How to Get Rid of Things After You Declutter

Have boxes of items you are ready to let go of? Congratulations on decluttering your home, but now the question is: how to get rid of things? There are a lot of options and this article will cover a few choices for either donating or selling after you declutter.

If you are ready to just be done with the items, donating them is the easiest way to get them out of the house before you have second thoughts. There are many ways you can donate or give away your decluttered items:

Give to an organization that regularly accepts donations: Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, etc. There are many options. If you have large items you can even schedule a pickup from some of these choices. It may be weeks before they can come for the items though.Your local church, nursing home or hospital would probably gladly take magazines or books.Give them to a friends, family or neighbors who can use the items.List them on Freecycle. Freecycle is a great mailing list where you can list items you no longer want that someone else may want. Generally the person will come pick the item up at your home or you can arrange to meet somewhere to exchange the  item.

Sometimes we aren’t ready to just give away an item and would like to recoup some of our investment in the purchase. In this case there are many avenues where you can try to sell the item.

eBay – for a large value item eBay may be the best way to sell it. There will be more fees and if it is a heavy item the cost of shipping may be prohibitive to the buyer.Craigslist is a great place to sell items online to local folks. Because you are selling to people nearby this method is much more attractive for heavy items. It is easy to arrange for the buyer to pickup the item at your home or meet for an exchange.Use a local mailing list. Your neighborhood, church, school or other group may have a mailing list where people list items for sale. These lists can be the simplest way to list smaller items with a simple email that others may be able to use. Check facebook or yahoo groups for local groups and ask your neighbors.Hold a garage sale, or rummage sale, whichever name you prefer. Avoid the chore of having to do all the advertising yourself by joining a community garage sale. If one isn’t scheduled see if your neighbors would be interested in having a neighborhood sale. A sale with several homes participating draws in a lot more people and the cost and chore of advertising can be shared amongst the group.What is your preferred method to get rid of things after you declutter? Do you do a mix of he above or mostly do one? Share your tips and suggestions with us in the comments below.

(Photo credit: Woman with Feather Duster via Shutterstock)

 Do you want to learn some small optimization tweaks that make a big difference? If so, download my free 45 minute training here: Optimize Your Life   Lori Thayer is passionate about optimization. Optimize life and business when you connect with others, enrich, and simplify. Small changes make a big difference. These tweaks help you save time and enjoy life more. You can follow her on these sites: blog,  Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

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