Breaking Bad rules! No one I know in real life watches it either, so I can’t talk about how awesome the last episode was with friends over lunch, I have to retreat to the interwebs to gush about it.

We’ve had two garage sales, ever, at our house. The first one easily cleared $300 — a nice plane ticket for our efforts. This last one, in June, was a lot of work, and we netted about $80 total. I think we made about $6/hr for our time, which just didn’t feel so worth it. I’m anti garage sale, pro Craigslist at the moment.

I usually take the tax write off donation rather than bother with the garage sale. I hate getting up early. Also, BB is the best show ever. I’m sort of shocked you haven’t seen it yet. It’s pretty much right up your alley. The only thing that totally sucks about it is that season 4 doesn’t start until July 2011! They haven’t even written what happens next.

*Did the Seattle Tri as a relay a few years ago and it was a ton of fun–I definitely think that’s a good way to go if you don’t want to do the whole thing.

*Had a garage sale in June to prep for moving out of the house/country with small furniture, sports equipment and other random household goods (no clothing). We spent an hour putting stickers on things, priced stuff to sell ($1-$5 usually) and made $300. Probably had less than a quarter of the stuff left over? Considering how little work we put in, I think it was worth it.

All our large furniture we’ve sold on craigslist. I’m pretty picky with who I’ll sell to…major priority if you can get it today, etc. If you’re not pricing stuff too high, it’ll sell quickly and you’ll get enough responses you can usually find someone reliable. Goodwill has definitely gotten plenty of stuff from us, as well.

We had a moving sale garage style before we left for AZ and sold damn near everything(donated the rest) and made a a little over a grand. When we left AZ we Craigs Listed everything we wanted to sell the weeks prior to leaving and made a several hundred $$…. Craigs List just took longer.

I try to do an annual yard sale, I hate clutter and junk in my home. I always make at least $500 which always helps with putting kids back in school. But the best thing I have clean closets and no junk before fall and winter! I say have one…easy money! :)

I’ve never done a garage sale either so I’d probably take it a thrift store. My MIL’s church accepts donations like that to sell at their own fundraisers, if you are just trying to get it out of your house..but sounds like other people have had good luck with the garage sales, so who knows!

You MUST get caught up with Breaking Bad RIGHT NOW. Stop what you are doing and go watch it for three days straight until you are at the current season finale. AMAZING. You will have to pick your jaw up off the floor. While it is off the air I have been watching Season 1 of that little show called True Blood that everyone’s talking about. Very late to the party on that one…

Do you know anyone else who is having a big garage sale, and who would let you throw your stuff in with theirs? You could volunteer to work the sale for a few hours or help set it up or whatever, but it’s less work than having it at your own house, especially if you don’t have that much stuff. And the theoretical person who is hosting the sale would probably be glad to be able to advertise kid stuff/furniture (both good traffic draws).

Either sell it online via Craig’s List or eBay (you can say it’s pickup only, and then you don’t have to ship it, keeps the sale local) or offer it up on Freecycle. For any of those three, you can make others come pick it up from you.

I donate everything (big stuff, little stuff, in-between stuff) and never look back. Done and done!

Others have said it, but Breaking Bad only gets better. This last season was the best yet.

Has anyone said they’d do the swim yet?

My foot has been jacked for almost a year, so i’ve been spending quality time in the pool (usually 1.5 miles) and could totally swim the 800m. the catch, i can’t run, so i’d have to walk out of the water (or hop on one foot) to do the handoff.

Also, would be about 6 months pregnant, so would likely not be in the thick of things, because while it’s never fun to get kicked in the face, getting kicked in the belly would suck too.

Wow, what a treat. Who wouldn’t want to do a relay with a gimpy pregnant woman? but if you’re desperate, give me a shout!

Oh, if it isn’t obvious, i’m local (in Redmond).

I’m out of shape, but not gimpy, pregnant, or in any other way unable to do the 800yd swim. If you are really interested in having someone else do the swim…let me know!

in my neighborhood, we just curb everything. its like a constant, free garage sale at every street corner.
i dunno, you could put all your stuff in the driveway, put up a sign that says “free stuff”, let it sit for a day or two, then you have less to haul over to goodwill. and no ab sneering. you can sit inside and sneer at people picking through your free stuff.

YMMV, but garage sales in my experience are WAY more trouble than they’re worth. And the “free” thing is nice, but you still have to deal with whatever doesn’t get taken.

The best strategy I know for purging the house is calling St. Vincent de Paul and scheduling a pickup, then spending the days between now and the appointment making a giant pile of stuff in your entryway. On the pickup day, haul it out to the curb in the morning; when you come home, it’ll be gone. Over, done with, end of story. Very satisfying.

