Yard sales can be great fun for the entire family. You can get rid of the unwanted clutter in your house and bond over the experience of sharing an age-old institution.

A successful yard sale leaves you with money in your pockets and nearly empty tables.

Here are some great yard sale tips:

1. Frequency: At the most, you should have a yard sale once a quarter. You do not want to be known as the family who has a yard sale every single weekend, come rain or shine. That adds strain on your relationship with the neighbors. That schedule does not give you ample time to replenish your inventory. If you wish to have a yard sale every week, think about setting up a booth at a flea market.
   
   
2. Planning: Start planning for your yard sale a month in advance. This will give you ample opportunity to collect the items within your house as well as coordinate with the rest of your neighborhood. Create a yard sale box and place items into it each time that you clean up the house. Let everyone within the family help you out with filling the box.
   
   
3. Coordination: If possible, coordinate your yard sale with other families in the neighborhood. Have a cul-de-sac sale or a series of garage sales. The more families that are involved, the better. This increases the items that are available, making it more appealing for passers-by. If the neighbors do not want to participate, giving them the advanced notice will help them know when parking might be strained.
   
   
4. Location: Look at the location where you want to hold your yard sale. If your street cannot handle having five or six cars lined up in front of your house, you might want to consider having your yard sale at the local church or community center. You can rent out space for a small fee as well as having the chance for multiple vendors. Since you are starting a month in advance, you can turn your sale into an event.
   
   
5. Advertising: Once you have determined the day and location of your sale, you can work on the advertisement. Craigslist is an excellent way to promote your sale, as is the local newspaper. If this is a multi-family event, assign someone to make some signs. You want the signage to be consistent and simple. Make sure that all of you are aware of the rules for sign hanging in your area.
   
   
6. Weather: The week before your yard sale, make sure that the weather is going to be cooperative. Only hard core bargain hunters will want to buy things in the rain. Make sure that you have rain location or consider holding the yard sale the next week. A lot of your traffic will be from the road signs.
   
   
7. Staging: A couple days before the sale, you want to start staging the items that you will be including. This includes pricing as well as making sure that there are no second thoughts about what you want to sell. You do not want to find out that the dusty jacket in the cellar was a piece of prized memorabilia from your husband’s college days at the last minute. Get everyone involved in the process.
   
   
8. Pricing: Put clear pricing labels on your items. There is nothing so frustrating as to find something that you enjoy and not knowing how much it costs. For multiple little items, place them into a box where you can sell them all for the same price. If you are selling large items like furniture, you want to have signs large enough that people can see them and not be forced to look for the sticker.
   
   
9. Money: Have $100 in change on hand so that you can make change for your visitors. Make sure that you have a roll of each coin as well as enough $1′s and $5′s. There is nothing so frustrating as to have to run to the store in the middle of a yard sale to make change for your customer.

Your yard sale success depends on proper planning.

If you throw something together the day before, you won’t attract many visitors. You will have a spectacular yard sale if you involve the whole family.

About the author:
James Adams blogs about technological developments and reviews newly released products similar to the HP Q6000A at one of the leading suppliers of toner cartridges based in the UK. Follow James on Twitter.

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More recipes

I’m always discovering some great sites for recipes. Here are a few new ones:

For soup lovers: Seriously Soupy

For cheap dinners: Five Dollar Dinners

For chocolate lovers, like me!: Chocolate Butterscotch popcorn - can you say YUMMY?!?

To even out that sweet calorie filled popcorn, find out how to make healthy popcorn at Crunch Time Food .

I don’t know why I never thought of the cost savings of this option. I just bought a microwave popcorn bowl and we are going to try it out tonight during the “Camp Rock 2″ premier. I know…exciting. Ha Ha

Interesting craft ideas

Learn how to make a pretty wreath using, can you believe, used coffee filters! Find out how at The Vintage Bench.

Bento box lunch alternative

Bento box lunches are all the rage. The real boxes are expensive. This lady found a much cheaper alternative at Pacifier in my Pocket.

Now to fill them with something more interesting than peanut butter and jelly. Check out Wendolonia – Thanks Amanda from First Day of my New Life for this link.

Now let’s get this Friday started with some dancing

I am a child of the disco era…so I could not resist dancing to some of my old favorites in my friend’s collection of disco videos. Groovy! Check it out at My Top 10 Disco Favorites Plus One and just try not to dance. Thanks, Mitch, for a fun ride back in time.

