The Best Part of Having a Garage Sale

A few of my sisters and I have been hosting garage/yard sales (mostly yard...seeing as only one of the three of us have a garage that really works for a sale, and it's not me) for 5 years ago.  FIVE.  Every year we're like "Oh I don't think I'll have enough next year for a sale."

Fast-forward 11-12 months and I had two Jeep loads.  Two.  Where there was only room for Luke and I around all the stuff.

How we keep having so much stuff to sell, I don't know.  I feel like I am buying better, less, and with more intention but yet the garage sale things keep piling up.  (Maybe I'm also getting slightly better at this minimalist thing?  Maybe?  A little?)

It's always nice to hang out with my sisters for 2ish days with set-up and the sale.  Luke loves the time with cousins.  I make a little bit of extra money for stuff that would otherwise be donated.  Those are all great benefits to holding onto all this extra stuff for a year, loading up the car, digging through it all to price, and setting it up to sell.

BUT, my absolute favorite part of having an annual garage sale is the night before "Let's get rid of all the things to make some more money" urge to purge.

Despite fairly regular cleaning and adding to my pile near weekly, there is something about the night or two before the sale, last chance to get rid of something for some possible cash without having to wait another year, that all of a sudden makes so many things look really good to sell.

It's happened before every sale, even during sales when I've hosted them here (we rotate between our three houses).

This year, Matt talked me into selling both of our old stereos, mine dating back 17 years and it took me a whole year to save up to buy it.  It was a big deal.  But also hadn't been plugged in in....5 years?  A long time.  Just sitting in the basement.  That one still hurts a little but every time I'm in the basement I marvel at how much cleaner the space looks with it gone.  It was the right choice (but the good memories will live forever).

And that was just a few of the things added to the pile/packed into the Jeep at the last minute.

We never make a ton of money on these sales, I may have made less each year (I should make a spreadsheet to track....) and every year when the transporting and set-up seems daunting I think "I'm not going to do this next year".  Then the magic of Garage Sale Eve happens and the pile all of a sudden gets bigger and I'm back on board.

I hope next year I don't have two Jeep loads of stuff to sell.  That would be fantastic.  BUT, if I do, I can almost guarantee a decent chunk of it will get thrown in the night before.  And getting that many more things out of the house definitely makes the garage sale work worth it.