Craigslisting stuff is often very frustrating for two reasons: 1. The elaborate email or phone kabuki that goes into trying to connect with a seller and, 2. The Craigslist flake who then bows out or doesn’t show up or whatever.

(I mean, I love it for buying stuff but OMG, the selling thing is often v. frustrating.)

If the whole point is to get rid of the stuff, consider the yard sale only because it’s kind of awesome to have people give you a bit of money for the privilege of hauling away your stuff. I helped my mom with a really big I’m-moving yard sale and we priced nearly everything @ a quarter a piece or 5/$1. We made, like, $85 on that stuff, and another small bundle on bigger/pricier pieces.

Or, if you value time and lack-of-work over a little $$ … just donate. It’s a hell of a lot easier. I say this as someone who’s already helped people throw two yard sales this year. Gooood times.

Breaking Bad is great, but the best part is AMC is making a show based on The Walking Dead. It starts airing this fall. I just hope its as good as their other original shows, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

On the garage sale thing, if money’s not the point, why not see if the local boy/cub scouts troop will man the trenches as a fundraiser? They’ll probably be happy to haul all the leftovers to GW for you, too ^_^

1. not local. but sounds interesting.

2. Garage sales are a lot of work, but if you have some good stuff you can make a good chunk of change.

3. Breaking Bad is in our Netflix queue, we’ve been waiting a LONG time for it. Have heard such great things, can’t wait!

I used a local site to sell used items like the Jolly Jumper and the Bumbo chair. I get a lot of kid stuff from there and because my kids are not very hard on their stuff I sell it for the same price when we’re done.

A confession: I still have pretty much all the kids’ baby clothes. It’s so cute and tiny that I can’t stand to get rid of it yet, even though we don’t plan to have any more. When I do it’ll probably go to friends’ kids so that I can see it being used again.

Getting a tax receipt for a large haul of donated odds and ends (which someone suggested above) is a good idea though. If you donate it bit by bit you won’t be able to get a receipt for it.

Breaking Bad is fantastic, but made me so sad that I had to stop watching it. Maybe I need more antidepressants.

I had a garage sale a few weeks ago – SO much work and hardly anyone came. So I ended up tearing off all the price tags I spent forever putting on my things and taking them to consignment. So my advice – skip the garage sale

…My sister lives in Brooklyn and they filmed Breaking Bad across the street from her house one night a couple of months ago…?

Linda, you can DO the swim, seriously. There are lifeguards paddling around on innertubes giving you a place to hang on and get your courage back up along the way… and do you remember someone saying last September: “I’m going to get over this water thing and I am going to be faster and stronger and I am going to kick ASS.” C’mon – you set goals for yourself and you always reach them – you can do this one too!

I started watching Breaking Bad when it first came out and rank it with The Wire, Deadwood, and Mad Men as one of the best shows of all time.

It just gets better as the story goes on.

I’m really surprised about all the posters who are so down on garage sales. I’ve only ever had one but it was a blast. Definitely not a lot of work. I didn’t label everything, just big-ticket items. Everything else I grouped on a dollar table, $5 table, etc. People want to haggle anyway and that was totally fine by me. I wasn’t looking to cash out, just get rid of stuff. We held ours the same day as a bunch of other neighbors on the street so we had crazy foot and car traffic. I sold out of everything but one item – a dining room table – by noon. And I sold everything from beat-up picture frames to antique chairs, maternity clothes to nice winter coats.
Personally, I find Craigslist a heck of a lot more work what with the constant e-mails, phone calls and scheduled appointments.
I enjoyed talking to neighbors and buyers at the garage sale. Seemed much more personable than selling on the Internet.
Best of luck in the race!

awww, I didn’t mean to make you feel worse. Stress sucks, so if the tri swim is heaping more on than you can handle right now, I don’t blame you for taking a pass this time. (I still think you can do it though!) Be well!

Garage sales can be a lot of fun, but keep your prices nice and low or you’ll still have WAY too much stuff to donate afterward anyway.

You could sell that AbRoller for any amount of money by dusting it off, standing next to it, and implying that it got you where you are today. Just sayin’.

NO on the Swimming Thing. I have way too much “stress-induced” Belly Fat (per Dr. Oz) to be seen in a swimsuit.

NO also on the Garage Sale thing. Been there, done that, and it is HORRIFYING! People actually SHOPLIFT the CRAP you are trying to get rid of! DONATE! (Or, if you want to encourage Entrepreunerism, put it all out on the curb on a Thursday Night with a sign labeled “TAKE ME, PLEASE!” and it will magically disappear.)

