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Simplify your life and improve your budgetby using these strategies to get cash for your clutter!
By Sarah Nichols, Contributing Writer
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I am always fighting against clutter. It seems that stuff just appears out of nowhere and fillsup our home. Before long we feel cramped and crowded. My kids can’t find their things, we don’t have room for it all, and it feels like we are sinking in a pile of excessive belongings.
It always feels so good to go through the house on a decluttering spree. I’ve come to realize stuff will never make mehappy. Instead, happiness is more often found in the richness of relationships. For that reason, I would much rather spend time with my family then spend time organizing all my stuff. In fact, I’ve found that a simple, decluttered space makes family time more enjoyable. (Because Mom’s not stressed out!)
The great thing about decluttering and simplifying is that it brings peace to the chaos, harmony to the discord, and money to bank account. Yes money! There are lots of ways to earn extra cash while getting rid of your stuff. I rounded up a lot of those great ideas so that you can have them all in one place. All it takes is a little time, a little patience, and a little creativity, and soon your house will be a peaceful place free of clutter and you’ll have a little extra spending money in the bank. Happy decluttering, my friends!
Table of Contents
Photo Credit: Wrote via Compfight cc
Related: Insanely Easy Tips for an Uncluttered Kitchen
Making Money While Decluttering
1. Facebook Yardsale sites
Most of us know about craigslist and yard sales for selling things, but did you know that there is probably a Facebook yard sale site in your area? I prefer using Facebook over craigslist because you can scan the profile of the person you are meeting with beforehandand it’s generally geared toward people on your side of town. I also prefer Facebook over physical yard sales because it is a much smaller time investment. Just type your city name and ‘yard sale’ into the search bar on Facebook and see what pops up. In my experience, things usually sell pretty quickly when I post them in the groups (especially kid stuff), and it’s also really easy to search for items you are looking for.
2. Old cell phones
If you have any old cell phones just collecting dust, consider selling them at gazelle.com or buybackworld.com. We recently did this and the company sends you a box with the shipping paid, you put your old phones in them and mail them over. Then they send you a check or add money to your Paypal account.
3. Unused gift cards
Ifhave old gift cards laying aroundand you don’t see yourself using them anytime soon, you can sell them for cash at websites like Cardpool.
4. Clothes
If your clothes arein good condition, you may want to consider selling them to a second hand store. Most second hand stores will pay you cash or credit. There are also websites that will pay you for your clothes and your kid’s clothes such as ThredupandOnesie2Onesie. The websites list what type of clothes they will take and how much they will pay you for them. Theysend you a box that is prepaid for shipping, you fill it up and send it back, and then they pay you!
5. Ebay/Amazon
Ebay and Amazon are great places to sellitems as well. On Amazon you scroll down to the bottom of the home page and click on “sell on Amazon”under the heading “Make Money With Us.” From there you would just choose the options that work best for you before listing your stuff. When a person chooses to buy through you, you are responsible for getting it to the post office.
On Ebay you would click on the word “sell”on the toolbar at the very top of the home page. From there you would register and thenyou get to decide if you want to list the items yourself, or you can have Ebay list the items for you for 20%+ of the commission.
Photo Credit: dklimke via Compfight cc
6.Books
There are a bunch of websites that buy used books, but if you use the website BookScouter, it searches all of those websites for you and tells you which one would pay you the most. Just type the ISBN numbers of your books you want to sell to figure out how much you could earn. A lot of books won’t be worth anything (those are better to donate for the tax write-off), but you may be surprised at what you find. Shipping is also usually free which is a bonus!
7. CDs/DVDs/Video Games
These usually sell pretty well on Craigslist or Facebook yard sale sites, but you can also go to abundatrade.com. Abundatrade will buy these items and you can ship them for free.
8. Donate to a non-profit
Donate to a non-profit to get a tax write-off. It may not be immediate cash in your pocket, but those tax deductions add up throughout the year! Take a picture of your donation each time to remember everything you’ve donated and get the most accurate tax deduction.
9. Get Creative
Another way that you can make money by decluttering is by repurposing the items for things that you usually spend money on. We do this by cutting up old shirts and receiving blankets to use as cloth baby wipes. You can cut up old towels and use them as reusable paper towels. Paper clutter can be shredded and used in packaging instead of foam peanuts, or cut and used as note cards. However, it’s not decluttering or saving money if you try to do this for something you wouldn’t usually spend money on anyways.
