You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything.
You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey.
Can you imagine how much easier your life and home schooling would be next fall if all the extra clutter were eliminated from your home?
* Why organize clutter that shouldn't be there in the first
place?
* You don't want to spend so much time dealing with your stuff --
buying it, finding it, organizing it, and cleaning it -- that
you don't have enough time to spend with your family.
* It is much easier to clean a clutter-free room.
* Don't spend money to store unused junk.
* Be able to find and use your things when they are not buried
in junk.
Summer is an ideal time to deal with clutter. Here is a step-by-step approach that can help you attain your goal of a clutter-free home!
1. Pray.
Pray that the Lord will help you and your family to be willing to let go of things that are cluttering your home and life.
2. Get Tips and Encouragement.
Read through the suggestions in this newsletter. They were gathered from many people and sources. The recommended websites within this article contain much more information and encouragement to help you along.
3. Enlist the Help of Family & Friends.
Ask your family and friends to support you in prayer as you tackle the clutter in your home. If they offer help, graciously accept and return the favor. We need each other in these practical areas of our lives.
4. Plan Your Attack.
You can choose one of these strategies or combine them to fit your family's needs. You may want to start with a bang and finish off a little each week, or work up to an all-out effort.
* One Week Plan. Schedule one week to declutter. Wipe all other
activities from your calendar and do a systematic pass through
your entire house. Some serious dejunkers even rent a small
dump box. You probably will not complete everything in one week,
but it will give you a big boost. You can follow up with one of
the following schedules.
* One Day a Week. Schedule one day each week to declutter during
the summer months.
* An Hour or Two each Day or on Several Days each Week. The
consistency of even small efforts -- just 15 minutes to 1 hour
a day -- will pay off immensely. Or you could schedule 2-4 hours
once or twice a week.
* You can go through your house in any order: from "public"
living areas to storage, more cluttered rooms first or last,
or perhaps a different room for each day of the week.
The Four-Box Dejunking Method
This method is recommended by many experts.
1. Get four boxes and label them:
Trash
Give Away (You may also want a box for things to sell.)
Storage
Put Away
2. As you go through the items in your current work zone, force yourself to make a decision about each item you pick up and place it in the correct box. Indecision is often the biggest problem in dealing with clutter.
3. Near the end of your appointed work time (marked by a timer), appropriately dispose of box contents:
* Relocate Put-Away items.
* Place Give-Away items in car to take to donation center.
* Put storage items, as well as items for your summer yard sale
or eBay sales, in clearly labeled boxes in your storage area.
* Throw away the rest quickly without a second thought.
Prevent Clutter
To prevent clutter from growing back, try one or all of the following suggestions.
1. Hold Your Ground.
After a particular area (as small as one counter top) has been cleared, do a daily clutter check to make sure no clutter is permitted to return. You might assign a child as a "clutter police" to patrol certain areas.
2. Find a Place for Everything.
Every item needs a home and each member of your family needs to know where that home is.
Keep eliminating stuff until everything fits in the space you have available, rather than wishing for something you do not have -- more space for more stuff!
3. Build Good Habits.
Work hard on the habit of returning items to their homes and dealing with clutter the Four Box way.
4. "One Comes In, One Goes Out" Rule.
When you buy a new item, a like item must be discarded, recycled, sold, or donated. This keeps the sheer number of items below the clutter point. It can also save money as you consider if you really need or want to buy a new item badly enough to release one you already have.
5. Don't Buy It.
It is more cost effective to rent some seldom-needed items or to borrow them from your public, church, or home-school library. This is another way to keep down the volume of material in your home.
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Profiting from Your Castoffs
Ridding your home and life of clutter is enough reward in itself, but you may also realize other profits.
Items that could still be of use to others can be disposed of in several ways:
* Give them to people you know that could use them.
* Donate them to your church, mission, Goodwill, or Salvation
Army.
* Sell them in a garage or rummage sale.
* Sell them online through one of the websites listed below.
