Did you ever see that episode of Oprah with Peter Walsh and the lady that had a houseful of "stuff?" They took everything out of the house, sorted it, and put back on the stuff that truly was worth keeping. The rest they either threw away or set aside for a rummage sale. When it came time for that rummage sale, they had it in a warehouse. Just before it started, they gave the lady a tour of all her "stuff". She was shocked! At the end of it, they were having a conversation and she's talking about how she couldn't believe she had that much stuff. Peter says: "oh, that's not all" and lifts up a curtain in the entrance of another room in the warehouse. They made $13,000 at that rummage sale. Most of the items were things that would sale for $1 or $2. At any yard sale I've had, I'm lucky if I net $50. I can't imagine how much "stuff" you'd have to have to make $13,000.
Wednesday, I picked up Peter's book It's All Too Much to see what he had to say in it. It was very eye-opening. Now, I have nowhere near as much stuff as the woman on Oprah. You don't navigate ravines to get from one room to another but I do have enough stuff that I feel like I'm fighting a never ending battle of trying to keep my coffee table clear and I do have boxes of stuff that I look at, maybe, once a year and that's when I'm telling myself "I need to sort through this stuff." Well, I'm getting serious now. I mean, do I really need a whole 20 shelf library of books that I've read only once or haven't read in more than a year? Especially since the Kent County Library is within walking distance of my home. Do I really need to hang on to that rocker that I never sit in but have yet to get rid of because my aunt would make me feel guilty for getting rid of something that she gave me? Guilt be damned, it's going. I offered a good friend my Kitchen Aid mixer for $50. I don't use it. I've owned it for more than three years and have used it fewer than 10 times despite having made cookies and cupcakes at least that many times since 2009 began. I don't need it. Once I go through everything, I'm going to have an indoor yard sale. That way there is no excuse for not getting rid of it should there be bad weather.
7 comments:
There you go :) Dont forget that your excess stockpile items also work great in garage sales. I put $1 on each bottle of shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste and I made about $90 in an hour!
I was thinking about including all the free Crest that I acquired last month--something like 30 tubes of it.
I am currently "staging" my house for sale, and I am amazed at the "stuff" I have just hanging around that I never use or will use! I clean out my closets and stockpile regularly and donate, but I still have tons of stuff!
I guess I'm more in the other side of the spectrum. I don't have "stuff" unless I use it. I do have books but I've read them at least a dozen times each (bad habit of mine) and I'm sure I'll read them yet again. Never been the one to be junk collector.
Jenny, that's just the thing. It's not neccessarily "junk" but most folks tend to accumulate "stuff" over time. Maybe it's semantics but when I hear "junk", I thin stuff that is broken. When I hear "stuff", I think of items that were bought with the intention of being used but never got around to it or those items that your mom gave you that you never use but you can't give it away because she would have hurt feelings. It's all a drain, either way. If I don't actively use it (holiday decorations are the only exception) on a regular basis,then it's going.
What books are you selling? can you email me a list with titles? I might take them off your hands :)
Nidena,
The school I work for recently had a yard sale for after-prom $. I donated a bunch of Harlequin romance novels that I haven't and won't read. Plus, a word processor that I gave $500 for 14 years ago and haven't used in at least 6. I still have a bunch of stuff to get rid of, but a lot has sentemental attachment. I still haven't done anything with my mother's clothing. No way I'd fit in any of them and I would feel weird seeing them on strangers. Maybe I should donate them to a charity near Apalacia (about 5 hours from here, but closer to DBF's parents). Will have to consider that.
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