Where Has the Time Gone?

 

Confession time:  here are my two large bins of yarn. 

It's been just over a year now since I've visited this space.  Where has the time gone?  I'd like to say I have been a powerhouse accomplishing all my goals, but sadly this isn't so.  I lost my momentum last winter and fell off the wagon of downsizing.  While I did get rid of lots of stuff, more has crept back in.  Space is a vacuum as they say.  

But what really went wrong?  Well, I'd have to say a couple of things happened.  First, I tend to shop online in the dark months of January and February when my depression is at it's worst.  I can actually track this habit back quite a few years now and a habit it has become.  While it feels wonderful to look at pretty things and purchase them, I would almost instantly have buyer's remorse and lots of guilt, guilt, guilt upon receiving the item.  I realize that this has to stop and to stop it I need to stop going to those shopping sites.  Window shopping is just something I am terrible at as I always, and I mean always, end up buying something.  Being an introvert by nature makes online shopping a blessing and a curse as they say.  I avoid all the crowds, noise, and people, which for me is a good thing, but it also makes shopping too easy as I am able to do it in my pajamas at any time of day or night.  So, now I'm only using my computer to sell stuff, check email and stay motivated by reading/watching/listening to people talk about downsizing, tiny homes and minimalism.  No more shopping for me.

Secondly, I think I've put myself into temptation's path too often.  Now, temptation is very different for people, but for me this meant:  going to Sheep and Wool Festivals where there is lots of fibery goodness for sale (remember I knit and spin yarn), going to my local yarn shop just to "look" at what's new, going to knitting events like Yarnover or retreats where there is lots of shopping.  Now, I know I can't just isolate myself at home for the rest of my life, but I think knowing my weaknesses will help me.  Thus, this year I will only go to one knitting event that I'm taking a class at and will skip the shopping, instead of the four fiber events I went to last year.  

Something else has occurred to me this year too.  My crafting hobbies need to be downsized even more.  If we are going to live in a tiny house (yes, those ones you've seen on wheels) then spinning yarn has to go as it simply takes up too much room with a spinning wheel, multiple tools and all that fluffy fiber. This thought made me also acknowledge that my knitting hobby really needs a few tweaks to make it fit better with a minimalist lifestyle.  Instead of knitting whatever takes my fancy I really need to either make sure what I knit for myself coordinates my wardrobe, is something I'll actually use and something I need, or I need to knit for other people be it friends, family or charity organizations.  Knitting does make a product and that product has to go somewhere right?  This tweaking of my knitting has me getting back on that downsizing wagon with going through my yarn stash and culling as much as I can.  It also started me on another downsizing project which I'll tell you about next time.  Bye!

Books, Books, Books

My "library" of books.

I used to have lots and lots of books back when I was in Graduate school in California (it was for fine arts in case you were wondering.)  Books from all my undergraduate classes (I used to choose a class based on it's reading list), lots of Art books, biographies and novels.  I loved seeing them on my shelves and they made my sterile apartment very homey.  But when my then boyfriend / now husband asked me to take a month long camping trip as a way of getting back to Minnesota we decided to ship all my stuff home instead of renting a moving van.  Since we were shipping everything UPS and shipping costs are based on weight it quickly became apparent that many of the books had to go.  I gave them to friends and sold the rest at my local used book store as it was 1996 and email was in it's baby stages let alone online selling.

When I finally arrived home I moved in with my mother until Dan and I could find a place of our own to live.  So, I left the majority of my things in their shipping boxes waiting.  It took longer than we anticipated for us to find a house; about 1 1/2 years.  When we finally moved and I started unpacking those boxes from over a year ago I realized I didn't miss much of it, and in fact I decided to get rid of about half of all I owned.  See, even though we had this lovely house, we didn't have much furniture to put things on or in.  I was off to Half Priced Books this time to sell more of my book collection.

