Leftovers

Our friend's garage sale was a smashing success last weekend, despite un-garage-sale-like weather. At lunch today, Jim and I went to pick up the tables we loaned plus the leftover items and, oh yeah, some cash!

For simplicity, every item out of the this house had R.A. for the initials on it. But Carter and Mamie used a a black Sharpee and I used red – because I knew from past experience we'd get all our tags back as part of our friend's diligent accounting system! 

The kids didn't quite make enough to fill a tank of gas, but they'll be happy with anything. Thanks to a few items priced over $20, my profit jumped up to triple digits for the first time in a long time. So that was cool. And we really didn't have a ton of leftovers.

Thankfully things like golf clubs and some weird round chair sold. So no big items came back. Just a few boxes that I had to decide what to do with. Donate them or hold them to see if they'll see at another sale? I know what superstar organizer and declutterer Marie Kondo would say, but I wasn't inviting her to the conversation. Instead I reached out to friends on Facebook – just in case someone was having a sale in the very very near future.

Nobody was having one soon enough for me. So I loaded all but the leftover books into my car and dropped it off at Goodwill.

I know there are other worthy donation organizations but this happens to be right next door to where I was working out so I had no excuse but to unload it all after class. 

The books, though, I will put on a friend's sale this summer and donate some to the various "little lending libraries" around town. I completely forgot about that option until someone mentioned it. Since some of the books were great book club reads, it only makes sense to get them out there where people who enjoy reading want them. How did I not think about this before?

For once I know what to do with leftovers. Besides wait for them to get old and toss them out!

Thanks for everyone's input!