One of my most popular posts on here is all about how to make money at a car boot sale so when we decided to have a car boot sale this weekend (following a mass de-clutter) I thought you might like to hear about how we prepared for our car boot sale and how it went.
Three days before Bday (Boot Sale Day)….
Check the weather on my phone and see that the sun is due to be shining. We’re definitely doing it!
Two days before Bday….
Is that a cloud I see on the weather app? We’re not doing it if there’s a chance of rain.
The day before Bday….
10am – No rainclouds showing for tomorrow on the app so we’re back on.
11am – Get the kids in their bedrooms and give them a big box each to fill with toys they no longer want.
11.30 – Explain to one child that no-one will want a broken toy and the other that they really need to get off their phone and help!
12pm – That raincloud is back in the app!
1pm – It’s gone again so start going through my handbags to see which ones I can bear to part with. Manage to find one so add it to the pile.
1.30 – Persuade children that they don’t need to keep everything but end up sending them out to play so I can be ruthless without them taking everything out of the car boot sale box that I’m putting in.
2pm – Take out the handbag that I thought I could be parted from – turns out I couldn’t.
3pm – Decide to de-clutter the kitchen cupboards and end up wishing that I hadn’t as every surface in the kitchen is covered by the time Mr Frugal gets home.
5pm – Can’t find phone under the piles of junk everywhere so I’ll just have to have faith that the clouds are going to stay away.
6pm – Done for the day! So tired that I order takeaway which is perfectly OK as it’s an advance on the money I’m going to make tomorrow, right?
6.30pm – I can’t relax with piles everywhere so it’s now all in neat(ish) piles in the kitchen.
11.47pm – Wake up and realise that I have things stashed on top of the wardrobe that I could sell. Fingers crossed I remember in the morning!
The Big Day
9am – The sun is shining so I’m up, dressed and ready to start packing the car. I’m going to leave the kids in bed for as long as possible though.
9.15 – Find my phone!
9.45 – Everything is packed into the car neatly ready to go.
10am Realise that I also have two children to squeeze into the car so unpack everything and pack it again – this time leaving room for them to get in too!
10.30 – Set off early to beat the rush and end up in the mother of all queues so clearly we aren’t the only ones who thought they would get there early!
11.15 – Get a prime spot right in front of the mens toilets! Lovely.
11.30 – Start unpacking the car but give up after the car boot regulars start rummaging through the bags as I get them out. Go buy a cup of tea to wait for them to pass as they seem to be targeting people as they start unpacking. I’ve always found in the past that these people try and get a super low price which is OK but frustrating when you see what you’ve sold them on sale on their own stall for more than double the price.
12.00 – Start unpacking again – this time in peace and realise that I’ve left my phone at home. Or at least I think it’s at home, we’ll see if it turns up in our piles of junk at some point.
12.30 – Finished unpacking so now I’m making sure that the expensive things are at the back of the stall where I can see them.
1pm – Gates open – let the moneymaking commence
3pm – The last two hours of gone by in a bit of a blur but our money jar seems to be full.
3.15pm – Send the kids out to look around with a few pounds each to reward them for their hard work.
3.30pm – The kids are back with more things than we’ve sold and they still have money left.
3.35pm – Start selling for ridiculous prices as I really don’t want to take anything home.
3.37pm – Giveaway time – all the toys need to go! Some lucky man takes most of what we have left for his grandkids.
3.50 – Start packing up – everything is going in bags ready to drop off at the charity shop tomorrow.
4pm – Drive home
4.15 – Count up our money – we made £77.23!
This photo is actually from the last car boot sale we did – my lack of phone today meant I couldn’t take photos!
Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address to the box on the top right of this page and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram.
