2023 - a year in review

Hi people! Wow - a second blog post this year. Maybe next year I'll try for 3. So here's a rundown on what happened in 2023. I have decluttered some stuff....even had to clean out a spare room earlier in the year to be able to have a family member visit. That was a job. Overall, I did well selling at a local flea market. I am getting more and more frustrated with eBay. The fees, the customers, the hassle etc. Much easier to just look for gold at yardsales and then bring it to my favorite pawn shop for scrap. A few weeks ago, I spent $7 on 7 pieces of jewelry at a yardsale and sold 5 pieces to the pawn for $195. The other two pieces (sterling silver rings) I will sell at the flea market in the spring. My mother died in August. I miss her but her quality of life had gone downhill and she was in pain. She always said "when I die, you can have a big garage sale". Well I'm not exactly sure when this big garage sale is gonna take place but I don't think just one garage sale will be enough. I bought a new (to me) car. It only had 4,000 miles on it. It's a 2022 Nissan Rogue Sport. The sport model is no longer being made. Three days after buying it, someone backed into me causing $1500 worth of damage. Their insurance covered it, but it was still a pain in the ass. Adios 2023! Here's my new grocery getter.

I'm still here!

Not a whole lot of stuff going on. I am waiting for yardsale season to start here (around April) so I can declutter more stuff. I am turning a big number this year (it ends in "0") and I think if I live to be 200, I may have time to get rid of all the stuff I don't need. I do love that I can get some good prices for things on ebay, but I'm starting to realize that I don't want to spend the rest of my life packing up stuff to bring to the Post Office. I guess I'm a slow learner. But if I don't have the hobby of buying and reselling, I'm gonna have to come up with some other hobby. Weird. Today while decluttering, I came across a box set of some sort of VHS tapes and a set of cassette tapes on the Civil War. Whoops, I guess I missed the best time to be selling those. Anyhow, I just wanted to check in, to make sure I still remembered how to log onto blogger.

How to make more green at your next yardsale

Liz Weston from Nerdwallet interviewed me a little while ago for this article she did about yardsales. It's been published in a gajillionn places since it's an Associated Press article. Just wish the yardsalequeen.com mention was a clickable link. Anyhow, here is the article How to make more green at your next yardsale

And I did another interview for Woman's World magazine (a woman's magazine seen at supermarket checkouts), which should be out sometime this month. I am definitely "rusty" when it comes to doing interviews since it's been a few years since I did one.

Been trying to declutter the castle. I found a stack of some Tolkien themed role playing booklets in the garage, which I obviously bought sometime in the past 20 years but have absolutely no recollection of it, and that was a nice $400+ ebay sale. My house is a like an archeological dig and Christmas morning rolled up into one.

This is a season for yardsales and I'm here for it.

just incase anyone was wondering....here is my official statement

Yardsalequeen 2021 Year in Review

Overall, 2021 was a pretty good year. Much better than 2020, that's for sure. Except one thing happened in 2021 that I hope to never repeat again. I hit a bear. Yes, a live wild bear that was in rural northern Wisconsin. We had gone there for a birthday party. Because the area is so rural, there are no rental car places, so we borrowed a car from a family member while there. It was a quick trip, we only spent 3 nights in Wisconsin and one night in Minneapolis. As I was driving from one small town to another, out of the corner of my eye, I see a bear come out of nowhere and it was running straight for the road. I hit the brakes but I still heard a thump thump and Jacob saw it run back into the woods. So I maybe just bruised it. The vision of seeing a bear running for the road will forever be ingrained in my brain. There was absolutely no damage to the car. My husband and son were in the car as my witness. My husband rode his motorcycle from Maryland to Wisconsin (Jacob and I flew), so he was tired of driving and wasn't driving that day.

Then while in Minneapolis, I got to cross going to Prince's house off my bucket list. I have loved Prince since my 20's.

