Marmot, my Mom and I approached the estate sale with all the strategy of a military takeover. We were armed with lists of the things we wanted, scissors for cutting tags off if needed, reusable bags to carry the small stuff, comfortable (ugly) shoes, and a whole lot of polarfleece to withstand the Midwestern sub-zero temps while waiting in line. Marmot and I spent $250 at the estate sale, and since we had set a cap of $300, we were pretty happy with that!

Here is the haul:

*TV’s! A 30″ TV that will be awesome in the sunroom, $40. And a small TV that fits into a nook in the kitchen, $25. Cooking shows anyone?

*A desk! My Ikea desk isn’t going to make it through the move (it comes apart, but doesn’t go back together) so I bought a little white desk with drawers and a CPU ledge, $25.

*Marmot’s haul included a new weedwhacker ($60, regularly $200+), a barely used SwissGear sleeping bag for $6, a gallon of Round-Up for $2, a space heater for $6, and a DeLonghi dual zone deep fryer for $30.

*Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning products! Two liquid hand soaps, two countertop sprays, and one shower spray- in my favorite scents, lemon verbena and geranium! $4

*Candles! Two large Yankee jar candles in frosted pumpkin and peppermint cocoa, and one Woodwick candle in cotton flower. $5

*And the best of the best….thrown into a plastic bag with bandaids and qtips, about $85 worth of Lush bath products. The price tag on the bag? $2, yes, $2 as in two George’s. I used the Sakura bath bomb last night, but the best part of the amazing bath was the good price I paid for it!

****Additional haul: we went back today (Sunday) which is half-price day, and got five more candles, a book, a candle warmer, some hella expensive skincare products, and a gas grill for $25. Score!

But the biggest thing I took away from the sale? The fact that stuff really doesn’t mean much. This woman died suddenly in her mid-thirties, and left a house jam-packed of just stuff. As I survey our current house and everything we need to pack for the move, it makes me want to clean out even more. I feel like the new house is a clean slate, and I don’t want to move a single extra thing with us! More stuff doesn’t necessarily make your life better, and it can detract from the relationships that really do make your life better. Definitely food for thought as I declutter and donate getting ready for the move!