A grand in the hand

One of the tangible benefits of downsizing is the money from selling the things you no longer want/need.

We've just hit $1,000 - yippee!

I made a note of each item we sold. Only 4 of them were over $30. So it's not like we had big valuable items. It's just lots of medium and small things. Some for as little as $1. We weren't using them, so to us they were just taking up space. But to someone else they were valuable items.

We did a garage sale early on. It took up about a day, including preparation, and we made $24. It's a nice way to meet a few neighbours, but we didn't do much downsizing. That's when we went online.

We have a bunch of stuff listed on gumtree. It's like an ongoing garage sale but much less work. People can browse at any time of the day or night. All we do is chat online if they're interested - and collect the cash when they come by. (Which has also saved a few trips to the ATM).

It's a quadruple win. Less clutter. Cash in the hand. Free removal. Nothing goes to landfill.

Did I mention one thousand dollars?

PS. For the statistically-minded, we had 74 items. Take out the 4 'big' items, and the remaining 70 items sold for an average of $7. Not big items, but it's amazing how much stuff we have lying around that we'll never use.

Comments

Big motivator for small living

It's been a while between posts here - mainly because we've been moving house. It's been a real motivator for downsizing. Packing each and every item we owned, really makes me wish there were fewer of them. Moving everything from the old apartment to the new one made me envious of those people who live in a "tiny house on wheels". For them moving house simply means towing it to a new location. No packing required. The whole process has reaffirmed our commitment to owning less stuff. So we're going to be intentional about downsizing. It will be an ongoing activity. My environmental heart couldn't stomach a spontaneous dumping of things into the garbage, but it's also more fun this way. Selling things online brings in some handy pocket money. Giving items away is also a great community activity, whether it is to friends and family, to charity or to people in the neighbourhood. I'm looking forward to it as a lifestyle rather than a task to do....

Top 5 articles of 2019

As we wrap up 2019, here are the most-read posts here on But Wait There's Less . 5. Books. Do we need them anymore? Why do we keep books? To read them again? How many do we ever read a second time? I worked it out .For me not many. This lead to a second post on my technique for streamlining my book collection . 4. Living in a converted barn. This was something my wife and I tried on a trip away this year. Check out the pictures . I still reckon it could be possible long-term. We really don't need as much space as we have. 3. What's your retirement age? It's not 67. At least it doesn't have to be. If we spend less, compulsory work can become optional at a very early age . It could even be in your 30s. 2. The automatic guest room On the same trip as number 4, we stayed with a friend who (with some clever furniture ) converts her living room into another bedroom. It's a clever way to be able to have guests, but without paying a heap of money for a bigge...

Man Down

How is it possible for a book to be depressing, supportive and hopeful all at once? Man Down looks at the problems men have today and how it managed to get this way. What price 'success'? It seems so many of the problems come from the external pressure to be a 'success' - whatever that means. Over time this pressure becomes internal and drives us to make decisions to satisfy that pressure, but which are detrimental in so many other ways. It can be the pressure to take a 'successful' career, though it's one we don't want or aren't suited for. Or to take a promotion, because salary is apparently success - or at least it buys all the things that signal success to others. The promotion only means more pressure, less sleep, and poorer health. At the same time the extra responsibility takes away from our ability to exercise, take care of our health and form social connections. The lack of social connections means that retiring is one of the most dangerou...

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog