Let's get ready to jumble!

So a few months back, Karen proposed a small yard sale to get rid of excess junk around the house. I personally didn't think we had enough to justify the work of a yard sale, but then my sister found a new house, effectively stocking us with a driveway full of pretty good stuff.

This past weekend was the yard sale. (Or as they say in the U.K., "jumble sale," which my British friend Cait wants me to popularize in America....although I didn't risk putting that on the signs.)

It was a somewhat epic amount of work, but the result was about $630 in profit. (We spent roughly $100 on the newspaper ad, signs and prizes for friends who helped set up).

The experience itself was great, too. I actually had a lot of fun. People were nice, and just about everything sold.

But if you ever find yourself wanting to host a garage/yard/jumble sale, let me share a few tips while they're fresh in my memory.

What we did right:

* Warned away early birds. We had a "No early birds" line in our ad, and we put a sign at the end of the driveway the night before. That seemed to keep people from knocking on our door at 5 a.m. (which I hear is a regular occurrence).

* Offered free coffee. It was easy to make and set out, and it seemed to make folks happy and encouraged them to stick around longer.

* Had HUGE signs. I borrowed some large sandwich boards from my agency and covered them with poster board that we had colored with markers. They ended up dwarfing every other pitiful yard sale sign. I know most people don't have access to these, but you should at least try to scrounge for something similar in size and effectiveness.

* Had a clothing rack. Last time we did a yard sale, we stacked clothes on a table. This time, thanks to a clothing rack we borrowed from Karen's office, they seemed to sell a lot better. They also obviously saved precious table space.

* Had lots of grocery bags and cardboard boxes on hand. The boxes proved especially useful.

* Priced low. Our goal was to move stuff, and we did. If you price low, you stand the best chance of getting rid of most things in the first hour. Be strong, and forget what you or your mother-in-law paid for that porcelain sauerkraut cooker or whatever.

* Priced simply. $1 for adult clothes. 50 cents for baby clothes. The only exception was $3 for jackets.

*Didn't have a cash box. We carried the money in fanny packs and dropped off large wads of cash inside when it started to get full. This eliminated the stress of watching a money box all day.

* Arranged tables by topic, not by price. This just seemed to help people find what they were looking for, then buy lots of it. It can be tempting to bunch by price, but it's pretty worthless.

* Played music. It made it a bit less creepy and easier for people to talk to each other about my stuff in front of me.

* Cut boxes in half to hold books. This was my personal accomplishment. We had tons of books, but I didn't just want them stacked messily on a table. So I cut some cardboard boxes horizontally, then sealed the top or bottom. Poof! Suddenly you have a bunch of shallow boxes that were perfect for books, CDs, etc.

What sold well:
* Tools. By far the big winner, especially power tools. Sold before we opened.
* Small appliances. (Be sure to have an outlet for people to test them.)
* Computer and video game peripherals.
* DVDs. (Thanks, Dad!)
* Books -- especially cookbooks and paperbacks (we charged 50 cents a piece).
* Holiday stuff. (October was a good month for that.)
* Bathroom stuff, aka "Health and Beauty." Everything sold but a comb.
* Furniture.
* Guns. I didn't have any, but people kept asking all day.

What didn't sell well:
* Reference books. Total waste of space, except the dictionary and the Bible.
* Board games.
* Flower pots. Didn't sell one (out of about 15).
* Coffee mugs.
* Candles.
* Slim clothes. (Although it was worth it to see the look on women's faces when they held up Karen's shirts.)

Well I hope all that helps you guys out if/when you decide to tackle one. I definitely think it was worth the effort, but it'll be a while before I have the energy to tackle it again.

If you find yourself waffling about whether to have one, just picture this little stash of pot-dealer cash:

You can do it. I'm living proof.

You're looking at the last, snipped remnants of my consumer debt. I called and canceled our last (and really only) credit card today. We hadn't had a charge or payment in more than a year, so I figure we're safe. (And it was surprisingly easy...the only rebuttal I got was, "Are you aware we're offering holiday promotional rates?" Wow. Persuasive.)

Debt's a funny thing, as I was reminded today. I felt I needed a witness to this big moment, so I walked into a co-worker's office with my scissors and card. Her reaction: "That's a bad idea. It can really hurt your credit."

First of all, having a huge, unused credit line is a big liability for credit, not some glowing beacon of financial savvy. Ever seen your credit report? Everyone's surprised to see all those credit lines (that couch you bought five years ago and paid off right away, etc.) are still open. That adds to your total potential debt, and that's a number that can make financiers nervous.

Second, I hope to all that is holy that my credit rating will never matter again. We got our mortgage, and our loan processor practically swooned over our credit score, so I'm guessing that helped. But from here on out, seeking new debt sounds about as good as elective prostate surgery in a training hospital.

But back to my co-worker's comment, which is similar in tone to the warnings Karen and I have heard since the day we decided to bust our collective ass to escape debt forever.

I've heard how dangerous it is not to have a predatory lender waiting to help me in case of emergency. I've heard I'm losing out on magical tax breaks that justify paying massive wads of interest for home equity lines and such. (Though I'll happily enjoy the tax break on my mortgage interest while I'm paying it.) I've heard that it's silly to pay extra principal on our house because the dollars are inflation-adjusted...or it'd be silly because you could invest the difference better....or it would be silly because of tax benefits or because of....oh christ already, just read this article or one of the thousands like it and admit to yourself that paying off a home early is one of the single smartest things you can do in your lifetime.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to preach. I know most of you have debt and couldn't have gotten where you are today without it. I know I've had more than my share of help and lucky breaks that made it possible to pay off everything, and I'm thankful every day to my parents for setting aside savings bonds throughout my life to help cover what scholarships couldn't for college. Similarly, Karen's parents had tremendous foresight in their savings for her education, and their example is one we hope to follow with our future offspring.

But if this does, in any way, motivate you guys to focus on paying off debt, then I'll be glad. All I can say is, be prepared for more than a fair share of derision. Debt is the standard for our society, and I've had quite a few people tell me it's just part of life. Fight that urge, and brush off the comments from armchair experts about how it's smart to plummet into a bottomless debt spiral. If you do nothing else, please please just read this book.