A day at the flea market

I am so tired and sore, but Amanda and I had a good day at the 7th Heaven Flea Market in Monticello. Amanda is my 9 year old (almost 10) daughter. I feel good knowing that I have rid myself of excess stuff (at least some of it!) and made a little money in the process. I feel that reselling un-needed belongings is frugal as well as a form of recycling.
Preparing for yard sales or trips to the flea market can be time consuming, but it is worthwhile in the end. I spent an hour or so at the storage area on Thursday going through and pulling out the boxes I knew had stuff I wanted to sell. I spent the rest of the day emptying boxes and running things through the dishwasher. That evening I did some research on the Internet so I could price things more accurately. Friday I priced and packed everything in plastic totes. All this prep work made setting up Saturday morning a breeze. I set up the "breakable" table and Amanda set up the other table. At the end of the day we repacked what was left. I plan to have a yard sale some time in the next few weeks using the left over stuff. I'm sure I can find more as I go through more boxes in storage.
Why am I going through all this work? There are several reasons: reduce the need for an extra storage unit so we can save the expense, make a little money that I can then use for other home improvements, and to lighten the psychological load that too much stuff can cause. Simplicity in our surroundings can reduce our stress levels. Just think, less stuff in the house, less stuff to keep clean and picked up! Sounds less stressful, doesn't it! I started this process about four years ago and I have a long way to go. I guess I am a recovering pack rat.

Here I go!

Well, I always have liked to tell people how to do things. I think that is why I became a teacher. My husband is really into technology (it's his job) and he has been blogging for a while now. He suggested I try this and at first I thought, no, why would anyone want to know what I am doing every second of the day. Then I realized that this would be a great opportunity to talk about the many things I have learned about running a frugal home. I think that we are in a financial situation in this country that is similar to the one that existed in the Great Depression and many of the skills women (and men) had then are no longer taught.

When I lost my job at the end of March I decided that I would take advantage of the opportunity I was presented to complete some projects. I have painted my family room, planted a vegetable garden, and sewn many purses. I am sewing purses to sell in order to make money, but it also allows me to use up the excess fabric I have. Any one who sews knows that fabric seems to breed in the closet...I have so much of it. But the biggest project is to rid myself of the stuff I have in storage. I am a recovering pack rat. I have purged before; when we moved to Crawfordville four years ago, as well as several purgings since then. I still have too much stuff. You cannot be frugal when you have excess. I am spending money for a storage unit that holds stuff that I have not had out of the box for over 5 years as well as stuff I can't put in my home due to limited space. So I am sorting through it tomorrow and taking a load to the flea market in Montecello, FL. I will let you know how it goes...