Selling Books and Educational Materials
Laurelwood Publications
Why let your used materials gather dust on the shelf? Help yourself and others by re-selling home school material. http://www.laurelwoodbooks.com
abeBooks
Sell rare, used and out-of-print books worldwide through the world’s largest online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of- print books. Your books will also be automatically listed on BookFinder.com. http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Sell
According to eBay, it is the world's largest trading community, where millions of people buy and sell millions of new or used items every day.
Most of the selling on eBay occurs in either an auction or Buy It Now format. It all begins when the seller posts the item on eBay for a specified duration of time (3, 5, 7, or 10 days).
Potential buyers search for items and place bids on those they are interested in purchasing.
Either the first person who chooses to Buy It Now, or the person who placed the highest bid by the close of an auction is the winner! At this point, the buyer and seller make arrangements for payment and shipping.
After payment is made and the item is delivered, the buyer and seller leave feedback on each other in eBay's Feedback Forum, thus building their reputations for future deals.
Personal Testimony
by Suzanne Himka
I am a home-school mother of three children (ages 5, 3, and 10 months). I began selling on eBay three years ago after the Lord convicted me to stop working as a personal trainer and stay home to be a full-time mother to my children.
To have a little extra spending money, I began selling some of my old dolls on the internet and found that it was profitable. First I went through my own boxes in the attic, but now I go to rummage and yard sales looking for some of these items to sell. I take my children with me as I teach them about money and saving.
Each week I spend about eight hours total. This time is divided between going to garage sales Friday and Saturday and preparing and listing the items on eBay Monday and Tuesday.
I look for clothes and books for our own children and even homeschool items. I also am able to find other items that I can sell for profit. Through buying what we need at garage sales or using what I have earned on eBay, I have been able to buy all of our children's clothing, all of their home-school curriculum, plus gifts and special treats for our family.
Did you realize that you could actually collect 50-75% of the original price you paid for some of those items you have been meaning to get rid of anyway?
This effort has been successful for me, and I hope that you may be encouraged to get organized and use the resources God has given you.
I have found that God knows exactly what we need and provides it if we just ask. If you have any questions and I can be of help, please e-mail Sue Welch to pass along to me. I am not a professional, just a mother finding ways to meet the needs of my family in a fun and educational way!
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Sunny Side Up: That Letter Is Sure To Arrive Too Late!
When explaining to our 9-year-old daughter why I had to quickly mail some letters to our senators, I told her the letters needed to reach Washington by Friday.
Our 7-year-old son commented, "Oh, I didn't know he was still alive!"
Contributed by Laura C., Ohio
You are also invited to submit your humorous anecdote.
God Loves You.
Because we were separated from God by sin, Jesus Christ died in our place, then rose to life again. If we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, He will give us eternal life.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9). http://www.TeachingHome.com/about/salvation.cfm
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How To Get Started Selling on eBay
Go through your entire house and gather all the TOYS, VIDEOS, BOOKS, and CLOTHES that you are no longer using. Then label boxes:
* GOODWILL/GIVEAWAY
* KEEP for Grandkids or future kids
* SELL.
Make This a Family Event!
* Let children sort what they are done with, husbands can go
hrough the garage, teens can sort books they are done reading.
* Use it as a motivational tool to clean the rooms because they
an certainly make money to buy something else they may be
wanting.
* If you have a digital camera, let the photographer of your
amily be in charge of photographing all the items you may want
o sell.
* Let the computer wizard do some of the listing, etc.
What Sells Best on eBay
1. Toys (in used but still good condition)
* Fisher Price toys (Little People, Dollhouses, baby items, etc.)
