The Yard Sale Report!
This is the first yard sale we’ve had since living on the other side of WA state. On the Eastern side, yard saling was quite different, and Nathan and I learned a lot today about what yard sales are like over here.
We didn’t have any customers for the first hour. Apparently, no one gets out until after 9 am. Secondly, not as many people yard sale in Western WA. We had tons of signs, an ad up on Craigslist, we were the second house in off a well traveled street– so we were very visible! But, we just didn’t get that many people! All in all, with the people we did get, we sold about 1/3 of the stuff we had out. It took 3 trips to load it all over to my MIL’s house, and only 2 to load the leftovers to GoodWill. We made about $90, which is less than what I thought we could make, seeing as we had so much stuff.
But when we came home and had THAT MUCH less stuff, it felt good. We felt good about how excited people were about bringing home our stuff! They loved their deals, and that made us happy!
After it was all over, Nathan made me promise not to have another yard sale for at least another two years. I promised!
Frugal Friday… using a yard sale to bless others!
We are having a yard sale this coming Saturday! I may be crazy to do this now as I am about 3 1/2 weeks from my due date, but none the less, we are going for it!
My original approach was to get rid of stuff and make some extra cash to help pay for our move at the end of the summer. Then yesterday, as my hubbie and I were praying together over our finances, I requested we pray over our yard sale. What I thought my hubbie would say was something like “bring in the people, help us make money” yada yada! But I was surprised and a bit convicted by what he ended up praying.
He asked that the Lord would bring in people that would be blessed by the stuff we have to offer. That he would lead us to be generous in our pricing and that people would find things that meet their needs at great prices.
Whoa! I was amazed and immediately humbled by my hubbie’s perspective. He was asking God to make this sale a ministry opportunity while I was focusing on running numbers in my head. We had recently been very blessed by others at their yard sales, and my hubbie was praying that we could do the same.
I learned a HUGE lesson in that time of prayer and have been asking the Lord to change my heart when it comes to things like yard sales. I believe that the Lord will provide for us as we move, have a baby, switch to one income, and work to pay off those student loans. I don’t need to worry about running numbers for a yard sale; I just need to focus on loving and blessing others.
Thanks Nate for again pointing me back to Christ! Thanks Lord for continually working on my heart!
Ah… the joys of moving on a budget.
We still have about 9 weeks before we move, but since we are going to be having a baby pretty soon here, we decided to do some research into the moving van costs so we can start budgeting/saving for it.
In the area we are moving, the only company with a local drop off is U-Haul. We have used this company before in the area and are okay with it. The cost to rent a truck has gone up since we moved here two years ago, which is to be expected.
Our problem is that we moved here with less stuff. We have added to our worldly goods a washer and dryer, baby stuff, a bbq, and a desk. At the same time, we are pitching a TON of stuff at our yard sale on Saturday and will also be getting rid of our two giant and heavy storage cupboards we’ve been using to hold our clothes. (We’re gonna try to sell them on Craigslist, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll offer them for free, and if that doesn’t work, we will take them apart and throw them away!)
We figured that we will probably need a bigger U-haul as the 17 footer was just right last time. The thing is that the next size up is for in town moves only! Bummer! Meaning that we would have to rent the giant one! Which would most likely be way too big for our needs and it is also quite expensive! ($589 not including gas!) The 17 footer is only $379, not including gas, that’s a big difference!
Our strategy? GET CREATIVE!
*We will have to be very precise in our packing and use every inch of that 17 footer to the max!
*We also plan on filling the trunks of those who come to visit when Molly is born! My family and possibly some friends will be coming to see Molly once she’s born. If we can pawn off some of our stuff on them, that will make the move a little lighter!
*Consider storing un-needed items at Nathan’s mom’s house until we can come back and get it. She has a garage that could probably fit our Christmas tree and decorations, along with some of my teaching storage items.
