to badly need a wool suit for $2. I know my mom's does--we were talking about this just last night. Her church (Trinity Lutheran in Des Moines) is in an economically sinking neighborhood, and its area residents who aren't members nonetheless come and buy things they like, need, etc., at a huge discount. And that is why they continue to do it, even though they don't make much money. So take what you have to the Goodwill now, and consider this to be following God's rules. Then, as the sale gets closer, and you find yourself more motivated to save it for there, you can if you'd like. What I want most for the stuff I donate is for it to end up in the hands of someone who will use it. And so I'd rather take kids' toys & clothes to the Children's Aid Society--it was too hard to swing this time around, but it's on my list. Bcs I believe they'll simply hand those clothes or toys to a kid who needs or wants them. Or they'll put the toys in the day-care centers they run, which will help them keep the centers both affordable and pleasant for the kids who need them.

I've had a number of patio sales that went well for me...the reason I say for "me" is that last year two friends brought things over to sell as well...I kept telling them to price low and it will go. By 11:00 am they had made just under $200 to my $700. If people see higher prices I believe it turns them off. Who cares what you paid for something...it's not worth that used. I've always advertised having things for men too (tools,etc)...it keeps the the ladies browsing longer if hubby is busy :) Consider having a box with kiddy things that are either extremely cheap or sometimes free (1 per child if free). Kids are great cutomers! I have to agree with those that mentioned plants selling well, they do! I'v put out barely used makeup items that flew off the table ..can you believe? Yet don't we all have things we've brought home, tried once never to use again? (it can be cleaned with wipes) And jewelry for sure. Bottles of water are a real money maker, especially on a hot day. If you're able, coffee in the morning. One thing that I won't put in are sheet sets...even though I tied them with nice ribbon they ended up open and strewn over the table numerous times. Unless you plan on hanging them on a hanger so people can look don't bother. Nice kitchen items (bowl sets, appliances, serving spoons) sell well. Donate cups and glasses that have no mates, for the most part they sit cluttering up a well thought out table. Keep re-arranging your area, filling in empty spaces. You'll be able to show off something that might have been overlooked at first glance. I always have music playing, usually instrumentals (no head banging)and love watching who starts tapping a toe. Signs into the home that say "family only". And always a sign at the entry that says "we love making a deal, just ask!" And there will be those return customers...the ones that are 1st to the sale, run off to the next and realize yours was the best to begin with :-D

Getting harder to get around so I don't go to many. I did pick up some deals on clearance at Target though. I've been wanting to get an atomic clock for the living room and they had an atomic clock/radio with dual alarm on clearance so I got two. One will be a gift. And they had a bunch of spices on clearance so I picked up a bunch to replace my old stuff. Had coupons for a free Gillette ProGlide razor and a free bottle of Pantene shampoo. For the cost of tax, I'll try them out. Picked up a bunch of the reuseable bags last time I was at Kmart too for 20¢ ea. I've started using them a lot for various things around the house and I even use them at the stores. The last sale I stopped at I just started looking at the pricing and didn't bother to go look at everything. If they had something I was interested in, it wouldn't have been at a price I'd pay. Too many people are trying to make their retirement fund from garage sales. It's not that they're trying to get rid of stuff. So I don't really go to many anymore. I wasn't able to go to a neighboring city's citywide sale last week - too stiff and sore but would have liked to go to that one. They often have quite a few where people are just looking to clean out and you can get some real deals.

I went to a sale that my sister saw on Craigslist. I got: William A Rogers silver plated apple basket - still in box Talbots leather purse 2 new rolls of wrapping paper Oneida "Grande Cafe" 41 oz double wall brushed stainless steel carafe - new - still in box - keeps stuff hot for 6 hours (perfect for garage sales or parades! - really nice!) Hard eyeglass case with a cool design Two decorative pots for my office A recipe card holder Jenga - doesn't look used Deluxe Uno - new - still in cellophane heavy metal corn cob holders (that's what she said they were - might be pickle forks but there's a lot of them) There might be more - I can't remember. I got all of that for $10. Woo hoo!!!