Three weekends ago, to officially kick off the spring cleaning season, we had a multi-house yard sale with two of our neighbors. Whenever friends hear that we had a yard sale, the first thing all of them invariably ask is, "Did you make a lot of money?" Frankly, they're missing the point. It wasn't a get-rich-quick scheme; it was a get-rid-of-the-clutter plan (and an environmentally responsible plan, instead of sending the stuff to a landfill, which is my big pet peeve). Guess what? The plan worked. (But yes, we made a good chunk of change, especially considering that we were selling things we didn't want, use, or need anymore.) Even better, we learned some valuable lessons:
Just let it go already. I'm all for clearing out and cleaning up, but letting go of some things was harder than others. In particular, I had to part with the crib both of my babies (now 9 and almost 6) had taken their turns sleeping in. I'm already at the point where I can pass on their baby clothes to Goodwill or a consignment shop without dissolving into tears (that's a future post), but the crib? That was HARD. In fact, even though nobody had slept in the crib for years, I'd been using it in our guestroom to store extra blankets, just so I wouldn't have to part with it. (See below--this is not what a crib is intended for.)
So, yes, I let it go (sniffle, sniff...). I will admit that the guestroom looks a lot more welcoming now, with a bistro table and a couple of chairs in place of the crib. (No, I didn't buy those items--they were hold-outs from one of my old apartments, just sitting in our basement until the yard sale weekend.)
"The Thing is not the Person." This lesson comes courtesy of the organizing genius Peter Walsh, from his old days on the TLC show "Clean Sweep." When he told his clients, "The Thing is NOT the Person", he meant "take a long, hard look at the sentimental thing you won't part with, and decide if you really need it to remind you of the person. Also, if you really, truly value something that reminds you of someone, its place is not in the attic, the basement, or the back of a closet. If you can't use it, can't frame or display it, or can't otherwise pay worthy tribute to it, let it go to somebody who actually will use it and appreciate it on a daily basis." Chances are pretty good that you have other, much better ways of remembering the person, such as photos, which brings me to the next point...
Take a picture of it. Especially in the digital age, a photo takes up virtually no space, so you can still gaze at the thing you got rid of and sigh dramatically at it.
Get the kids on-board. At first, our children were a bit skeptical about thinning out their toy collections, so we had to resort to offering them one special new toy each if they would part with all of the toys they'd outgrown (which was A LOT). However, they're at the stage now when they want to be viewed as "big kids", so getting rid of "baby stuff" turned out to be easier for them than for us. A couple of weeks before the sale, we gave them an empty box for yard sale items, and we were surprised at how quickly they filled it up.
One sticking point was that my daughter didn't want to part with her teddy bear toddler bed, because she "wanted to save it for her own kids someday." She was in tears about it, so I told her she could keep it. (I may be on a minimalism jag, but I do have a heart.) She soon realized, all on her own, that the bed was just gathering cobwebs in the basement (and she does NOT like spiders). It gave her comfort to think the bed would go to a good home with a child who would sleep in it again.
Never underestimate the power of "free"-dom. We had a whole table of stuff with a big "FREE" sign on it, and it was the most popular spot at the sale. If people weren't going to buy anything, at least they were still going to take something away with them. Good items for a "free" table: cheap party favors and prizes, plastic toys of poor quality, and items a bit too worn-out to sell. I even put out a few products that I used once and didn't like (hair products, household cleaners), and they disappeared in a flash.
Don't let anything back into the house. If somebody is interested in something, he or she might be the only one who will be interested in it. Strike a fair deal and let it go. Anything you can't sell, donate.
Enjoy the fringe benefits. Aside from earning a little cash and a lot of space, our whole family was outdoors for an entire weekend, enjoying fresh air and sunshine. All of the kids from each of the three participating households were running from yard to yard, thoroughly happy and engaged with each other. As for us parents, we enjoyed a few cold beers together afterwards and some "decompression therapy."
Relish the new space. I'm not talking about NASA here. Once you get rid of stuff, don't fill the space back up. Let it breathe. Our basement and garage have never been cleaner. Ever. It's mentally and physically liberating. And that leads me to my last point--something I'm always telling my children when they ask me, yet again, "Mommy, whyyyyyyyy do we need to clean up?"
"Clean House, Clear Mind." Enough said.
When you see a yard sale, do you stop to shop or keep on driving? Have you ever had a yard sale of your own? If so, what did you learn from it?
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Great tips! I like don't let anything back into the house. I'm hopefully going to do one this summer o I'll remember these. I am worried about getting the kids on board. They are the worst for holding onto things and if inlet them see what I'm thinking of selling or giving away half of it makes it back into their bedrooms.
Posted by: Christy | 05/04/2013 at 10:57 PM
Hi Christy,
Its true that kids are usually tough about letting things go (even toys that kids havent played with in years all of a sudden become their favorites when youre trying to get rid of them), so if you can strike a bargain with the kids beforehand--such as offering to buy them ONE new thing theyve really been wanting (hopefully, not too expensive!)--it can help ease them into it. I dont like getting them into the mindset of buying more things, but its worth it to get rid of a LOT of stuff if youre only bringing one new thing per kid into the house. Good luck with your sale!
Posted by: Joy @ JoyfullyGreen.com | 05/05/2013 at 06:50 AM