Today wraps up 10 weeks of downsizing the items in our house. I missed doing a downsize update last weekend since Sunday was Easter and I was offline enjoying it with my family. So today’s update is a two-week update – on my downsizing progress for weeks 9 and 10 – I can’t believe it’s been so long, it’s gone by so fast.
If you missed it earlier, here is why we are downsizing:
- We have plans to move this summer and instead of upgrading to a bigger, better house, we plan to dramatically reduce our square footage. We aren’t being forced to do this – it’s a choice. We want to spend less on our next “home” so that we can focus more on things we love and value – like travel.
- I want to own my stuff and not have it own me. Ultimately I only want to keep the items that a.) serve a purpose and b.) that bring me joy.
Downsizing progress to date –
Week 1 update here – earned $548.16
Week 2 update here – earned $1,283.47
Week 3 update here – earned $432.40
Week 4 update here – earned $300
Week 5 update here – earned $395
Week 6 update here – earned $160
Week 7 update here – earned zilch, nada, nothing!
Week 8 update here – earned $645!!
Week 9 and 10 update – earned $715
Year-to-date – $4,471.03
Week 9 was school conferences week – so I had my husband (a teacher) and my kids all home by mid-morning. During this time I was able to list a lot of items for sale in my local Facebook Buy, Sell and Trade group. Week 10 was a bit slower because of spring break and I was focusing my energy on spending time together as a family – for both weeks I ended up earning $715! This brings my all time total to $4,471.03 so far – I can hardly believe it!
The longer I go through this downsizing process, the more introspective I find myself – about how stuff can truly take over your home and with it bring stress and extra work. As my house becomes less cluttered I find myself relieved with every carload of stuff that finds new homes. It certainly seems like acquiring these items took a lot less effort than it does to get rid of them – which gives me great incentive to be more intentional about future purchases.
Here are some of the items I sold this week and how much money I got for them . . .
Cuisinart Grill – $70
*LOT* of Pampered Chef tools – $55
Sherpani Messenger bag – $35
Set of 3 Coleman coolers – $30
A third one, not pictured, was also included.
*NEW* Sounders men’s jersey – $20
My brother bought this for my husband for Christmas the year before last and it’s waaaay to big! It’s been sitting in our garage – and I finally sold it.
Chevron contact paper (8 rolls) – $25
*LOT* of craft supplies – $25
Sunbeam Queen-size heated blanket with dual controls – $25
*LOT* of 4 Klutz books with extras – $20
*NEW* Kamik girl’s sandals – $20
IKEA bench – $20
*NEW* Frozen Dress and magnetic dress up doll – $20
Boys Columbia winter jacket – $20
*NEW* Husky 28-piece wrench set – $15
*LOT* of Scrapbooking supplies – $15
*LOT* of beading supplies – $15
Boys BOGS boots – $15
Thirty-One Lunch box – $10
Kidkraft Wooden Cradle – $10
Pampered Chef brownie pan – $10
Set of 5 serving bowls – $10
Clorox wipes – $10
A subscribe and save order that I didn’t cancel before it shipped! I already had too many!
Sterlite storage drawers – $5
I hope to have the house listed for sale in by May – so I’m really pushing to downsize before then. In fact I have a HUGE garage sale planned for next weekend – so that’s going to be a major milestone in my downsizing journey. If I have the energy this week I’ll try and do posts about how I structure and set up my garage sales – they are usually really successful for me. And I still owe you a post on how I’m selling my items in my Facebook Buy, Sell, Trade group, too – so hopefully soon.
Next Sunday I’ll have just wrapped up my garage sale. I’ll be exhausted but I’m also hoping I’ll be RELIEVED because I’ll have sold a bunch of items. 🙂
If you’re joining me for Project Downsize – I’d love to hear what you got rid of this week! Pick a goal for this week and share it here, please!
I love reading about your downsizing project and am anxiously awaiting your post regarding your garage sale. I have held two successful garage sales myself but can always glean advice from others successes.
I wish I could go to one of your garage sales! You have sold -a lot- of nice things that I most certainly could’ve used in my home! 🙂 My problem..I need to upsize. lol Great job, though! Keep up the amazing work! 🙂
I am looking forward to hearing about how you set up your garage sale. It has been at least 10 years since our last garage sale and that one wasn’t very successful. We are an 8 person family living in a 1200 sq ft house that feels like it is closing in on us, so we need to downsize as well. Thank you for sharing!
I love that you are choosing to downsize your home. We put our house on the market last year in hope to sell and purchase a bigger home (family of 5 in a 2 bed1bath home) I really thought I wanted a 4bed, 2.5bath home. The more we looked, the more I realized that I liked my small house. So we have chosen to stay and update what we have. We are able to close off part of our garage and expand the house to add another bed and bath. I love that this is my forever home- it is the house we brought all out of our kids home, all of our memories are here! Now comes the decluttering. I saved so much stuff thinking I would have this bigger home (and I am a closet hoarder). I have a consignment store that I can take 1 box of household items/toys and 1 trash bag of clothes every week- and I do. I also post a certain # of items to facebook and to ebay every week. I have a hard time parting with my “stuff” (that hoarder part of me). But I am getting better!! (Truck full of stuff leaving tomorrow ) I like following this blog post to help keep me motivated. To date (12 weeks), I have made 815$. I have to get decluttering because we start construction next month!