This year I am determined to rid our house of all the unnecessary crap that's hanging around. A highchair, pack & play, kids clothes, kids shoes, toys, adult clothes, boots, curtains... whatever, it's ALL gotta go.
We normally do two yard sales a year at my parents' house and that certainly helps to rid us of some of our old stuffs. And I have occasionally sold a few things on eBay.
But it really isn't enough now that we have two quickly growing little ones. They just accumulate SO much and then grow out of the clothes and shoes and get too old for many of the toys. It's really a never-ending process.
Anyway... I'm really determined to clear it all out. I've already jump-started the new year by seling a few things on eBay. And just yesterday I listed a few more things... and even sold one within a few hours of it being listed! Go me! lol
After alot of previous trial and error on eBay, I finally realized that it's best to list most of my items as a fixed price rather than an auction. Too many times I didn't get many (or any) bids and ended up selling something for a dollar or so and I know that I could have gotten much more.
But if I list at a fixed price for the amount I want, then eventually someone will come along and buy it at that price. Sometimes it only takes a few hours and sometimes it takes a few months, but eventually the right buyer always comes along.
So, I'm going to keep listing and selling and hopefully I will acquire a nice chunk of change in my PayPal account. I love saving money up through there and then using that when I need to purchase things for us or for gifts. That way those purchases don't have an impact on our budget! (I do the same thing with saving up Amazon gift cards that I earn through
Swagbucks).
I also have several nice toddler girls dresses that have only been worn once. Every Christmas, birthday and Easter, I've always bought a fancy dress for my daughter to wear and I need to sell all the old ones.
I'm thinking I'll take these to a consignment store. I know of one that will pay you up front for your items instead of waiting for them to sell. So we'll see how much they are willing to give me.
And I don't even need to get that much for the dresses to make me happy because I bought them all super-cheap on clearance anyway. I always shop for her dresses a year in advance when they are on clearance. Kohl's recently had all of their left over Christmas dresses on clearance and so we bought one for her for next Christmas.
Now I just have to remember to actually take the dresses to the consignment store. I really am an expert at procrastination.
Oh and that reminds me of one other way I'm reducing the clutter around here. I have a huge box of brand new infant shoes. I bought them super-cheap from a company with the plans to resell them and make a profit.
Well, I did sell a bunch... but then they kinda got forgotten about and have been sitting in a box ever since. Time to act on that. I've been selling some on
Blujay, but I really need to list some more on there. And I should probably list a few on eBay as well.
Ok, so that's my plan. Now hopefully since I have it all written out, it might actually motivate me to get it done.
Something new that I'd like to add to my
Weekly Recaps, is how much I make from selling on eBay, etc. I think it'd be helpful to see those totals at the end of the year just like my coupon savings and other earnings.
So look for that in my future Weekly Recaps.
Do you have stuff to clear out of your house as well? Do you have a plan to declutter? Why not get motivated with me and earn some spare cash in the meantime?
Everything but the kitchen sink...