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Cleaning out the refrigerator

Are you avoiding this project?

Are you growing a specimen worthy of an award-winning science project in the back?

Rest assured it will take less than an hour to have a sparkling clean refrigerator again. Since my little one spilled a liquid-filled bowl of fruit all over mine, it was the perfect time to clean it.

Step 1: Preparation

Line a trashcan with a new bag. Use a heavy duty lawn leaf bag if you are going to be tossing a lot of yucky stuff since it is less likely to leak. Keep the trashcan nearby to dump out things that aren’t going back in the refrigerator.

Remember some containers are recyclable, so rinse and recycle them.

Step 2: Empty out the refrigerator

Work your way down two shelves at a time so the food will stay cold. As you move items to the counter, check expiration dates and toss the old items.

Step 3: Wash the shelves

Fill the kitchen sink full of water with some dish-washing detergent. Wash off the shelves and dry them with a towel before returning them to the refrigerator.

Step 4: Wipe the inside walls

Before returning the shelves to their spots, wipe off the walls of the refrigerator to remove any splatters of food.

Step 5: Line the vegetable and meat drawers

The drawers stay cleaner if you line them with two layers of paper towels. Now if that cucumber you forgot about starts to ooze, you can just replace the paper towels so your vegetable/fruit bin is clean again.

Step 6: Organize your shelves

Put like items together. I have one shelve for yogurt and fruit that I call the “snack” shelve and one for dinner ingredients. Beverages are on the bottom. Find what works best for you and organize your refrigerator so things don’t get lost in the back.

Don’t put it off

It took me only 30 minutes to clean the refrigerated side.

I’m going to go admire the results again. I can see through the drawers!

What? Yes those are refrigerated cookies in the drawer. Shhh..you didn’t see that. They could ruin my bake sale reputation.

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Stock up on school supplies while they are cheap

Purchase extra crayons, pens, glue sticks, pencils, paper, and other supplies that need to be restocked/replaced throughout the year.

Organize the supplies

Assign an area (drawer, container, or cabinet) to store the extra supplies. Make it easy for the kids to get what they need.

I prefer to use a spare drawer (pictured) so everything is easily visible. Drawer dividers are great for keeping like items together.

In my house, three-ring binders seem to fall apart halfway through the year, and there is a significant price difference after the back-to-school sales are over. Since I use them for my business, too, I like to keep a good stock of them.

The cost of a pack of crayons can jump from $.50 to over $2 when they return to normal price.

By planning ahead, you can stretch your school supply dollar.

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The many uses of lavender

Patricia knows about lavender and has a whole site dedicated to it. Check out her lavender craft ideas.

Hang it on a wall

I love the ideas in the article Getting My Wall Organized with Command Adhesive Products by 3M. I need that for my office.

Stop and think

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is good to sit back and think about life in general. I love this article 75 Life-changing Truths Written While Lying on the Grass.

Humor relief

After the chaotic week of back to school fun, I could use a good chuckle or two. These lovely ladies really make me laugh:

• All Questions are not created equal by Surely, You Jess!
• What I learned last week is that if I go topless, animals die. Or something like that. by Guilty Squid
• I expected rocky mountains to be a little rockier than this by Raising Colorado
• Car Booster Seats by The Meanest Mom

Happy weekend!

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Organize for ease

How can you keep up with each child’s school information so that it is neat, organized, and easy to find?

Folders

Use folders with pockets (you don’t need the 3-prong type) to hold handbooks, school maps, newsletters, PTA memos, order forms, etc. Pick a different color folder per child.

Teacher and class information

On the front of each folder, write the teacher’s information (name, email, and room number). For the kids in middle school and high school, tape a copy of the class schedule on the front of the folder.

Contact numbers for the school

At the top of the folder, write the school’s phone number for calling in absences. Since my child’s high school requires about 5 pieces of information in the message, I have that written on there, too, to remind me what information to leave in the message.

Saves time

Having all the important information easily accessible on the front of the folder saves time when you need to contact the school or a teacher. There will be no more digging through a pile of paper for the teacher’s email address or that uniform shirt order form.

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Back to school

I went on a hunt for lunch box ideas. Since my daughter ate the same peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch every single day last year, I decided I might venture into more variety. The truth is someone in her class has a peanut allergy which means I can no longer make the lunch in my sleep. I have to actually think.