* Little Tykes (waffle blocks, dollhouse furniture, cars &
rucks)
* Vintage toys from the 60s, 70s, 80s (Strawberry Shortcake
Care Bears)
* Thomas the Tank Engine items
* Dolls with popular names (Amazing Ally, Crissy, Mrs. Beasley,
Sunshine Family, American Girl)
* Baby toys with name brands like Fisher Price or Playskool or
Little Tykes
* Lego sets
* Lincoln Logs sets
* Playdough toys
* Dollhouses
* Fisher Price Adventure playsets like castles, treehouses, and
ships
* Discovery Toys
HINT: Toys sell best in groups of like items, for example:
* HUGE LOT of Fisher Price Little People Toys
* HUGE LOT of Winnie the Pooh Books, Puzzles, and Videos
2. Books
* Homeschool books that you are done with (A Beka, Christian
Light, Modern Curriculum Press, BJU, etc.)
* Children's books in HUGE LOTS of 30+ books
* Name brand books like DK or Usborne
* Books in series (Little House on the Prairie, Boxcar children,
Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, American Girl)
* How to Draw books
* Arts & Crafts Books
* Classics
* Unused activity books for preschoolers
* Learning-to-read books
* Cookbooks
* Cake decorating books
* Foreign language tapes, books, CDs, and courses
* School textbooks
* Computer games on CD-ROM for kids (e.g., Jumpstart and Reader
Rabbit)
* Baby board books (without teeth marks!) for toddlers
3. Clothes
HINT: Clothes sell best in large lots of like sizes. For example:
* HUGE LOT 10+ Boy Clothes, size 0-6 months, Like NEW cond.
* Children's clothes sell better than adult clothes because the
sizes are more standard. Just be specific and say what is on the
label.
* Girls dresses in good condition, sizes 4/5, 2T-3T, 5/6
* Women's maternity clothes S, M, L
* Women's nursing outfits
* Baby sleepers in good or like-new condition
* Jackets
* Coats for winter or fall
* Name brands (e.g., Columbia) jackets/sweatshirts
* Baby shoes, size 0-5
* Gymboree, Old Navy, Healthex, Baby Gap clothes will sell well
because they are durable.
4. Videos
These videos will always sell well:
* Veggie Tales (Sell as a group and you can get nearly half to full price you paid for them.) For example 6 Veggie Tale movies will usually bring about $50!
* Adventures in Odyssey
* Prayer Bear by Steve Green
* Cedarmont Kids Videos and tapes and CDs
* Donut Man
* StoryKeepers
* Quigley's Village
* McGee & Me
* Any Bible Stories videos
* Little House on the Prairie
* Anne of Green Gables or Avonlea
* Waltons
* Disney Movies (Bambi, Mary Poppins, Babe, Toy Story,
Cinderella)
* Disney movies in nice cases sold in large lots will bring a good amount of money. I often find these in my garage sale adventures for 50 cents a video and then can resell them for 10 times or more what I paid. Be watching. Videos are easy to sell by name without pictures.
5. Baby Items
* Backpacks
* Strollers in good condition
* Johnny Jumpers in good condition (not recalls!)
* Nursing pillows or other nursing items
* Crib bedding sets
* Nursery decor that matches (themes)
* Breast pumps
* Slings, Snuglis
* Nursery monitors
* Exersaucers (Don't worry; buyer pays shipping!)
6. Other Items That Sell
* Exercise equipment
* Items that are still in their original boxes
* Computer games on CD
* There's even a category for weird items!
What Do I Need in Order To Sell Online?
1. Something to sell.
2. A computer with internet access.
3. A digital camera. These cost $60-$300 and are optional, but highly recommended.
4. Boxes to ship items in (can be obtained free at local hardware stores, etc.) Also you can get Priority boxes free from the post office if you choose to send it Priority. However, these can't be used for Parcel Post. Parcel Post and UPS are often cheaper for large items.
5. A scale is helpful to weigh each package so you can let the buyer know exactly the total shipping based on your zip code and theirs (from the usps.com domestic calculator).
6. TIME! Believe me it will be worth your time in money made. You will get paid for the labor in organization you have done! (1 Corinthians 14 :40).
7. Total cost to list each item is usually about 70 cents, depending on how many pictures you use. Then eBay charges about 5% profit fee. Be aware that eBay will take a portion of your total sale.
Next Step
Gather the items you want to sell in one location and group them.
