For a long time I sold books on E-Bay, Amazon, and half.com. I also sold children’s clothing to a local consignemnt shop, women’s clothing to another one, and household items to yet another. I was a garage sale junkie.
I went to garage sales every summer at least a couple weekends a month from May-September. I made fairly decent money and it was a fun hobby. Unfortunately, I’m sure you can imagine the amount of ‘stuff’ I brought into the house. For the most part I would clean it up and move it along to the next destination, but there were times when that wasn’t the case. There always seemed to be bags and boxes and books and clothes spilling out of the corners, from the hall closet… etc. My husband is a patient man!
The worst part was probably the books. My precious is how I would define my love for books and reading them; I usually have five to six that I’m reading at any one time. There are books in every room of the house. Yes, every room. I lost interest and stopped going to the sales last summer, so our house is slowly going back to what it should be.
What really helped me is shows like Clean House and of course Hoarders. Every time I watch one of those shows, I do three things. 1). Fill a bag for the Salvation Army 2). Fill a bag to put in the trash 3). Clean a specific area… for example, clear off the kitchen table, clean out a dresser, de-clutter part of a closet, get everything out from under the bed, etc. I usually have to take a Benadryl and then it’s time for bed because that stuff knocks me out.
These shows are typically an hour long and I may watch once or twice a week. It’s really made a difference in the amount of stuff around the house. Last week when I watched Hoarders, I worked on my closet and it’s not perfect, but looking better. I’ve come to the realization that I’m very comfortable surrounded by lots of ‘stuff’, but on the other hand having too many possessions makes me feel frustrated. Something had to give.
Luckily the Salvation Army is less than four miles up the road and Purple Heart picks up anything I leave on the porch. They came last Wednesday and will be here again next Wednesday. I’ve had them come to the house so many times in 2009 that the drivers probably have our address memorized. As a result, the kids’ rooms look great. The living room looks great, and the family room is almost there. I have one more stack of books that are finally going on the front porch this week, as well as some DVD’s.
The kitchen needs help, and our bedroom does too.
We had some hardwood put in the living room and the kids’ bedrooms, then those rooms were painted. As a result I got rid of a lot of debris, lol. I’m painting the family room today and someone is coming to do the kitchen soon, so those rooms will be clean and uncluttered before Christmas.
I can’t wait.
I did make a rule that I would not throw away any of MrWhatsit’s stuff without at least telling him about it first. Sometimes this took the form of me saying, “I bagged up trash from our bedroom. Some of your scribblings were in there. I checked to make sure none of it was bank statements, insurance forms, or anything else that looked important,” and wonder of wonders, he actually trusted me and let the bag go out the door. So you see, there is hope.