/yard sale sign/

SUMMARY:

Got up around 10:30AM, made it out driving by 11:15AM, and went out until 1:30PM, for a total of 2 hours, 15 minutes. 1 hour, 1 minute of that was spent driving.

Spent $14.30 plus ~$5.08 gas for 15.4 miles of driving (11.5 mpg @ $3.79/G), for a total cost of $19.38.

We made 23 purchases (24 items) for a total estimated value of $182.05, leading to a profit/savings of $162.67.

So in essence, we multiplied our $19.38 investment by 9.4X.

(Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn $181 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $162.67 in cash that we saved. How long does $162.67 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 2.25 hrs we spent here?)

Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* “wage” of $72.30/hr as a couple or $36.15/hr per person.

COMMENTARY/ANECDOTES:

There was some event called the mile-long yard sale that we checked out. Not a lot of parking, and way more walking. It had its moments, but on average each person’s sale was kinda crappy. The ones in front of the single family homes were predictably better than the apartment-peoples’ stands in front of the school. Someone was selling TONS of old Batman comics for 25 cents each. So tempting, but I know I’d never get around to reading them. Damn you, internet! But they actually had good taste in music, selling a lot of albums I own (Ween, They Might Be Giants)…. I ended up buying a couple cds… Such a rare thing these days.

THE BOOTY:

  • $4.00: massager, car-plug-powered, The Original Kool Kooshion (EV:$16.99) – for Clint’s car, so he can still have heated seats during the cold winter months where he will want to drive to work in the Bonneville due to it having remote start

  • $2.00: paint (2), 1 gal, Sherwin Williams, DTM Acrylic, protective and marine coatings, semi-gloss, b66w211 6405-17538, Bavarian Cream, 20120830 (EV:$14.98/ea=$29.96) – for our paint-the-roof-white project

  • $2.00: toy, drum machine, First Act Discovery, 08J150N (EV:$24.99) – for Sagan

  • $1.00: dvd, School House Rock! - Special 30th Anniversary Edition (EV:$14.40) – for future Sagan

  • $1.00: book, Java In A Nutshell – A Desktop Quick Reference (EV:$19.95 price tag) – might help me at my new job

  • $1.00: book, Java Software Solutions – Foundations Of Program Design – 3rd Edition, Lewis & Loftus, used (No price tag, so we’ll use the used value:$4.98 w shipping)

  • $0.50: lotion, pomegranate berry, Petal Fresh Botanicals, 600ml, 20.3 fl oz (only about half full) (EV:$4.49, but only half-full, so $2.25) – had sat for awhile, needed a bit of water added back to it

  • $0.50: cd, Hole – Ask For It, 1995 (EV:$3.44) – wait wait wait… Hole had an EP right before Live Through This? Why was I not notified!

  • $0.50: cd, Lunachicks – Babysitters On Acid (EV:$9.17) – I like Jerk Of All Trades, so I’ll check this out – so rare to find CDs I’m interested in

  • $0.50: pillow, microbead, purple, valentine-shaped, Brentwood Originals (EV:$15.00 based on past ev’s) – will we ever stop buying these?

  • $0.30: shampoo (3), hotel-sized, Pantene Pro-V,(EV:$1.95*3 = 5.85)

  • $0.25: activity book, Cartoon Network – holiday banner and stickers, Christmas to/from tags (EV:$3.99 price tag) - Put the banner up (office clips + blinds valence), affixed all the stickers (speakers, computer, etc), and cut out the to/from tags to use next Christmas (usually we re-use ones or just write it on the wrapping paper, we’re not fancy wrappers)!

  • $0.10: soap, hotel-sized, bath bar, aloe cream, Gilchrist & Soames, 1.5 oz, 42g (EV:$12.99 for 3, so $4.33 each) -  can’t remember the last time we paid full price for soap!

  • $0.10: soap, hotel-sized, facial bar, aloe cream, Gilchrist & Soames, 1.5 oz, 42g (EV:$12.99 for 3, so 4.33 each)
  • $0.10: shampoo, hotel-sized, wild fig & ivy, Gilchrist & Soames, 1 fl oz, 30 ml (EV:$14.99 for 7 items, so $2.14 each) – It’s crazy how often we get to use fancy shampoo these days. Normally it’s dollar-store imitiation Head & Shoulders, but a 2nd washing with something nicer is fun sometimes
  • $0.10: shampoo, hotel-sized, rosemary & chamomile, Lord & Mayfair (EV:$10.95 for 10, so $1.10 each)

  • $0.10: conditioner, hotel-sized, henna and wheat protein, Lord & Mayfair (EV:$10.95 for 10, so $1.10 each)
  • $0.10: lotion, Showboat, 1 fl oz, 30 ml (EV:$1.13)
  • $0.05: ice tray, light purple (EV:$1) – this one is thin, so the ice will come out easier than some of ours
  • $FREE: battery holder & tester, The Battery Rack (EV:$11.95) – we already have 3 screwed to our wall. Don’t really need a 4th, but hey, it’s free.

  • $FREE: container, metal tin, 10.5×4.25″, winter scene (EV:$2) – already used to hold some cables that are in flux

Click here for other Yard Sale-related postings.

2012 STATS SO FAR:
TOTAL EXPEDITIONS: 16
TOTAL HOURS: ~61:03
TOTAL MILES DRIVEN: ~644.9
TOTAL MONEY SPENT: $589.14
TOTAL ITEMS BOUGHT: 388-526 (depending on how you count multiple-item purchases: purchases vs items)
TOTAL ESTIMATED VALUE: $5,199.84

* EV stands for “Estimated Value”, which I estimate by looking things up in Google Shopping/Google/Amazon/Ebay. I don’t always deduct for an item being used, unless it’s actually in worse condition in a way that matters. For example, I estimate books at the cover value. I also try to only count shipping if it’s the type of thing that would need to be shipped, and only if the price isn’t “fixed” (i.e. 1 cent items that cost $10 to ship would not be $10 in person)..

Mood: not wanting to go to work
Music: Huckleberry Hound – Huckleberry Hound Theme