Stuff, Stuff, and More Stuff

I've written before about how clarifying this RV living is for sorting out what we really need. We've gotten rid of so much, but there is so much left. We're parked on the edge of our lot, and my job every day is to really deal with the stuff.

Now, here's the depressing picture. This has to be empty when we're done with this round.

I'm making progress. Really, I am. We've had two garage sales in the last 2 years, and frankly, I'm just not up to another. So I have a big pile I'm listing on eBay, things that wouldn't be properly appreciated at a garage sale. And I also have a big pile of boxes of things for the thrift shop. These are garage sale things, but like I said, I'm just not up to it, and the money from this pile just isn't enough to make me do it. Every time we go downtown, we take a box to one of the thrift shops, so we're not flooding them. The pile is going away slowly.

There is a third pile. I am going to try out a new method. I know for a fact the local second hand store owners shop at garage sales, as I have seen my garage sale items show up there. I am going to take the in between stuff, stuff that's either too hard to ship or not quite up to eBay standards, and see if I can sell it at the secondhand stores. The household stuff I am talking about is exactly what my favorite secondhand store stocks, and I only expect garage sale prices.

And there's one more pile. That one is some things for Craig's list. Too hard to ship, too hard to haul around, too valuable to give away. An air conditioner, tools, a few other things. Not many in number, but important.

We watched a lot of episodes of "Storage Wars" last winter and have really gotten it through our heads that most stuff isn't worth storing.

The exceptions? Papers, personal memorabilia, and things that would be almost impossible to replace. When we see how small a pile we can make, we'll explore options on where it will go. It isn't staying here.

Our renter is looking forward to taking over this shop building, for an increase in the rent, of course. He's at the "acquiring" stage of life. And if we sell the place, we won't have to come back to deal with it.