As I said in another post, I think our family over did it on vacation in a way our pockets are screaming from the pain of emptiness. So, this week I thought of what I could do to placate my empty pockets. These are no Get-Rich-Quick schemes, but they will give a girl some cash. So, here are my three moneymaking endeavors:

1. ThredUp: An ad for ThredUp popped up on my screen a few weeks ago. I have no idea what I was surfing. I just know that the site found me, and I decided to give it a try. ThredUp is an on-line consignment-type service where you can buy new-with-tags or gently used clothing for everyone in your family. I bought a few items that were new with tags:

• Naartjie Kids jean leggings for my 11 year-old,
• Avia sneakers for my son,
• Old Navy jeans for my 12-year-old daughter,
• A cute pair of black Naturalizer shoes for Mama
• A pair of World Standard Life plus size jeans for Mama.

I paid under $75 total for these brand new items. Normally that is what the sneakers could cost me.

I also decided that I would sell some items to this company. I ordered a Clean Out Kit, which has a nice, big plastic bag already labeled for shipping. I packed the bag with my better-used clothes and some that has never been used and still had the tags on them. The company has a list of the brand name items they prefer or will not accept. I sealed it, and mailed it. I will let you know how much I get for my items.

2. Garage Sale: I am a garage sale groupie (if there is such a thing). I love going to them, scrounging for steals, and bargaining with the owners. I also love putting on a garage sale. Now, I am not like some of these Pinterest garage sale experts. I do not have laminated color-coded tags, nor do I have signs made with my Cricut die-cutting machine. A few neon-colored posters and those little price stickers you get from the dollar store is as high-falutin as I get.   I do advertise on Craigslist and other garage sale sights. I do try to post pictures of certain items if I have time. And, since our city does not permit garage sale signs on any property, I park my car at a fairly busy road with a garage sale sign and the address on the back window.

This week my neighbor Alison and I combined out efforts and had a sale together. We had a “trial run” sale on Friday morning while we were setting up and pricing, and then had the “real” sale on Saturday. We had more traffic on Friday than Saturday, which was quite strange. But, it is the dead of summer in Houston, Texas and the temperature at noon was close to 100 degrees. For all you Northerners that’s so hot you can fry and egg on the hood of your car. And, anyone with any sense would be sitting in a pool somewhere or under an AC vent. That meant only the die-hard garage sale groupies were out that day. Nonetheless, I made about $260. Cha-ching for Mama!

VarageSale: Since some of my items did not sell at the garage sale, I decided to post them to VarageSale to see if I can get some buyers that way.

VarageSale is website connected to your locale area where people can post items to sell and surf to buy. It’s similar to Craigslist, but it is easier to use, and more localized. As of 2014, their website boasted over a million members in the United States and worldwide. VarageSale was the brainchild of Tami Zuckerman who was bedridden during her pregnancy. She was nesting, trying to clean out closets using the typical social medial like Facebook and Instagram, but found the process cumbersome. She shared her idea with her tech-savy husband, Carl Mercier, and soon after VarageSale was born.]VarageSale may have millions of members, but the idea is that the buying and selling process is community-specific. Thus there are hundreds local VarageSale sites all across the country. A local administrator monitors these, and each local site has its own rules of conduct. For example, on mine you cannot post real estate or sell pets outright. You can “rehome” an animal, for no more than $50. Each site also has its own identity often with a cute name. For example, one site in our area is called Sienna Pickers.  So, I posted some photo/scrapbooks I did not use, a couple of Christmas baskets, and a small cooler from Thirty-one company. I know several people are watching them. We’ll see if I can make a sale.

Let me know if you have done some of these, and how it went. Would you recommend VarageSale or ThredUp? Let’s here from you.