Decluttering help - I need to let it go!

[Illbefinejustbloodyfine]

House is piling up with stuff. Outgrown kids clothes, toys, random tat they collect.

I can deal with the tat, but other stuff that has a (probably small) sellable value, I really struggle to just charity shop. There's a lot if it so IF I sold it all, tge extra cash would help buy I really don't have the time, live rurally so Facebook sales dont go well. Etc.

Help me reframe this in my mind. It feels like throwing money away.

What do you want more the space or money?

Answer that then make a decision

If it's money get the clothes/toys whatever, cleaned, packed and have an area where they are ready to go posted when you sell.

If it's the space, bag up, in boot, take to charity shop.

That's a tricky one. I'm pretty skint. But also time poor. I think I just need to get rid of most of it and try to sell the more valuable stuff. I dont have a spare room or space that I can store things sensibly.

Try selling 3 items.
Top
Middle
Lower
Priced

See if it's worth the hassle?

Imagine you get s storage unit to store it instead.
Is it really worth that?

It feels like throwing money away. Cost up your time to attempt to sell it, even if it did sell. It is actually already costing you more money because it's taking up room that your paying rent/mortgage on.

It's costing you time keeping it clean and organized, which has an hourly value that could be better spent. So it's already costing you to keep it. Your time is your life, it is all you really own.

Depending what it is, the material it's made from may be deteriorating and right now someone else could get some use from it, in two years time when you finally try to give it away, maybe not.

Giving it to others allows someone else to have some joy from it, rather than you hoard it unused, gaining no joy, possibly suffering guilt, tripping over it and dusting it.

Boot sale? Then anything that doesn't go drop off at a charity bin on the way home. Give away to family/friends/school fete.

Try to reframe it in your mind. The money has been spent, you've used the items, and now you need the space- you're not losing anything, you're gaining space and clarity of mind 😂

Read Marie Kondo. Seriously, that book somehow reprogrammed my brain and how I think about possessions.

Sort out the children’s clothes any in as new condition sell on Vinted the rest take to charity shop.Be honest as to how much they are worth.It takes time to list pack up post etc.Is it worth it ?

If you want to sell items I would recommend Vinted. So much easier than ebay.

Take a few decent photos, upload the details then wait until they (hopefully) sell.

Put them on for a bit more than you want, as people always try an offer. Once on I put my items in a plastic container so they are easy to find if I sell them. Obviously you need to pack up, then go out to post, so factor that into your decision.

Then at least you've tried to make something back and if they don't sell after a time, maybe either reduce the price, or send to the charity shop.

Agree with Marie Kondo

Vinted is great for shifting stuff. I list up to 10 items at a time, then if one sells I reduce the price of the others to try to get some more sales to save on delivery admin

Very easy to pause your account if you want a break from selling too.

Don’t be afraid to just let things go though, it’s not wasting money, those items have done their job and fulfilled their purpose for you.

For outgrown children clothes and toys set yourself an hour each day over 1 week or a long weekend to gather everything, sort, throw away, charity shop and clean what you want to sell.
The next step is to list everything on amazon marketplace/ebay/vinted , again 1h/day or over one weekend and give it a couple of weeks to sell what you can. Price it low to sell.
In the meantime, go to a car boot sale one weekend and maybe have 1 box with free stuff alongside the tabletop items. Get rid of as much as you can.
Also consider booking a table at a local NCT sale for the nicer items that you haven't sold above.
Whatever is left after all this, just give to charity or throw away.
Basically you'd give yourself a deadline of 1 month from start to finish.

You can do this!!!

It's very clear that I'm not very good at this! I'm just going for it. I soend far too much time deliberating over what to do with each item.

So far I have 2 bags for the clothing/shoe bank

5 for charity

1 for a friend

1 for family.

1 bag to sell.

Sounds like you are doing really well!

I have been "doing" the Konmarie method for five years now. Stuff just creeps in. I may not need single use plastic cups - oh. Except I suddenly did this morning for my child's creative hair so! We packed things up for the decorator but haven't had a chance to unpack it - or rather I haven't had a chance to regain the energy to address it.

twenty years ago I worked out the second hand value of the unwanted tat, figured I would quite happily pay that to have a more empty house and sent it all to the charity shop. How much to make this problem go away? Or if it's your own time price it at £10 an hour and then look.

I put a sum of £50 aside for things I got rid of but had to replace. So far I've spent £2.50.

8 bags deposited at the charity shop. 3 more in the car to go in the clothing recycke bank.. can barely tell that I've done it in the house!

I love that strategy

Well done!

I listened to a book that really helped me. She has a blog as well, I think. I also read Marie Kondo, she's great, but do have a look at this one. She is very strong on being realistic about selling things or not!

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff eBook : White, Dana K.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Give some to school or local charity jumble sales, eg Mencap, ours do twice yearly sales. It does go to good local cause as they run activities for an families.

I recently sold lots of things on eBay and I barely broke even. It's really not worth it.

Please consider just giving it away. Your home and your life is much more important than this stuff.

I'm on a roll and really keen to carry on. Today has really made me realise how time poor I am. It took me mist of the school day to sort through and bag up what needed to go , doing washing, cleaning shoes etc in between.

Thanks for the tips and encouragement,

vinted- listed 5 items yesterday and all sold- £100
Car boot sales start again at easter. great for clearing large or low value stuff

@Octopuslethargy blimey well done, it's mostly kids clothes, would have to sell loads to make £100. I never have much luck with vinted and am Mile's from the evri (etc) place

I think you need to be selective. If an item is worth more than a chosen minimum (say £3) then stick it on Vinted. Otherwise charity shop it. Brands like boden and designer clothes have a decent resale value (check eBay sold prices). Next, M&S etc not worth so much second hand but you could sell as a bundle to make it quicker. If it's not worth the hassle then take it to the charity shop and be done with it. Anything in poor condition, clothes with stains, or if you can't be arsed to check it (e.g. puzzles where you don't know if any pieces are missing) filter out straight away and take to the tip.

Wow @Illbefinejustbloodyfine this is really impressive!
Brilliant - before you know it, it will all be out of your way.
I hope you'll manage to sell some stuff further down the line. Some post offices accept Evri parcels. And some InPost lockers accept Evri parcels as well. Obscure corner shops accept Yodel/Evri/DPD. Not always easy to find convenient drop off locations.

Me too. She brainwashed me and it hasn’t come undone in the last decade. I am so free of stuff. I don’t know how it works but it’s a brilliant book!

I tend to only sell kit that has a value of more than £10. The rest I see as charity donations. I don’t have enough spare money to give to charity but I can pass on our used, good quality items.

Im taking children’s books to a primary school for their book corners.

Old stuff just deteriorates. Today I looked at some old PJ bottoms of my kids’s
and the elastic has gone.

Don’t hang on to stuff - pass it on so someone can enjoy it!!