Another good thing that happened in 2021, was that I was lucky to win super pricy tickets to Nationals games (yes, I think we went 3 times in 2021). Got to see their World Series trophy and drink a lot of free wine in the fancy seats.

My best thrift store find of the year took place in November. I went to a small thrift that I don't visit too often and I saw a cardboard box full of silverwear for $5. I saw that the silverwear was mostly sterling silver, so I quickly paid the $5. I am not an expert in silverwear but I knew since it was very well used and engraved with an initial, that whoever got it would just melt it down for scrap silver. I took it to two different pawn shops, one offered me $400 and the other offered me $600. I didn't want to sell it on ebay (because of the % that they take etc.) So I happily took the $600 cash.

I am planning on making a Yardsalequeen.com Facebook Group in 2022 - and have it just like my old message board used to be. Hoping that yours (and mine too) 2022 is happy, healthy and full of good yardsale bargains.

Happy New Year 2021

Is is too late to wish you a Happy 2021? I hope not. So far, so good as far as 2021 for me. We are all fully vaxxed here at the castle. Despite that, my husband caught covid from an unvaccinated golfer friend. But symptons were mild and he was fine. Been busy back at selling at my local flea market. It never opened in 2020, but did this year. Happy saling, chris

Adios 2020!

2020 is almost over - Thank God!   Even how overall crappy this year was, I managed to get some deals that made me happy.  Here is some of my favorite buys (and an awesome freebie) I scored in 2020. Three out of the four came from people posting stuff for sale on Facebook.

My usual flea market that I sell at nearly every weekend, never opened in 2020.  So I had to explore other selling options.  There were a few random fundraising yardsales I sold at (Humane Society yardsale etc) and I was able to sell about twice a month at a firehouse fundraising yardsale.  It definitely was a smaller venue but in some ways it was better than the larger flea market.  Since there was a smaller number of sellers allowed, the customers spent more time at your table/space rather than being in a hurry to run off to see what the other sellers had.  At the large flea market, there is a lot of territory to cover, so customers sometimes seem like they are in a rush to see what else they are missing.  

$25 - a super heavy duty rolling cart.  The person who sold it to me said it came from a grocery store.  I use it in my kitchen pantry to store stuff.

FREE - I got this awesome Kitchenaid Blender with attachments totally free.  The person was moving and just wanted to give it away.  It was the second time the person had listed it- the first time someone already claimed it but never showed up to get it.  So the person posted it again, and I said "I'll be right over"

.50 yardsale find.  A Lefton Miss Priss cat creamer.  My Aunt Kate had the cookie jar and it really made an impression on me as a kid.  I just loved it.  I don't know what happened to it when she died.

$50 gently used gas grill with tank.  Our current gas grill was starting to have problems so when I saw this one - which also included a half full tank (not in picture) I knew it was a good deal. 

And finally, here is a picture of me enjoying Thanksgiving at my sister's house.  Yes, the year that all the "experts" were saying not to travel for Thanksgiving - I flew to upstate New York.  I have not been to NY for Thanksgiving since 1988 I think.  Really.  I had booked a $39 flight on Southwest months prior so I figured I would do my part to help the economy.  I am proudly displaying my negative covid test results in the photo. 

Happy Third Quarter of awful 2020

Well we are getting there - every day another day closer to end of 2020. I hope I am not jinxing 2021, but I hope we don't look back at 2020 and think "you know, it really wasn't that bad compared to now".

Yardsales - of course - got off to a rough start in 2020, but they have been slowly getting better. My regular flea market that I normally sell at is still closed, but in the meantime I found a local firehouse that has a yardsale twice a month and in some ways it is much better than my regular flea market.

I spent some time at my mom's in upstate NY recently. Upstate NY garage sales are the best (except when they aren't). I saw this yardsale (pictured above) and got excited over the thought of a combination yardsale WITH wheel barrow rides! How fun! I get there and very disappointed to find out that Wheelbarrow Ride was the name of the street. I am not making that up - there is a street named Wheelbarrow Ride in Malta NY.