Breaking Bad is filmed in MY TOWN–seriously! (The Actors are renting houses TWO BLOCKS away from me!) But I have yet to watch it because I’m kind of prissy about Illegal Drugs (I have mid-school aged kids after all.) I’m also more than a little pissed off that my Property Taxes increased by 30%, yet Hollywood pays NO TAXES while filming in NM, thanks to Gov. Bill Richardson and his “sweetheart deals.”

Maybe someday I will get off my high horse and check it out…

I loved Breaking Bad for the first season but it kind of lost me midway through the second. We keep meaning to pick it up again though.

Garage sales can be a PITA but so can posting individuals ads for big things on craigslist and then arranging a million times for people to come see/get things. If you have a good bit of stuff, I would recommend the garage sale. You might even want to check with neighbors and see if anyone wants to go in together. We’ve done a couple in the past before moves and make most of our sales in the first hour when it is CRAZY. We’ve also gone the route of just donating everything. I think it really depends on if you have enough stuff for a decent garage sale or if the writeoff for the donations would be more beneficial on your taxes.

I have no TV service so only watch Netflix or DVDs checked out of the library so I have never heard of Breaking Bad until now. But after looking at the website…I don’t know…I really am no prude but really, crystal meth??? That stuff is poison. Not sure I can get behind a show that endorses (even in a kinda/sorta way – the main character makes/sells the stuff??) the use and/or production of that garbage. I might have to watch it before I judge too harshly, but…

I’ve got nothing on swimming, as I’m in Philly and haven’t swam for more than five minutes since the age of 18.

I vote going for the garage sale, just because hey any change is better than none? And then you can donate the remainders for the tax deduction.

And ohmygod, I have been cheering on Breaking Bad for years. YEARS. I’ll tell anyone who hasn’t watched it that it is definitely the best show on television right now. Cannot wait for the next season.

Enjoy!

Okay Linda, it’s time for a little pep talk girl. You rock and you have proven time and time again that there isn’t anything you can’t do. While having someone swim for you would be great companionship and possibly a new friend, you will feel so much better about getting that medal all.on.your.own!

I have done the Danskin tri and have a suggestion for you. Switch to the Buddy category. It will probably cost you a change fee but will be well worth it. Buddy category is designed for those who want to start the race with their buddy. As opposed to different waves in age categories. You would be the last group to enter the water. Which has many bonuses. First, it’s generally less competitive so there are less folks knocking you down as they try to pass. Also, there are a lot less folks in the water. Another major plus is for the bike route. By the time you hit it, it’s thinned out considerably and since this is one of your stronger areas, it’s where you’ll be able to kick some major butt.

I did the Danskin with a good friend and about a month before the event we realized, holy crap, we might not get to start together. While we were each going to do our own race, after all the months of training together, I wanted her standing next to me as we stood in that water waiting to start. So we made the switch and it turned out being the best decision ever, for all the reasons above.

Linda, there are people who side stroke, people who back stroke, people who just float and I guarantee you there will be a ton of people who are not in as good as shape as you and just as fearful. There are “angels” every where ready to give you a break on a surf board.

You’ve swam before and even though you have a lot on your plate, and you’re stressed over the thought, I’m telling you girl…just do it! You will feel so amazing at the end!!

I wish I did live in your area, because swimming is the only triathalon skill I feel good about at all right now.

I love Breaking Bad. Wait until you get through the later seasons. I think there are three total. At the end of last season I had come to HATE Walt, but then he totally redeemed himself in the next to last episode of the season that just ended. You’ll know what I mean when you see it. He’s 30 different kinds of awesome in the last 2 minutes of that ep. And the whole cast deserves an Emmy.

Love love love love Breaking Bad.

You think it’s good now? Wait for the end of season 4. Or was that 3? Damn it, whatever was just on the air this Spring.

Those crazy meth makers.

Garrage sale. Clean everything. Price nothing. Offer any potential buyer a price they would love to take it at. They pay you to haul stuff away. You make enough money for a dinner out AND you have less to drag to goodwill.

Which you will do at 11a, maybe 10:30 – because it is all over by then.

Have a “price it yourself” garage sale – haul all the crap you want to rid yourself of to your garage – no prices and let the haggling begin – make it clear to you garage salers that there isn’t a price that could possible embarrass you. You will discover it to be an interesting study of the human condition – AND you will get paid to have other people haul your junk away – the rest of it? to a charity of some sort!
Enjoy the purging!

