Declutter Challenge May Update: Nothing Much

Decluttering activities got a bit derailed this past month. In fact, I didn't do hardly anything to try to reach my goal this month, and my numbers reflect my lack of initiative!

I sold a nice maternity dress on Ebay, using the Buy it Now 30-day listing feature, which gave me $15.93.  The fees for this type of transaction are higher than for the auction. I think I should have auctioned the dress instead.

The exciting thing about this transaction was that it took place right after I left town for a few days. The timing was amazing. (Thanks to my sister for helping me out with shipping the item!) Lesson Learned: Don't forget to put your selling items on vacation when you are on vacation!

Here's a photo tip I discovered for my dress pictured above: I stuffed the bosom of the dress with crumpled paper towels to make a more flattering shape on the hanger (then used the towels for other purposes afterwards, of course). Another neat thing: a dress made of thin material can be carefully folded and fitted into a flat rate shipping envelope. I tucked it carefully inside a gallon-size resealable bag and pressed the air out first.

I also managed to sell two books on Half.com, netting a total of $12.89 after shipping costs and fees. I'm fudging a little here because I haven't recieved payment of one of these books yet; one just sold last week. My total book inventory on Half.com is still a grand total of two books, and I've been selling approximately one per month. I'll have to look around and see if I have anything else to list; these transactions are really easy to do!

We have a large outdoor shed that we are not going to use, so I made a half-hearted end-of-the-month attempt to sell it on Craigslist. It didn't sell yet.

And... that's it! My Grand Total for the month of inertia is $28.82. It's better than nothing, but nowhere near my $100 goal. I will have to use other funds to cover my minimum payment for my loan this month, and hope for better results next month.

The best part about getting derailed is picking yourself up and getting back on track. I have plenty of ideas on items to sell for the month of June and beyond, as well as two piles of items that have yet to make their way out the door to Goodwill. I have a variety of larger furniture items to offer on Craigslist, and some items to auction on Ebay as well... including the final batches of cloth diapers that we own. Somehow the toy situation that I thought I had under control is NOT under control. I think the toys are replicating exponentially when we are asleep! I'm hoping to get a better handle on the volume, location, and storage challenges this summer.

I'm linked up to decluttering progress reports at Amy's Finer Things In Life. Be sure to stop by and check out others' decluttering progress, which is hopefully more inspiring than mine!