Minimalise your life - Getting ready for the yard sale.
Hey everyone,
It's been a while since I last wrote about minimalism so I thought it was about time. I have for a long time now cleaned out our closets, basement and pretty much the entire apartment to sort things out we don't use, want or need.
I'm cleaning out to get a little money for future travels (Photo is from pexels, this is not my apartment)
The very foundation of minimalism is to only have what you need, use and makes you truly happy.
You don't need to sit in an empty apartment with nothing but a book, a coffee table and a chair to be a minimalist. You can find your own version that works for you.
The only thing you need to do is to start criticise the way you consume.
Always ask yourself these questions before you buy anything:
- Do I need it?
- Do I already have something similar?
- Why do I want to buy it?
You will start to learn your consumation patterns and recognize when and why you want to go on a shopping spree.
If you shop to feel better I got some sad news for you, it will not solve your problem. You will be happy for a short time and after that you will go back to feeling sad, anxious, stressed or what ever feeling it was you where trying to run away from.
But I'm here to help you getting ready for that yard sale and guide you through what you need to think about.
Prepare:
When you go through your things make sure that you sort them into separate boxes with these categories
- Toys, baby things and kids books
- Adult books
- Kitchen, dinner sets, appliances
- Clothes
What to sort separate from the yard sale boxes (I will tell you why further down)
- Gold and silver jewelry
- Cristal glasses
- Inherited goods
- Furtnitures
- Designer clothes
There are the kinds of things that you don't want to sell on a year sale. I think it pretty much says it all too but I will explain.
You will get a lot more trying to sell these things online, through a specialized shop/pawn store or through an antique store.
People banter at yard sales and it's a stressful environment to these things you don't want to sell too cheap.
What goes fast and what goes slow?
I grew up with attending yard sales a lot during my child hood. My mother had some friends that would arrange the yard sale and we would all gather the family set up some tables and try to flip our old toys we did not want. Me and my sister got a table each and it is a memory that is dear to me since I remember the community spirit.
After it we would all eat hot dogs or hamburgers and socialize.
Today I know what will sell good and what will not so here is my tips.
By sorting your things you can put them up in different segments on the table.
Sells good
- Toys, baby things, children clothes and books (people will almost fight each other over these)
- Dinner sets
- Nicer bed linnens, towels and table clothes
Why are people going crazy over these things? Simple, it's expensive to by in the store and when it comes to baby stuff people have the attitude that you can never have too much. The kids will grow, they will drool, poop and make a mess so why not have 20 extra sets of clothes.
Does not sell good
- Books
- Clothes
- Cheap jewelry
- Shoes
Now why does this not sell good? It things that people by on the whim all the time and also can get a hand on where ever they go.
Pricing
By having all your things sorted you will save a lot of time on pricing since you don't need to double check and look twice on what that other book was. You get them all done at ones.
Make sure to not under price your things since people will try to make a bargain. You rather want to overprice just a tiny bit and if they seem unsure you can give them a special price just because they seem nice.
Tidy sh't up
I think this is common sence but make sure that your things are clean and dust free. That makes it so much easier to sell.
In case of zero energy for the yard sale
There is always local buy and sale Facebook groups
Apps and ebay to sell your things online is aways a great tool.
I will soon book a table at a yard sale and I will keep you updated on all the progress
If you liked this post and want to read more then feel free to visit some of my other posts :)
1, https://steemit.com/vegan/@nicoleslife/veganwednesday-discover-the-new-product-swedish-vegans-are-going-crazy-about
2, https://steemit.com/vegan/@nicoleslife/three-little-bliss-balls
3, https://steemit.com/vegan/@nicoleslife/layered-breakfast-smoothies
4, https://steemit.com/vegan/@nicoleslife/swedens-first-all-vegan-ice-cream-bar-is-open
5, https://steemit.com/travel/@nicoleslife/5-reasons-why-you-travel-alone
6, https://steemit.com/vegan/@nicoleslife/vegan-travel-guide-koh-phangang-eat-co
7, https://steemit.com/health/@nicoleslife/in-times-of-need-take-your-time-change-and-grow-stronger-d3f9293a720d8
8, https://steemit.com/food/@nicoleslife/pretty-peachy-pink-psmoothie-the-p-is-silent
Thank you for taking your time and read my post. It means a lot to me
If you liked it, please upvote, comment and resteem if you feel like it
Lots of love to you all / Nicole <3
Great read! Never did a lot of yard sales but we try to keep our stuff to an absolute minium since we moved to SE-Asia. Most things we buy come from Japanese recycle shop! Also, things sell so easy on facebook groups here. So every time we move we just sell everything we do not use or just give it away to neighbors!
