Spring is right around the corner and that has got my mind one thing GARAGE SALES.  This year I am really excited about having my own 100% profit garage sale.  I have been collecting items for some time and still have a few months to go.  Now I am sure you are wondering how you make 100% profit.  It’s easy really.  You collect tons of free stuff and then no matter what you sell it for it’s a profit!  I will give you some tips on how to get started collecting today. 

FREECYCLE – If you haven’t checked out freecycle yet, it’s time.  Freecycle is a community of people who believe rather than throwing useful stuff away, they should give it away.  You can find your local freecycle group through freecycle.org, most use yahoo groups to communicate.  You can find everything on Freecycle from clothes, TV’s, furniture, appliances, books and so much other stuff.  The best part about it is all you have to do is pick it up.  You do have to spend some time responding to posts but it usually well worth it.  If someone tells you the item is already promised don’t be discouraged.  Most people don’t show up to get stuff so just simply reply to the poster and tell them if there person is a no show you will be happy to pick up the item.  I get 90% of my stuff because people email me back and say the person they promised it to was a no show and then I go and pick it up.

DUMPSTER DIVING – This is a great way to get new merchandise for your garage sale.  I have another article in my blog about this that you should check out as well.  You can come up with so much stuff dumpster diving from electronics, pet supplies, clothes, office supplies, toys, decorations and the list goes on and on.  

CLEANOUT – Now technically these items are not 100% profit but basically they are because most thing you are going to be ready to get rid of you spent money on long ago.  So at this point you had a product, used it as long as you wanted and now have a chance to get back some of the money for it as well.

FREE SAMPLES – You can get so many free samples online.  I have at least 2 free samples a day usually in my mailbox.  I spend 20-30 min a week filling out forms to get samples, so this one really doesn’t take much time.  Some of these are just simple shampoos etc but I have received many products that I could sell including sweeper kits and many other things. 

CRAIGSLIST – Each CL site has a FREE section in the for sale section.  CL is a good source for odd items I have found.  You get plenty of the regular stuff like clothes, books, furniture but then you also find items like screen printing presses or ceramic kilns with 100 molds.  These are cool finds for those of us always hunting freebies!

So before the spring comes and the sun starts shining you too should start to plan your 100% profit garage sale.  Maybe you will have enough extra money before summer to head out on a vacation.

For more tips on how to live on less please check out my website at www.dealoftheday.htmlplanet.com

I read this article recently on MSN Money.  It was titled “How I survive (actually thrive) on 12K year.”  It was sitting right next to an article called “Scraping by on $150K a year”.  Quite a contrast, huh?!?  So I read them both.  When you read these articles one after the other you realize that we really do choose our own paths regardless of any limitations set by the outside world.   

The first was a single lady, recently divorced who had decided to go back to school.  She had a set income that included alimony and some money left over some school grants.  Her rent for the year totaled $6,000 and some change.  Yet she pays utilities, eats, has car and health insurance, and enjoys her life because she knows every dollar coming in and going out and has no stress about it.

The second is a couple with 4 daughters.  Now granted it costs a lot more to take care of 6 people than 1, so to be fair based on the other lady 12X6 is $72,000.  They are making twice that.  So where is all their money going?  Apparently a rental property that they have been holding for some time and not been able to rent out.  They have been cutting tons of little things out of their budget such as coffee at starbucks, etc. trying to fix the problem.  Now I commend them for seeing there is a problem and something has to be done, however do you think they possibly drink enough starbucks coffee in a month to pay a mortgage?  Most likely not!  So each month they ignore what is draining their budget and can’t figure out where all the money is going. 

So many of us live like this.  FEAR.  Fear of not paying our bills, fear of something happening and not having enough money.  Sleepless nights thinking about money.  But I would say given a choice of either of these lives, I would take the $12K and eat beans and be happy, rather than the $150K and all the stress it causes.  The point is, it is human nature to spend everything we have, but if we learn the habits of living on less and implement them regardless of what our current financial situation is we will get more restful nights.

To read either of these articles go to MSN Money and search for “surviving on $12,000 year” and “scraping by on $150,000 year”

Check out my website for more tips on living on less.  www.dealoftheday.htmlplanet.com 

Ok, so I know we all like freebies.  But how far are we willing to go for them?  Recently, I was introduced to the world of dumpster diving.  I knew people took stuff from dumpsters but what I didn’t realize is what kind of people were doing it and what they were finding. 

Last Saturday my boyfriend who was already familiar with the underground society of dumpster divers was online and stumbled across a DD message board.  He was reading me different entries online of various people who found all sorts of treasures.  Everything from full bags of brand new in box merchandise to computers, ink cartridges they were selling back to recyclers and so many other things.  Some people had made as much as $6,000 in a week with dumpster dive finds.  I was intrigued by noon I told him I wanted to do it.  I wanted to see what free treasures awaited me in the local dumpsters.  Now this was an easy decision for me I wouldn’t be doing the actual diving!  I drove the get away car.  

We set around 7pm after eating dinner.  I got my 3-year old daughter all geared up and told her we were going to get presents from the dumpsters.  I was already imagining all the fabulous stuff we would be bringing home.  She didn’t make it for the action though she fell asleep in the car as soon as we set out.

It was time we pulled up behind our first strip plaza and I took over the wheel, while my boyfriend was off with his gloves and flashlight lifting up dumpster covers and looking inside.  First few were sparse.  We kept moving along I was following behind him as he went from dumpster to dumpster.  Alas, our first treasures.  We found behind the Pet Smart a new in the box SAM hamster/gerbil habitat and a reptile warming lamp.  I was getting psyched we had stuff!!!  We dumpster dove that night for about 3 hours.  In addition to our pet products, we got a full size toboggan family sled, a really cool phone with music on hold and a bunch of other features, a commercial steamer (for pressing clothes), a toy pool table, a self-inflatable whoopee cushion, a bottle of TAG spray, 1/2 of a huffy green machine, brand new deodorant, a new Portland blazers jersey and a few other little items.  I was hooked.

Now I know half of you think this is really gross, the other half have known about this and been doing it for years, but I am talking to you the third half who is as intrigued by this idea as I was.  I say DO IT, it’s addicting.  I already have scoped out the dumpsters we are going to hit this weekend!  Not really 100% sure what I will do with all these dumpster dive treasures, some I kept for myself.  Others will probably be part of my BIG garage sale in the spring.  I encourage you if you think this is something that interests you learn more about it.  It’s truly addicting!

Be sure to visit my website at www.dealoftheday.htmlplanet.com for more tips for living on less.