Talk to you soon. Happy saling.

Happy Second Quarter of 2020????

It was just a few months ago that I wished everyone a happy first quarter of 2020. And I was complaining about nothing much being new. Luckily everyone at the yardsalequeen castle is staying physically healthy. Mentally?? I may be losing some marbles and desperately need some yardsale fleamarket time for some mental health therapy but that is not happening anytime soon. The flea market place that is my home away from home on Saturdays is taking a year off because of Covid19. I have been selling stuff on ebay, staying busy, eating and then doing more eating. I am planning on visiting my mother in July/August for almost 2 weeks. She really should be living in a nursing home, but doesn't want that.

Let's all hope and pray for a better 2021!!!! I'll check back with you during third quarter of 2020. Let's hope that things get better all over the world.

talk to you soon,

chris

Happy First Quarter of 2020

Well I could have sworn I had posted at least once so far in 2020. I guess not - I'm thinking of 2019. Let's see what's new....not much! My son is now an almost 20 year old grown ass man, he has a car and works at a very nice waterfront retirement community. It's a perfect job for him and he loves it.

I am getting ready to start selling at the local fairgrounds flea market starting in April (It's closed for winter). I bought a She Shed in 2018 and I have it full of stuff that I need to sell.

Oh....and in case you forgot...THE NATIONALS WON THE WORLD SERIES IN 2019!!!! The yardsalequeen household was beyond thrilled. Looking forward to seeing the trophy in person when we go to some games this year.

Spent a lot of this past December and January in upstate NY helping my mom out. She is elderly and her elderly roommate who lives with her, who does all the cooking etc was going away on vacation for 6 weeks. So I got to picked to live back in my childhood home for those 6 weeks. Now, if it was summer that would be awesome since there are great garage sales in the area, but this was wintertime. I still managed to stay busy and find some deals. I am thankful our local library has wifi hotspots to loan out, so I was still able to get online without problems.

My beloved HQ Trivia bit the dust recently. Their final episode was a drunken, profanity laden show, that was interesting to watch and aired after midnight. And of course I lost the game.

I'll be back soon! I promise.

Bad Timing for a Funeral

This is just a note to any family member or friend reading this way off in the way, way, way distant future.  I do not want my funeral on a Saturday.  It will cut into people's yardsale time. Also a warning to my family and friends - if you have to schedule your funeral for a Saturday - the least you can do is have it late in the day.

Here is an actual text I received from a friend this past Saturday. She stopped at a funeral on the way to her Mother-in-Law's funeral.  The MIL enjoyed yardsales herself, so I'm sure she was ok with Marilyn being a little late to it.

Happy New Year 2019

Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Years?  Maybe.  Oh well I just did anyway.

Same old same old going on here at the castle.  I did an interview the other week, I think for Woman's World magazine - it should be out sometime in June.

Been visiting my mom in upstate NY more frequently.  Trying to help clear out some stuff for her and take to her appointments etc.  She lives real close to an Ocean State Job Lots and Harbor Freight store, so when I visit, I make time to get some good deals at those stores.

I volunteer at a local music venue during the summer, so this summer I'll be seeing Kane Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, and Brett Eldredge.  Then will be seeing both Kane and Brett a second time, when I go to Nashville for the CMA Fest in June. I have family in Nashville - I used to spend my summers as a teen there.  It's a great time with my Nashville cousins and also my sister who flies down from NY.

Talk to you again in 2020!  Just kidding.  I think.

Yardsalequeen 2018 Recap Chick-fil-A campout, yardsale stuff and etc

Hey there, remember me?  The person who used to make awesome blog posts and keep you entertained?  Sorry for my absence.  Been a busy year.  Let's see if I can remember what happened this year.

