BY DUSTIN LAWRENCE

dlawrence@etruth.com

Juenessee Wade, Susan Plotts and Lucinda Mamoran sat on Mamoran's porch beneath the shade of the house. Before them was a yard full of their possessions, all with yellow stickers on them.

It was a typical summer scene, set during trying times.

Wade, Plotts and Mamoran are displaced workers from the RV industry.

"It's tough living on unemployment. You look for help wherever you can," Wade said, looking out to the yard of trinkets.

By noon that day the three had made $200. The day before they made $500.

Mamoran's neighbor, Esther Bitting, is holding a garage sale next week.

"I've been laid off and my husband's had to cut his hours," Bitting said. "Whatever little bit you get is helpful these days."

Such yard sales have become a regular sight, with many people selling their possessions for some much-needed cash. The Elkhart Truth classifieds showed 119 garage sale ads two weeks ago; this week, there are 127.

Things have picked up on the other side of the cash box as well.

"This has been our busiest year," said Crystal Taylor, who gathered with 10 others in front of her home to create one large yard sale. "The other day we needed about eight people just to bag the stuff.

"A lot of the people have been making comments about the economy. A lot of them have been saying that they're out because of that."

With added foot traffic has come added revenue, even with the number of garage sales in the area. A month ago, the Red Cross' annual yard sale yielded $5,000 in sales. That's up $1,000 from last year.

"We had more people this year than we ever have," said Deb Moore, director of programs and services at the Red Cross' Elkhart chapter. "There's more people out there, more people looking."

But the economic atmosphere has many shoppers looking for different items than they've bought in years past.

"When I first started out with garage sales you didn't sell baby stuff, but now that's what people are buying," Plotts said.

"It's not play things," she added. "It's necessities."

Lori Martin brought her 3- and 5-year-old sons with her.

"We've been to several (sales), looking for kids' clothes and shoes," Martin said, as her boys played with a pair of shin guards beside her. "It's just so much cheaper."

Wade, Plotts and Mamoran have noticed the trend in yard sale consumerism and, despite being on unemployment themselves, have kept prices low.

"We're just trying to keep our prices as affordable as possible with the layoffs and economy being the way they are," Mamoran said. "We've been there. We know."