The Great Purge 2009
In a few weeks we will be “downsizing”; moving into a smaller house. Our current home is a 3 bedroom, and we are going to squeeze into a 2 bedroom.
We don’t have to be out of our current home until early July, but we have been moving in phases.
Today we completed The Great Purge; we had to get rid of some things in order to fit into the smaller house!
I put a few large items on an email list that goes out to members of a local playgroup (that I haven’t participated in since Deeds was born, since he naps during the play date times!), and sold a rocking chair and plastic kitchen to a couple of ladies.
And today, we participated in a rummage sale at the local school!
We paid $8 to rent a “booth” (a couple of tables) to display our junk.
The rummage sale was a great success! We sold all of our big items, which included a large wooden train table, a plastic Little Tykes table and chairs set, a ride-on Thomas toy, and a high chair.
The sale only lasted for two hours (!!!), but all that remained at the end were some 
clothes, books, DVD’s, and a few odds and ends (view the aftermath, pictured at left).
Can you see the stroller at someone else’s booth, there in the distance? That did NOT sell because they wanted $110 for it! Yeah right!
I brought some things back home because I have a specific charity in mind to donate them to, but other things we just left on the tables and pronounced them “free!”. They were all claimed by one family in a matter of minutes. I hope they enjoy their 4 year old issues of National Geographic, books in a language they don’t even speak, and baby bottle microwave steamer (it was a gift, I breastfed my kids!).
I love rummage sales, but I will have you know that I showed INCREDIBLE restraint. I only bought three things:
Two handmade Christmas stockings, sewn from batik fabric and this very unique wooden camel stool with a leather cushion.
I love that cool stool! I knew Deeds would love riding on it like a horsey, and I was right. The family that sold the stool (only $10! Their asking price was $20!), looked like they were Indian, but this looks like it came from somewhere in the Middle East. It has bells hanging off of it, very cool!
I don’t think the Indian family had a very successful rummage sale because their asking prices were all too high. We inquired about the camel stool at the beginning of the sale and it was $20, then ten minutes before the sale ended I told my hubs to go back over there and make an offer.
He said the mom of the family told him that he was “naughty”, but agreed to sell for $10.
They were also selling fried chicken cutlets from their booth, it was kind of odd.
I did enjoy seeing what kind of items people from different countries had for sale though. There were lots of German, Dutch, and Japanese children’s books and puzzles. Too bad I can’t read any of those languages. One of the books had a naked cartoon on the cover. I’m thinking I might be missing out…
(Read further installments about our journey towards the simple life in The Downsizing Journey Begins and Making Our Small House Livable)
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30 May 2009, 3:02 pm
How inspiring! We’re about to downsize from our large home into a 340 sq ft RV. (Long story.) I’ve been selling things on Craig’s List, but a rummage sale sounds like a great idea.
As a psychiatrist, I’ve also written about the Upside of Downsizing for the Huffington Post. It’s reprinted on my webiste, here: http://doreenorion.com/orion-upside.htm
30 May 2009, 4:09 pm
You did pretty good! Purging is always good. I hope you’ll like your new home!
Nancy M.s last blog post..The Best Southern Supper
30 May 2009, 11:56 pm
Just today I spent 6 hours yard saling. That’s a long time for me! I noticed that the yard sales in the development from Indian people had cheaper prices than the average American. Interesting!
31 May 2009, 1:48 am
Wow, nice work! We need to do a purge one of these days. I come from a long line of packrats, so it’s hard for me…
Oh, and you must ALWAYS buy the books with naked cartoons. If only to send them to me. I love that weird foreign printed matter, I tell ya.
31 May 2009, 5:00 am
What a relief to get rid of so much stuff! You know, there’s something about National Geographics–no matter how old they are, there’s always someone who is willing to give them a home. My high school art teacher had a LOT of them for students to use in collages. They’re great for cutting up! I have a few pictures still that I pulled out of them that I thought were so cool. You know, for future art projects.
31 May 2009, 8:47 pm
I’m envious…that sounded like a fun day, and I’m glad you got rid of your stuff!
The camel bench was a great find, albeit a naughty one. I want to see those stockings now!
And yes, $110 is way too much for a used stroller. It doesn’t even look that great.
05 July 2009, 2:36 pm
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30 November 2009, 3:07 am
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