I said that I’d probably still manage to get rid of a few more items! Well it amounts to a cardigan and a pair of shoes sold on eBay, 2 bags of clothes returned to their original owners and 2 books sold on Amazon Marketplace.
Yet more things that weren’t actually needed! I expect the odd item will still sell on eBay in the coming months, as I have a handful left listed.
You may remember that about a year ago, I wrote a post telling you how I’d made over £800 selling every day items on eBay. Well, here I am a year down the line and spurred on by my initial success – I just kept selling stuff over the course of a year. I’m here to tell you that I have an extra £2,800 back in my bank account (before deductions like postage, fees etc).
Nothing I sold was extraordinary, as you have been able to track through my series of posts entitled ‘things that have gone this week’, where I’ve tried to keep some kind of record. I just logged each item in a ledger book, out of pure interest – I do this with all my moneysaving exploits and it allows me to keep a reasonably accurate log of how much money I’d saved. In-case you’re interested, since 2012 I have an extra £34,340 in my bank accounts through my combined money saving exploits – as documented right here!
I guess I’d just encourage every one to really look hard at what they’ve got lurking in their cupboards and question whether they really need it. Clothing is a weakness of mine and makes up a huge proportion of what I’ve let go – probably 80% But gone also are books, DVDs, shoes, household items, jewellery, technology and craft items. It just shows as well that these things can be sold at the right price, if they are in good condition. I’ve also donated bag fulls of items which aren’t listed in my ledger and I have no objection to charities benefitting from things I no longer want and/or need. However, that £2,800 is very welcome back in my bank also as we’re on a pretty fixed income which is going to decrease from now on as I will not be working due to having a baby.
My primary motivation with this session of decluttering was to a) clear space so that the baby could have their own room and b) get some cash so that we could afford to buy the things that baby needed. We were never looking to buy it all brand new, for so many reasons but even so we have needed to spend £1,300 on items for the new arrival. Some of that was made up by vouchers from sites like Swagbucks, Valued Opinions and Pinecone etc. But as you can see, my decluttering has left us with some spare to buy the things that will inevitably be required over the coming months and years.
So it’s over and out from me, for now on the decluttering front as I literally don’t have any more to sell or get rid of right now. But I will certainly be selling things the baby grows out of in due course!
It’s always amazes me what you can sell and sometimes you just need to be patient. This week I finally sold something which had been doing the rounds on eBay for more than a year! OK, OK, so I don’t recommend leaving it that long – better to take it to the charity shop and have rid of it.
I also sold some larger items on eBay, which I normally avoid because I think the higher postage costs will put people off. Actually by using a company called MyHermes, I have been able to send them for a reasonable price.
This week I have netted approx £100 and shifted several items. (Sorry don’t have pictures of every item this week).
My decluttering continues in the background. I have sold and given away a few more things.
I’ve also cleared out a storage box and an old lampshade, that if no-none wants on Freecycle – will go to the charity shop.
Stay tuned for my next update!
Well, I’ve had another little spot of decluttering. In the last month, I’ve put several items on Freecycle. I let go of a large mirror I inherited from a family member that just didn’t seem to suit any room in our house. We cleared out our garage and I let 2 of these double cupboards go, whilst I refurbished one. I also gave away a whole load of odds and ends of wood. People came to collect pieces for so many different reasons and it was great not to send any of it to landfill.
I sold my Sega Master System II and all its games. I had enjoyed it over the years, but it had sat in a box unused for the last 3 years. So it was time to let someone else enjoy the retro gaming. I also sold a vintage kettle and 2 vintage Laura Ashley dresses. I’ll count the items in lots, so that’s 7 items gone – some of them big bundles.
Are you having a January clear out? Why not comment and tell me what you’re up to?
Since my last decluttering post in September, I have let another 31 items go! I had some motivation, as we are expecting a baby and I just cannot keep so many clothing or personal items. I need to clear an entire room for another person!
I’ve let virtually all of my vintage clothing stash go and cleared an entire clothes rail. Alongside this, I’ve let go of other clothing items, craft items, make-up and the odd book or DVD.
