Downsizing is a lot of work. That said, it really is a wonderful feeling to walk down the stairs to my basement or open a closet and see more and more empty space. There is still more to do and more decisions to make on what will be kept and what will go, but we are going about it with purpose and intention and it will happen.
The first big step was the garage sale we held at our home over three days last week. The last time I held a garage sale was at least ten years ago and I swore at the time, never again. But, it really is one of the best ways to recycle a large amount of household items and I was willing to give it a try. I decided to not sell clothes this time, but donate (6 large bags) and that made things much easier to set up.
I advertised on Craig's List and a few other on line local sites, put up signs and scheduled my dates to coincide with a subdivision wide sale, hoping for as many shoppers as possible. The biggest job was organizing like items and pricing, but I gave myself plenty of time and used preprinted stickers to help things move along fairly quickly.
On sale days, I pulled a lot out of the garage to catch the eye of those passing by and also reduced prices as the days went by, especially on items that were not generating interest.
How did we do? There was a steady stream of shoppers, especially on Saturday and a ton of unwanted items have left my home. People were friendly, complimentary of our prices and we even made an amount of money that made the process worthwhile. There is very little left to donate and I should be able to remove most of it by making a couple of trips to a nearby Goodwill and also schedule a pick up for the few pieces of furniture left.
It may have been a lot of work and I'm still recovering from being on my feet for three straight days, but it's a good feeling to know that all that unwanted stuff will be in use, rather than thrown in the landfill.
Happy Monday!
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