The Great Declutter - 18 months on

bikerchick1066

Oh greent

I'm so sorry
I hope they are caught x

zippychick

in four and a half exhausting hours i managed the following

8 bin bags of rubbish
12 sofa cushions
half a xmas tree?
boxes
old vanity case

Rearranged - stuff put in attic and now isnt taking up valuable space in my upstairs!

one box diy stuff
2 xmas trees
3 boxes chrimbo decorations
2 bags halloween decorations
a big container and two boxes of brand new toiletries (most designer, my mum is a bit ocd about buying me stuff like this!)
cat basket
sewing machine & book and other sewinig stuff
playstation 2 and games
4 jigsaws
box of sentimental things from years ago

Stuf fpr free cycle

toaster
few tops
videos - bag of

Stuff for ebay

various bits of cloting plus 3 items put on last night. Tempted to wait for the free listing on 12th march - anyone any advice on working out post costs on ebay?

Tired. Having a break and going back up to attack my clothes, of which i have endless supply. I even found my hockey shirt from school *from when 15, im 30 now*

Also managed to bleach my mugs, and clean the kitchen up and mop the floor in there and the hall! Also cleaned the cats litter tray and mopped the bathroom floor.

Boy do i deserve a drink. Had a bit of a situation when up attic ladders. They arent secured, they hook on, and the ladder went from under me and i was literally hanging there thinking "if i fall im going to do myself quite a bit of damage. Luckily i made it ok and fxed the ladder which had gradually slid over the years. Phew.
:j:beer::D:eek:

Eager_Elephant

Hi zippychick

I always think on ebay you need to offer postal for most items otherwise your customer group is severely reduced.

Firstly I suggest you get some scales, normal kitchen or digital. You need to weigh each item even to get a rough idea - overestimate if you have to.

Once you know the weight of the item you need to think about how you will package it. Add the weight of the packaging to the weight of the item.

(If you don't have any scales maybe you could go down to the Post Office and get them to weigh the item for you before you list it - bit of a trek but may be the only way)

Then hop over to:

http://sg.royalmail.com/portal/rm/PriceFinder?catId=23500532&gear=pricingcalc

where you can get it to calculate the price of postage. I would think that 2nd class would be fine and most things you post will be packets.

If when you are next at the Post Office you could pick up a leaflet about pricing (I think it's red) but they are changing prices from April so you might need to wait until then.

When you come to do your listing you need to make sure the postage you charge will cover the actual cost so make sure you add in the cost of the packaging, the cost of the actual postage + a little bit for errors and a bit for your time and petrol/shoe wear for taking it to the Post Office.

Dopn't overcharge by loads on the postage because I'm sure it is an offence as you don't pay fees on postage and some people where selling cheaper items but with expensive postage.

HTH

Any more questions come on over to the Ebay board.

EE

thriftyscotslass

Sorry to hear your news greent - hugs. I hope the thieves get caught.

I'd like to join in please - deperately need to declutter :eek:

Today so far:

IN
Weekly grocery shop

OUT
Normal binbag of rubbish
Recycling
Old duvet & 2 old bedding sets - yay :j I've made a start

zippychick

Thanks so much Eager Elephant. It just seems daunting but i am aware i am reducing my audience if you like. I must have a better hoke around the ebay board actually.

Today im hoping to red out my wardrobe. I mentioned before i am terribly hoarderish and hold onto things thinking i might wear them one day. Thing is i probably wont. I like my rock music and mainly wear jeans, skinny tees and casual stuff, but yet i will still hold onto very girly things knowing ill only ever wear them if i have a personality transplant . What i mean is i hold onto things just because, not because ill wear them.

Pretty exhausted after last nights efforts but enjoying the space i can see appearing everywhere!

