One in, one out. A pre-Christmas declutter for cash!

Almost 10 years ago my baby girl was born. Who’d have thought that during that time we’d accumulate SO MUCH stuff?!!

Toys especially.  From plastic oversized Little Tikes toys, to miniature sized Playmobil figures, books upon books, notepads, paper and pens, key rings, soft toys, trinkets, games, and the list goes on…  Doubling our house occupancy and adding a cat and 2 guinea pigs along the way meant that we’ve had to be savvy with our space and be really careful about what we keep, store, use and save.

I’ve always been pretty good at taking things out once they’ve outdone their useful life, but when it comes to things belonging to our children, it can be that little bit tougher!  Will they miss it?  What if they want to play with it later in the year?  I recommend taking a very pragmatic view of these things, considering their ‘place’ in your home and the physical space they take up in place of other items.  Either store unused toys out of the way for a few months before bringing them back into play or consider (gulp) getting rid!

My soon to be 10 year old recently reviewed some of her gadgets & toys – how often she plays on them and whether or not they are fun anymore – as she is set on buying herself a tablet device.  Funny how the bigger kids get the smaller the toys??  Bearing in mind the one she’s looking at costs in excess of £250 she needs to get saving hard, make some BIG birthday wishes or look at trading in no-longer wanted toys.  So that’s exactly what she’s done.  Making the most of a ‘free listing’ eBay weekend I have (on her behalf!) managed to sell a number of ‘grown out of’ and ‘put at the back of the drawer’ toys (agreed with her younger sibling who had taken out her preferred items first!) and has made a tidy little profit of just over £120!  Not bad, seeing as her Mum did most of the work!  With some savings and eagerly anticipated birthday money gifts she is set on purchasing her new gadget this side of Christmas. A decision that she has made about her stuff.

So the message I’m trying to share with you is that you can’t keep adding to the mix when the bowl is full.  You have to take something out to make room for other stuff.  Remember that in the run up to Christmas.  Encourage your children to have a little declutter of their toys and make way for what’s inevitably coming their way!

Some people struggle to get started with organising & decluttering their things, whilst others like to have company and an extra pair of hands to achieve the task.  If you need some motivation, ideas & hands-on help to get things sorted either side of Christmas, why not get in touch for a chat about how I can help?