I've been sorting out all this week, mostly going through my wardrobe and drawers trying on and checking ALL my clothes.
After doing Project 333 for the last couple of years, although a bit on and off and not always sticking rigidly to the rules, I knew I could get by on so much less than I currently had in there. And having lots of choice doesn't make things easier, it makes things more time consuming rummaging through things, getting them out and putting them back while you are choosing what to wear.
So following the Konmari method of looking at things and seeing what brought me 'joy' ( ... sounds daft but it actually works) I went through everything I owned and put the things that didn't meet the criteria into the large washing basket and the big blue box at the front on this photo.
We took these and lots of other unwanted bits and pieces to the last local car boot of the season at Rowen .....
... and came home with empty boxes and a little pile of money.
A total of £125.20 in fact.
Lovely Hubby being the lovely hubby that he is, suggested I used it to buy myself some new clothes, but I really didn't want and certainly didn't need anything else to add back into my now tidy and organised wardrobe.
So his next suggestion was "Why don't we add it lock, stock and barrel to the Sealed Pot to give us more cash for next year's Challenge". I agreed immediately ... what a brilliant idea.
We have no way of knowing how much is in there, and we won't find out until 31st December, which is our designated opening date this year, but as you can see it weighs almost 4 kilos :-)
This is our fourth year of having a Sealed Pot, another brilliant idea that I got via Blogland, this time through SFT and her blog Life After Mortgage, which is currently dormant :-(
So we have less stuff, more money, more room in the cupboards and the satisfaction of having donated all the unsold goodies to a charity shop. Not a bad weekend!!
Sue xx
Well done! The end of a car boot sale is such a satisfying feeling especially when it includes a drop off at a charity shop.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good result worth getting up early for!
ReplyDeleteOur huge clear out to tidy and prepare for moving has made enough money to see us through 2 or 3 months of the winter which is very useful as our income will be tiny after November.
We didn't even have to get up early... it starts at 1pm officially, but those in the know get there at 11am, which is still very civilised:-)
DeleteThat's a great achievement. I"m just starting a clearout - not that I have loads in the first place - but if I don't use it, someone else can and I can make some money then it's going. Lovely to discover your blog. X
ReplyDeleteWelcome, it's lovely to get new readers :-)
DeleteGreat outcome. One mans trash is another mans treasure. There is something cathartic about clearing and tidying. I'll open my pot on the 15th December as the money will be used for presents.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, I'm interested in learning more about the yearly challenge and sealed pot. Do you have any links that explain how to do it? Thanks! Sarah
ReplyDeleteIf you put 'Sealed Pot' into the little white Search box at the top left of my blog it will take you to all my posts that mention it. Some of them have links back to Sft's blog posts.
DeleteSorry I'm on my phone at the moment rather than the computer so I can't put a direct link to her blog.
I love a good clear out, we do it all the time but don't like car boots so it goes to charity.
ReplyDeleteI think I would like to try the sealed pot challenge next year, well done on your car boot sales x
ReplyDeleteThe older I get, the less stuff I want. I can't bear clutter (causes too much housework too!) and love space. It was our silver anniversary a few months ago and I told people please not to buy us anything, explaining that we just don't want ornaments etc. I come from a family of hoarders and lovers of ornaments and other bits and bobs but I just don't feel comfortable living like this.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was Mum and Dads Golden Anniversary knowing they wouldn't want lots of individual gifts, we sent out gold coloured envelopes with the invitations (it was a surprise party) asking people to put money in the envelopes. Then at the party they could put them anonymously into a lovely crystal fruit bowl that me, Lovely Hubby and my brother had bought for them.
DeleteThey had lots of fun opening all the envelopes after the party and the money they received, after some thought was spent on a fruit cage for their garden, something they really needed.
It worked a treat.
I think I'm just lazy! We don't have any car boot sales local to us, and we just can't be bothered getting up really early and dashing off, so the lot gets charity shopped!
ReplyDeleteOur charity shop of choice is for a local children's hospice, and they give donors a code number which is attached to purchases. They then, annually, contact us to tell us how much our donations have been sold for. Over the past two years they've sold our donations for just over £1850!
If we weren't so idle, we could have had that money for ourselves, but while we're managing okay, I'd rather it did some good elsewhere!
I doubt you could have made as much as that at car boot sales, so your donations did a wonderful job for a very worthwhile cause :-)
DeleteThere was a lot of stuff that we couldn't have 'car booted' anyway. Quite a lot of furniture from mum's house and stuff that was too big, bulky or heavy to car boot. As for the smaller stuff, my laziness just takes over, while the charity collection van is at the house, I give them everything. There's a basket on the stairs and all charity shop stuff that is small enough is put in it until it's full, then off it goes!
DeleteYou did well. I'd have bought your wicker baskets! We've not done a car boot for years but enjoyed them when we did. We do have quite a few indoor ones around us though (east midlands).
ReplyDeleteP.s. on another note please could you advise whether the green toms have to be peeled first in the green chutney recipe? Am attempting a green one shortly. Many thanks.
No, your tomatoes can just be chopped and left as they are .... Make it as chunky as YOU like it, dead simple :-)
DeleteOh and I meant to add I brought one of the shopping baskets home, I couldn't part with it for the money folk were offering!!
DeleteThank you. Am doing it tonight....made a red Tom one on Friday night....bought too larger size jars and only made 3 and a bit jars....even so, we only have 1 jar left as the others were claimed! ! Got smaller jars ready for the green one.
DeleteI'm in the same process at the moment. I have some really good things I'm going to take to a consignment shop to get a few bucks to spend at another thrift shop. The rest are in bags to go to the charity shop. It feels so good to have more room in my closet!
ReplyDelete