*Use the vehicles of those who come to help! So far, we have had some friends offer up their help and they are bringing a vehicle! We will use every inch of that vehicle as well! We are hoping some of my family members will come help as well, but don’t know for sure yet.
As for moving boxes, we are planning on reusing the boxes from our move here. I have been watching the recycling area at our apartments for moving boxes as well. We don’t plan on spending any money in this area as there are many resources for free boxes.
That’s the plan for now! Moving on a budget can be done!
Come nest with me…
26 days to go… woohoo!
I thought I would show you all the progress on the baby stuff for this weeks Itch To Pitch challenge at the Happy Housewife! I’m feeling pretty good about how things are working!
Its a small space, but we have the sleeping area, the changing area, diaper storage, a laundry basket for dirty laundry, there is also a wicker basket you can’t see holding blankies and burp rags. Under the little white table you have a bin for bibs, socks and booties, and a small basket with rattles. On top of the table, you see two little adorable pairs of pink newborn shoes! And a bin for her clothes that is now full of freshly laundered little outfits!
It was fun washing these tiny clothes! Here’s the first load ever of baby laundry waiting to be folded!
The room is not super girlie cute like I hope to make her room once we move, but it will work for the first 4-6 weeks that we are still here. Its hard not to go out and buy tons of cute things to gutsy up this space; we are working on using what we have at this point.
Nathan is so awesome and set up the bed so I can just sit up in our bed to see her and how she is doing. We also put a basket full of breast feeding supplies by my night stand.
In Nate’s office, we are using the changing table we bought to house all the baby storage. I also packed up things we won’t need until later and labeled the boxes, “Molly’s stuff!” Too fun.
Oh, and I can’t forget to tell you about how I meticulously washed down all the molding and base boards in the room before we moved the baby stuff in. Nathan thought I was so funny, he took a picture!
I was pretty grossed out by the dust, as you can see!
Making progress… and an announcement!
The baby stuff is slowly finding places to live! In fact, I have my very first load of baby clothes in the wash right now! Its kind of weird putting all those tiny little items in there for the first time!
We set up our pack n play in the bedroom and stuck diapers and wipes underneath the bed for easy access. I placed a large wicker basket next to the baby bed to hold baby blankets and burp rags and set up the little changing attachment to the pack n play with a tub of wipes, butt paste, diapers, and all those little diapering goodies. We are planning on getting some sort of receptacle for the dirty diapers still. We heard that the bins marketed to hold dirty diapers are a waste of money and just to get a regular can with a lid. We’re looking into that still. (Any input mommies would be appreciated!)
We are kind of going for function over form at this point. I’m not really setting up the whole nursery at this point. I’ve mentioned before that we are moving at the end of the summer. Some of you already know why… but I figured I’d better announce it to all my blogging friends who haven’t heard yet!
Nathan has been blessed with a full time job at our home church as the associate/youth pastor! We were totally blown away by this as we hadn’t even been pursuing it! Our pastor from back home came and offered us the job only a few days after Nathan’s position at school was eliminated! So praise the Lord! We are pumped and a little nervous at the same time, but I just can’t say enough what a blessing it is! The Lord is so good and His timing is so perfect.
Our plan is to move at the end of August. That way we have some time to get used to being parents and also avoid paying double rent! Our friends and family members are scouting out rentals for us, and some have already graciously offered to help us move! (We’ll need it as we’ll have a newborn and we have a lot of stuff!)
So, all that to say, my baby nursery is just a practical space right now– not the super cute little girlie haven I would like to create. But once we move… I have such plans!! 
Everybody Sing– SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!
Yeah! I made it through a year of teaching kindergarten pregnant! We figured there was only 6 weeks of the school year that I wasn’t pregnant! It was tough, it was often exhausting, but its over now!
Unfortunately, I still have work to do at school before I can officially say I’m done for the summer. We have to tear down the remainder of my classroom, I have to finish entering all the reading scores, file their assessments with their new teachers, update their cummulative files, inventory the storage closet, and empty my file cabinet. But, that won’t keep me from sleeping in tomorrow!
