DEJUNKING--what to do with the "junk"?

[Ottakee]

We just found out that instead of likely having to leave our house in about 6 months (highway coming through our 5 1/2 acre hobby farm) we will now have 2-3 more years here. That said, I still need to do a MAJOR dejunking.

 

I have it planned out to have a young lady come and help me with the cleaning/hauling, etc. while my girls are at school (they go to public school now for the special needs). I just need ideas on what to do with all of the STUFF.

 

I can imagine I will have clothes, books, toys, electronics like older video game systems, old computer games, older computer monitors, more toys, shoes, coats, etc.

 

We live in a more rural area where garage sales don't do very well. I don't know if it would be worth going through the work of setting up a sale to not have a lot of people come.

 

Would people feel comfortable having a "free" garage sale where I just set the stuff out and let people come and get what they want? We are not in a high crime area at all but I wonder about people checking us out.

 

Donate it all to a place like Goodwill or church based charity?

 

Sell the stuff on Craig's list? Is that worth it?

 

My other crazy thought would be to have a "free" garage sale at the church gym where anyone from church could bring anything they didn't want/need anymore and drop it off. Then we would open the doors to the church members and public at large to come and take what they want. Then I would arrange for a charity to come with a van to pick up all left overs---is that crazy???? We do live in an area with tough economic times so that might be a hit.

 

Any other ideas? I just need the stuff GONE. Extra money would be nice but my main goal is to get RID OF STUFF.

[Mejane]

Donate it. Save yourself aggravation and get a tax deduction at the same time.

[elegantlion]

Donate it. Save yourself aggravation and get a tax deduction at the same time.

 

 

:iagree:Another thing I have done is set out the freebie stuff and invite my friends over for coffee. We chat, hang out, and at the end of the evening they are free to take home anything from the freebie pile, please. What ever is left gets donated.

 

We're going through this process right now. I have no energy for a garage sale, I'd rather give stuff away.

[anneofalamo]

You can contact the charity of your choice, explain the situation and set up a time they will bring a truck to your home to fill! That gives you a set time and it goes away!!!

[StephanieZ]

1) If you know someone who could use something you want to get rid of, then give it away. Small scale gifting to someone you know just makes the world a better place and makes you feel so good.

 

2) Otherwise, donate it. Saves you the hassles and gives you a tax write off.

 

3) If you don't itemize your deductions (and so won't benefit from a tax deduction), then you could freecycle or Craig's List it and/or send out emails/facebook announcements of stuff you want to get rid of.

[Perry]

I've had great success with Craigslist for furniture and bigger stuff. I donate clothes and small stuff. Garage sales have been a total waste of time for me.

[Spryte]

If you're doing a slow dejunking process, freecycle has worked wonders for me.

 

I didn't have time or energy to do a major de-junking (in which case, calling a truck to pick up a load of donations would have been the way to go!).

 

So several times a week, I load up a bag or two, post them to our local freecycle group, and put them on the porch. Before I know it, the items are gone, there is a sweet thank you note in my email inbox, and it was all fairly painless.

 

If you're worried about people coming to the house to scope it out, that might not work. But if you're like me, in a low crime area, it might work. I have been freecycling for a good 4 years - with no problems. Our house has gone from over-flowing to ... well, not perfectly organized, but definitely not over-flowing.

[Punks in Ontario]

I live in a rural area on a minor paved road. Large items such as furniture, we just leave by the road with a free sign. I've never had to move anything back yet, and I've left some rather beat up couches out.

 

Good clothes and toys I usually "gift" to one or two families by the bagfull. I tend to deliver, just to have the stuff gone from my house.

 

Other good items that I don't know a family that will use them, I gift to a charity box.

 

If clothes are stained, torn, or well worn, I just throw them out. Clothes are cheap and plentiful enough even for the poor, that I don't feel guilty.

 

The rest I either burn (I do live rural), or take to the dump. Fortunately, we have a free dump which I know many don't.

 

Metal items such as pop cans, motors, and metal furnture we sell at a scrap metal place.

 

I just took a few weeks this summer to purge. It took alot of work, but wow is it refreshing to walk into a storage room that still has walking space!

[Dobela]

I don't Freecycle anymore unless I have time to deal with it. In our area we have too many no shows, late shows, and such that I feel like a mess manager rather than a gifter.

 

I am seriously dejunking right now as well. I just took 3 large boxes and a bag full of books and videos to our library for their sales. Clothes, working/decent toys and small household items I am taking to various charity organizations around town a box or 2 at a time. If I wanted to do it in one big swoop then I would call Abilities Unlimited or Salvation Army for a truck pick up. I think a couple of the other thrift stores in town (like the Rehab Hospital and Habitate for Humanity ReStore) will send a van out if I wished.

 

If clothing is stained or in poor repair, I will often give those to Goodwill over other charities here. They take those clothing items and sell them for rags to make more money. Other charities will just throw them away.