Of course we eventually got shelves and furniture and stuff and books crept back into our home.  Fast forward to current time and our new goal of downsizing and all those books, that seemed to grow to the space given them, had to go.  I started with selling on Amazon as I was getting very little at our local Half Priced Book Store (they usually give you something like 10% of the half off the original price.  So for example your $12.00 book they would sell for $6.00 and give you 60 cents.  Not much.)  I would look up my book title on Amazon and see what the lowest price was for a used copy.  If that price was over $10.00 I would go ahead and list it and If it was under $10.00 I found it simply wasn't worth the time and effort to ship with Amazons fees.  I did save money by using used padded mailers which my husband got for free off of Craig's List, but it still seemed like a hassle for a couple of dollars. The books I listed sold pretty fast (within 2 weeks), but you do have to wait about three weeks for the money to be deposited into your bank account. Then I took that bunch of books that were below the $10 mark on Amazon and listed them on Craig's List.  And the ones that didn't sell after a few months on CL then went to Half Priced Books. Then the books rejected by Half Priced Books got dropped off at the Goodwill on my way home.

Now, I still love to read, but I use my library for reading material instead of stores.  Once in a while the library won't carry what I want so I will bend and buy a used copy of that book, but when I'm done reading it out of the house it goes.  My personal "library" now consists of a sock knitting book, Pride and Prejudice (given to me by my husband), Gift from the Sea (given to me by my father), Watership Down (given to me by my brother), 4 cookbooks and a few books on Unschooling.  Digital books would probably be another solution, but I have yet to embrace this medium and like the feel of a good old book in my hands.

Revamping Your Hobbies

 My hobby corner of the living room.

I'm a pretty crafty person and find joy in making things myself, but in our war against stuff I found being a serial hobbyist is antithetical.  Thus, I went through all of my hobbies picking out just the two that bring me the most pleasure and scrap the rest along with all their equipment.  The two I picked are knitting and spinning as fiber really is my true passion and not much more than a day goes by where I don't do one or the other.  

Beeswax candle making with all it's melting pots, molds, jars and wicking supplies was one hobby that met the chopping block.  Soap making was another, with it's dedicated stock pot, hand mixer, spoons and vast variety of oils and nut butter ingredients.  I also used to make all our lotions, lip balms, shampoo, beauty masks, sugar scrubs and even toothpaste all of which had lots of left over ingredients and containers to be sold.  Being an Art major from undergraduate and graduate school I accumulated lots of supplies for many different kinds of art making, but after I culled a few things for my son's use I sold the rest which included paints, litho print blocks, inks and tools, drawing supplies, woodworking chisels and gouges, and all of my metalsmithing materials and equipment.  It was very freeing to let go of all these supplies as I'm no longer interested in these pursuits.  I used to play the piano too, and while we have a piano now there will not be room in our next house for it so I have sold my stacks of music books  keeping only four with songs that I still play from once in a blue moon.  When we move I'll give these last books to my father or brother who still play regularly.  

The last to go was sewing and it was a hard one for me.  I've sewn clothing since I was a child, but I really don't have the long stretches of uninterrupted time that I need now that I have a child of my own.  Fabric and patterns were just accumulating on my shelves and I felt guilty over the waste, but thought I would still get to using them.  Well, now I've admitted to myself that even if I had the time I probably would choose knitting or spinning over sewing as they are very relaxing for me where sewing, if I'm truly honest, has always stressed me out.  You see if you cut the fabric wrong you now have scrap fabric as you cannot redo a cut.  Whereas with knitting you can always rip back your knitting, wind up the yarn and start a fresh.  So, I have sold most of the fabric (still have more to do), notions, lots of thread, some tools such as scissors, pinking shears and marking pens, but I do still have my sewing machine, basic thread and sewing needles for patching and making repairs.  I would eventually like to sell the sewing machine, but I'm just not ready.

And I think this is an important thing to note that I did all the above in stages as I couldn't "see" everything that needed to go all at once, but instead getting rid of one hobby made it easier to get rid of the next and so on.  Also, some items are simply harder to let go of then others, but eventually they will go if that's your goal.  I sold almost all of this on Craig's list with the exception of the fabric which I sold on Etsy.  I already had an Etsy shop so it was easy for me, but it may be worth setting up a shop if you have lots of new craft supplies with name brands (most of my fabric I knew the designer's name, company, and name of the pattern) or antiques.  People really do search for specific designer brands on fabric nowadays and I found I got a good price and they sold fairly quickly on Etsy compared to when I tried to sell my fabric and patterns on CL.