Anyone any good advice on clearing out clothes? Isnt there supposed to be a 12 month rule? i mentioned before i do have some stuff too small (mainly jeans, i seem obsessed), so will be creating a "too small fr me but will fit soon " pile. And im not being hopefuly doing that, ive lost quite a bit of weight so am confident i will fit into my Wrangler jeans i wore when i was 18 (I can get them on , they just dont button :rotfl:)

So any advice on being harsh on myself? My problem has mainly been not having winter summer sections or any kind of organisation. Things are just all over the place and it makes it impossible to find things. SO much to the point where im going to find a whole load of stuff i forgot i even had.:rolleyes:

bikerchick1066

zippychick I'd go with the 12 month rule, it always works for me
The only exception being concert T-shirts which I always buy but never wear! If you seriouly think the jeans will fit again keep then, but once they do fit, chuck out your fat jeans as an incentive to keep the weight off.
Anything decent - ebay
The rest to charity shop
I've been having a major declutter this weekend ready to do a boot fair in a couple of weeks. Gathering the last of ex BF's bits and putting straight in the car. Two trips to recycling centre yesterday (it's only round the corner - so I walked) and another planned for later. Must not come home via the pub today though, as going to work at 6

zarazara

sorry to hear ofyour burglery greent, I hope they catch them.

Hollyberry

greent - sorry to hear about your thieves - they must have been busy with all that lot! Hope the toads weren't bright enough to wear gloves.

zippychick - that's great progress. Some further thoughts on postage for eBay: I have done myself a tiny chart with the weights and postage costs for first or parcel post - makes life a lot easier. To each cost I add 20p for the bag/tissue paper etc (I mostly sell clothes and shoes), and it works out pretty much spot on. Some tips I have read are common sense really and include selling like items together, so that you get more sales from people looking across your listings (clothes one week, CDs another) and it does seem to work: if I sell around 15 items, I normally have 2 customers with multiple buys. They also recommend going seasonal. I'll be digging out the Spring wedding guest frocks shortly. Good luck!

I have been slacking since late February on the decluttering front. We went away for a few days and I came back with a lousy chest infection which put me off ferreting in dusty corners. :mad: My get up and go came back at the beginning of March, and I'm now making better progress.

This week: IN
- food shopping

This week: OUT
- 1 trug cardboard to recycling
- 2 recycling bags of glass
- 3 recycling bags of plastic
- 2 empty big tubs of body cream (because I have USED IT UP for once )
- 1 broken lamp
- 2 crocks of composting
- two shelves of books - recycling/charity shop etc
- 15 eBay sales

Next tasks - the sacrificial culling of more books, eBaying of the right hand rail in the dressing room, and the opening of my toy chest to sell on (Sadly our lovely godchildren are more into High School Musical and Cars than spinning tops, Spirograph and Lego.)

Kirri

sarahs999 wrote: »

I pop into this thread every now and again adn I was just wondering - we all strive to get to this nirvana, this place wher ewe are only surrounded by stuff that matters and that we like... but has anyone got rid of all their stuff, and then regretted it? Anyone discovered that actually having all that stuff was part of what made life interesting?

Just wondering. I was clearing out a cupboard in my bedroom and it's now pretty empty... and I suddenly felt a bit sad. And wondered if I'd got rid of stuff I'd one day need.

I can't think of anything I've got rid of and then missed and I've been decluttering for 5 years now, how horrendous is that!

I now really don't want new possessions hardly, am striving for real minimalist possessions and I love making more space, but it is very hard to get to 'that point' where I am happy that I have nothing else to get rid of and I do delay some things and think that I'll do that when I've finished sorting out at home... hmmm :rolleyes:

I aim to end up with a capsule wardrobe in which I wear everything, very few personal possessions, mainly photos and a few reference books and just a few sentimental items, minimal paperwork, a clear flat and everything tidy and easy to clean. Is this ever achievable though, has anyone got to that point?!

As an inspiration from this thread today, I have listed more things on ebay and freecycle

Yorkielass

Sorry to hear about your break in greent.

Another good weekend in that the only non-edible things in are a couple of bits of clothing for a group I'm in which I needed to get and some new tights which were a pressie - nothing else!

Just the usual recycling etc out - although I made lots of soup with old veg etc so pleased with that.