Debt Hacker: Tools for a Debt-Free Life » Recommended Reading http://www.debthacker.com News, information and talk about money and debt management, credit and personal finance Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:00:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 en http://www.debthacker.com http://www.debthacker.com/wp-content/mbp-favicon/debthacker.ico Debt Hacker: Tools for a Debt-Free Life Get an MBA in Garage Sales http://www.debthacker.com/get-an-mba-in-garage-sales/ http://www.debthacker.com/get-an-mba-in-garage-sales/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:54:12 +0000 Mark http://www.debthacker.com/get-an-mba-in-garage-sales/ There is a great article on Buzz.com titled The $3000 Garage Sale: A Quick Overview for Aspiring Garagepreneurs that details just that: how to make $3,000 for selling your junk. For those of us who are trying to get out of debt, certainly the garage sale has come up at one point or another but usually as a means to get some gas money while at the same time purging your home of clutter. Well, according to author Vincent Pagliani, the $50 Garage Sale is for wimps. The REAL movers and shakers can make money into the thousands with the right attitude and the tips that he outlines.

Pagliani does a fine job analyzing the logistics and organizing the steps to a successful sale which are usually haphazardly executed at best. His advice transforms the once mundane garage sale into an enterprise and elevates the lowly homeowner standing on their lawn with a bunch of old dishes on a folding card table to the status of a ‘Garagepreneur‘. Such a lofty title would make even Fred Sanford proud.

So what’s the secret? Pagliani outlines what apparently derives from a larger text titled Secrets of a Successful Garagepreneur: A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Serious Money on Garage Sales. The steps are

  1. Do good reconnaissance
  2. Design a floor plan
  3. Learn how to choose the right stuff
  4. Find good suppliers
  5. The Zen of garage sale pricing
  6. The five Ps of marketing

He goes on to say that

The first thing to understand is that a profitable garage sale — like any other profitable business — is not just dumb luck. Successful Garagepreneurs know how to offer the right products at the right price at the right time…and cleverly promote each garage sale event.

There’s more to a successful garage sale than planting a Garage Sale! sign in your front yard and piling up a bunch of junk on a couple of card tables. Garagepreneurship is estimated to be a $2 billion per year industry — that’s right, industry. Some enterprising Garagepreneur will make serious money this year.

Will that Garagepreneur be you?

Read the entire post on Buzzle.com.

]]> http://www.debthacker.com/get-an-mba-in-garage-sales/feed/ Timeless Money Saving Tips in a Free Book http://www.debthacker.com/timeless-money-saving-tips-in-a-free-book/ http://www.debthacker.com/timeless-money-saving-tips-in-a-free-book/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:17:53 +0000 Mark http://www.debthacker.com/?p=6 The Consumer Literacy Consortium has a nifty little brochure titled 66 Ways to Save Money that, while not revolutionary, is certainly a good reminder of some of the simple ways working folks can save a buck here and there.

Among the subjects covered, 66 Ways… has thrifty tips to help you save on

  • Airline Fares
  • Auto Purchases, Rental and Repairs
  • Gasoline
  • Insurance
  • Banking
  • Credit Cards
  • Loans
  • Home Purchase and Improvement
  • Utilities
  • Food
  • Funeral Expenses
  • Medical Expenses
  • and more

So, if you are clueless about how to cut your expenses to help you get out of debt, it’s a great starting point. If you are a skilled money manager, at only 12 pages long, it’s a quick, painless refresher course. Either way, it’s free.

Download the brochure for free or order a printed copy for $.50 from the Federal Citizen Information Center.

]]> http://www.debthacker.com/timeless-money-saving-tips-in-a-free-book/feed/