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Friday, October 22, 2010

Go, Pat, Go! Sell, Sell, Sell! Look at Pat sell. Look at Pat make money.

(Note:  If you didn’t grow up in the 60’s, then the above title probably won’t make much sense to you!  If you did, then you will catch the reference to the Dick, Jane, and Sally reading books used in school systems at that time.)

After my last minute decision to retire (and my last minute preparation for my retirement party), I began packing up my classroom.  To some of you, that may not seem like a big ordeal.  For those who saw my classroom, you know what an enormous endeavor that was!  Just to give you an idea, it took about 6 car loads and 5 truck loads.  And that was with the vehicles filled to the max!  It would’ve been several more loads, but I gave away a lot of classroom items and furniture to friends and family.  I knew that I wouldn’t be using it anymore and it made me feel good to let others put it to good use.

All of it got deposited into my garage so I could sell it to other teachers.  My husband, Ted, was quite content on just taking it all to the dump.  Are you kidding me?  No way that I was going to let that happen!  Too much money and time, as well as memories, went into everything that I had.

I held my first “Teacher Treasures” garage sale and made so much money!  No, it didn’t come close to the amount that I originally spent, but it was better than not receiving anything at all.  My financial status certainly wasn’t in dire straights at the time, so it really wasn’t about making money.  It was more a matter of all my “stuff” finding a new home where it would be useful to another teacher.  Many of my teacher customers were young and it made me proud to know that I was making them happy by selling at such low prices.  I remember going to yard sales early in my career and how exciting it was to find good deals. 

 I had been asked to tutor a child at that time so I did pull some items to keep that I could use for tutoring.  I also kept some books to give my great- nephew, Ethan.  Funny thing, though!  Even after selling so much and keeping some things for myself, the garage still looked full!  So, I had “Teacher Treasures” Sale #2 about two months later.  I didn’t have enough space the first time around to set out all the things that were stored in my basement.  While I am basically an organized person, my basement would’ve probably landed me a spot on that Hoarders TV show.  It was absolutely unreal!  Yes, all my seasonal/monthly tubs were crammed in the basement, but there was also a ton of other things as well.  I found things that I didn’t even remember having, much less buying!  And I had this terrible habit of taking stuff down there, but sort of forgetting to put it where it belonged.  Therefore, you literally had to find a pathway to just walk around.  (Ted was convinced that it was all going to somehow start a fire, so I needed to get it cleaned out even if I hadn’t retired.)  So the basement got cleaned out and I then added even more stuff to the garage to sell.  That sale was very lucrative, but would you believe that my garage STILL looks full?  I guess I’ll go for sale #3 and make everything 50% off.  After that, I’ll be taking the leftovers to other places, but the dump will not be one of them!

                                   Teacher Treasures Garage Sale #1

 
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