Week 45 recap + 46 plans

My experience with stuff runs deep and through many years. For 9 years, I've worked on and off to remove the unnecessary clutter. Often fueled by feelings of being overwhelmed, I declutter and donate. During a recent decluttering period, I decided to have a garage sale. Blogs and decluttering content always talk out garage sales as a great way to make extra money and eliminate a lot of stuff. It's been 11 years since my last garage sale, so I had forgotten all about the hard work and looking for a way to fund my flower hobby. During a decluttering phase, I decided it was time for another garage sale.
Husband was on board to help, so I began putting things aside for the Garage Sale. I've added to the sale pile in my extra bedroom-turned-studio for two years. This year, I finally found time to organize and host the sale. I spent two full days, mornings before work and evenings after work, organizing, pricing, and doing a final decluttering. It still wasn't enough time, so I took a vacation day from work. I worked into the late hours of the night before and got up hours before sunrise to set everything out. I was exhausted and delirious before the sale even began. To prevent early birds, we did not advertise our sale beforehand. We live just a few houses off a bustling road, so we put one sign in the median and placed an ad on Craigslist once we were ready. By 8:30 am, I was terrified we had completed all this work and our advertising would be too late, but I was wrong. It worked beautifully; we got our first customer 10 minutes in, and they kept coming all day.
Garage sale patrons are the nicest; we had many pleasant conversations. I swapped stories, reminisced over old things, and heard some life stories. The day was quite relaxing and fun. However, some things to know about your customers: they are looking for a bargain and don't care what the item costs brand new. Most of our money came from the $.25-$3 pricing, and the majority left with a handful of goodies. I can't tell you how often I've heard someone not having enough space or needing more stuff, so they would only buy a few items. Fortunately, we had things priced low enough. I did get some people to load up boxes of stuff, but by the end of the day, I was still left with a garage full of stuff. I planned my sale for one day only, which was a mistake. If you put this much time into setting up, prepare for a multi-day sale. My garage sale side hustle paid me about $9/hr. It was back-breaking work, and I still have a garage full of stuff.

Week 45 recap:

• Garage sale prep.

Plans for week 46:

• Box up and donate the rest of the garage sale items.
• Tie up climbing rose.
• Start viola and sweet pea seeds.
• Disbud Chrysanthemums.
• Plant tulip bulbs.
• Get a Christmas Tree.

Week 45 blooms:

• Ivory Feather Plumes
• Oxalias
• Petunias
• Roses
• Sedum

The sale day was delightful, putting all the hard work aside. Garage sales customers are lovely; they are the kindest and friendliest people. If you want a soul pick-up and connection with people, take a break from the solute garden work and have a garage sale.