Thanks for all the prayers and support friends!
Oh, and I hope you all like my new look!
The Itch To Pitch!
I love this little blog challenge at The Happy Housewife! It totally fits with my psycho nesting urges! I wish I had read about it earlier in the week as I could have shown the very, very disturbing pictures of our living room!
So everyone, go on a little mental imagery journey with me…
*We had FIVE baby showers– wonderful, but lots of stuff, everywhere!
*We have been slowly bringing home a couple of boxes of stuff a day from our classrooms so we have less to do once school is out.
*I did laundry, but didn’t have time to fold it, so we left it out on the couch.
*We had Nathan’s b-day and he got a used Airsoft gun with his b-day money from family. The first thing he did was take it apart and spread his tools and parts all over the place. (But I still love him.)
Got a good picture in your mind? Good!
Here is what I spent an evening doing when I should have been working on report cards! (I just couldn’t take it anymore!) ALL this stuff is either yard sale items or empty boxes waiting to be filled with yard sale stuff or packed for our move at the end of the summer.
Here’s how it happened.
I sorted the baby stuff, but just stuck it all in the chaos of the office. Then started working on the boxes of school stuff. I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to keep it all. I knew with the yard sale coming up that I probably shouldn’t just shove it all in boxes. I got out masking tape and started pricing and boxing stuff. Yes, everything you see in boxes has already been priced and sorted by category. Once I finished the living room, I realized in order to have space for the baby stuff, we needed the storage closet cleaned out so we could move stuff from the office in there! But what was the closet full of? Stuff for the yard sale that needed to be sorted and priced! So, I did that too.
We also folded and put away laundry. Nathan consolidated his airsoft stuff to the kitchen table; I think I’m okay with that for now. And then my sweet hubbie moved ALL the boxes to the back porch for me to get them out of my sight and even vacuumed!
My report cards are almost done. I’ll be going in to school early tomorrow– the last day– to finish them! Then once I’ve slept for a whole day, I may have energy to tackle this monstrosity. What used to be my hubbie’s office is now the holding area for all things baby!
Here’s what’s behind the stroller…
And there are piles of things needing a home everywhere!
My Hubbie Went Garage Sale-ing With Me Today!!!
Isn’t he just the absolute greatest? This week as we were traveling back and forth to work, we noticed several signs for neighborhood garage sales in the well to-do areas of town. I had not hit up any garage sales yet this season, and we have been checking Craigslist every now and then for a changing table to go with the crib we were given by our wonderful friends! I was finding some for $30-50, but we were honestly hoping for cheaper!
We hit the sales at 8:30 this morning– that is early for my sweet hubbie on a Saturday! Oh by the way, did I tell you it was his idea to go with me today? He suggested it! I know amazing! (He really hates shopping second hand, but he loves me and wants to find good deals!)
We went to what I call the “richie rich” neighborhood sale first. Everyone and their mom was there! There were TONS of people, which made it kind of fun. We were disappointed with the merchandise though. People were selling out and out junk for ridiculous prices! Its funny because you think rich people would have better stuff and then not care how much they sell it for because they have money, right? Not so in this neighborhood.
There were however a couple good ones, and here is what we got for just $5!
TONS of brand new EK Success scrapbook supplies for $3, and a new in package wrench we needed for $2!
We then drove to some other neighborhood sales and this time only stopped if we saw baby stuff. We weren’t finding a changing table. THEN all of a sudden, I saw one!! I gasped, “changing table!” Nathan stopped really fast and I had to keep from running because I could tell from the street it was just what we were looking for!
I saw the price, $25. Not a bad price, maybe they would take $20? I went to ask and the lady said, “everything is half off, so $12.” WOW! Yippee!! But wait, it gets better!
