For cash, families turn to garage sales

Long-neglected trinkets, garments and household items are converted into much-needed cash.

McClatchy-Tribune

Steve Treat has never been big on yard sales. Until now he’s held one, maybe two in his life. But this month alone he’s had three at his northeast Fresno, Calif., home.

He had to do something to pay his bills.

Treat, a window installer, has seen a slowdown in work, and he suffered a heart attack. As a result, he put out tools, a dryer, a girl’s bicycle, extension cords — whatever odds and ends he thought might raise a buck to help him and his wife and four children get by.

“I’ve caught up on PG&E and utilities and paid some credit card bills,” Treat said.

As the economy continues to slump, more people appear to be turning to garage and yard sales to make money for basics like gas and food. No one keeps track of the number of sales that crop up week to week, but across the country, news accounts paint the same picture of people trying to squeeze some value from long-neglected trinkets, garments and other house items.

In Frederick, Md., for example, one woman put up a sign at her yard sale that read: “We Need Ga$.”

Benefit for SUV

On San Ramon Avenue in northeast Fresno, Beatrice Becerril held her first-ever garage sale, hoping to snag some extra cash for things like the $100 she needs each week to run her enormous SUV.

Becerril’s driveway was filled with piles of family clothes accumulated over 14 years. Even more hung from hangers racked along the raised garage door. The family is moving but has not yet found another home. The cash will come in handy.

“It will help us money-wise to get into another house,” Becerril said as people plucked through her family’s shoes and exercise equipment. But the money also is for everyday needs.

She’s torn up all her credit cards. And the family doesn’t go to movies any more. Instead, it’s a trip to Blockbuster to rent DVDs.

“Everything is going up, except for raises and jobs,” said Becerril, a one-time claims examiner and now homemaker.