I’m not somebody that does garage sales at all…but we decided to go for it. We didn’t have a ton of stuff and we were very lazy about it. We didn’t tag anything. We didn’t have anything that was really of any value honestly, so we would give a price when asked but would take whatever they counter-offered. Because my theory is some money is better than no money right? And I sure as hell didn’t want to haul it back in the house. We cleaned up big time and what was left we loaded immediately in the car and took to a women’s shelter (it was clothes). So I say go for it!

Not sure I can get behind a show that endorses (even in a kinda/sorta way – the main character makes/sells the stuff??) the use and/or production of that garbage.>>

Uh, yeah, ya might want to watch it. It doesn’t do that AT ALL. Quite the opposite. It’s the best show on TV, IMO

I hope you’re watching “Louie” on FX, because it’s hi-freakin’-larious.

Also, if you happen to go the garage sale route, I’d recommend–rather than individually pricing everything–having a .50 table, $1.00 table, etc. Then you can just throw all your crap in the appropriate spot and avoid those little stupid stickers.

http://moms.alltop.com/
check this out.

(1) BB rules and it only gets better. Or stranger. Or both. Thank the goddess for cable television. Coming back Sunday night — Leverage; give it a shot. It became yet another addiction after weekend marathon for first season.

(2) If you have space, set aside an area where you can leave the sale items as they attrit. First house cooling sale I had, when I moved by myself from Massachusetts to California, I was majorly hung over and didn’t want to schlep everything out — my friend had a neatly organized sale in my yard. I sat on the front porch, drinking tea and hijacking the people on the way to my side yard — asked them what they were looking for and, if I had it, took them to it. I sold $100 more than he did.

(3) AA, what exactly do you find annoying about old people at yard sales? Do they drool on your finery?

Seems to me you moved to the wrong place? Iowa is crawling with old people. It always amazes me what can be said without comment in comments when the main audience is boringly heterogeneous.

“Wouldn’t you pay that NOT to have to deal with old people annoying you all day?”

A) afraid of the water so can’t help you there. Which is too bad because I realllllly need to trim up and slim down.

B) I love to garage sale but I find that they are kind of crazy-making to hold. I’d say anything somewhat oddly collectible, books of all sorts, odd home decor items (except for picture frames or knick knacks), kids toys, and some furniture usually sells. I’d avoid selling things you wouldn’t want to buy yourself like VHS tapes. I know that seems weird but I was just at two garage sales today and each had no fewer than 100 VHS tapes. Or maybe that’s because I went to a garage sale in Shoreline…

C) No kidding! Sooo good!!

I can’t help with #1 or #3. But, I have a garage sale every year. A week or two before kids go back to school. My Mom and I do it together. We aim for 8a – 3p but usually close around lunch. People are out and about school shopping so we get pretty good business. We make about $100 or so, each. But, mostly sell small stuff (clothes and junk). It’s a fun morning and we don’t stress about labeling ahead of time. We just throw it out there and see what we get. Then, the first week of school, we go shopping and spend it all. I wouldn’t have too high expectations!

There will ALWAYS be another triathlon. Seriously, the sport is going no where. Struggling through -and finishing – a race you haven’t trained for is always doable and not always a waste of time, but the sense of accomplishment you’re (likely) seeking from doing this comes more from the day to day training paying off in a race type atmosphere (see also: NOLA Half, your marathon).

Which is all my way of saying: This can be the Race That Got Away, and there’s no shame in that. When your registered, you though you’d have time to swim train, turns out you didn’t, sucks, but hey man, it’s not like you were sitting on the couch eating chocolate going “hmm, why bother training? that sounds HARD, le SIGH.” Life gets in the way, whatever, there will be another race you can set your sights on. Possibly in a part of the country with cheaper entry fees (AHEMOregonAHEM)

Also I hate garage sales.

Just had a garage sale. Didn’t pre price anything and made enough to pay for my new bike and then some, $400. Do one day only here in GP the day is Friday and 8-12 is plenty….. I’d take the cash, but I also won’t be doing this every year. I had a ton of kid clothes and it was fairly painless. Sold my recumbent on CL and that was awesome too

had a garage sale 7/16. Totally NOT worth the effort.

I. HATE. Having. Garage sales!!! If I mark a pair of shoes at $1.00, and someone tries to talk me down…..from $1.00??? My head explodes. Talk me down on the $2500.00 BOAT people, NOT the $1.00 shoes! ONE DOLLAR!!!!
*breath*
Anyway, Craigslist is good, and if it’s not worth posting and watching, I donate that shit.