When we decided to start this full-time RV-ing adventure, we had 3 properties (1 house, 2 commercial properties) and a TON of crap. At one point, six people lived in my 4000 square foot crap-holder house, including a pack-rat mother-in-law whose favorite hobbies included beading, puzzles and books. I swear her crap filled up half the house alone.
Warning: Getting rid of all your crap is NOT for the faint-of-heart. And these tips may not work for everybody. But its what worked for us, so I’m sharing them here for you.
Declutter
The first thing you need to do is go through all your crap and decide what’s completely useless and what may hold some value. You will be amazed at how much of your crap is utterly useless to the rest of the world. You will wonder where all this crap came from??? Throw it out – its crap. Seriously, nobody wants it. I made the mistake of thinking my crap was actually worth something, and that somebody would want it. So I filled 3 big tables in my garage sale full of useless crap. And at the end of the garage sale, I had 3 big tables of useless crap, that I hauled to Goodwill, cuz God knows everyone in Goodwill wants my crap, right???
Inventory And Storage
Now, you need to decide which of your stuff is actually useful. A good guide is to deem useful anything that you yourself used on a daily basis, like your TV, sofa, end tables, Playstation, computer, dishes – ya know, useful crap. Decide which of the useful crap you actually want to keep (hint: family heirlooms and pictures – the end), and find some sucker to store this useful crap for you, or get a storage unit. We opted for a storage unit, because we had 2 businesses right before we sold it all, and by law you have to keep all business paperwork for 7 years for tax purposes, in case Uncle Sam decides he wants to audit you (talk about crap!) We used large storage bins like THESE to store many of our things that were going into storage. The bin is clear so you can see what’s inside and they’re a great size.
Take Photos of All Your Crap
Once you have figured out which of your crap to sell, you need to take photos of it all so you can list it online. A small point and shoot camera, or even your cell phone camera will work just fine for this. This is no time to channel Ansel Adams here, just git ‘er done! I recommend creating a “Crap To Sell” folder on your computer’s hard drive and putting all the photos in there for easy access.
Post Your Crap On Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace
Trust me, just use Craigslist or Facebook Markeplace. I tried a few of the other fancy-schmancy sites like BooKoo and Wallapop. Nobody goes there. Folks who are looking for your crap are on Craigslist and Facebook, period. If your crap doesn’t sell right away, or the jerk doesn’t show up after they say they want your crap (which happens often), you may have to lower the price and re-list it. Re-list it every other day if you don’t get any action right away. And EVERYTHING is sold on a first-come-first-serve basis. First dude to show up with the money gets your crap. That way if the jerk doesn’t show up when he says he will, hopefully there is somebody right behind him with cash in hand who DOES show up. I used Craigslist and Facebook to sell bigger items like large furniture pieces. Smaller furniture pieces and other chatchke went in the garage sale.
Hold a Garage Sale
Again, first dude to show up with the money gets the crap. I had people say, “I want this item but I don’t have enough money. Will you hold it for me?” Your answer should be, “Hell, no.” Because you have no idea if the jerk is actually gonna show back up with the cash and take your crap. THESE labels are great for pricing your crap – they’re removable (important!) and just the right size.
Everything Left Goes To Goodwill
Whatever crap is left at the end of garage sale day gets hauled to Goodwill. Now I don’t wanna hear all about how “the Goodwill guy is making a killing on my crap because people DONATE their stuff and then he SELLS it at 100% profit” (insert whiney voice here). I don’t care. My crap is gone, and that’s all I care about! Remember those 3 tables full of crap nobody wanted? It’s no longer MY problem! Snerk!!
Bon Voyage Baby!
Now, wave to all your neighbors and the poor saps in your town who are gonna be stuck there all winter walking through a blizzard to get to the train to get to work, and head for the beach Honey! You worked hard and you deserve it!! I’ll meet ya there with the Margaritas and guacamole!
Snow, baby! ❄️❄️
We did that earlier this year bit with 6 kids of crap, one deceased spouses crap and 2 closed businesses and a closed ministry.
All GONE!
The only thing I can add is. . We opened our home to friends to come and take things for free after the garage sale and a relative with a flea market booth came and loaded 6 trucks of stuff so we didn’t have to load it and hual it to Goodwill. Never underestimate the willingness of friends when free stuff is involved. 🙂
Perfect, I love your crap instructions. I retired in January of this year and after taking 2 truckloads of crap to Goodwill, I’m absolutely stuck getting rid of any more. I’m single and have a 3 bedroom 2 bath house full and could get rid of most of my crap but I don’t seem to be able to make any more progress. Please send someone to my house to help – thanks.
BTW, I tried entering my website address in the appropriate block but it would not let me. My website is http://www.retirementroad.net.
Be right over! I’ll bring the wine!
Have you been lurking through my FB groups? I have a 3 year plan. That’s to minimalize, de-clutter, toss, give away and sell all my unwanted “crap” and do exactly this…buy my RV and wave to all my co-workers as I leave this town. This is actually a completion of a long dream that my parents and my husband and I had. Unfortunately I will be doing this as a widow and my parent have been gone for sometime. I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR ALL OF US! Thank you!
Sounds like a great plan! Good luck!
i love how you explained what to do with your crap, we have done gave some things away, and we are trying to sale our 2000 double wide with 6.336 acres of land, and as soon as it is gone we will be visiting you all on the beach, it is just going to be me and my husband and dog until summer then it will be grandkids, i cant wait to get this journey started if you have any ideas of how to sale a crap of a double wide please let me know…….think you for this blog…i enjoyed reading it….and i hope we will be out there soon.
Great write up! We too, have had similar experience! Still working on that “getting rid of our crap” thing though!
Suckered Mom into holding on to some of our crap for us. Also, suckered youngest daughter and her fiance to keep our “valuable” crap. hehe… Happy Travels! See Ya!
Good luck!
All “Crap” must go!
Giggled all the way through this one. Your personality is shining through here Carol! Loved loved loved the picture of your house. Made me just a little sad for a brief moment, then I remembered that you are living your dream so I got real happy real quick!
Way to go!! Your awesome is showing!!
Love it Carol. So glad it all worked out for you guys!
My words exactly. Very well said. It is humbling to know that no one cares about our crap but us. I hope to meet you on the beach soon. We begin our full time lifestyle on Sunday December 6, 2015 and heading to the panhandle of Florida. Thank you for the post.
Laughed out loud. We just decided this is what we are going to do so our “crap” is up for sale! Email me if you want some, lol.
Wish you had given it to the Salvation Army or akes the local Veterans’ organization or Salvation Army or or church if they had an outreach thy could use it. Goodwill execs take an insane salary and live in mansions and most of the money to the upkeep of their lifestyles. The executives of the other organizations receive from nothing to hardly liable wages.
The VA hospitals and
Veterans’ organizations are always needing help our Vets.
Not
Trying to belittle you, but to bring attention to the rich robber Barron’s who run Goodwill.
We did what we did.
Since they do have a pretty rugged reputation in certain circles, many seem to believe what you said as truth, so I checked them out.
ALL of those stories are untrue. Goodwill is a really good organization providing a lot of positive services. Note they are not “tax exempt” They take no taxpayer money, they are completely self supporting. I’m a fan of that.
Jim
OMG – ran across this on Pinterest and I literally laughed my ass off. You are hysterical and SO right. All our crap is going up for sale next spring, so I’m right behind you!