As I have mentioned, I’ve been doing the Konmari method of decluttering my home. I made it through my clothes and accessories, and am working through books and paper right now. It’s overwhelming how much stuff I’ve been able to get rid of. I took 9 bags of clothes to Goodwill and have a huge box of books for our library donation. And the shredding, oh, the shredding.
I’ve come across a few things that I wasn’t so sure about donating, clothing items that were new or expensive. So I did some research to see if there was a better way to get rid of these items.
One key to note is my theory on reselling items: If I’m not using it, it is worth zero dollars. If it has no value to me, it has no value. So if I can get even a small amount of money for it, it’s worth it.
I had a nice triathlon kit that I never wore because I didn’t like the fit. It wasn’t returnable, so it just sat in my drawer. I listed it for sale in a Facebook group for less than half of what I paid for it. It was snatched up immediately. Free money!
I also decided to try sending a few items to Thred Up, an online consignment store. I’m still waiting to see what they will give me for my items. I’m not expecting much, but again, if I’m not using it, it has no value, so more free money!
I don’t want to become the person who lists everything online for sale because I don’t want to deal with selling and shipping. I’ve done the online book sales thing back when I was a student and selling my textbooks. It got annoying because I had to sit and wait for items to sell. Not worth my time. I want these items out of my house quickly.
I can’t wait to see what else I discover in my house. I just finished shredding bank records from all the way back in 2001. Clearly these are not things I need to keep. I am keeping copies of my tax records from back then, even though experts say I don’t need any more than 3 years worth in my files. All those years of meticulous personal finance record keeping just make me extra cautious. Maybe the next time I Konmari, I will get rid of them.
So far, so good. It’s refreshing to get rid of so much stuff. I’m excited to finally get my office cleaned out and not just have a room filled with junk.
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
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