My little baby boy, the one I used to post cute pictures of grew up and graduated high school this year.  He got his driver's license in June 2017 (first attempt, which was way better than me!)  In his senior year, he took sign language and even though he really hated it at first, he ended up being on stage at the graduation ceremony signing the National Anthem with his classmates.   So glad that I never have to sit thru an IEP meeting ever again! And so proud of him for getting his diploma since it's been a long road since he started school at age 2.5 (after starting speech therapy at 1.5 years old).   He's now working at a very nice super fancy residential community for elderly residents and he loves it.

We took a trip to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Niagara Falls and Toronto to see the Nats lose against the BlueJays (boo!!) for his graduation gift.

Been busy selling junk and stuff at the weekly fleamarket during nice weather.  Glad that they've been keeping space rental at a very reasonable $10 a spot.

A new Chick-fil-A opened nearby and I participated in the First 100 Campout, earning me 52 free meals to eat in 2019.  This just happened in November and it was so cold and windy! In the 20's.  But was proud of myself for doing it all alone, since Mr. YSQ and my offspring are not as hearty as moi and didn't want to do it.  So that earned me 52 free meals at $6.59 a meal.  Well worth it!  Despite the cold, it was so much fun being with the other campers and participating in the game.  Would definitely do it again if I had the chance.

Trying to think what else has happened......been busy playing HQ Trivia on my phone.  (You need to download the HQ Trivia app.  If you do, please use my referral name yardsalequeen and I'll get a bonus life.  I won just the other night a whopping .51  But it's the accomplishment of actually winning that is important and the money is just a bonus.

I saw some concerts this year....Chris Janson, Jake Owen, George Thorogood and Brad Paisley.   I think that was my third time seeing Brad (other two times were in Nashville).


As far as 2019, I know I have a girls trip to Nashville planned.  I have family in Nashville so been trying to go every two years.  And I plan on selling more stuff at the flea market.  Oh I almost forgot, I bought myself a She Shed this year for my stuff and I love it.

And I'm sure we will be making more visits to Nats stadium in 2019.  We went a few times in 2018, and the best being when I won $200 a seat tickets courtesy of a local heating/plumbing company.  Gotta love free food and adult beverages!   And then in August, we met Cal Ripkin Jr when he was having an appearance at a local restaurant.  We are definitely Nats fans, but it was fun to meet Cal.  And Jacob made a trip to Vikings stadium (really just because Mr. YSQ wanted to go).  

I'll be back here in 2019!  I promise.

Two Canadian Myths have been debunked

I just got back from trip to Cleveland (Rock N Roll Hall of Fame then to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) and Toronto. Then a few days in upstate NY to visit family. I've been to Canada before but never to Toronto. I've heard rumors that Toronto is a super clean city. So clean that if you accidently dropped a piece of paper on the ground, someone would be around to pick up that piece of paper shortly. It was supposedly that clean. Nope - Toronto has the typical litter on the sidewalks of any major city. Secondly, the myth that all Canadians are super nice. Came across lots of rude Canadians at Rogers Centre.

Glad to be back home!

Look for yardsalequeen in Woman's World next month

I did an interview with Women's World magazine (a magazine normally found near the checkout aisles in grocery stores) for an upcoming article to appear sometime in May. Once I find out when it is, I will make an update.

Yardsale season has been super slow this year but actually held one last Saturday. I've held yardsales in various places but this was my first yardsale held in a ballroom of a hotel. It worked out really well. More later.

HQ Trivia referral code: yardsalequeen

I've become semi addicted to playing the HQ Trivia game every day. I haven't even gotten close to winning but so...I could use some referrals for some free "lives". My referral code is yardsalequeen if you download the app and start playing.

Now that I finally have a smart phone, I am able to have apps and stuff. I remember years ago I would get emails from app maker people asking me to try out their yardsale related apps and I had to tell them, thanks but no thanks.

My smartphone is actually a Tracphone from Home Shoppping Network. When people see it they are amazed that it is a Tracphone because they think of the Tracphone flip phone of the past and haven't seen how great they are now (NOT the ones you buy at Walmart...its the ones from HSN that have all the bells and whistles).

