Garage sales in a planned community in different sections. People living in different sections differ from each other, and every street is named by a letter. People were allowed to two sales garage, but most people disobeyed the rules and started to increase the number of sales more than the allowed quantity. Having a good chance I've bought last items in a sale garage and the seller accepted any amount of money since its the last item, and the amount I made was huge compared to last years.

1. Garage Sales
Saturday’s “To Do” list starts off with GO TO GARAGE SALES! Planning my route the night
before, testing my gps on my phone and circling the garage sale listings in the paper are a Friday
night ritual.
The community I live in is a “Planned Community”. That means it is pre-planned and strategically
laid out. It is divided into Sections and each section is represented by a letter.
The “P” section consists of streets beginning with the letter P: Perkins, Parking, Parkins, Penny.
You get the idea! In the P section, there are many retirees and young professionals. The W
section is considered the rich and ritzy area of town Then the B section is older and sadly, more
run down. The R section is loaded with young couples with children. The S Section is south of
town and considered in the boondocks just because the lots are larger and it feels more country.
And finally, the C Section is where the canals, intracoastal, boats, boats and more boaters live.
Each section has its own characteristics and community. Even though we are all part of the
larger town, these “sections” develop over town to attract a certain ambience. The area with lots
of children have 2 elementary schools and sidewalks throughout. The “Country” part of town has
no street lights and is off the beaten track from the rest of town. But, the city as a whole has rules
and regulations and laws that we all try to abide.
We are allowed Two garage sales per year. We are required to buy a $5 permit for each of these
sales and our signage is picked up and destroyed by noon on Saturday mornings. It is not a
conducive atmosphere for a Garage Sale Business from your home!
Some people have ignored all the rules, communicated with their neighbors about their needs
and plans and actually make a fairly good living putting on the garage sale event monthly! But
when they get caught disobeying the rules, they feign innocence to the rules and promise to
never do it again! But, a few weeks later when things have calmed down again, there will
suddenly be another garage sale! Most people in the neighborhood could care less and life goes
on!
On the Wednesday before the Friday/Saturday Garage Sale rush, a listing of all sales comes out
in our local shopping guide, The Pennysaver. People list their address, time and date of sale and
a couple of “hook” items that will attract the throngs of super sale seekers. I faithfully pour over
the Pennysaver dividing the sale addresses into town’s sections and plot my Saturday journey!
I leave for the sales until around 11am because most of these sales end by 1 or 2pm. Therefore,
by the time I get to the sale, the people are ready to sell off the last of their stuff for just about any
price you offer them. Since I am NEVER looking for anything in particular… just real deals, I have
been able to purchase (without negotiation) entire rooms of furniture, enormous collections of old
china and enough fabric to sew clothes for a third world nation! And I bought it for around $5!!! I
have a weekly budget of about $20 for garage sales and only once or twice have I ever gone
over that amount!!!
So, for this weekend, I am plotting out about 10 sales within a 10 mile range of my home. I will
leave at 11 am and be back by 3pm and I know….The back seat of the car will be LOADED!!!!
Pictures to Follow!!!
Oh! And Happy Junquin’!!!