The dating scene really is everywhere.

I'm not talking about myself, here (not this time)-- but for the last hour or so I've been eavesdropping on what has to be a first date between a man and woman who both must be more than twice my age.  It is *so* interesting.  Eavesdropping may be a slightly inaccurate term, seeing as there is no possible way that I could avoid overhearing them... but I guess I just hope I am never in their shoes.  That's not to say that you can't find a lasting relationship after a certain age, and of course people get married at all different ages now... but I just really do not want to be going on first dates when I'm in my 60's or 70's. 

The guy, for his part, seems like a decent enough guy-- fairly softspoken, but in a gentle, "I don't need to impress anyone" way, not a meek-and-mild way.  The woman, on the other hand... my gosh.  I know this is a horrible thing to say, but she kind of looks like how I would imagine Cruella De Ville would look if she had been a real person and had died and risen from her grave as a zombie.  It's rare that I'm actually horrified when I look at someone, but there is just something about her that is severely unnerving. 

Anyway, for the last little bit I have heard her many opinions about everything under the sun (the first thing I heard out of her mouth was an "unladylike" comment about some other guy, I'll spare you the details), and I just wonder how this guy is putting up with her.  At one point, it was almost funny... one of them would talk for a while, and then the other would talk, and they just kept totally missing each other-- neither of them was actually listening or responding at all, they just took turns talking AT each other. 

Sometimes... life just amazes me.

Yard Sale Marathon!

So yesterday, my friend Jenn and I decided to indulge our latest fun hobby and hit the yard sales bright and early.  Well... early.  Maybe not quite so bright. (I admit, I all but dragged myself out of bed.  It was so worth it though!)

Fifteen yard sales and a few thwarted attempts later, we called it a day.  Man.  We were SO exhausted.  Who knew that so many people wanted to set up tables to sell old random stuff from their houses on Saturday mornings?  We just kept seeing them everywhere! 

We definitely found a few fun and unique deals and interesting items.  Jenn bought an antique bone glove-stretcher that basically looks like a hair clip for 13 cents.  I bought a brand new, still-in-the-box George Foreman-like grill for $5.  Early in the day we went to a woman who had her own scrapbooking business who was selling all kinds of high quality paper (including vellum) for a dollar an inch!  You could easily pay a dollar for two SHEETS of vellum in stores!  Between us we also got a couple games, some jewelry, and other random assorted stuff. 

At about midday, though, Jenn and I decided that we were going to give each sale a grade, since we'd had so much exposure to them.   So generally, here's the criteria/helpful guide to yard sales that we came up with:

1.  Signage.  Signage, signage, signage.  Don't assume that people know your neighborhood.  If it's way down some random street, you need to put signs up telling people that they're still going the right way!  Oh.  And along those lines, also not cool to put signs like 5-10 miles from the sale.

2. Advertising.  Use craigslist, the newspaper, above-mentioned signage... the whole point is that you want people to come, right?  But be honest.  "Huge"= at LEAST 6 folding tables (the big ones) worth of stuff.

3. Decide beforehand whether you are doing this yard sale primarily to make a few extra bucks or to get rid of crap around your house.  Don't change your mind halfway through and try to squeeze out a couple extra bucks just as people are paying.  Lame.

4. Group appeal.  Plan in advance, and get others in your neighborhood to go in with you.  It's way more effective and more appealing to potential buyers to have at least a handful of decent stuff to look through, and it's way more fun than sitting outside by yourself for 6 hours.

5. Lemonade.  A very nice touch.  Loved it.  A+.

6. Organization.  If you're not even willing to dig through your own crap, what makes you think that anyone else would want to?  And while ok, some things may have been in storage and therefore may be a little dusty... if anything is just gross (I saw mold, nasty goopy stuff, and tiny bits of leftover food stuck on pots and pans)... that's not fun.  On the other hand, when people can see things, they're way more likely to buy them!

7. Markdowns.  After a certain point, 1/2 off or "stuff a bag full for a dollar" (both approaches we saw yesterday) vastly increase your chances of getting rid of all your extra stuff.

8. Friendliness.   People are more likely to buy from someone they like than someone they don't like.  (Although you might also want to avoid the other extreme, which is hovering.)

9.  Consider the environment you're creating.  Jenn and I left one sale almost immediately because several people were smoking and it just made it pretty unpleasant.  Another woman literally left a sale running because the lady's dog had gotten outside and she was severely allergic.

10.  Timing.  Saturday mornings are best, because you'll catch people in yard-sale mode.  It'll be harder to get people to stop by on a Friday or a Sunday, because most likely they're doing something else.

Overall, though, it was a blast.  I still didn't spend much, but I came away with all kinds of goodies.  Yay for yard sales!

After a long break, (duly noted by Katy and Jaci ) I think I might be getting back into this whole xanga thing again. 

Today, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the wonder of my favorite places for girl-on-a-budget.  I've had more time than usual to play recently, so I've been able to swap some time for fantastic deals... and basically, I just get really excited about that!