That is so good :) I need to visit more second hand shops.
So happy to hear that you can sell things easy when you move. It makes it so much easier to leave quickly and travel around =)
I've lived by the following rule since I became attracted to minimalism ("Circles of Simplicity") in the late 1990's:
Count everything that you have. A box of paperclips counts as 1. If the paper clips are loose in a drawer, you must count each one. The lower the grand total is, the more peaceful and happy you will be. Period.
Almost 20 years ago, I decided that I wanted to reach the goal of living only with what would fit into a backpack. It took me 15 years to get there. I did get there, but then I rented a small storage unit and tooled up just a bit. I am still a wanderer, and I still basically live for arbitrarily long periods out of my backpack. But now I don't have to carry the stuff with me that I don't need right now but might need in the future.
The wanderer's lifestyle isn't for everyone. Another rule that I live by is: (1) Decide what God is calling you to do with your life. (You might need to translate that into your own belief system.) (2) Tool up so that you can pursue your calling. (3) Get rid of everything that is not directly required for that calling. (4) Be content with your pursuit of your calling; don't expect more from life. Living and working with passion, every day for the rest of your life, will give you joy and will attract people into your life who will amplify that joy.
I love having a lot of stuff. But it is a process, one thing at a time. More things means more responsibilities. It is good to save things and sometimes foolish not save things you may not need for many years to come. STEEM and Bitcoin is an example of how that works in the world of investments.
Simplicity isn't for everyone. Although I live a simple life in terms of wandering and having few possessions, my life is extremely complicated due to my activism, which requires that I practice law (for myself). To live a simple life, I would have to stop being an activist.
Economists use the concept of a "production efficiency frontier". Applied to simplicity, the idea is that you should choose your way of living to balance simplicity with, let's call it "richness". For the level of richness that you choose, accept no more complexity than is required.
Some people will choose to be way over toward richness because the richness is important to them and the associated complexity doesn't bother them. Other people will choose to be way over toward simplicity because they value the peace and focus of simplicity highly and are willing to give up a lot of richness in order to live simply.
I just love to read your comments :)
As I mentioned in my post we all need to find a way that works for us. To some just the thought of counting your things would be a no go.
And some love to challange themselfs to see how Little things they can acutally live with. Me included. If I buy one piece of clothing another have to go.
What people need to understand about minimalism is that there is no right or wrong. You do it as it pleaces you and to the level you feel comfortable about.
You can still be a minimalist and have a lot of things, but it will be the things that you feel happy about and that you know you will use.
To me it's about changing your mindset and not buy on impluse or to satisfy your feelings.
It's about not shopping because we have been programed by Sex and the city that we are successful and get a certain feeling when we walk down the streets with 10 000 bags in our hands.
It's about starting to question yourself and your choices :)
How terrible! Don't you care about all of the handbag workers and landfill tenders that you are throwing out of work! :)
I do, that's why I also think we need a resource based economy and not to live in a financiall based economy. 😊
As John Lennon sang so beautifully, "We'd all like to see the plan." I was speaking facetiously. You aren't throwing anyone out of work by reducing your economic gluttony. Unemployment is caused by other factors.
Haha I know ;)
Garage sales fall as Walmart rises. Love minimalism. Love the good life questions. Love to filter and organize.
That is true that's why it's important to choose what you bring to sell :). And it's just as important to shift your behavior towards buying new things as it is to clean out what you have.
If you don't nothing have really changed =)
Same thing goes with computer things, online things. I learn a lot while prioritizing what I do on computers, online, offline, with my time, with the limited space, in the files to get, keep, share, delete, recover, and everything.
That is really true. I rarely watch netflix or HBO anymore. Normal TV went out years ago. Now we are looking at gaia.com and when I want to relax and let my brain go quite I do some embroideries or read a fiction book =).
For me, I download videos, shows, movies, and more, off http://thepiratebay.org for free.
Haha that's one way to do it :D
Very helpful tips my dear, I love that I can see all the baby clothes we dont need anymore, but as you wrote, we have so much of it! Because babies just grow and grow and dont stop until they are adults;) But we have bought they second hand or got them from my mothers shop (organic clothes), so we luckely dont spend much money on it. But we have to sell a lot;)
I'm happy you liked it.
And it is so good to be able to let go of things. People have such a difficulty letting go of baby clothes, toys and so on but it's a real liberation of doing so =)
Thats so true!!