I may have mentioned a few times (here, here, here, here, here, here) that I'm currently pregnant with our second little angel. If you signed up for my free 5 day email course, you'll also know that my go-to nesting habit is to purge. And it's seriously awesome.
Haven't had the opportunity to sign up for the course yet? I'll make it easy for ya.
So, if you haven't already guessed it, the way I made well over $600 from my pregnancy was by initiating a purge (or 3) and selling a lot of the excess! I don't have an accurate total because it was money gathered over time (and I wasn't yet in the blogging mindset), but I will outline what avenues we took to selling our things.
Quick Navigation
A Tale of Two Purges
A few months into my pregnancy, I got my first wave of nesting. I tried to hold back, but the purging monster reared her ugly freakin' gorgeous head. Quickly, I pulled out a few saleable and donation items and got rid of them fairly easily.
After a few more months, I couldn't wait any longer. I started going through the house using my sure-fire 4-step purging method. You can find out more about it in my eBook, The Comprehensive Purging Guide.
How We Got Rid of All the Stuff
If you live a relatively normal lifestyle, you probably don't think you have much to purge. I didn't, other than a lot of hand-me-down baby clothes. Then I started being obsessive about minimizing. There was so much more I wanted to get rid of. And the best part? It's addicting. The more I purged the more I wanted to purge. Getting rid of junk feels so damn good. The nice bonus was the potential money we could make off our clutter.
[bctt tweet=”Getting rid of junk feels so damn good!” username=”hampsandhiccs”]Word of Mouth
My husband had a couple of items to get rid of from his shed. Yes, I even made him purge the sheds. He was able to sell one on kijiji and the other through asking his boss if he knew of anyone wanting an old Ford mechanic shop cabinet. His boss was able to help us sell it almost immediately! Don't underestimate the power of the people. There are connections everywhere you look. I was also able to sell a couple items to different individuals who stopped by during my purging session. A couple methods similar to this is putting up posters at appropriate notice boards around your communities or a quick post on Snap Chat or Insta.
Online Sales
Initially, I was advertising higher quality items online. Facebook's online garage sale and kijiji.com. I was able to get rid of a few things and make some bucks, but then the items started to pile up. Like, I'm talkin', my mudroom absolutely FULL of boxes, furniture, bags, and more. At this point I decided I might as well develop a more organized system of getting rid of the stuff. It would have been ridiculously time consuming to post everything online, field responses, deliver items, etc.
Traditional Garage Sale
Conveniently, this was right around the time of our local town-wide garage sale. I registered a sale and set up at my grandma's place in town. We hauled 3 loads of excess in to be sold. This is where we made the bulk of our money. Close to $600! Not bad for a day's work. I priced my items quite low in hopes of not having to haul stuff around again, and was open to nearly all offers. All we were left with were a few bigger ticket items and a half load to be donated.
Why It Feels So Good to Purge
When we get rid of stuff, we're left with what I like to call our house feeling lighter. Not only are you decluttering your spaces and making your life easier, you're also improving your mental health. You probably won't realize it until stuff starts to disappear, but all that clutter is making your mind a mess. When you're able to get rid of things you make more room in your mind for more important thoughts. Not to mention you'll feel more relaxed and at ease.
[bctt tweet=”When you're able to get rid of things you make more room in your mind for more important thoughts #purge #declutter” username=”hampsandhiccs”]Get a FREE One Page Printable Purging Guide by subscribing here.
If you're looking to get a slow start on taking control of your life, I recommend my free 5-day email series dedicated to becoming a more efficient homemaker using simple strategies. Day 2 gives you an introduction into purging, and on day 5 you'll receive the link to an excerpt from The Comprehensive Purging Guide.
I also started this blog while I was pregnant! You can check out my beginning here. And if you're looking to start one of your own I highly recommend using bluehost for web hosting. They're the best. AND it's only $3.95/month!