Actually, I do have one more hobby I kept, but it only takes up the space of a regular sized shopping bag and it helps me with my downsizing.  Have you guessed it?  It's scrapbooking.  I scrapbook with my friends once a month whittling our photos, child art and mementos down to a book.  I could simply keep all our photos digitally and dump the physical ones, but I find we don't enjoy them that way.  We enjoy looking through our past in the form of a book on a lap sitting close to one another on the couch.  I fit a couple to a few years per scrapbook (or in my case one scrapbook for all my childhood and youth) saving only a few special photos to remember events by.  Again, my hope is to give my son Sam memories, but not weigh him down with the past.

Finding Homes for Unwanted Goods

Our "free" box for putting items out on our curb.  It doesn't blow away!

After you have been selling, gifting and donating for awhile you will begin to come across some things that you don't know how to get rid of except to the dump.  And while the dump is an option, it really is one of last resort and with a little research you can probably find someplace/someone who will except your items.  For instance, if you have hard to get rid of items like used mattresses, large furniture and even TV's there are local charities that specialize in helping people transitioning out of homelessness and poverty set up a household.  Here in the Minneapolis area of Minnesota that organization is Bridging.  You can bring your items to them or they will send a truck, and the muscle to move you items, to you for a fee.  Partially used makeup and beauty products are another hard to dispose of item, but many local women's shelters will gladly except accept this kind of donation.  And don't forget about using old standbys like Craig's List or Freecycle as both are free online sites to list your items to give away to other individuals.  Also, if you live on a busy street you can always just put items on the curb with a free sign on it.  Once when we were bringing items to the curb from our garage (which is at the back of our house on an alley) the previous items disappeared by the time we walked to the garage and back.  Now that's instant gratification for you!

Another, great way to dispose of unwanted stuff and even make a little extra money is to sell any used scrap metal and even fine metal items you don't need anymore.  I used to be a metalsmith artist years ago and had lots of left over copper and even though it was a small amount of only 10 pounds my local scrapyard happily took it and gave me a check to boot!  My husband has repaired computers for years and has a huge stash of cords that contain guess what?  Lots of copper!  Now he is also off to the scrapyard to recycle and make some spare change.  I'm not too sentimental a person so I have even sold old jewelry and christening gifts that were made of precious metals such as silver, gold or platinum to a local shop in my area for cash.  It may sound a bit harsh to get rid of a christening cup in this manner, but I think of it as one less memento my son will have to deal with after I'm gone.  This truly is my thought process as I filter through all our stuff  - "What use will this be to Sam?"  Does he really need a large tub of all my childhood photos, drawings and treasures?  Or, would a single scrapbook be a better way to remember his mom?  Maybe it's a morbid outlook, but with my mom being a hoarder I often think of all her stuff that will one day be my stuff whether I want it to be or not.  Paring down all our belongings, especially those of sentimental value I like to think of as a future gift to my son.  I want to give him memories of the past, but not weigh him down with it. 

So As I Was Saying...

A dark ugly corner of our basement that needs going through.  Yikes!

 
I was thinking I left a few things out the other day about Craig's List.  For instance shipping. You will get asked about shipping items from time to time and I am not wholly against this if the item in not likely to break (I've sold a lot of yarn this way) and the buyer is willing to pay through PayPal.  I have the shipping supplies on hand due to my knitted toy business so it's not really a big deal especially since you can buy and print labels online at USPS.  But do make sure that the buyer pays for shipping charges and the PayPal fee for sending the money.

What to sell on CL was another thought I had, but that one is pretty easy to answer - pretty much anything if you're willing to wait long enough.  By that I mean that your stuff might not sell and at the end of 30 days your listing will no longer be renewable.  It will still be up but way down at the bottom of the listings.  Then what should you do?  Well, I give items up to three months to sell so I make a new ad for the same item and delete the old non renewable ad.  This may sound like a pain and if it is for you then go ahead and donate that item.  I basically try selling everything first and if at the end of 3 months it still hasn't sold (hasn't happened too often) I will donate it or re-list it in the "free" section on CL.  

I'd like to talk more about what I give away on Craig's List.  Mainly things that I think would get thrown out if I donated them or items that the charity pickups don't accept.  For instance, today I gave away a WaterPik that was only used a few times, but somehow we managed to loose the charger for it.  Now, my son didn't take to it so I don't want the hassle of finding another charger, but that doesn't mean someone else would mind.  I also got rid of all my hair accessories like barrettes, binders and clips since I cut my hair short as well as all my nail polish , new emery boards and 4 extra clippers.  Totally useful stuff, but really unsellable.  I feel good not to put more in a landfill and hopefully I helped someone out.  It's simply recycling I guess. 

