Do you have a lot of
debt? Do you need a little windfall to
help you get started paying down debt or to start building an emergency fund? Take a look around your house. How much stuff do you have that you don’t
need? Do you have a basement full of crap? Do you have children who have outgrown
clothes, cribs, or toys? There are plenty of places you can sell your second
hand items.
When we moved into our house
we teamed up with my parent’s and had a garage sale. For a week’s worth of work you can get rid of
a lot of stuff you don’t need or use and walk away with a little chunk of
change.
A few great tips we heard
during our garage sale were:
1. Advertise your
garage sale on the web (e.g. - Craigslist) in addition to the advertising you do around your
neighborhood.
2.
Friday was the
big selling day, especially the morning.
3.
Sell drinks and
finger food to the shoppers. They may
have been shopping all day and would love a drink or snack.
Next, take a look at your jewelry
box. Do you have jewelry that you
haven’t worn in years? Gold and silver
are selling at near all-time highs.
Andrea and I looked through our jewelry and sold a few pieces for a nice
little windfall! I think we may scour
our house to see what other jewelry we can come up with to unload.
Sell used books, DVD’s, clothes,
or furniture! Sell the stuff you don’t
use or need. Take pictures; post it on Craigslist, eBay or any other site you
feel comfortable with. If you’re not comfortable
selling things online, look for consignment shops in your area. You’ll be surprised how much money you have
sitting around your house in the form of crap you’re not using.
People have become extreme
sellers just to get out of debt: selling their home and moving into an apartment;
selling a car (going from a 2 car household to a 1 car household); selling
Grandma’s silverware; even selling most of what they own. Of course, if you have children you may
choose not to get too extreme or you may just refuse to live without certain amenities. How extreme can you be? What
are you willing to give up to be debt free?
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