I was interviewed for Woman's World magazine and an upcoming yardsaling article will appear in a May issue. When I know for sure I will post.

So anyway...just thought I would drop a note and say hi and that I am still here!!!!


Chris

In this month's Money magazine, there is a yardsalequeen.com mention (having a yardsale is one way to make money in 2018, as if people don't already know that. Although I don't recommend renting out an entire church like the article suggests. Just rent table space at a popular yardsale if you don't live in a good yardsale friendly location.

In other news....my husband is still retired and I am still going nuts. Since I've had a serious lack of posts, I probably didn't mention that soon after my husband retired (and was home full time), my head literally exploded. Well not exactly, but close. I had something called an retina vein occlusion - where some vein in your eye explodes and makes everything fuzzy. Not fun. I think it was caused by stress and definitely blaming Mr. YSQ on me having it.

Our son is due to graduate high school in June. Not sure what the future will bring for him but I don't think full time college is for him. Nor the military. He got his driver's license over the summer which is great accomplishment for him. I will be so glad to be done with IEP's and IEP meetings.

December 2017 Money Magazine

In this month's Money magazine there's an article on making money in 2018. One of the writers contacted me for a tip on yardsaling. It makes it sound like I suggest to rent out an entire church for a yardsale but that is not what I meant of course - it is more like rent out table space at a big church yardsale.

Save money on Gas by using free Shell Rewards Card

With the high price of gas now, the way I save money is by using my Shell Fuel Rewards card It's not a credit card, it's just like a frequent shoppers card like you have at CVS or Walgreens. I save .05 a gallon of gas, plus I always buy my gas on Thursdays when my local Shell has an additional .05 off per gallon.

TV Show looking for people holding upcoming Estate Sales

I got an email from a tv producer asking that I pass it along. So here it goes. Hopefully my blogging slump is over.

testing testing

Is this thing on? Hello hello can you hear me now?

DIY Project turn old bbq grill into gardening center

I was talking with a friend recently and told her how I turned my old bbq propane gas grill into a gardening center and figured I should share it here too. I see old bbq grills for free or dirt cheap at yardsales, so if you don't have an old grill, it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

I just gutted the insides, plugged the holes where the propane lines used to be, and filled with potting soil. Ta-da! My barebones gardening center. You can get fancy and add hooks and stuff and store gardening utensils etc.

In memory of Joey Martin from Joey + Rory Feek

In memory of the talented and beautiful Joey Martin of the Joey + Rory country music duo, here are some photos and videos I took years ago when they were the opening act for Josh Turner.

World's Best Rolling Thrift Store on Wheels!

Ok, granted I have only been to one thrift store on wheels, but I am going to declare it the World's Best Rolling thrift store on wheels (that I have been to).

It's a tractor trailer that is thrift store inside! It comes around my area about once a month and stays for a weekend - then it's off to the next location. They call it a "Mobile Compassion Center" but it's really a thrift store on wheels. But if you wanted to talk religion while there, you could do that too since they have a little chapel too. And if you were needy, I think they would give you whatever you needed at no cost. Most clothes are only $1 each.

Schedule for the rolling thrift store

Join LivingSocial and save money on your first deal

If you are not a member of LivingSocial yet and want to try it out - use this link and get $10 off your first purchase of $20 or more.

Living Social $10 Deal Link

This special offer is for new members only. You actually don't have to buy anything - you can always just check out to see what offers are in your area. I also use Living Social deals to check out offers in other areas - like say I am going on vacation, I will view offers in other cities and see if they have any deals I want to take part of when I am visiting other cities. I'm actually using a Living Social deal this weekend and going to our local winery for wine tastings and a bottle of wine to take home.

a recap of 2015. The year my head exploded.

