5 things you need to know about yard saling: Part 1 - Prep

Yes, yard saling is a verb. Maybe it's not in the dictionary, but that book doesn't always know everything.

Growing up, my summers consisted of running through the sprinkler, riding my bike, playing badminton (poorly) on my front lawn, and yard sales. My mom is the queen of yard sales. When I was in high school, she was able to pay for most of my school trip to Italy. She has people come from out of town for her yard sales. She once had a garage sale in the middle of winter. It was literally in our garage, and we had a few strategically placed heaters. My mom is the queen of yard sales.

And she taught me well.

For the next 5 posts I will be imparting some of the knowledge I've gained from my years of hosting yard sales, but I'm also going to go into a bit of detail about how to be a successful yard sale shopper.

Part 1: Prep work

Hosting a yard sale may not seem too difficult. Get a bunch of items together you don't need anymore, put it on your yard or driveway and let people come. Sure, you can do that. Or, you can make money.

What to sell

The first thing is to figure out what you want to sell. Usually this includes items you don't need anymore, or multiples of an item you do use. This is the time to purge, so don't be afraid to empty out your attic or garage. Or even your tool shed. I know, it can be hard, but think about the items you used the previous years. Didn't use it? Maybe someone else can. Have friends or family who need to get rid of stuff? See if they want you to sell it for them. (If you do this, have an agreement as to what they expect in return. I.e they price their items and get that money back, you take a small commission for doing the selling, or you get all the money and they're thankful to be rid of the stuff.)

Also keep in mind the area in which you live. If you live in a neighbourhood with seniors then CDs, baby clothes, furniture aren't likely to sell. At least not as well. You're going to want to try to attract people from outside your neighbourhood, which will be discussed later. Try to look online to see what collectors are looking for in your city. Have a box of old legos or Transformers? Usually there's someone looking for that.

Whatever you sell, make sure it's clean! If you're selling clothes, wash them. If you're selling dishes, wash them. It makes a HUGE difference to buyers.

This is something most people overlook, and isn't normally an issue, but once you've figured out what you're selling make sure it's legal to sell. Here is a link to the Health Canada website for a list of items illegal or restricted to sell in Canada. If you're American, this is still a good list to use as a guideline.

Getting people to your sale

To do this, obviously you're going to need advertising. This pretty much goes without saying. Every Saturday during the summer, you're more often than not going to see a sign or two at street corners showing the way to a yard sale you're not hosting. Signs at the side of the road need to be eye-catching, and easy to read. Drivers only get a second or two to read your sign before they pass it, so it's a good idea to maybe put a few in a row a short distance apart from each other.

Advertising online is easy, and usually free. Place an ad on Kijiji, or on Facebook groups geared towards buying and selling and yard sales. Give a short summary of the types of items you'll be selling so people - such as collectors - have an idea of what they're in for.

Church bulletin boards are another great way to advertise. Make sure you get permission before you post anything. A good incentive is to offer to give a portion of the funds to their church, or a charity they sponsor. Giving back is always nice.

On that note, if you advertise that part of the proceeds go towards a certain cause, you're going to get a lot more people. For the past two summers my mom has given part of her proceeds to breast cancer research. As she's a survivor, she was able to share her story which helped boost sales, and she had a lot of other survivors come out to take part.

Restrictions

Now that you've figured out what you want to (and can) sell, there are more things you need to think about.

Check your city's by-laws to see if there's an actual season to host sales. There are also usually limits to how many sales you can host per season. If this is the case, you need to plan carefully to make sure the dates you want to have your yard sale are good days. Typically long weekends are a forfeit.

If you live in an apartment building, check your lease to see if it mentions anything about hosting a yard sale on their property. Most of the buildings I've lived in prohibited sales. If this is the case, check again the city by-laws if there's a place on city property where you're able to sell. I've seen sales on long stretches of empty land on the boulevard (the part of grass between the street and sidewalk.) If it's not allowed and you still decide to host one there, be prepared to have a cop kick you off the property. I've seen it happen many times.

Next post...

Part 2: Selling your stuff

Gamer Life – Board Games

Hello Changers!

Some people may call board games lame, if you grew up in one of those ‘close” families you may have experienced family game nights where you played board games or all got together and watched a movie. Now however you are an adult, and let me tell you these ain’t your Grandma’s board game nights.

Nowadays we are spoiled for choice in our board games and it’s not difficult to find one that suits yours and your families’ tastes. The initial cost of the games may be a little high in some cases, especially if you buy a game that has multiple expansions, but they can provide countless more nights of free fun. Now that we are adults we can even add alcohol to the night if you like to really kick-start the evening.

Settlers of Catan is a good all-around classic, but the golden oldies like Monopoly and The Game of Life should not be discounted because they have undergone make-overs in the last couple of years in order to keep up with the age. Of course Monopoly has so many different versions and themes it’s hard not to find one that has meaning to you.

Trivial Pursuit is another classic that still has a lot of steam, and again there are so many versions based on movies and other pop culture icons that you are sure to find one you jive with.

Of course if you are looking for some fun but don’t want to commit just yet to buying a board game, you can always invite friends over who have different ones you don’t have and experience the games before you buy. Just like potlucks you can host “Bring Your Own Board game” nights and have all the fun of board games without having to buy them! And if you do want to buy them do your research, sites like Amazon are good places to start, but if you look at second hand shops make sure all the pieces and parts of the game are all there before you buy!

Happy Banking

Lilaina

I Like to Party - Fun Parties for Less Part 1

Hello Changers!

