Getting Rid of Stuff (Stamps, Cars, Styrofoam, Ornaments, Your Kid's 5th Grade Masterpiece)

You can get rid of anything.  All it takes is courage, determination, and a husband who hates clutter.

Kathy asked me below if I had advice on how to get rid of stamps.  Why yes I do.  If I have become the master of anything, it is how to get rid of stuff.

But first a story.

My husband hates clutter.  He saves nothing (except my cards).  He buys nothing.  He eyes my trail of crap like a tiger after a bunny.  He is too busy running and eating non fat plain yogurt to shop online.  If I wasn't so lazy I would have divorced him years ago.

His penchant for throwing out things butted up against my Mom's anxiety about holding on to her stuff all the time.  The coup de grace was when my Mom left her "bridge" (that's a piece of false teeth) walled up in a kleenex on the kitchen counter.   And, yes he tossed it in the trash.  Score one for the son-in-law who owned that kitchen counter.  Score one for my mom, who found it and then spent years not so gently hinting that he was responsible for tossing everything she could not find.  (Yes, Mom we did toss the 7 BAGS of YARN and fabric scraps that were in the basement for 17 years.  We lied about that.  In fact, we lied about a lot of stuff.  If you have the power in heaven to get back at us, go for it.)

But enough about that.

Ten Steps to Get Rid of Stuff:

1.  Develop the desire to get rid of the stamps, the whatever.  This is the hard part.  You want to get to the point where you feel like the tiger eyeing the bunny....

2.  Let go of the concept that "it is a waste of money to get rid of stuff."  It is a waste of money, time, space, and karma to keep stuff you don't want.  Period.

3.  Decide if you want to make money off the stuff.  If you want to sell stamps, it is work, so factor that in.  There's ebay, your blog, Splitcoast or other forum, or yard sale.  You can also pair up with another stamper and trade.  "I'll take one Valentine's clear set, a birthday background and give you my vintage Owl and Cupcake sets."  Then do it.    If you sell to strangers over the internet, get the money up front through paypal, be honest about the condition, don't be greedy, mail it right away, and hope you aren't dealing with a nut case.  If it gets lost in the mail, who bears the risk?  I DO NOT KNOW.  You are supposed to negotiate that at the beginning.  The post office actually does an amazing job so I'd just hope for the best.

4.  Or, if you are willing to donate the stuff, do it.  Look around.  There are stampers out of work, suffering through cancer, or just plain nice.  Give the stuff to them.  That's what I did.  But first I sold a block of stuff (several bins) to one stamper who lived nearby.  She picked up the stuff and gave me $200.  Win win.  I then gave away about 7 large plastic tubs of stuff (I'm crying as I type) to a wonderful stamper who also came by and picked up the stuff.  Turns out she then gave away a ton of it to a bunch of other stampers (there was a LOT of stuff) and all those folks got together and gave me several hundred dollars worth of gift certificates to stores near our new house.  It was a wonderful moment of connectedness.

5.  Or you can find a nursing home, day care center, women's shelter, etc who might like the stuff.  Google.

6.  Throw out the crap.  It isn't worth the time or money to give away little pieces of paper, the 3 orange brads you found at the bottom of a box, or the pound of ribbons and twine, each of which is no longer than 3 inches.  Re read #2 and LET IT GO.

7.  If you made cards and never sent them (shocker), take a hard look at them. I deconstructed about 200 cards that I hated, salvaged the embellishments and the card stock and tossed the rest.  I had fun making them.   It's a hobby.  Good bye.

8.  Look at the empty space you've created.  The space in your house and your brain.  Freedom!  Resist the urge (and it will be there) to fill up the space with MORE crap.  Take your time.  Rearrange the space.  Feel superior to hoarders.  Enjoy and be proud.

9.  Don't look back.  Sure, I gave away some stuff that I regretted giving away.  But I didn't have to pay to store it or move it (twice).  And that was then.  Regret over this stuff is a sin.

10.  Don't gloat.  The desire for more stuff will slowly creep back and you may find yourself needing to start over.