Do you have hundreds of unclaimed dollars just hanging around in your closets taking up space? Last summer's polka-dot dress and that wool blazer you outgrew. The slacks you bought because they were on sale and suit that never fit right to begin with.

Sound familiar? We all make shopping mistakes, but why live with them rest of your life? How can you turn past year's bargains into cold hard cash right now? Consignment!

Consignment stores are popping up everywhere because people know that they can find great bargains on quality used clothing for themselves and their families. The flip side of buying consignment is selling on consignment, which is a great way to clear your closet clutter and make some money in process.

How you can turn some of your shopping mistakes or clothes you no longer love into money? Follow these simple steps.

Pull each item from your closet one at a time, and separate into one of four piles:

Pile 1: You love it and wear it faithfully, and you like how it looks on you.

Pile 2: You hate it and never wear it, in fact you wonder what you were thinking when you bought it, it doesn't fit, or you bought it because it was "a bargain".

Pile 3: You like it and you wear it fairly often, OR it's a key player in a few outfits.

Pile 4: You just can't decide which pile it goes into.

Here are five easy steps to complete job:

Step One: Once closet is empty, put everything in Love It pile back into closet.

Step Two: Put everything in Fairly Often pile back into closet. You should be left with two piles of clothing -- Hate It pile and Undecided pile. )This is where it gets fun!)

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Oh those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Those lazy days turn into hectic days when a few summer hazards pluck away at your time. Let's take a look at a few easy solutions to summer problems.

First, when you head to gas station to fill your lawn mower gas container, place this container inside a heavy-duty plastic bag then inside a plastic bucket. Secure it to prevent it from tipping during travel. Oil and water don?t mix. Should container tip in your car, there is little you can do to remove gas from carpeting.

A handy trick for cleaning hands outside: Cut off an old pair of panty hose just below knee. Slide your soap slivers into toe part. Tie top end around an outdoor faucet and it?s a quick way to wash outside. Cut off rest of leg part just below panty and place over your cotton dust mop for an inexpensive and reusable "Swiffer". The panty part makes an excellent polishing cloth for shoes.

Panty hose manufacturers really don't like me for giving out this next handy tip but ? well too bad. After purchasing a pair of panty hose, saturate them with water and place in a zip lock bag. Fill bag half full with water then freeze until solid. Remove and thaw at room temperature. Freezing hardens fibers so they don't run so easily. Refreeze them occasionally for even longer wear. One pair should last you a month or two.

Grass stains: Pour liquid dish soap onto stains and allow to set overnight. Rinse and wash as normal. Be certain to rinse out dish soap before laundering, otherwise it may cause too much foam in your washing machine. This also does a great job on soccer and baseball uniforms or for extra dirty socks.

Red clay: Follow above directions only use a concentrated orange cleaner instead. Do not rinse it out. Bio Ox is now my favorite cleaner. It's ten times more potent than Orange Clean and far more concentrated. You would need to call me to order it at 800-345-3934. It's not available in stores yet. Or find Orange Clean at Bed Bath and Beyond. If you use Orange Clean get concentrated type. The pre diluted is not much good.