Now it's funny that I'm going to say this as I have an ad for clothing up currently, but the one thing I find that does not sell well is clothing.  The ad I have up now is for new pants that were washed then deemed too big by my son - can't be returned, but easy to sell.  And certain high end children's clothes will go, but regular used clothing I find it's better to simply donate to your favorite charity.  

Someone asked me why I didn't use eBay, especially when we sold all my son's Legos, as you can get a better price and my response was all the fees and if the purchaser didn't like it the item they leave bad feed back and nasty emails (happened once to me and it was ugly - yuck.)  No fees with CL and if they don't like it they don't buy it - so simple.  You may not get the best price for your item, but then again you did get more than at a garage sale where you sit around all day and maybe sell it. 

Well, I think I've finally exhausted all I can say about Craig's List except if you haven't tried it yet - do!  It can be very rewarding. 

Craig's List Solution to Downsizing and Clutter

Hello again.  Today I'm going to talk about how Craig's List can be a great solution to downsizing and getting rid of clutter.  What you see above is all the items I currently have listed on CL.  Since deciding to move and build a new smaller house, I have been actively trying to get rid all our extra stuff and one great way is Craig's List.  Because we need money to fix up our current place, and money to build our new place, I try to sell anything I can for extra cash.  I will sell things for as little as a dollar, which most people would say isn't worth the time of placing the ad, but I disagree as all those single dollars can add up faster than you think.  The low price makes people stop and look at your ad and then they can see all the other items you've listed with the usual result being they buy many of your items instead of just the one.  They get a fantastic deal and you have less things to maintain in your home plus a little extra money - a win win situation if you ask me.

To be successful on Craig's List I feel you need to be able to do/accept the following: 

1) You need to be available.  If you have a very hectic schedule arranging pick ups is going to drive you nuts.  I'm a home most everyday as I homeschool my son and he likes being a home most of the time so our schedule is very open.

2) You have to be prompt with replies.  People will lose interest, think better of it or have found the item from someone else.  Now, some things are really easy to sell and you will always have offers, but unique items can take a long time to sell so don't lose that person who wants it.

3) You need time.  If you're really strapped for time it might be better for you just to donate items to a local charity, especially one of the ones that can pick up - they are awesome.  Dragging out the item, taking a photo, loading that photo on your computer and typing up the ad do take time.  But, you don't have to do lots at once.  I usually take a lot of photos at one time then only write up an ad or two a day.

4) Renew your items as often as you can.  CL now has a renew feature where you can just press a renew button, which is to the left of your ad on your account page, every 48 hours and it will bring your item back to the top of the list. 

5) Know your boundaries and your limits and stick to them.  For instance, I only communicate through email.  I don't like giving out my phone number and I find email less invasive to my day.  Also, I only meet people if they are spending a lot of money.  It just isn't worth my time and gas to drive somewhere for only a few dollars.  If people want to meet somewhere because they are scared of something bad happening I tell them I'll come out to their car or the sidewalk and we can do the transaction there which relieves most people.  What I'm looking for is transactions that make the least interruption to my day.  Now these two examples might not work for you, but what I'm saying is you can have CL work for you and not the other way around.

6) Lastly, people will stand you up.  It just happens.  Some give notice and others don't, but you do need to accept that it's part of doing business on Craig's List because if you don't it can be truly maddening.

I have been plugging away at Craig's List this year and have made over $3000.  Now, you might be thinking I sold expensive items, but no, most of my ads were for things $10 and under (which does say something about how much stuff we have - yikes.)  But, the best thing besides earning more income and getting rid of unneeded stuff was that it inspired my son.  He wanted to buy a Nintendo 3DS, but I told him we didn't have it in our budget to buy him one, even a used one.  I then asked him how did he think he could make the money himself and he said he could sell his Legos on Craig's List.  It was a great solution to trade an unused toy for a new toy with the added benefit that he got the satisfaction of earning his own money and getting to purchase what he wanted with that money.  I'll leave you there as this post is getting quite long.  I guess I have a lot to say on the matter.  Hope you find it helpful.  Bye!