Sell my (useless) junk on CL.

There’s no milestone on this goal, which I think is really important for finishing them.

So I’m setting one.

The basement bedroom is the collection area for useless crap that’s waiting to be sold, donated, fixed, fit back into or picked up. Most of the CL crap is in there. At some point, I’d like to refinish that room, and before I can do that, it has to be emptied.

There will, most certainly, still be useless junk around the house even after that point, but at least I won’t feel like such a hoarder. So that’s the endgame. Empty the basement bedroom.

I’d been trying to sell my bedframe on CL for quite a while now…on and off. Wouldn’t want to be one of those constant poster types…

I wanted $300 for it…I bought it for $400, had a pain in the ass time getting it home and setup, enjoyed it for a few months and then discovered it was too big for my bedroom. And not exactly my style. Especially now that I have a dog.

Last week, my dad and a friend’s friend reshingled my roof. They did an awesome job, highlighted by the fact that the roof no longer leaks and the place seems to stay warmer, now that they spread out and added insulation.

Anyway, the friend’s friend asked Dad how much I wanted for the bed. Dad asked whether $100 would be about right, and I said “not quite.” He interpreted that to mean too much, when it really meant not enough.

So he sold my bed for $50.

I’m not upset. It’s over and done with, and the bed is out of my house. The guy was a great help around the job, and around the house…ended up cleaning my gutters, raking my leaves, shutting in the attic for the season…and didn’t mind the pain in the ass dog. And Dad gave a good part of the roof to me as a gift…some in materials, most in labor. There’s just no reason to get weird about $250.

But it is a reminder to be careful about communication with my dad. Because we’re totally talking to one other from opposite ends of the spectrum.

(see? nice roof!)

But I dropped a few boxes of stuff off at Goodwill. These were the things it just wasn’t worth it to take the energy and try and sell for a few bucks a piece. I’ll write them off on my taxes and call it a draw.

Mostly clothes that didn’t fit, a pair of shoes that were too worn for work, and some things that “came with the house.” Like rugs for the toilet seat…I hate those. Ick. Just clean the damn seat. A hand-me-down “shoe suitcase.” And all the stationary that was culled from last weeks cleaning frenzy…before I could change my mind.

I am fighting the compulsive hoarding…I will never get around to turning those crappy thank you notes into something worth using. Just make new thank yous from scratch…I’ll enjoy it more.

I finally figured it out. You’d think it wouldn’t take me so long…but it did.

The most people are looking for furniture when they are moving, or just after. Around here, that means at the beginning and end of the school year…the 15th of Aug, 1st of Sept, 15th of May, 1st of June.

I managed to sell quite a few things in the beginning of summer, but let life get ahead of me towards the end. But, most of the big stuff is gone…entertainment center, IKEA chairs, patio set, smaller beds. There is still a large bed that I bought on CL that I don’t want to take too much of a hit on. My neighbor might buy the IKEA table that no one else is interested in, or I might just give it away for free.

There’s really no rush. It’d be nice to have that room empty and clean, but until the roof is repaired, the attic insulated, the siding done and the walls spray-foamed, there will be no basement work.

Patience.

I sold the patio set, which is a biggie. Other stuff, I can donate, I can give away…but that was worth something, and I couldn’t just let it go.

Finally, with the holiday weekend in sight, people started realizing they’d need a table and chairs for the summer…and I got offers. Actually took the first one…wanted the cash, didn’t want the hassle. She didn’t take the glider, which means I can sell that at a later date once I have a better plan for the porch. It’s a beautiful set…I just didn’t have space for it.

A few more pieces of furniture are up…fingers crossed that they go this weekend…students moving out and grads moving in this time of year means there’s a lot of flux.

Now that the patio furniture is gone, there’s an end in sight! (Anyone want a media center?)

...only sold one. I don’t mind taking a 20% hit on the price, but I’d rather not have to lower the price before someone starts negotiating.

But obviously, these things aren’t as desirable as previously thought. Or as valuable.

Posted 5 things this week. No bites on any of them. I’ve got good descriptions, reasonable prices and clear photos. What gives!

I reposted them all this morning, since a lot of people look on Friday to buy things over the weekend. Hopefully I get some hits, or else they’re going to goodwill…

I’ve been working on this for awhile now. It’s not so hard, as long as I’m home at decent hours to take photos and be here for people to check stuff out and pick it up.

I’m afraid that I’ve sold the easiest stuff, though, and will have a harder time moving what’s left. I just have to commit to posting 3-4 things a week and getting 2-3 of them gone – as long as I price things correctly, it should work out.

The goal is for this to help my budget by keeping a wad of spare cash in my wallet so I don’t have to take money out of the ATM. It certainly helped this week when I was on vacation (though, I forgot about it and put plants on the credit card anyway…oops).