She threw in a little pink throw pillow for free! As we worked to try to get that table in our little Mazda, she came over and asked us how far we lived– not far. She offered to drive it over in her truck for us! She opened her truck and showed us this little antique side table that matched the changing table she had as well, we bought that too! It was amazing that she was willing to haul the stuff for us! We got a changing table, side table, and little pillow all for $27! The table was such a little bonus because I was hoping for something to put a lamp on near the rocking chair for feeding and whatnot.
Thanks Lord!
Sorry, I couldn’t set it up cute, we are running out of room in that little office with all the baby stuff! We plan to rearrange next week after school is out.
I’m just so excited about this! I prayed before we left that the Lord would bless our time together and give us wisdom with our purchases. We were so blessed, had a GREAT time together, and even my husband said it was way worth getting up early for!
The Dowd Update…
I just thought I’d let you all know that we have an absolutely insane schedule for the next two weeks. School is coming to an end and we have report cards, assessments, field trips, graduations, doctor’s appointments, dentist appointments, classrooms to clean out, and family visiting as well as another baby shower and Nathan’s 25th birthday! Whew!
I probably won’t be around much in the next two weeks! Just thought I’d let you know as my absence before has been associated with pregnancy issues. Not the case this time, so no worries.
After June 18th, I’ll be doing my happy dance!
WFMW Summer Nanny Tested… Kid Approved!!
As my little baby girl is not yet here, I am drawing on my past experiences as a summer nanny to contribute to this weeks WFMW theme– “Mom I’m Bored!”
First off, I’d just like to say that if I EVER said that to my mom, I’d get a list of chores to do. She never let us say that. I think I respect her greatly for that now because I never had trouble entertaining myself or coming up with things to do. Anything was better than scrubbing than the toilet!
Here are some of my favs from says of summer sitting for kiddos…
1. Make a menu and play restaurant!
I handwrote menus using my “fancy” handwriting and listed the snacks we had in the cupboards. I included prices and also made checks for them to fill out to pay me with. If I had had one, I would have made a “specials” sign with a mini-chalkboard! But the little girls LOVED helping me set up the dining room all fancy like a fancy restaurant. Thinking back, it would have been fun to have them dress up fancy too, but we were usually too hot to add extra clothes!
2. Make bubble soap and find cool things to use to make giant or interestingly shaped bubbles!
I did this a couple times with older kids, and they still love doing it! We made soap with dish soap and water and just went through the kitchen and garage collecting stuff that had cool holes. Then we went outside and made giant bubbles! Bonus: If there is a dog that likes to chase bubbles and barks at them, this activity gets even better!
3. For the girlies– a make over day!
This is one of my favorites! I would bring my curling iron, hair clips, and even some make-up and nail polish and do up the girls with the fanciest of up dos! One family I worked for had two boys and one girl, the boys watched our fashion show once we were done!
4. This works great as a follow-up to #3… Photo shoot!!
Taking pictures of the glam girls with her adoring brothers around them is always fun! I have drapped a sheet on the wall for indoor photo shoots and gone “on location” at the park as well! One family I worked for loved to take pictures of their pets, so we did this a lot!
5. Nature walks!
I think these work better with little guys. I would have them collect intersting flowers, leaves, or whatnot and we’d bring them back to the house. The flowers and leaves we “pressed” in large books between two pieces of kleenex. Others we’d use to make our own bird nests with! (You’ll need a glue gun.) With my kindergartners, we did a “wonder walk” where we talked the whole time as we were walking about all the things we were wondering about. “Why does the moss grow on that part of the tree?” “Why are the leaves on that tree red, and the leaves on that tree green?” When we got back to the classroom, they wrote down or drew pictures of what we wondered about and put them inside our “wonder box.” (A shoe box I covered in paper and question marks!) This questioning is a fabulous skill to practice and translates across the curriculum! Every now and then, we’d pull out a wonder question and talk about it, look it up online, or do a project or experiment around the wonder question. So much fun for the little guys!
There are many more I could share! But I will stop here and have you go HERE to read all the other fabulous “Mom I’m Bored!” ideas!
