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Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk
It’s been a week after hosting our garage sale. Almost a week after our camping trip followed by a day long adventure in LegoLand, Carlsbad. Elizabeth and I visited more than 10 garage sales this morning. Aimless shopping. The only aim really is spending time with my daughter. Sharing tips on seeking bargains, boys, Jonas Brothers, friends, school, and why her brother is a pest.
On one of our last stops, she found a small roll of police barricade tape. The woman simply gave the tape to Elizabeth. She plans to use it on her door hoping to send a message to her little brother. We spent less than 20 dollars spending more on her brother buying him a Bushnell telescope and tripod for $2.00 and a Jr. Nike golf bag filled with lefty golf clubs for $5.00. Ben does not golf, but his buddy Ian does.
It’s around noon and we are staying close to home today. School begins next week. We start the family Fall schedule on Tuesday. Today is homestead laundry day followed by a DIY lawn mowing. I’m going to grab a bite to eat now and simply wanted to say hello. So, Hello.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk
After many months of talking about it, planning a weekend for it, and gathering stuff for it, we had a garage sale today. The kids were very excited. To be honest, I was worried that the kids had their expectations set too high. Elizabeth had purged her room from Barbie dolls and books. She is growing up and has a passion for her Nintendo DS (which we bought two weeks ago at a garage sale). She had boxes and boxes of stuffed animals, books, and dolls. Benjamin had a blankets worth of toys that he had grown out of.
It was a lot of work with the signs, the stickers, placing an ad on Craiglist, getting change from the bank, and checking tips on hosting a garage sale. Ideally we should have snowballed any money earned. We never talked about that. Both Jen and I knew that we were most interested in purging stuff and pricing it to SELL. Any money earned would be used towards a three day camping trip planned for the following….three days.
We awoke at 5:30 and started setting up at 6:00 a.m. We had a ton of stuff. We had a morning rush of buyers with a short break followed by another rush followed by a short break. This pattern went on until 10:00 a.m. We placed a 1/2 price sign out and kept busy until noon. We closed up shop by 1:00 p.m. Jennifer and I earned $120.00. Elizabeth earned $61.00 and gave me $5.00…more on that in a bit. My son earned $24.00. Yes….we earned the money because it was work! I must have demonstrated a hand-held Oreck vacuum cleaner five times before the last person bought it.
So Elizabeth owed me $5.00 from the Nintendo DS that I bought her at another garage sale. She and I are early rising folk on Saturday mornings. I take her sailing a couple of times a month in the summer. Garage Sailing that is. We hit the road with a few dollars following signs around town. These are the moments that we get to chat about her life.
She had been saving for a Nintendo DS. We started a 401DAD plan where I agreed to match her funds if she saved 1/2 of the cost of a new unit. That was until we stumbled upon a used system. It was black and looked well cared for. I bought it for $40.00 which included 7 games. She was excited, but the 410DAD plan did not apply to used purchases.
Later that day we took the seven games that appealed to the prior owner, a young boy, to GameStop. Elizabeth was given $61.00 in store credit. She gave me $20.00 in store credit which I gave right back to her. She owed me $20.00 for the balance of the DS. She bought two games and was the happiest 10 year-old girl on the block. She still owed me $20.00. It bugged her. She did not like the feeling of being in debt. Wow!
She worked off her debt with me down to $5.00. This morning she earned $7.00 early at our garage sale. She kept $2.00 and gave me $5.00. The very best part about it was watching her reaction when she told me that she was debt free! My 10 year-old was debt free. The very worst part about it was soon after, we talked about debt and she asked me why her mother and I were not debt free. Ouch. I should have taken that teaching moment to talk about debt. I did not. I did not know what to say. She was right. She knows were are working on it. She knows that is our goal.
She went on to earn another $56.00. Her mother took her over to GameStop where she bought another DS game. She was maybe $2.00 short of the amount needed for a second game. She could have, but did not ask her mother for the balance to meet what she needed. She did not want to go back into debt. She kept the money.
I am beat. It’s 7:35 p.m. I worked in the sun all day. We had fun. When it was over, we pulled out the camping chairs and sat in the shade out front of the house. We talked. We shared disbelief over what we had been able to get rid of at rock bottom prices. We sold stuff and spent time together as a family and met some great local folk. I learned yet another lesson in debt….from my daughter. I hope it sticks with her. It will with me.
Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk
Jen and I use a gas card to purchase well…..gas. It’s one bill that is paid off each month. Before discovering Dave Ramsey we paid more than the minimum, but always carried a balance. The debt rose to $3,000.00 or more….so we paid it off and simply purchase and pay the end of the money. 
We received a jaw dropping letter from the card carrier today. It was a check for $1,200.00! We were invited to deposit the check to use anywhere we wanted. The card company would process a $60.00 check fee and the $1,260.00 would be added to our account. Sorry. No thanks! We buy gas and nothing but gas. Thanks, but we don’t need an added $1,260.00 at +21% interest.
Summer is coming to a close. I have one week of work and then 10 days off with the family. Once that is over, I head back to work, Jen heads back to class, and the kids back to school. This summer has been what it has been. It started with the passing of my mother-in-law. We slipped away from medium core debt reduction to the same old grooves that we had before Ramsey…but a funny thing happened.
The core values remained core values. We ate out, but remembered and were convicted that the only time we should see if the inside of a restaurant is if we work in one. We don’t. A core value is know what your owe to say no to more debt. A saying I have heard and often use in my local church community is the main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing. What’s your main thing?
Both Jen and I welcome the Fall. She had the summer off from work with the kids. She would seek another three months off, but we both agree that the next nine months bring routine. School. Homework. Rest. Ramsey.
