Help!!! Need advice... Badly

[Mothernature]

donate to goodwill....but make sure to get a reciept so you can deduct all the donations on your taxes!

The benefit of this is if your total individual deductions is considerably greater than the standard deduction.

Also, if you do claim more than the standard deduction, be prepared for an audit. We were audited by the IRS last week for 2007 due to our donations.

[neener130]

Just a quick update! You all have motivated me. I took a basket of clothes to the resale store and made $33. I still have a lot more to take over, they only take 40 pcs at a time. And I listed some stuff on Craigslist. It's a start but I feel better. Almost like I lost a few lbs!!!

[Mothernature]

Just a quick update! You all have motivated me. I took a basket of clothes to the resale store and made $33. I still have a lot more to take over, they only take 40 pcs at a time. And I listed some stuff on Craigslist. It's a start but I feel better. Almost like I lost a few lbs!!!

Good for you. Do a bit at a time so you do not feel overwhelmed and give up.

I am in the middle of purging and selling DH's cloths, DS's toys, and a few odds n ends. I sold a portion of DS's Thomas toys for $140. Took $10 of it today and bought him a Wii game he wanted. I then placed a $50 down payment from the sale at Amazon for Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and received a $20 game credit when Galaxy 2 ships.

I plan to spend the weekend listing and moving everything out of here.

[leqet]

Just a quick update! You all have motivated me. I took a basket of clothes to the resale store and made $33. I still have a lot more to take over, they only take 40 pcs at a time. And I listed some stuff on Craigslist. It's a start but I feel better. Almost like I lost a few lbs!!!

Good for you! Doesn't it feel good to get it out of the house? I go through my closet at least once a year and purge anything I haven't worn for a while or doesn't fit me anymore. Keep it up! A little at a time so you don't feel overwhelmed.

[neener130]

Good for you. Do a bit at a time so you do not feel overwhelmed and give up.

I am in the middle of purging and selling DH's cloths, DS's toys, and a few odds n ends. I sold a portion of DS's Thomas toys for $140. Took $10 of it today and bought him a Wii game he wanted. I then placed a $50 down payment from the sale at Amazon for Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii and received a $20 game credit when Galaxy 2 ships.

I plan to spend the weekend listing and moving everything out of here.

WOW I thought I did well!! Makes you want to sell everything!!!

[3timesoccermom]

------------ Go neener! Go neener! Go! Go! Go! ------------

[Mothernature]

WOW I thought I did well!! Makes you want to sell everything!!!

It appears the secondary market is quite strong at the moment. I bet you will have a nice wad of cash when done

[luvmykitten]

Great Job! $33! Awesome!!!

Here are things I do:

Freecycle. This can be great or fustrating when people do not show up! Freecycle is great for food in your stockpile. There seem to be people on there that just reply to everything then disappear.

amazon.com You can sell stuff OR trade in books and DVDs. The trade in will cost you a bubble mailer but the postage is free and you have a small amount on a gift card. Amazon pays quickly. I dislike using ebay these days to sell because of the holds that paypal puts in the money.

Thrift store picks up! The way it works here is they schedule zip codes on certain days. It's very motivating to know a truck is showing up soon! When we moved the last time I had them come 3 times in the two weeks before we moved. This is probably the easiest, you just put the stuff outside in a box and the men carry it out of your life.

Keep going! Maybe you could keep a box "open" for the consigmnet store and try to spend 5 minutes before bed finding an item to "rehome." 2 items a day will be over 700 at the end of the year! Congratulations on your success!

[spork]

Hope it's going well, neener! (One of my best friend's nickname is neener so I had to reply!) I gave up on the thought of a yard sale cuz as you said, in itself it's alot of work getting ready for it and was overwhelming.

I put two large boxes in the basement -- one marked "throw away or giveaway", the other marked "sell". I spend only a few minutes about every other week going thru just one drawer or one closet or whatever and add things to those boxes. Sometimes I'll even just pick one cabinet in my kitchen while I'm cooking dinner and see if there's anything in there I don't need. If I can't make a quick decision on an item, it just stays in its current home. I'll get back to that space on the next cycle.

When a box gets full, I do whatever I need to do to get rid of it. Usually the giveaways go to Goodwill, list on Freecycle, or to friends or neighbors that can use. I don't fill up my sell box very quickly becuz my goal is to declutter not really to make money, but those would be listed on craigslist.

This keeps things moving OUT of the house, not just from one corner to another. You could add another box called "keepsakes" or something, then when that box is full move those things to their own permanent, organized storage.