Garage Sales, Cragslist and Consignment... OH MY!

What's the best way to get rid of stuff?  Tell people you have it.  At least, that's what I've found.  This weekend we really started our purge.  Brett and I spent most of Friday night sorting and boxing some of our stuff.  This was after the boys were in bed, of course because who can get anything done with one constantly trying to toss himself down the stairs and the other DEMANDING we play Zombie Dice "NOW!"?  By Saturday morning, we had one pile to take to consignment shops, another to donate and yet another to take to our friends' garage sale that morning.

In the process, I spent quite a bit of time gathering all the pieces of one of our china sets and tidily packing it into two diaper boxes.  (Classy, I know.)  Brett and I had picked up the set at a garage sale ourselves, and the plan was to load it up and sell it at one again.  We paid $60 for it, so we figured someone else might too.  For added bargaining power, I decided to hop on ebay and see how much it was going for there.  Well, I discovered it was going for A LOT more than 60 bucks!  More like 10 bucks a plate!  Our sorting stopped for a while as we discussed what to do.  We really want to get rid of extraneous stuff before the move, but we also would love to have some more money to spend on our decorating projects.  What to do?  What to do?  After a debate, we decided to go ahead and move the plates and put them on ebay ourselves.  It's a gamble.  We'll see what happens.

The rest of the stuff got packed up with the boys in our little Scion XA and hauled over to South Minneapolis where we made a whopping $5.  What a days' work!  The rain and cold kept the buyers at bay, and Brett and I realized, we're really more garage sale shoppers than havers.  We re-packed the Scion and donated the lot.

Next stop: Craigslist.  After a small discussion about, "what will we sleep/eat on," I listed our table and bedroom furniture on this amazing site.  I have had a love affair with craigslist for years, and it never fails to amaze me the things the practically fly out of your house and the things that leave you hauling them to the curb while scratching your head.  The table was gone in a day, the boys' blue dresser took about a week.  The couch is still in the garage...  And, anybody need a modern bedroom set?

Amazing.

So, now at least we have a nice, open space to pile boxes in the dining area.  Does this mean I can start more packing?  JOY!  I love progress.  I want to see less and less stuff and more and more floor/cardboard.  Onward and upward, family!  Onward and upward!

Vying for Real Estate

You know, I have never been more thankful of my great relationship with my mother than now as we volley for spots for all of our belongings.  It seems so quaint and simple.  The first words, "Let's move in together!"  Then you stop and think.  I have stuff.  Brett has stuff.  We have stuff together.  The boys have their own stuff.  We have furniture and dishes and linens.  Mom has all that stuff too.  Plus, she has family heirlooms; 30+ years of adult, family and marriage accumulation; a husband who was a pack rat (to put it mildly) and 3000+ sq. ft. of furnishings.  Our new house is only 2300 sq. ft.  What are we going to do with all the stuff?  So, the negotiations begin, because for every one thing you agree on there is at least one thing that must be purged.  And "at least" is a very loose estimation.

Between our two families we have six couches.  SIX!  We do not need six couches.  This is agreed.  But where Brett and I steer pretty modern with our couch styles, Mom is decidedly traditional.  OK, let's table the couches and talk about our 3 dining room tables.  One can be painted with a more weather hearty finish and put on the three season porch.  We can use Mom's round dining table in the dining room by purchasing two more chairs, and our IKEA table will go on Craigslist.  There.  That's some progress.

Since we're in the dining/kitchen, let's talk about dishes.  We have 3 sets of china + another 3 sets of everyday dishes.  (Clearly this is a family illness.)  OK, Brett and I can sell one set of china and donate our other set of everyday stuff.  Most of it came from a garage sales anyway.  We keep Grandma Sauer's china from Germany and Mom's wedding dishes.  In fact, we can paint the wardrobe that currently houses Mom's TV the same color as the cabinets in the kitchen, add some shelves, and VOILA! a china cabinet!  Look at us go.

Room by room we work our way through the sea of stuff, and after each discussion, I run home and add more to the Goodwill pile.  Being faced with your accumulation is a sobering thing.  I refuse to move anything that we will not use.  I refuse to store things "just in case".  And especially since we will be moving ourselves in a rental truck.  If it's not necessary... it's going to someone else.  Craigslist is my new best friend.  In fact, if you or someone you know needs something.  I may have it.  CHEAP!  ha!

It feels good to purge the excess, and it is exciting to be surrounded by things from my childhood again – things that will now be decorated with my family's stuff and accented by my family's artwork.  It is also thrilling to know that my mom is an integral part of that family again and not just a voice on the other end of the line – that her stuff can mingle with my stuff and Brett's stuff and the boys' stuff and it will all just become our stuff.

Do you want to talk about the couches now?  Um, no.