2015 will be remembered by me as the year my husband quit his job and the year my head exploded. Well not my entire head, just a part of it. Mr. Yardsalequeen is calling it a retirement, I am calling it quitting. Who quits a hefty six figure income job? My husband, that's who. And we have to plan on providing for Jacob for the rest of his life - since he is a special needs child and I don't see him ever making a six figure income.

That that means my husband is home with me EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK. And he doesn't like thrift stores nor does he want me going to thrift stores or yardsales. So did I mention he is here with me, every single day. That means all the time.

In a totally unrelated topic, I have been binge watching the tv show "Snapped". Yep, totally unrelated.

About a month after he quit his job, I noticed one of my eyes wasn't seeing quite the same, so after the fiasco with his quitting and losing our health insurance, I had to wait to see an eye doctor. When I looked out of both eyes, I could see fine, but if I closed one eye, I could tell the difference. The doc told me I had a retina vein occlusion and would need shots in my eye to possibly help. Basically a vein exploded in my eye, causing the cloudiness. I think it is caused by stress. Was it a coincidence that my head exploded a month after Mr. YSQ quits his job? I don't think so. I think they are related. My eyes were fine when he was working. And the shots that get put directly in my eyeball have helped, so my vision seems back to normal. But it is something that will need ongoing maintenance.

What a fun 2015. But at least I had a few good months in there the first half of the year.

The struggle is real.

Yep, I'm still here

And I did see Rachael Ray and got to talk to her for a second. Sorry for the lack of posts in forever.

I got tickets to see Rachael Ray!

Wow, I can't believe this is my first post in 2015. I will blame in on a writer's block or perhaps laziness.

As usual, I will be taking a trip to upstate NY for Jacob's spring break to visit family. Anyhow I saw that when I will be there, there will be a charity fundraising event with Rachael Ray. So I sent my sister on a mission today to buy tickets. She said people had been camping out since midnight. Luckily she got us tickets before they got sold out.

Frequent Shopper Card Tip

I just added another frequent shopper card to my keychain the other day and counted them up. 20. That's normal right, for a person who mainly shops at yardsales and thrift stores? Two are library key cards (one for myself and one is Jacob's). So really, it's only 18. How many frequent shopper cards do you have on your keychain? (Yes, there is 20 on my keychain, you just can't see them all in the photo).

Here's a tip on protecting your shopper cards - put a piece of clear tape over the UPC code - that will prevent the UPC code from wearing away.

Bad Facebook Online Yard Sale Photos part 1

In addition to selling stuff on ebay and at real yardsales, I've joined a few local yard sale Facebook groups where I sell stuff. If you're on Facebook, I bet there is a local Facebook group in your area where people post pics of their used stuff they want to sell.

Anyhow, it just blows me away that a lot of times, people don't take the time to post a good photo of their item for sale. Over the past couple of months I've seen tons of awful photos. And I've saved them to my computer, for your viewing pleasure/disgust.

Tip #1 - I don't want to see your feet. How hard is it to take a photo and not have your feet in the photo? If for some reason you are incapable of not doing that - take 5 seconds and crop your nasty feet out of the photo. Here are real photos of actual items I've seen for sale locally. The woman with her entire legs in the photos - she explained she took a photo of her foot on a stepping stone she was selling - so potential buyers could judge the size. As if we knew how big her foot was.

Future blog posts of "bad photos I've seen on facebook online yardsale groups" will feature "Other body parts I don't want to see in your photo" and "Wow, and I thought my house was messy"

Scratched seeing Oprah off my bucket list, flea market in TN and other news

Just a quick post to let you know I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Will be back to blogging shortly. I got a lot to talk about- like seeing Oprah, hitting a huge flea market in Tennessee, going to the American Pickers store in Nashville, and so far this year I have had a ton of yardsales.

One of my long time internet friends (and friend in real life) started a Facebook page about bargain shopping. Check it out at Skokie Shopper Although she is based near Chicago, she is always out and about shopping wherever she goes - it could be in Hawaii, Florida or NYC etc etc etc!

I'll be back to blogging soon.