Spring At Last!
Let’s Celebrate by Staying Indoors? (Tips to speed along your spring purge)
By Erin Brule
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he sun is shining, the birds are chirping and new growth is starting to blossom all around you. For some strange reason, instead of doing the logical thing - go play outdoors - we are suddenly overcome by the desire to declutter our homes, our garages, our sheds, and purge the items threatening to land us a guest spot on hoarders. Why this urge doesn’t arrive mid-January, when staying indoors kind of makes sense, is beyond me. But every year it happens - spring cleaning fever! Usually before we get to the cleaning, we go through the organize and purge process. Following advice from the many reality TV shows out there (which is another mystery to me...how entertaining is it to watch someone sort their junk?) here’s some tips to get through it as quick as possible! #1. Tackle just one part of your house at a time. #2. Be quick. Be ruthless. Set a timer to get each room done. #3. Sort your unwanted stuff into 3 piles: To Sell/To Donate/To Throw-Out Also, if you have a friend that offers to come over to help, let them! They will help you get rid of the ‘but what if I need it someday’ stuff, and the ‘my aunt bought me that ceramic cat with the fake sapphire eyes’ junk! If they can’t convince you to send those items out the door, put them in a box and mark them with today’s date. Don’t label what is IN the box – just put it up in storage. (Next spring, when you stumble across that box, resist the urge to open it...just get rid of it!) Sell, Sell, Sell As you sort through your stuff, keep in mind that one woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure. So, if it’s in good condition and worthy of wanting (by someone!), try selling it first! • List it for free on Kijiji or Craigslist • Take it in to a consignment shop • Add it to the Mom Swap on Facebook
• Put it up on E-bay (if it is easily shipped) • Have a garage sale (or much better...find a friend having a garage sale who is willing to sell some of your stuff!) Sneaky Garage Sale Tip: If you decide you have enough stuff that a garage sale is worth your time, here’s a tip to get better prices for your stuff. Have a couple friends come ‘shop’ at your garage sale, expressing an interest in items that other people seem to be looking at. The other people will snap them up at full price. Seriously. Try it. You’ll be amazed. • Give it Away If you just can’t be bothered to try to sell your stuff, the next step is to donate it: • To friends & family (if they want it!) • ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) • Value Village • Salvation Army • Thrift City • Your church or community group Next step, send it to the curb! Literally! Before putting it in your trash, or taking it to the dump, try putting it in a box with a big ol’ FREE sign on it and leave it out for a day or two. I furnished my first apartment in Victoria this way! However, in the end, you’ll have a few sad items that just no one will buy or take. If they absolutely can’t be recycled or reused in any other way, off to the dump they go. And if you can’t be bothered to do that yourself (or you don’t have a truck and can’t borrow one!), give 1-800-GOTJUNK a call! As for the other part of spring cleaning...you know, doing the actual “cleaning” part of spring cleaning - giving your floors and walls a really good wash, dusting all the blinds, cleaning your carpets. Um. My advice...hire a professional and go out to play! Happy cleaning!
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