Well That's Just Rubbish

You think you have it tough....imagine you had to clean up the entire world??

One of the toughest things we have to do when preparing to sell our house is "purging" or "decluttering". Whatever you call it you are simply getting rid of stuff you have accumulated over the years. You sure as heck don't want to move it to your new place and it would be beneficial to get it out before buyers start walker through and judging your stacks of 1980's era Sports Illustrated magazines.

For some of us, this is a task that could take 20 minutes, others, a whole week with the aid of a garbage bin or mulitple trips to the dump. I want to give you a few alternative thoughts to assist you through this process.

1. Goodwill and Value Village take many items if in good shape as opposed to taking up space in various landfill sites.
   
2. Cambridge, Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo food banks take clothing donations, specifically warm clothes and winter jackets in the winter months.
3. University students are always looking for cheap furniture, specially in the late summer early fall. Try places like Kijiji, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace as free classified sites to sell your unwanted items and help pay for the pizza on move day.
4. My wife and I did the old fashioned garage sale and put the money towards our kids education RESP. Amazing what people will buy for a quarter.
   
5. Habitat for Humanity in Waterloo Region and Wellington County are good spots to donate building materials that didn't get used or old cabinets after the kitchen or bathroom were redone.

There are also services out there to assist you in these aspects. Whether you are too busy or just unable to do this process yourself you could use a service like Moving Forward. Deb Fox, owner and operator, got started in the business after going through the ordeal of dealing with her parents downsize. This is a great service for anyone but is aimed specifically towards the senior market. Those that are going from a house they have lived in for 30 or 40 years to a small retirement condo. Where would you begin? Try calling Deb.

All this talk of accumulation and purging I can't ignore the link. Here he is, the late George Carlin, "Stuff".


M