5 Solutions to Get Ready For Your Garage Sale

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

5 Solutions to Get Ready For Your Garage Sale

Sounds like a no-brainer, eh? But how many times have you gotten ready for your long awaited, clean everything out, “let’s get rid of this stuff already” garage, yard, porch or tag sale only to find the next day that you had “forgotten” several boxes stored away in the garage rafters, attic, basement or back closet. Or, maybe you just didn’t plan ahead well enough and still have way too much “stuff and things” in your house that now need a second garage sale! Yikes!

Solution #1: I love this. Yes or No.
Several weeks before your garage sale schedule an uninterrupted full day to go through your house, top to bottom, every closet, drawer, unopened box and questionable heap and pull out anything and everything that doesn’t scream “I love this!” Start hearing “yes” or “no” in your head as you look at and pick up each item (no maybes!). “Will I use this? Yes or no.” “Do I need this? Yes or no.” “Does it make sense to keep this in storage another 30 years, keep paying for it and never use it or see it? Yes or no.” You’ll notice a rhythm begin that takes on it’s own energy, “yes or no – NO”, “yes or no, YES!”…. Do it as quickly as you can, this really helps to move stuff out.

WARNING: If you stand and hold an item, think about it and wonder what you’ll do with it if it stays… (think Crocodile Hunter) “DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!”… you’ll “trance” and find out too late that it’s already the end of your allotted time to declutter and little progress was made. Self-loathing ensues… and you’re back where you started. Who needs it!

Solution #2: If my house burned down….
I offer this creative thought angle often (also the title of my new organizing program video “Burn Your House Down”). Step outside the box. Shake yourself up. Wake up from your “consumer” and “hoarding” trance! As you look into your closet, still too full, as you try to open an overstuffed drawer think, “If my house burned down right now would I miss any of this?” The answer is usually “no!” Declutter more.

Solution #3: What if…
Play the “What if…” game. What if I got a call today asking me to move to another country, one that I love, and could do what I love for a living and get paid mega-bucks and enjoy my life even more than I enjoy my life now. “WOW, LET’S GO”, right? “But,” the price of the ticket is that you can only take 2,000 lbs. of your stuff and things with you, the rest must go (no, you can’t store it.) What is your joy worth? What is your life worth?

I was given a wonderful compliment by the wife of an IBM employee who had attended one of my Stress and Time Management programs at IBM. Bonnie wrote me a letter saying that her husband had been offered a transfer to Germany with IBM, that they took it and would live there for 2 years. Company stipulations were that they could only take 2,000 lbs. of their belongings with them. She said, “Your handouts from the class were the first thing on the load!”

Solution #4: Call the truck.
Do yourself a great big favor. Call the local charities or thrift shops and schedule a “pick up” of what’s left over from your garage sale. Do this BEFORE the garage sale. DO NOT put the leftovers back into your garage. PERIOD!

Solution #5: Redecide! It’s okay.
I know, it seemed like a good idea at the time… but while you’re decluttering your house, garage, etc. and find that you really don’t have time, don’t want to, or can’t deal with a garage sale. It’s okay. Take your items a few boxes or bags at a time to the local charity or thrift store… or CALL THE TRUCK (Solution #4) and let them take it away. Someone can and will use your items. Reality is, unless you have great stuff or are excited about creating this event to spend time with family or friends, sometimes garage sales are more work than they’re worth for the few dollars you might really get. Instead, let the trucks take your stuff and take that same day or two and go out with family, friends, or spend some splendid time alone in your new, decluttered home.

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Also, my book Letting Go With All Your Might is helpful to release old “trance” beliefs about holding onto things and ideas about things that keep us stuck. http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

Editors and publishers are free to reprint blog articles as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and the signature line remains intact.