“GARAGE SALE!” That’s what you can hear me shouting as my husband and I drive down the streets. Fridays, Saturdays and even Sundays take on a whole other significance during summer months. Heading to the beach? No. Visiting Mom? No. Going to church? No. Instead, Garage Salers are scoping the neighbourhood for the next best find. There are many who share this same weekend observance with the ritualistic loading of the car with other peoples “stuff.” It’s funny driving around and seeing the same cars showing up at each location; we’re like a caravan of gypsy’s travelling the country side. When not travelling with this band of brothers and sisters, whom I don’t know, I am planning the best day to offer our gently used treasures to garage sale enthusiasts and those pesky dealers who come two hours before I put the sign out.

Every year millions of North Americans, like yours truly, begin sifting through the piles of items that accumulated in the garage and start perusing the book cases for hard covers, paperbacks and magazines to purge. We gingerly open up the closets that are bulging with once ‘must have’ clothes and trinkets, summarily dismissing them as no longer usable but great for next weekend’s garage sale. It’s a vicious cycle of purge and purchase but there is something about it that gets me excited every year. When it is all said and done, sellers are not the only ones benefiting from our recycling frenzy. Recently, I spoke with a woman who volunteers at our local thrift store and they are extremely busy right now. Whatever doesn’t sell at these garage sales usually ends up going to charitable organizations for a second chance at being purchased. She told me that their thrift store brings in $50,000 per month in sales! Now that’s incentive. With a new sense of urgency I search for more items to sell. If I don’t restrain myself almost everything could wind up with a price tag on it; except my husband of course. Oh, and “my prices have now gone up people!” That used toilet plunger was .50 cents but I’m thinking $4.00 sounds better.