A quick and easy way to save for an upcoming holiday
- Team at LSH
- Mar 9
- 3 min read
Travel and vacations are great! Though trips can be pricey, and many people get into debt. In 2024, a Bankrate survey of 2,360 adults found that "36% of Americans plan to take on debt for summer travel" (Kelton, 2024). A worrying credit card statistic also emerged from the survey, that "26 percent plan to use a card and carry the balance over multiple billing cycles" (Kelton, 2024). Instead of bringing back credit card debt (including more stress and spending more for the holiday!), save most or all of it beforehand— that way you're paying with allocated money. You'll be less stressed when you get back too, and won't have to worry about making multiple payments. As Ted Rossman highlighted, "There are plenty of ways to have fun this summer without busting your budget. For example, there’s still time to accumulate a summer vacation fund by setting money aside from every paycheck" (Kelton, 2024).
Know that you'll travel or go on a holiday later in the year? Setting aside money will likely pay for the bulk of the trip. Here's a quick and easy way to add more to your holiday savings before you go. Sell your old items! Think garage sales and hustle to make a bit of money. Think you won't make much? Gary Vanerchuk or 'Gary Vee' highlights that those "who need an extra $1,000 a month", need to learn #fliplife by selling on Ebay and Facebook Marketplace (Vaynerchuk, 2024). Most of us 'have at least $1,000' of stuff in our house (Garyvee, 2022).
We used this exact method for the last trip we took. We sold old items to make some bread. These are all old and used items, where profit wasn't made. We made at least $514! 🤑 Not too shabby for some vacation spending.
Here are some items we sold for the last trip.
Item | $ sold for |
Outdoor table | $50.00 |
Large mirror | $20.00 |
Ikea rolling cart | $30.00 |
Outdoor wicker sofa | $50.00 |
Mountain wood art | $55.00 |
Bookshelves | $80.00 |
White wicker drawers | $15.00 |
Old snowboard | $50.00 |
Milwaukee toolbag | $10.00 |
Snowboard boots | $90.00 |
The women's Burton snowboard boots sold for $90.00, and went to a grateful and happy new owner. It even fit her snowboard colour scheme! It was bought for quite a bit more, but at least some of the money was recouped to use for the holiday. Sure it's a bit of effort, but it was quick and easy to sell the items.
We are planning a new trip, and so we'll be selling a few more used items. Here's a quick list of items that will be on Facebook Marketplace or Nextdoor soon. Reach out, and we will post the links. 😉
Item | $ amount to try and sell for |
Snowboard discs | $20.00 |
Kettle | $15.00 |
Toaster | $10.00 |
Puzzles | $40.00 |
Charcoal grill | $25.00 |
The Postal Service, Give Up Tape | $5.00 |
Postal Service tape anyone?
If you're wondering about taxes from this little hustle. Yes, if you make a profit. As the Internal Revenue Service mentions, "If you make a profit through these activities, it’s considered taxable income. You can use the Form 1099-K, along with other records, to determine how much tax you owe" (IRS, updated 2025).
For gifts that you receive and sell, TurboTax highlighted the situation clearly. Again, yes if you make a profit. "If you sold a gift, or something that you got for free, the original purchase price is considered to be what the giver—not you—paid for it. For example, if you received a $100 espresso machine as a wedding gift and later sold it for $25, there's nothing to report. On the other hand, if you sold your espresso machine for $250, you'd report the $150 profit as an investment sale ($250 selling price minus the $100 purchase price paid by the giver)" (TurboTax, 2025).
You can start selling items today, and get more ready for that holiday. What are the old and used items you sold to make some money to add to a vacation fund? Of course, you could use the extra money to build your starter emergency fund. We would love to know how you've done selling your old and used items.
To your success.
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