There is nothing I like more than throwing off my pants on a nice weekend and lay on the couch chronically watching Netflix, but there are times when that just won't do and you get the urge to get a little fancy (pants are still optional). Problem is you just paid your rent and so now are penniless and last you checked clubs don’t take pocket lint as legal tender.

May I blow your minds for a minute by saying that I can guarantee you will have an amazing time and you won't even have to leave your home?! Do you have friends who also like to have fun but might not have money? Are you okay with pretending to be clichéd characters and recite badly written scripts? Then Murder Mystery parties are the answer to your problem.

I usually buy mine from second hand stores ( in Canada there is Goodwill, Salvation Army, Value Village and Talize) but of course they are hit and miss, and if you want to get a little crafty you can do what myself and my co-blogger are doing and make your own

On this blog I will be posting our progress and the incredible journey I know we are embarking on!

Happy Banking

Lilaina

Manage your Phlegm - Home Remedies

Hello Changers!

This particular article will really hit home for anyone who has grown up with immigrant parents, specifically south Asian parents who grew up in a time and place where stuff was weird and the things they did with that stuff was even weirder. For those who didn't I apologize for the next little bit because you are probably going to think I am crazy for what I am about to suggest but I will remind everyone that this was used on me as a child, and I am still alive and doing pretty well so it couldn't possibly hurt.

It’s called a poultice. Now don't be afraid, if you don't know what this word means or have never heard it before a poultice is basically a heated soft mass of something spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat something. It’s what old timey people used before commercially produced medication and it a lot of places on planet earth people STILL don’t and continue to use this method.

The thing with buying over the counter medication (I will state right now I am not advocating to give up prescribed medication, just the life basics) for something like allergy meds that can treat something like congestion can cost you a lot, and then you have to go out and actually buy them...which usually involves wearing pants (lame I know) but I am here to bring you the ancient wisdom of old crazy immigrant people in the hopes it can save you money!

I won’t list all the remedies you can easily create from your pantry (there is a lot of online information for this) but I will briefly list some here that I have tried (or been the unwilling participant of).

Chest congestion/Colds – Mustard powder and hot water to form a paste

Hair/Scalp moisture and shine treatment – Oil or beaten eggs applied to the scalp and then hot towels to wrap the hair with

Sore Feet – Hot water with mint leaves

Sore throat/cold – boil coriander seeds and add honey (Okay yes you may not actually have coriander seeds handy but you can buy them from bulk barns or grocery stores for cheaper than cold meds so there!)

Now I know you have reservations, especially if you have some frat boy roommates around who look at you like you are from another planet (and complain about the smell of boiled coriander seeds, which by the way stink real bad) but when it comes to the weekend you will have the extra cash on hand to buy the nice beer and they will be stuck with lame domestic brews so jokes on them.

Happy Banking

Lilaina

Little Bottles of Lotion

Hello Changers!

If you are anything like me you have encountered times in your life where you had to tighten your proverbial purse strings. Or if you are more like me you have lived most of your life that way, constantly balancing school, work and a social life with the need to eat and survive the harsh cold of the outside world.

I don't want to brag, but I feel that my many years of experience qualifies me now to be able to speak on this topic with some authority and impart my vast experience onto those who need it! If you have ever looked around at the masses of boxes and containers around yourself full of bath and beauty products you might be interested to know you are actually staring at tons of financial savings. How often have you received random gifts, either from distant family members? You smile, say thank you and then promptly put it in a box with all the other shower gels, body lotions and weird perfumes you already have.

Finding yourself a little strapped for cash can be a struggle, but by forgoing your weekly trip to a fancy beauty store or drug mart to by tons of lip gloss and nail polish, just dig that box of presents out of your closet or basement and use them instead. I can't give you exact figures on how much this can save you but in my case I estimate that I have saved an average of $10 per week with this little trick, which let’s face it, isn't even a trick. A lot of us let personal and household products pile up, getting dusty when we should be utilizing them in order to curb our expenses. Do you hoard those little shampoos and conditioners from hotels like your life depends on them? Well you would be surprised at how many showers you can get out of them if you just actually used them! And if you hold them in your hands and stare you might just feel like a giant too!

As a bonus not only do you save money but you clear out the clutter too! It’s a win win situation really. And not to mention it means you don’t have to venture outside more often which is tricky with your new sad hobo wardrobe you have been sporting.

Happy Banking

Lilaina

The Purpose of this Blog

Hello Savers!

If you are anything like me, you enjoy a good money saving tip or trend. Life just gets way too expensive sometimes and any way to shave a bit of money off your budget is welcome.

This blog is all about that, most of the time the things we talk about are not earth shattering. You won't see this blog advertisements along the sides of websites claiming "Learn about these tricks companies don't want you to know about to save money." They are simple everyday things that if you do more than one or two of them can make a noticeable difference to your bank account.

I was raised as a Saver; always pinching my pennies, withholding my debit card because spending money is wasting money. I learned as I got older that its hard to live with this mentality and sometimes money spent on something that makes you happy isn't harmful and very much worth it.

I want this blog to help those of you save your money, but live your life in balance and not feel like you have to deprive yourself in order to survive. My aunt used to tell me that the vibes you create and surround yourself with will be returned to you by the universe: if you hoard the universe won't feel the need to grant you anything and hoard against you. A little New Age or hippie perhaps but makes sense in a way; if you are always hoarding eventually it will be hard to obtain anything.

Be happy my Changers!

Lilaina