1) eBay.  Already I find it hard to remember life without it!  This week I dove back in with a passion, although from the other angle... trying to sell stuff this time.  I think I tried this once before and was pretty disappointed with the results.  This time, it's way better!  I've already made about $30 in the last week just for random stuff I had lying around my apartment.  Sweet!

2) Yard sales.  I've been hitting them with a fervor.  Not much else will get me out of bed at 8am on a Saturday, but (sadly) the prospect of some unique little find somewhere is pretty much what it takes.  Recently, I've been able to acquire a beautiful wood mission style cabinet, a space heater, three necklaces, a pair of earrings, a cute little wicker jewelry box, a shoe rack, a big package of cardstock for scrapbooking/making cards, Scrabble, and a wooden salad bowl with four matching smaller bowls, all for about $50.  The cabinet alone easily would have cost more than that new (maybe even double), and it's in excellent condition.

3) Craigslist.  Again, how did I live without this?  Oh yeah-- I remember, that's when I didn't have to worry about things like buying furniture.  I have bought and sold many things on craigslist and have never had a bad experience.  Plus, no better way to find out about all the yard sales (although driving through town the morning of can also be a good bet).  And the fact that it doesn't cost anything to post is a major bonus.  A little tidbit that I stored away in the back of my mind is that a lot of times people will sell gift cards on craigslist because they want the cash more than the card... so if you know you're going to buy something at a certain store, it's worth a look- most of the time they'll sell them for at least $10-20 less than they're worth at the store. 

4) Paperbackswap.com.  If you like books, this is a must.  I've already received 10-15 books through this system, and it's genius because you trade what you have but don't want for what you want but don't have, and all you pay is a buck or two for postage.  It's like a gigantic national library, only you get to keep the books. 

Now, I just have to make sure I still keep within my budget since there are so many good deals out there!

Amy and I were watching the news, and it's amazing what you can learn about your own neighborhood...

Apparently, some woman had a pretty bad case of road rage and threw a bottle of urine at another driver.  (About 3/4 a mile from our apartment.)  Awesome.

So, apparently I'm not very good at actually posting anything here anymore.  However, I came across a couple articles today on MSNBC and couldn't resist getting up on my soapbox a little.  On the one hand, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that "charity news" has its own separate subheading on the website.  That's the first time I've seen that, and I learned several encouraging things-- like that there is now a game out there like SimCity that helps kids build and manage their own nonprofits.  Ok, that's pretty neat... especially as it got good reviews.

All too often, I get discouraged when I read about this stuff (giving to nonprofits.)  Some of that comes from the fact that I have a very vested interest in the overall pulse of the country when it comes to charitable giving since that's how I get paid :)  And it's upsetting to read about many charities that have abused their tax-exempt status and how that's affecting morale overall.  But especially when I read about giving within the church, it's a little disappointing.

Here are a couple things in particular that I wanted to comment on:

"Individuals and households accounted for $199 billion of the total — giving away nearly 2 percent of their incomes on average, it said."

The thing is, many people would say that that's a lot- 2%.  Lots of Christians, too.  (The national average among Christians is about the same, maybe a little higher, maybe the 2-3% range.)  The thing that I've found in general is that people like to feel generous without needing to sacrifice anything.  That may be harsh, and in many cases is untrue, but 2-3%?  Come on, guys! We're unbelievably rich.  And besides, what ever happened to tithing?  (A tithe would be about 10%)  I read recently that if the church simply tithed and gave 70% or so of that to battling poverty, it would be completely wiped out.  That certainly gave me pause... 

"Similarly, recent surveys by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found that people making less than $50,000 a year make most of the donations to U.S. charities and that the median gift after major disasters is $50 – the kind of donation that comes from cookie jars rather than bank vaults."

This is the most fascinating quote of any of these articles, I think.  Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb and risk offending people here... know that that is not my intent, but I just need to be blunt about this.  My job, or more accurately, my paycheck, is dependent on others' generosity.  I don't apologize for working in full-time ministry which is not a money-making profession.  I think there is much to be said for community collaboration for the things that as a community we truly value. 

As part of my job, I meet with people to explain what I do and why, and to invite them to partner with my financially if they feel so led.  This is never intended to be a pressure thing.  It's just how the bills get paid :)  Often I'll ask someone (if the conversation has gone reasonably well) if they know anyone else who might be interested in hearing what I just shared with them.  Often they say yes... but here's the kicker... they immediately start qualifying anyone they think of based on how much money that person has.  It drives me nuts!  First of all, because that's not the point... if they can't give, they can't give, it doesn't mean I don't want to meet with them.  Secondly, it's counterlogical, but I often don't want to meet with people who have lots of money.  It would be unfair of me to suggest that this is true across the board, because it's not.  But this quote resonates with my experience... the more money someone has, the harder it is for them to give it away.  Of course you read about multimillionaire philanthropists.  But most people who give generously are just ordinary people. 

I am in danger of getting riled up and far more self-righteous about this than I really should be, so I'm going to stop now...

But not before I tell you about my two new favorite websites.  It has nothing to do with the rest of this post.  But it's pretty awesome.  Especially if you like books or CDs