Sitting by the Dock of eBay..

There comes a time in the life of organizing where simply keeping, donating or throwing away just does not fit a particular item. Take, for example, a cute, still boxed hand-embroidered little seer sucker outfit for a 6 month old boy with all the tags. My son is 2. As in 24 months, terrible two's. I can't throw it out, there's certainly no point in keeping it - and frankly, even though its the christian thing, I'm not going to donate it either.. just so it can be flung into a box of mismatched, second-hand, baby gear by the helpful gentleman at the goodwill sorting facility.

I tried sending some baby stuff to a consignment sale at a local church recently . I painstakingly pinned (with tiny safety pins) regulation consignment sale-specific tags (with full description of each item, size, price etc.) on each item and placed them (or pinned in the case of pants and shorts) each item on a certain kind of hanger (plastic for 0-6months, wire for all others), I dropped the stuff off in my pre-allotted 15 minute window and 3 days later re-arranged my schedule again and woke my two year old up early from his nap to pick unsold items up in a pre-allotted 30 minute window ... all to make $50.

No, thanks.

Not again, anyway - now I know. Enter eBay. I will say it is all in the presentation. i.e. "Eddie Bauer Diaper Bag, BEST TRAVEL BAG EVER!!!!" and follow with description of many pockets, including credit card, cell phone and pen holder (gasp) as well as room for a lap top, gently-used (just one long haul trip) blah blah blah.. and presto! The style of diaper bag, previously unsold by others, got into a hectic bidding war just a few days later and I tripped over myself with glee rushing to the post-office to mail it off to a very grateful new mom in Arizona. Success! A much better experience.

So in the last few weeks, I have made almost $500 selling odds and ends (unopened perfume still with gift bag, never worn golf shirts of my husbands, baby blankies, bottles, unopened grill tool set (that I think only cost $19 when I bought it)... all to very happy and satisfied customers. $500 will pay down a credit card that is currently simmering at 27.99%.

The only problem, apart from the many trips to the completely understaffed, over-patronized post-office (which is not too bad when you keep your mind on the money) is that I check "My eBay" almost more often than I hit Send-Receive on my email when waiting for a sign-in verification link. I almost imagine it being akin to an amateur day-trader watching, with ever-increasing chest-tightening excitement, his penny-stock creep up, up and up.... at least on eBay it is not going to creep back down again (although you may have a dud buyer.. rare but there). But, just as a day-trader builds confidence to buy more valuable stock, so I have started looking around for more valuable objets (hmmm.. what about that watch my mothers ex-boyfriend gave me for my 21st?).

Very soon, we will be living in a very minimalist home. We'll have a home (although real-estate used to be the thing to buy or sell on eBay) and we'll still have furniture; I'm not lugging that to the post-office... although... there's always Craigslist...

Too Much mail

I hate the discount coupons pages that come with the papers each week, but send me one of those 20% of postcards and I can't throw it away for days (confession... weeks). I never use them (well, I did remember once, but only spent $33 so only saved about $6 - but $6 is $6 - two coffees - you get the drift). Point is - If I didn't get them, I wouldn't miss them. There is an awesome company called 41pounds.org that promises you can reclaim your mailbox and help the environment. Did you know the average household receives 41 pounds of mail a year most of which (all eventually) ends up in landfills! There is a cost for this service ($41 one time - and covers you for five years) and they also donate $15 to a charity of your choice. That's a pretty good deal.
Catalogs... now this is a toughie. I really enjoy my Pottery Barn one and Restoration Hardware... in fact I like Victoria's Secret too.. and Ballards - oh dear. But I will say that there are a whole host of companies that I did not subscribe to that send to me. I remember when my mom bought a condo two years ago... she is not a citizen of this country and had no prior history on anyone's mailing list. Within two weeks she had received every catalog and junk mail piece imaginable. She didn't have a mortgage so it is not the banks selling your information - they are getting it from public records. There is a company that I have joined (a free service) called Catalog Choice where you can select which catalogs you still want to receive and the frequency.
So my plan today (after I try and find someone to make my mom a birthday cake in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa in time for her 60th birthday) is to tackle my desk area and create some new folders. My friend Erin (we'll get back to her influence on my organization resolution another day) gave me some cool Vera Bradley filing and stationary type stuff to help with my cause. Thanks! I'm off to clear some clutter !!

Did you make any Resolutions?

I have to say that since I NEVER stick to, nor accomplish any resolutions each year, I didn't bother when new years eve rolled around this time. I was so busy trying to get through the holidays with minimal fuss - that setting aside time to really think about how much I need to improve my life was, unsurprisingly, quite far down on the list. Then, I was surfing the web (actually looking to see what might be available for my new Kindle my husband got me for Christmas) and I saw a book had been written called Living Oprah. Now I haven't read it, and may or may not, so I have no comment, but it got me to thinking how I feel when She (i know I capitalized - wouldn't you?) does one of her change your life shows. Ones I am thinking of would be the debt diet, the one about the hoarders and that terrible one where the woman's husband kills himself and leaves her with all this debt she didn't know they had. Nightmare! I know I am forgetting episodes, but if you've seen these ones, you'll know what I mean. At the end of the hour you feel so jumped up that you are ready to grab a trash bag and start flinging. But then I realize i should probably go through the papers first and make sure nothing is important. I tend to leave stuff lying around in piles ... important... slightly import... not important... might be important... junk etc. And my husband will helpfully stack it all into one pile so we actually eat at the kitchen table... so I think rather than throw it all away - I should check the importance rating of each bit first. Then it's almost time for the kids to have dinner so I leave the piles lying around... and well, you know the rest! Will I ever get on top of paperwork? Thank goodness for online bill pay. Well, the bottom line is that I have decided (is that the first step toward clutter-free sanity?) that the less we have - the easier it will be to keep everything tidy.
So.. things to tackle (in no particular order):
junk mail, catalogs, subscriptions, photographs, finances (this is a biggie), kids artwork, clothes, pantry/laundry cupboards, bathroom cabinets (under both sinks), toys, LEGO (this is another biggie and needs its own category), books and bookshelves.
I'll wish myself luck. For 2010 I have RESOLVED to organize !