Time to de-clutter!

Image by besighyawn via FlickrOur neighbor is having a yard sale in two weeks. Which means free traffic in the front yard, which means it's a good time for us to have a yard sale. 

We're not yard sale people.  We've only ever had one, and it was a success. We cleaned out a lot of things, got things we didn't need into hands that did, and made a few bucks in the process.

So we've decided to have a yard sale again to: 

Reduce: I'm not a clutter person at all! I usually always have a bag going to be donated to Goodwill; I take it by when it's full. We donate a lot, but have decided to have a yard sale next week for a bunch of reasons.
One is my son: he really wants to have his own little sale. I think it's good for him to clean out and de-clutter before the holidays.

Ownership: By having his own table, he will bring ownership to it: deciding what to purge, how to price it, making change, and seeing his old toys in the hands of someone that is ready to make it his/her own.

Giving Back: We are also encouraging him to give a part of his earnings to our church or charity of his choice. By cleaning out, we can give back and make better use of the space we have.




I'm also planning on reducing on the paper front. We cleaned out my mom's house this summer, and it motivated me to reduce my stamp on the world (ie reduce what my only son will have to clean out one day on my behalf!).

One area I'm tackling first: Pictures. Because I love to take pictures, I have a lot of albums. A lot. I'm on a mission to reduce those pictures to just the most meaningful ones, and look into ways to copy, bind or digitize those images into a smaller binder or wall collage that has meaning and we can enjoy.  Otherwise, I have shelves full of pictures we never look at. 

Another area of de-cluttering I want to tackle is the "junk" or miscellaneous drawers.  I've tried a few methods, without luck.  This time I'm thinking of dumping a few drawers into a big bin and slowly moving back only what I need in particular areas. That's my thought; we'll see how it goes!

Having a yard sale also gives you one other positive: a deadline.  I plan to go through every closet, every drawer and from the attic to the garage to see what can go.  And by go, I mean GO!  Nothing comes back into the house; anything not sold goes to Goodwill.  

Reduce reduce reduce....I love the feeling!

Also this week, I am resting. Hauling around 12' pieces of lumber took its toll, so I'm planning lower key projects for this week, including some fun crafting projects I'm testing for our next MOPS meeting. 

I'll keep you posted!