Things You'll Need:
- Jar or large plastic cup you don't intend on drinking from
- Trash bags or cardboard boxes
- Internet connection
- At least a day you can set aside for the project
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Step 1
First of all, a lot of people have to put themselves in the mood to do something like this. It is worthwhile however, once you realize how much getting clutter out of the way is going to save you some time. The extra cash you can earn later is more of a bonus. Anything you can do to make the environment fun--putting on some music, waiting for a nice sunny day, etc. will generally make things seem to go by more quickly.
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Step 2
The jar or plastic cup is going to be for spare change--you may be surprised by how much you find by the end of the day. From my own experience and from talking to other people who don't do this often, it's anywhere between $10-$50 scattered through your house right now.
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Step 3
Approach things room by room, dividing piles between keep, sell, donate, or toss--you can sort by using the boxes or trashbags. Along the way you may find items that you've meant to use for other projects but forgot about. You can set aside a bedroom to come back to these later. The same goes with larger items that you may want to sell.
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Step 4
A combination of eBay, Cragslist, Amazon, and traditional yard sales can get a lot of items out of the way over time. Used book stores are also a good option if you have one near you that pays well, or you can use trade credit to get some items you want in exchange for things you never use or read anymore.
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Step 5
After you've decluttered your home, now would be the time to look into storage options--if you buy the storage items first, you may end up keeping some things you may not have otherwise.
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Step 6
If you have anything in storage, it may be up to another day's work to go through it as well. This may be very worthwhile, especially if you're paying rent on a storage building and could be making some money instead.
Comments
Susanh said
on 1/21/2009 We've done this and it has afforded us extra cash, more room, and a more organized home. It's freedom! 5*****
Desula said
on 1/4/2009 Great tips, I'm hoping to declutter a lot of stuff in 2009. There is so much stuff in my home, I'm sure others could better benefit from some of the things I don't use.