It’s probably not going to make the most exciting blog post if I list it all one-by-one. But, I’ve added another £569.14 back in the bank account. Bringing my overall total from decluttering in the last year to: £2377.17. Is there anything you could be turning out? I honestly don’t miss a thing!
I’m back on the decluttering bandwagon again! Now that summer is over, it’s time to get my house in order again. I’ve always got more clothes to get rid of, I’ve admitted before that I have far too many. But this year, I have made a real and concerted effort to address this. A lot of my clothes are vintage items and although I love vintage clothes, I think it’s time to admit that most of the time they are just not as practical to wear. They tend to be the ones left hanging for months and years, and that just makes no sense. So, I am trying to downsize my collection. The other area of weakness in this house is the acquisition of DVDs. So we have resolved to try not to buy any more, without watching some of what we have.
In the last couple of weeks, I have sold 13 items on eBay.
I plan to get ruthless this time, I’m giving myself a deadline and if things don’t sell – then they’re going to the charity shop. I’m not keeping things going round and round on eBay for a year, before they sell. My space is more valuable!
Are you decluttering? If you care to share, then I’d love to hear your stories in the comments.
We recently re-configured the storage in our garage, so it was a good chance to go through a whole bunch more stuff. I was able to turn out a variety of items that we haven’t used in the 2 1/2 years since we moved in.
That’s actually quite a lot more stuff gone when you look at it! I think I’ll be able to let go of some more, once we’ve organised our new space a bit. Stay tuned minimisers!
Well, I managed to get rid of some more items! Despite thinking that I wouldn’t. I filled another bag for charity – I finished reading a couple of books that had no trade in value. Likewise we watched a DVD that was worth 1p to trade-in, so better to let a charity take it. I had a picture frame that I’d been holding onto for 20 years +, planning to frame a tapestry I completed as a child. I gave away the mounts last week, so it was time for the frame to go. I didn’t even like it! It was dark wood and ugly.
I also traded in a corduroy shirt that was a bad buy from a charity shop because it was a colour I’d never wear, with ridiculous cuffs. I’ll put that one down to experience. Finally, I found some polystyrene Christmas trees I’d been intending to turn into Christmas decorations, by covering them in sequins. Well, I completed 1 and it took so long, I never got down to the rest. Almost 2 years later, I was ready to accept that I wasn’t going to complete the rest.
I also took 3 DVDs to CEX and traded them in, one was a box set. So that’s cleared some space under the TV. Then, I traded in 2 books I’d finished reading and netted myself just over £6 for them. Not bad when I only paid £1.75 for them in a charity shop! The minimising continues…
My decluttering has slowed with good reason, so I will probably only post these updates periodically from now one. Still – 3 months of solid decluttering is pretty good going. I’d in-fact say I’ve completed 7 months of decluttering – since I started before Christmas! I just only started documenting the process 3 months ago.
In the past 2 weeks, I have away a room-sized piece of carpet that had been taken up and a room’s worth of carpet underlay. I sold a craft kit on eBay and I took a big bag of stuff to a charity shop. It contained a food serving tray that I was given when I set up home. I’d never used it and I had to wonder why I’d kept it all these years. It was the old ‘it might be useful’ approach!
We were given an UGLY soft toy monster by some relatives who stayed in May. I know I should’ve photographed it for fun. I smiled gratefully, accepted it and promptly put it in a bag to go to charity as soon as they left! Actually, my husband says we should keep these kinds of gifts; since people made them for us. I just bag ’em up and he never misses them, since we neither have need for them nor find them attractive to have around – I basically don’t see the problem.
I also gave away a pair of slippers a family members had asked us to keep here, for when they come to stay. The most ridiculous part was, they only ever came here once a year AND they never wore the slippers! I bet they won’t even know they are gone, on their next visit.
I also gave away several books I’d finished reading which is progress for me – as I always used to hold on to everything I’d ever read, pretty much. I gave away a large clip frame and mount, along with some more mounting board that I think I’d literally had for 20 years and never used! We paid to have our pictures professionally framed and they look great. Sure, there are ways to save money but learning to picture frame isn’t one for me. I was too scared of doing a crap job and paying someone else – meant the job actually got done and done well.
Do you have any decluttering stories to share? Do post in the comments 🙂
Minimalist Exposure 