How to Reduce Clutter in Your Life

How would you like to simplify your life and make money doing it? You can do this by regularly identifying items that you no longer use and using some of the online services to sell or donate them. By doing this on a regular basis you will find the clutter in your life is gradually reduced and you have extra money in your pocket.

Over a period of time most people acquire material possessions at a rate greater then they get rid of them. As things are acquired and used eventually they either go out of style, get worn out or are put away and just not used any more. Items such as this accumulate and most people do not make an ongoing effort to rid themselves of items they no longer will be using. To simplify this part of your life takes more then a crash effort but rather an ongoing methodical effort. Making money from disposing of these items is a good incentive to keep up your effort to simplify your life.

How to make money from items you no longer want or need has gotten easier with the advent of online services found on the internet. Use Google or Yahoo to search for online auctions such as eBay or individual dealers. Keep in mind with online auctions like eBay that should you sell something the various listing, final value, and payment fees can easily amount to greater then 10% of the sales and shipping money you collect. At the same time the remaining 90% you end up with is money in your pocket and you will also simplify your lifestyle. You should do some basic research to determine if the item you are considering is likely to sell and, if so, what price you might get. This can be done by looking at eBay's Completed Sales for similar items as well as the number of active listings. If there are thousands listed it is less likely your item will get the visibility or bidding wars that you would like. Remember that should you sell an item on eBay you will be responsible for packing and shipping it thus you may want to shy away from listing larger or heavier items such as furniture in lieu of selling them locally.

Depending on where you live there are usually a number of convenient ways of selling things locally. Since there is no shipping involved or fees, other then perhaps advertising, you may stand to make more money then on an online auction. One online service, craigslist.org, is an easy way to list something for sale without cost. In many areas there are other online local sales sites which can be found by doing an online search using Google. Making money by selling directly through newspaper ads is another good opportunity. Some newspapers provide free ads for items under a certain price, say $200. In virtually all areas garage, yard, and estate sales are another possibility for converting your items to money while you simplify your life. Usually these ads can be placed using the paper's online web site.

Beyond selling depending on your federal and state tax situation, you can make money with your unwanted goods through donating them to charitable organizations. This will require some record keeping on your part. It is best to keep up with this as you donate rather then play catch-up come tax time. Most areas have numerous charitable organizations that will accept a wide range of items even including, cars, trucks, and boats. The tax deduction you may get is effectively putting money in your pocket (or rather keeping it in your pocket). Use a search engine such as Google or Yahoo to find the charities web site and then look for information on their pickup service.

Typically you may have some things that are not good candidates for selling. For example a used appliance like a range that still works may be hard to sell. In fact it may cost you money to have a trash company remove it. If you found someone who would not only benefit from it but also cart it away for free you would save money. Don't ignore these cost avoidance opportunities since the end result is that you are still effectively making or keeping money by getting rid of something and thus simplifying your life and surroundings.

Getting rid of things that you feel cannot easily be sold are ideal candidates for an online public service board like freecycle.com which is hosted by Yahoo. Do a Google search on Freecycle to find the online address. On Freecycle you cannot sell things but you can find people willing to take virtually anything as long as it's for free. There is also a Free category on craigslist.org you can post things on. If you look at these sites you will see that a wide range of things are listed. When you list something people respond by email (your personal email address is not listed for privacy concerns). Once you chose a recipient you exchange emails directly and arrange for pickup. Often it just involves putting an item on your porch with their name on it so direct contact is not necessary if you chose.

In your quest to simplify your life consider getting rid of unwanted, unused items using the techniques discussed in this article. They will provide a way of converting those items directly to money or indirectly to save money through tax deductions or cost avoidance. If you do it on a regular basis you will reduce the clutter and simplify your life as well as convert some of it into money you otherwise wouldn't have.