I’m full of great ideas on what to pack in the lunch boxes this year thanks to the following articles:

10 Fresh Lunchbox Ideas at Parenting.com

Back-to-school Lunches and Snacks at FamilyFun.go.com

Lunch boxes

I was shocked to find out many lunch boxes fail to keep the food colder than 2 hours. Good House Keeping did a review on which lunchboxes made the cut in keeping food safe. Find out if your child’s lunchbox made the list at “Best Kids Lunch Box”.

In the midst of hurricane season…

What is more appropriate to celebrate the stormy season than baking a Tropical Storm Cake. I just loved the name and want to try it.

Afraid of public speaking?

I don’t have much of a problem speaking in front of a crowd and have done it many times. I did find this to be an interesting method of getting over fears (doesn’t have to be talking in public) using an anchor.

How to set anchors by Tim Brownson

I end this post with some amazingly talented girls

Thanks to my mother for passing this link along to me. She suggested this could be my new workout routine. Maybe…if I want to end up in the hospital. It does make you want to run out and buy a jump rope. I would probably smack myself in the face trying to recreate anything in the video but that wouldn’t stop me from trying.

What I thought were amazing moments (if you don’t have 7 minutes):

minute 1.47 – Crazy net of jump ropes
minute 3.58 – 8 jump in the same rope
minute 4:23 – I can’t even tell who is in what rope
minute 6.15 – Back flips while jump roping…keep it running for the finale
minute 6.52 – The finale…I still don’t know how that girl did that!

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The next time you paint a room, do the following to make sure you remember what paint was used.

1. Mark the paint can

   I’m an obsessive do-it-yourself painter when it comes to the inside of the house. All the paint cans are stored together on a shelve in the garage. The top of the can is marked with the room it was used in and the date in permanent marker. This makes it easy to quickly identify the can and do a quick touch-up when necessary.

2. Keep the paint chip

   Over time, the color formula on the top of the paint will fade until it’s unreadable. It’s a good idea to keep the paint chip for the color. Make a folder in your filing cabinet for paint or household information, or I like to keep all my house information organized in a “House” notebook.

   Write the name of the room you used the color in and the formula for the color. Add the type of paint you used (semi-gloss, matte, etc.), too. If your paint is old and you need to have a new can mixed up, you know you have the exact match.

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Plants need a good dusting

When you’re cleaning, don’t forget about your plants.

Dust on the leaves can reduce the plant’s ability to photosynthesize at an optimum rate.

How do you dust a plant?

You can mist smaller plants with a spray bottle. Take larger plants outdoors on a nice day and gently spray them. Allow the leaves to dry off in the sun before bringing them back inside.

Don’t forget plastic plants need love, too

My tomato plant

Dusting fake plants

Needless to say, my house is full of fake plants. I have plant shelves in almost every room in the house and greenery on each one.

Collect the fake greenery and place them in the bathtub/shower. Spray them off with the shower head and let them drip dry in the tub.

Don’t forget about the fake trees

The same goes for my fake trees which I lean into the tub and spray them off to keep the base dry.

They are dark green again!

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Bake some delicious cookies and present them in a beautiful gift package created from a Pringles can.

This is a great idea for a back-to-school gift for your child’s new teacher. Add a tag saying “Have a great year!” to the front.

Find the recipe and package creation instructions at The Paper Pony. Print this easy gift idea and keep it in your Custom Cookbook in a tab called “gift ideas”.

Endless cooking advice and recipes

Ever realized you are missing an ingredient and wish you know what you could use as a substitution?

Check out Chef Tom’s recipe forum at Recipesnoop.com. It is full of recipes, tips, definitions, and advice. I don’t think there is a cooking question that doesn’t have an answer in this extensive collection of cooking information.

You can get his free cookbooks, too. I have been trying out his recipes 2-3 nights a week for awhile, and they are easy and delicious.

Quarterly room clean out

I periodically go through the kids’ rooms and clear out the junk, but I like the idea of scheduling it on a quarterly basis. Find out more at PenelopeLovesLists.com.

Cheap decorating idea for a small kid’s room

Check out how cute little dresses hanging on a clothesline looks in a little girl’s room at Momspark.net. You could use sports-type shirts and baseball hats to create a boy version.

Shameless self promotion

Check out my new blog at Finding The Humor. My favorite post is “What I could have done with $900″.

Did you discover any cool finds this week?

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