Garage Sales for Gas Money
June 26, 2008 – 6:11 am
There have been so many posts around the blogosphere on gas prices that I didn’t feel like beating a dead horse. So much for that plan. 
My wife ran across the our street today to take a quick peak at our neighbor’s garage sale, and while she was there our neighbor mentioned something interesting. He and the wifey were having a garage sale to raise gas money for their family vacation. Apparently they’re driving to Florida this summer, and with gas prices so high they’re having issues funding the trip.
I have mixed feelings on the topic. I’m sad for them, because I’d hate it that so many people are being hit by bad economic times. It’s not just gas prices. Rising costs are all around us, and incomes simply aren’t going up as food and energy costs.
Without sounding condescending, I’m also “proud” of my neighbor for trying to find a way to make ends meet. He and the wife are making hard decisions, and it’s nice to see others trying to balance the budget by offsetting high costs in one category by adjusting their actions. I’m also glad to see my neighbor and his wife are on the same page.
And I’m in the same situation as my neighbor. My wife and I are driving to the midwest to visit my parents this summer. The cost of gas alone will run several hundred dollars, which is a serious chunk of money to us. We’ve been budgeting and saving for the trip for a while though, and we’ll be ready to go financially.
I hope the neighbors get to go on vacation. We all need to a break once in a while, but we’ve all got to find some way to make ends meet as well. For me it’s cutting spending in one area to be able to spend in another. For others it might be adding to the income by some means, be it a short term job or selling some of the stuff you never use.
Image Credit: Ella Marie
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8 Responses to “Garage Sales for Gas Money”
We have friends that had a garage sale to pay debts and earn some gas money. They sold some kids toys, an old tv, and some garage “stuff” items. They were able to make the minimum credit card payments from the garage sale proceeds and might have another one soon to make some other bills. It is really tight for many families now.
By
Scott (Who am I?) on Jun 26, 2008
@Scott
I completely understand. Seems like we’re all getting squeezed from a couple different directions, gas, utilities, minimal raises at work for some of us, etc.
It’s nice to see that some people have faced reality and are working to solve the problem rather than hide from it. Watching expenses and selling stuff you no longer use are great ways to combat inflation.
By
todd (Who am I?) on Jun 27, 2008
Dude. If you cannot afford the gas to get there - stay home. I mean, you can buy a brand new fridge at a garage sale for like what? $0.25? Listen, I’m broke myself but at some point you just gotta book at Puerta Backyarda. (sp?)
By
Canucklehead (Who am I?) on Jun 28, 2008
I think that gas prices have a huge effect on almost everything these days. The higher the cost of fuel, the more it costs to ship anything and everything, from food to a pair of shoes.
It really is too bad our nation is so dependent on foreign oil. I saw on CNN a couple weeks ago that gasoline costs 45 cents per gallon in Saudi Arabia. That just proves that a huge resource our country depends on is controlled by someone else. I think I’ll buy one of those little red scooters…LoL
By
mikey777 (Who am I?) on Jun 29, 2008