To determine prices, you can go to eBay.com and do a search for like items. For example, type in "Johnny Jumper" and it will pull up a list for all the Johnny Jumpers and what they are going for. You can start the bid at $5 and list it for 10 days and it will usually go for about $15-$20.
Go to eBay.com and click on Sell. Have a look at the form and do a trial listing; just don't press the final button until you are ready to actually sell the item.
1. Sell Your Item: Choose Selling Format:
Choose the option to sell item online auction.
2. Select Category & Sub-Catagories.
For example: if you have a huge lot of children's videos, Pick Movies>Video, Film>VHS> Children, Family
Pick the category which best fits your item. You can do a search on your item and see what categories others are listing theirs in to get an idea if you are in doubt. Spend a few moments seeing what categories are available. You can always list your item in two categories, but be aware that that this doubles your insertion fees.
3. List Title.
You get 45 characters maximum so be creative and very eyecatching.
For example **HUGE LOT 6+ Veggie Tales Videos Esther++
Hint: Use capitals, stars, or word L@@K! to make it more appealing.
For example an ad that says "Jogging Stroller" will get a lot fewer looks than one that says LIKE NEW Jogging Stroller MUST SEE!
4. List Description.
Be as specific as you can be. List all the videos, books, clothes sizes! The more you inform the buyers of what they are getting, the better the chance they will be satisfied. Be specific with brands of homeschool books and condition and year of books.
5. List Price.
You have three decisions: Starting Price, Reserve price (not recommended because it costs more), and Buy It Now price.
Decide on what price is the minimum you will take for an item, then decide on what price you might like to sell it for if someone wanted to buy it right away (optional). It only costs five cents to add the Buy It Now price feature.
For instance, if you have 6 Veggie Tales movies and you know somebody paid about $100 for these, full price, you can start the bid at $19.99 and then have a Buy It Now price of $49.99. This is a good deal for you and a good deal for them because you are getting back about half of what you paid for them (or more if you bought them at garage sales).
This takes some practice and some trial-and-error but as you gain more experience, you will know more what goes for how much!
6. List Your Pictures.
If you have a digital camera, it will increase your sales tremendously. Take a picture of your item and crop it. Then you can upload it straight from your computer to the eBay.com site and it will show a picture of the item you wish to sell.
The first picture is free, and any additional pictures are 15 cents each. Most auctions only need one picture but sometimes it is good to take more for certain angles of things.
Digital cameras can be purchased for $60-$500. It is a wise investment and will pay for itself with just a few sales. A digital camera is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED but certainly not necessary.
Home-school books are easy to sell without pictures, so start with those when you begin selling.
Always list your pictures in the Gallery option (0.25 cents extra). Some people only shop the Gallery.
If you are using pictures, definitely use the gallery because it increases your sales. A pictured item will nearly always sell for more than an item without pictures!
7. Select Payment You Will Accept.
I recommend you accept money orders or PayPal only. It is wise to sign up for PayPal so that others can use their credit card if they wish to buy it immediately. It makes things easier for both parties, and they are a reliable company. You can request a check from them whenever you want for a small fee or you can build up an account and use it to buy other things online.
8. Determine Who Pays for Shipping.
The great thing about selling online is that the buyer pays for shipping. You must indicate this on the form. You can determine what shipping will cost from zip code to zip code by using the US Postal Service Domestic calculator which is on the website
(www.usps.com).
9. Review and Edit Your Listing.
Be sure that everything is how you would like it. Then submit it and watch it get bids!
10. Keep a Log of Everything You Sell and Who Bought It.
Get a little notebook and jot down the auction number, date it sold and who bought it with their address and the total amount it sold for. Also weigh your packages and keep a log of what the package weighs in case someone wants to know shipping costs prior to buying.
Selling on the internet can and should be a family event. Go ahead, get organized, sort your stuff, and make some extra cash. If you have already been successful in organizing your home you can find things to sell at garage sales and estate sales. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Have fun and don't forget to give the Lord a portion of your profits to benefit others who may be in need or other church needs.
