De-cluttering my life (Just had Garage Sale)!!!

[pharmvet]

Woke up one morning about 2 weeks ago and decided to take control of my surroundings. Ive watched a few episodes of "Hoarders" on TV and although I was nowhere near that, Clutter was in fact affecting my life. Kids toys stacked 3 ft. tall in the play room, mine and wifes closet floor covered in clothes because there was not room on the racks. Many of those clothes weve had for 20 years. Garage un-usable because of "junk" I thought I had to have (some of which I got at garage sales). Told my wife I needed to purge myself of anything not "NECESSARY" . She agreed and the project began. We placed ads in the local papers so as to commit ourselves to the task. I began boxing and gathering, hauling and sorting, pricing and grouping. After a week, the house, garage and yard look like a different place. Saturday was the big day. We put on our nail aprons, set back and waited for 8:00 AM. Sure enough, about 15 min till 8:00 the first victim / customer arrived. They were professionals, in a matter of 30 minutes, they managed to spend $180 bucks. I watched in disbelief at the happiness they gained by buying all the junk that was giving me such grief. Over the next 8 hours one after another car full of excited people came to paw through our fodder. By 5 pm, the rush was over, My wife and I happily counted our money. We made approx. $700. We are so happy. Not only did we de-clutter our lives, but we now have $700 to spend on an upcoming vacation to Durango Co. We quickly dealt with the remaining items. Some in the trash, and some for donation. Nothing comes back home. The whole experience has taught me a good lession. If you dont need it, its not a good deal no matter the price (unless you re-sell it) I dont even want friends or family "giving" me or my kids stuff we dont need, because in reality, all your doing it disposing of it for them. My kids had so many toys (grandparents) that they really diddnt know which ones to play with. Thats not really doing them a favor. Anyway, thats my experience. Im now even more determined to de-clutter my life. Im going through all my stuff and what I dont need or use, Im selling, giving away, or throwing away. Just my thoughts. thanks

 

[smstonypoint]

Congratulations! I am gradually making progress in convincing my wife that we should reduce some of the clutter of 42 years of married life.

Steve

PS. It's probably a good idea to stop watching "Antiques Roadshow." You are going to kick yourself if one of the items you sold for $1 turns out to be worth $10K.

 

[teg]

A great show... Hoarders... some family members could be on the show :shocked: wife is worried and got a book to read about it... spent yesterday cleaning out some stuff :confused2: Don't want to do the garage sale but might just donate it. I don't have a problem with throwing something out... she does accuse me of Hoarding farm implements... and to that, I say... he11, yea.

 

[dave1949]

Good for you! My theory for most expendable things is if you haven't used it for a year or two, get rid of it. Sell, donate or whatever.

The horse rescue place down the road has an annual money raising yard sale. I have taken several loads to them. They get some money and I get to declutter and feel good about it It's tax deductible too if I wanted to go to the trouble. We also donate used clothing to a place in town that employs handicapped people to wash, mend, etc. A little here, a little there, it helps keep it under control.
Dave.

 

[jinman]

Mike, how far do you live from the nearest town? I need to do the same thing, but I'm 10 miles from the nearest little town and 20 miles from the nearest city. I just don't know if folks will come that far, but this fall I may just give it a go in the local papers and try to unload a bunch of stuff.

 

[pharmvet]

I have a vet clinic on the edge of town. I took all the stuff there. I think it worked out best that way. My partner and some employees also brought some stuff to sell.

Went in my garage this morning to start the mower and I can actually walk around the mower. Im telling you, its changed my outlook on things !!!!

 

[NSBound]

Mike, how far do you live from the nearest town? I need to do the same thing, but I'm 10 miles from the nearest little town and 20 miles from the nearest city. I just don't know if folks will come that far, but this fall I may just give it a go in the local papers and try to unload a bunch of stuff.

Jim, you'd be surprised how far people will drive for a good garage/yard sale. I had a big one last summer, put an ad in the local/regional newspaper plus ads on the bulletin boards in the local grocery store and post office, and on the day of, at the corner of my (dirt) road and another down near a provincial highway ("Colossal Yard Sale 3 kms >>>"). I advertised some of the popular items (antiques, furniture, electronic items, tools) specifically in the ads. I figure I had 500 people come and I ended up at $1500 for the day. Never in my life did I think I'd get that much. Everything was price-tagged but I accepted a lot of reasonable offers. People came from miles and miles around. I am between 2 villages, about 9-10 kms (7-8 miles) one way to one with a population of 800 and 14 kms the other way to a village of 350. The nearest "city" is 65 kms away, population 10,000.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

This thread is an inspiration for me. I started in the yard sale shopping game when I was just starting out and needed/wanted tools, etc. The problem is I should have stopped a few years ago and never did. I've made some good money off of yard sales, but I'm now it the same boat as pharmvet. Same garage, same closet, same stacks of toys.

My brother is having a yard sale sometime soon, and I'm trying to gather up as much stuff as I can to sell. Hearing the "success stories" helps me stay motivated.

Maybe I don't need more space. I just need less junk.

 

[300UGUY]

I need to do the same - way too much stuff.

 

[Hawghauler]

Good deal. My wife and I have had multiple purges of things. As we have outlived our parents and we inherited their hoardings and finally decided it was time to get rid of what felt like a ball and chain. Feels good. Bought a small house the kids won't ever be eager to move back to and kept only a few treasures that will be passed on sooner than later. BTW, while in Durango take the old narrow guage locomotive up to Silverton and bring your camera. Real fun.