That’s where it’s at, ladies and gentlemen! Unloading all that junk in our lives and replacing it with fresher, more worthy stuff. (In both the brain AND our physical world). But instead of being wasteful about it, we can really harness the power of the internet and pimp out our frugal skills!
A perfect example: Selling your “old” iPhone and using the cash to upgrade to the iPhone 4! Do you know how much of a demand there is right now for these? My co-worker put up both his 3G and a 3GS last week and within 2 hours had 80 hits! 80! And guess how much he got for them? $150 and $250 respectively. So he got the brand new iPhone 4 WITH an extra $50 in his pockets (the upgrades are going for $199 right now. And the other $150 is just extra since he never sold it during the last upgrade). If you go on Craigslist here in DC there’s another 1,000+ up for sale. Insane…and a perfect example of getting rid of the old for something new with little effort.
Now granted there’s a mania with Apple products these days, but the same rule applies to the other aspects of our lives too.
Let’s take our house for example – how much of our stuff do we really like? Or even use all the way? If you’re anything like me, probably not much. Why not spend 15 mins a day sorting through it and getting rid of the stuff we never use anymore? You do your best to sell it online, and whatever doesn’t fly gets donated to local donation centers or thrift stores. Not only will this free your mind, but it gives your objects a better chance of getting used again.
This is also great for Minimalism. Whenever you pick up something new, you get rid of something else so you’re not in the business of collecting “stuff!” You can take this to the extreme and REALLY stay on track, or you can use it as a rough guideline. Personally, I’m in the hardcore phase right now ;) I’ve been filling trash bags FULL of old stuff we never touch or wear anymore and it’s starting to clog up our basement! Haha…so I guess technically we haven’t gotten rid of it yet but we’re getting there.
If you can put a lot of old stuff to use – great. The frugality bone is hot! But for the rest, why not de-clutter a bit and make a few bucks from it? Then reward yourself with something you’d enjoy a helluva lot more! It doesn’t have to be the new iPhone, but it does have to excite you enough to get up an do something about it ;) Like maybe a trip to Forks?
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(Original iPhone photo by oskay)
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Best way to know how much CRAP you have that you don’t need or use?
MOVE.
I have never in my life thrown away or sold more STUFF before. I can definitely say I didn’t get rid of it all, but I made a huge dent before I moved this last time. It never ceases to amaze me how much ‘stuff’ a person can accumulate.
Best part of it? I made about $200 in the process by selling some of it! YAY :)
Getting rid of clutter is the best. I love if I clean out a closet really good- I quite often go look at it again throughout the day. (Yeah, maybe I have a problem…) When I get surrounded by disarray, it literally affects my mood.
You can sell a lot of stuff online. Books, clothes, you name it. Sure it takes a lot of work, but it can also be kinda fun. You might even find a new hobby for yourself. (Or, you might find that you have bought a lot of useless garbage over the years and head straight to the Salvation Army instead.)
I always do this with video games, I will beat a game, then sell it back and take the little money I get and put it towards a new game.
Great post. My guy just sold his iPhone 3GS for $305! (The thing is that many people want an unlocked phone – buying a new iPhone 4 unlocked goes for about $699). We have a bunch of books and comic books that I’d love to unload for some $$ even if it’s a little. The thing that takes away is the time to arrange and catalogue. But I love the litte a day approach. I will start implementing this at home ASAP.
My friends have been selling their old iPhones too and making a little extra cash! I luckily have never given into the iPhone trend but they do seem cool (I’m a recent MAC convert over here.. ;) )
I’m planning to relocate soon… and there are some things that I’d like to try to sell just to lessen the load and make some extra $$.
This is a good idea! My wife has been looking at the 4 so I might just seller 3G based on this.
Oh and way to rock the Newton this morning. Apple was so far ahead of it’s time then, but that really was an awesome platform.