 

I will be listing bigger furniture items on Craigslist and the local yahoo group for 'Buy-Sell-Trade'.

 

I just want to say that dejunking has been hard work, but I feel so much better since I have been doing it. I am amazed at how much all tht stuff effects someone.

[justasque]

I bring things to homeschooling events, like roller skating. Whatever is not taken, goes to the Goodwill on the way home.

 

I also put aside certain things for certain people (clothes, mostly) and put them in my car, so that they are ready when I see that person.

 

I find de-junking to be easier in a somewhat ongoing/layered process. If you have somewhere you can take stuff that's on your regular route, it's easier. So, for example, you can put stuff in your car throughout the week, then every Tuesday donate to Goodwill when you pass it on the way to soccer or whatever.

[happi duck]

We just found out that instead of likely having to leave our house in about 6 months (highway coming through our 5 1/2 acre hobby farm) we will now have 2-3 more years here. That said, I still need to do a MAJOR dejunking.

 

I have it planned out to have a young lady come and help me with the cleaning/hauling, etc. while my girls are at school (they go to public school now for the special needs). I just need ideas on what to do with all of the STUFF.

 

I can imagine I will have clothes, books, toys, electronics like older video game systems, old computer games, older computer monitors, more toys, shoes, coats, etc.

 

We live in a more rural area where garage sales don't do very well. I don't know if it would be worth going through the work of setting up a sale to not have a lot of people come.

 

Would people feel comfortable having a "free" garage sale where I just set the stuff out and let people come and get what they want? We are not in a high crime area at all but I wonder about people checking us out.

 

Donate it all to a place like Goodwill or church based charity?

 

Sell the stuff on Craig's list? Is that worth it?

 

My other crazy thought would be to have a "free" garage sale at the church gym where anyone from church could bring anything they didn't want/need anymore and drop it off. Then we would open the doors to the church members and public at large to come and take what they want. Then I would arrange for a charity to come with a van to pick up all left overs---is that crazy???? We do live in an area with tough economic times so that might be a hit.

 

Any other ideas? I just need the stuff GONE. Extra money would be nice but my main goal is to get RID OF STUFF.

 

Our church had a "free" garage sale and it was GREAT! We kept everything really organized, no one was greedy and many people found exactly what they needed! Even non-essentials are worthwhile...many people found items that were perfect for gifting. We even had furniture and a car! It was a blessing all around!

 

The leftover clothes were given to another congregation with an ongoing clothing ministry. The other items were picked up by another church that was having a garage sale the next week. Otherwise, we would have donated to another charity.

 

The free sale was the most fun to work on. It was a lot of work but it was exciting too. Some people were concerned about dealers stopping in and taking everything but that didn't happen. (We did post "no dealers please" just in case) We did not open the sale early and handed out numbers as people arrived. If the crowd was too big we planned to let in a few numbers at a time to avoid a ruckus when the doors opened.

 

For us, being organized made a big difference. IMHO, the time saved because nothing needs to be priced is best used to get everything neat and easy to find. It kept the "sale" from seeming like digging through the trash, KWIM?

[Ottakee]

I talked to our pastor and he would like to do this. I would LOVE any and all ideas on making this work smoothly.

 

We are a more rural area so I have no idea how big of a crowd we would have but I want to be prepared.

 

Our church had a "free" garage sale and it was GREAT! We kept everything really organized, no one was greedy and many people found exactly what they needed! Even non-essentials are worthwhile...many people found items that were perfect for gifting. We even had furniture and a car! It was a blessing all around!

 

 

[AuntieM]

I've had great success with Craigslist for furniture and bigger stuff. I donate clothes and small stuff. Garage sales have been a total waste of time for me.

 

Garage sale = torture

 

I have been really clearing things out this year (see my sig line) and this is what I have done:

 

Any item that will fetch $10 or more, I put on craigslist (set your bottom line $ anywhere you want).

 

Fine china: I've sold a few pieces of that on eBay (not this year yet but getting ready to soon since the table-setting holidays are soon to be upon us).

 

Books/curricula, try homeschoolclassifieds.com for anything that will be worth your time to market, wrap and mail. Otherwise, Half Price Books gets to take it off my hands, maybe in exchange for enough coins to buy a coffee.

 

Everything else is either given to Goodwill or, if fairly worn out, tossed into the trash. If I realize I am fence sitting about whether to sell or donate, I make myself donate.

 

It's nice that you have more time now! Just don't be tempted to procrastinate.... *I* would be tempted to procrastinate.....

[Dandelion]

We usually do the following:

 

1. Donate (most charities in our area will come to your home and pick up)

2. Offer it to a friend (if I know someone might be interested)

3. Post it to one of my local homeschooling lists - you never know what homeschoolers might need (for experiments, projects, etc.)

4. Freecycle the rest

 

I don't do garage sales - I don't have the time or the patience. ;)