Eliminate Clutter Responsibly
If you’ve hung out with me long enough, you know I’m a bit clutter-clearing obsessed. Hey, there are worse things, right?
With the big moving day coming up on Sunday, we are getting rid of shit like crazy! Because we are downsizing considerably — from a house to an apartment, then eventually to an RV — we are keeping the bare minimum.
Purging at this level feels amazing. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but I am LOVING this clean slate feeling! We’ve been very intentional about getting rid of stuff in as responsible a way as possible, meaning we didn’t just rent a dumpster and toss it all.
In teaching my Clutter Buster Video Course over the years, one of the main obstacles I hear students speak of is not knowing what to do with the stuff they want to get rid of. So this week, I wanted to share some resources we used to let go of what we no longer love, need, or want. Hopefully, it will inspire you to clear out even more! In the process, you can make some money, pass things along to those who would be thrilled to take it off your hands, or donate to a great charity.
Freecycle: Freecycle proves that one person’s trash really is someone else’s treasure. Find your local group and start posting what you’d like to give away and make someone’s day. And keep things out of the landfills!
Facebook: Several virtual yard sale Facebook groups have popped up over the last year. Chances are there’s one in your area. We sold the majority of our furniture and home decor items this way. Not only was it a good money-maker, we also like that our pieces found new, loving, local homes.
Consignment shops: If you have clothes, shoes, purses or jewelry that you’re ready to part with and could use to make a little cash on them, check out a local consignment shop. Most are super easy to deal with. You simply set up an account with the store and drop off things as you come across them. They take care of the presenting, tagging, and selling of it, but they’ll also take about 60% of the sale. Fine by me! I’m happy to make 40% just for dropping off a bag of stuff! If consignment shops aren’t your thing, keep your eye out for clothing donation bins on your travels and drop your bags off into them.
Thrift store: Some things that we didn’t want to bother selling, we brought to a local, family run thrift store. It’s so fulfilling to watch people shopping around, excited at the treasures they’re finding at an affordable price. While we prefer to support small, local businesses when possible, if you don’t have any around you, look for a Good Will or Savers.
Animal rescue: Shelters are a great place to donate blankets and towels that you no longer want. They can always use them for our furry friends. Our favorite, local feline rescue society has an annual yard sale to raise money for the great work they do so we donated a bunch of stuff to them and got to pet some cute kitties in the process!
Big Brother/Big Sister or Epilepsy Foundation: These are two of several organizations that will gladly come to your home and pick up donations at no cost to you. Check out their websites to confirm what they’ll accept and to schedule your visit.
Decluttr: Ready to get rid of some CDs, DVDs, or video games? We just found out about this site, so a disclaimer: We are in the process here and haven’t completed our experience with Decluttr so can’t speak to results. However, the website so far is very easy to use. Simply type in a SKU number and see how much they’ll give you for it. They’ll even take care of the shipping both ways!
So are you ready to commit to a few Pomodoro rounds of clutter clearing? Join the conversation for some accountability and support!
Until next week, keep taking those small steps to Live Out Loud.
Hello,
Your clutter sounds wonderful for me. I can’t really afford it right now, but I will definitely do my best to save the money for the next class. I love your sister, and now she introduced you on her show 🙂 I just started listening again to Hayhouse in the past few weeks. Please let me know when your next class is. Hopefully I will get a jump start and do a little clearing before hand.
Thank You for offering something that is so obtainable..
Have a great rest of the week,
Katie