I think the iPhone 4 is way over hyped, plus it already got hacked into
i wanted to de clutter but i found nothing to throw away apart from old(ish) clothes that i still wear. Its a little sad but it is a part of the minimalist me. Means that i can very easily live from a backpack while hiking thru europe or south america or where ever
Isn’t it amazing how much we buy yet how little we use? I’ve recently learned to know my habits first and to think about purchases 30 days before I get it. For the most part I just stick to my favorite stuff which is only a couple of things. I’ve realized that since I only have a couple of toys that I really like to spend the money for quality so that it’ll last me longer.
I don’t even have an ipod, my bf gave me an MP3 player but I rarely use it, its the type of thing that I might use on vacation or on road trips which is why I haven’t bought an ipod yet, mostly i use my computer to listen to music, lol. I’ve also realized we don’t need an item for everything that we want to do such as a paper towel holder, my paper towels hold themselves up just fine without a paper towel holder.
Sometimes you just have to think for yourself, find alternatives, etc. You don’t need everything that they say you need to live a nice life.
@Brandi – That would do it! And if you’re REALLY good, you can *pretend* you’re moving once a year so you don’t let it all pile up again :)
@Everyday Tips – HAH! I do that exact same thing! I’ll look at my newly cleaned portion of the house a few times a day just to remind myself how awesome I am. Haha…it also helps me to keep it that way.
@Craig – That’s a great idea man, really really good one.
@Patti – YES, do it! Even if you only last a week you’d have cleaned up soooooo much. You do it for a month you are a rock star ;)
@HighClassLowIncome – Wow, and I thought my 2 years of waiting was good! Macs are sweet for sure – our main comp is one @ home.
@Brian – Do it! do it! do it! sell that bad boy and upgrade & then pocket the difference. It’s a win-win situation :)
@Impulse Magazine – The one thing that wasn’t overhyped though? The BATTERY LIFE! Can never have enough my man.
@kt – That is amazing! I’d really like to get closer to that type of lifestyle. Maybe not a backpack or two worth only, but certainly a lot more managable than I have now. Although when we start having kids I’m sure that “stuff” # will be going back up!
@nyx – Damn straight. I bought an iPod 3 years ago before my “financial change” and I’ve listened to it a total of 3 times. Maybe 4. $hit, I don’t even use the one on my iPhone! haha…but I was tempted to get it just like everyone else did so I dropped the $200. And if I hadn’t engraved all over it I could have at least sold it for a decent amount ;)
I also like your mentality of only having a few things, but letting them be your favorites. If everything we owned were our favorites that would be hot! Would always be enjoying those items you have :)
Unfortunately I don’t have an old Iphone to sell…and I won’t be buying a new one either. I guess I just don’t need to be ‘in-touch’ with everything and everyone 24 hrs a day. I will just keep my little ‘ole cheap $9.99 phone I got when the hubby got his Iphone (he has the need I guess)…my phone works just great and gets me in contact with the people I need to talk to. Other than that…i got this here computer…it’s good enough.
You do not want to wait until you move… you make more and less stressed if you keep on top of it. You can get a better price if you are not in a hurry… at some point someone is going to find it is EXACTLY what they were looking for. (I’m still in the middle of getting as much as I can sold before shortly moving overseas.. not fun.) But I am looking forward to starting out fresh and making different decisions this time around. :D
And whatever you do don’t throw everything into garbage bags at the curb. :P Huge pet peeve. If you aren’t going to send it to a second hand store, leave a “free” box out on the curb. I just found a barely used scrapbooking cardboard kit in someone’s recycling.. it just caught my eye walking by even though it was under another box. I’m going to throw it in my garage sale. :D Free money.
@Jennifer – haha, nice. never heard of I’ll have to check ’em out.
@finallygettingtoeven.com – Yeah, you call and text from a computer too these days ;)
@vaalea – YES! Love those “FREE – take anything!” corners. I have an entire room full of furniture/art from the streets ;) People throw away some pretty good stuff!