We had a garage sale today. We had to start somewhere, to weed out all the stuff each of us has accumulated over the years. And yes, we can still have garage sales in November in the Bay Area.

We were going to load up all our stuff and take it to Goodwill – that's what we usually do – but instead we decided to buck up and do the garage sale. And my approach to the garage sale is to get rid of as much as possible, not necessarily to get the best price. I have, after all, already made my decision about its value at that point.

On the 25 cent table, for example, I had everything from the green and pink plastic margarita glasses (they didn't sell) to the stove top smoker (it went to a very happy woman who watches Emeril Lagasse). Value, you see, is dependent on how much I want to get rid of something.

I pulled out the kids' Beanie Babies and put them in a bucket with a $1 each price tag. No takers. But in the back of my mind I was thinking they might like to have those when they're older, looking back on the trends of their childhood.

One of the things most people hate about having garage sales is that first thing in the morning you'll be visited by "the dealers." These are the folks who fill up a bag, bring it to you and say "one dollar?" Well, I usually counter with "two" and figure if they are going to take it to the flea market and sell it for a profit, then more power to them – that's capitalism, right? I just take a quick peek to make sure that Grandma's crystal vase isn't tucked under my old trade show T shirts in that bag.

So the net result is we got rid of at least half of what we put out to sell, and we raised enough money to buy the turkeys we committed for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at Sunnyvale Presbyterian, cash for the Giving Tree at Barn Concerts annual holiday concert that we're playing at next weekend and various other holiday donations to try to make the holidays a bit better for a few people.

And there are a few dealers who will be at the Flea Market next week with some stero speakers, video games and a hand vacuum cleaner – and hopefully they'll make a good profit on those, and they'll have a better holiday season as well.

So in the end, the whole cycle of cash works out pretty well.