Clearing clutter is an important first step when redecorating or organizing your home. When staging a house for sale, it is recommended that sellers purge half of their belongings from the house!
Environmental Concerns – Keeping Stuff out of Landfills
The solution of hauling your unwanted belongings to the curb for the garbage man is a thing of the past. The good news is that many ways of getting rid of clutter can be lucrative, and can even result in a little extra spending money to fund your redecorating projects!
Cashing in on Splurges Past - "This Cost a lot of Money!"
Ideally, you want to get some or all of your money back on unwanted items. If you have supplies from projects you'll never undertake just gathering dust, it's time to return them to the store. Getting store credit can be just as worthwhile as cash in hand (assuming you haven't saved those old receipts).
You might organize a community yard sale. There are two excellent reasons to recruit your neighbors:
- The more houses you can advertise as participating in a yard sale, the more outside traffic you will get. It will look more appealing to a potential yard sale buyer if he only has to park his car once and can walk from lawn to lawn.
- The houses in a single neighborhood are usually from the same era, and built in similar styles and sizes. Often your cast-offs are suitable for a neighbor's similarly shaped space.
Less immediate money-makers are classified ads and consignment shops. Consignment shops are particularly good for items that are brand name, or in very good condition. You'll pay the shopkeeper a percentage for the trouble of maintaining your inventory, and walk away with cash or shop credit.
Listing a classified ad on Craigslist or in your local newspaper is less complicated, and doesn't require your hauling of goods to an external location. Though waiting for responses can take persistence.
When Time is Money - "Just Get Rid of This Stuff!"
Sometimes circumstances don't allow for that kind of time or effort. When it's time to cut your losses, consider taking your unwanted items to a non-profit donation center. In the US, if you request a reciept when you donate, you can write off those as a charitable contribution in your taxes.
If you don't have the means to haul a large piece, or if you want to move it even more quickly, another great option is Freecycle. The concept behind the organization Freecycle is to keep stuff out of the landfills that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Creative types can use old clothes and fabric remnants, college kids will love that old sofa bed, and the geek down the street wants to use your old electronics to build her new robot. It's free to sign up, and as simple as email to post an offered item for pickup.
As a last resort, look into the options for recycling your unwanted stuff – a surprising number of items are recyclable, including cork, electronics and clothing – by enterprising corporations and creative individuals.
Clearing clutter out of your home can make a dramatic difference in organization, cleanliness and style. There is no reason why you shouldn’t make a small profit from all of your hard work, it all depends on how much effort and time you’re willing to put into the process. You’ll even decrease your own impact on the environment by recycling your stuff for reuse.
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