Archive for the 'lighten the load challenge 2009' Category
Jun
30
No! No television show has offered an eBay room makeover for me. No clutter buster professional showing up at my door to help me rid my room of the piles and PILES of boxes, junk, clutter, or general mess. No “DRIVER,MOVE THAT BUS!” being shouted from my neighbors’ yards. Just li’l ol’ me trying to figure out how in the world to fix my mess of an ebay room. Before I go on, please notice I use the word room, rather than office. the word office would imply that some kind of work would be produced in such a place.
You see, my eBay room is also the “i-don’t-know-where-it-goes” room. For a moment (and I do mean a BRIEF moment) I thought about posting a photo of my ebay room. Then, with what minute bit of good sense I have left, thought better of humiliating myself publicly. Let me just say….that there is a very narrow path (term used loosely here) to my desk, which can barely be seen, much less be able to provide an efficient place to work.
I have been researching ideas for home office organizing and came across an interesting short article….How to Organize Your Ebay Home Office that gave some generic ideas for getting it all together. I have also been looking at one of those really awesome Shipping Center Armoires
Last year was the first that I began calling my eBay an actual business and keeping the profit and loss records. My year end was most definitely in the red…BOLDED CAPITAL RED. Being on a budget and trying to reduce my load with the Lighten the Load Challenge, I am trying very hard to make-do with what I have this year, so the armoire organizer
Since March, I have not been very productive with eBay. The death of a very dear loved one in late February numbed our household for some time, then Hais’ graduation and festivities had to be planned. Two days after her graduation, we learned that our oldest daughter (22) wanted to move here to return to school. With so many changes in our life in such a short period, there was no time for eBay. I finally had to place my store on an extended vacation setting.
The Lighten the Load Challenge has been on hold for as long, as well. We have continued to strive toward a debt free household during this time, so yesterday I finally posted my progress in the Challenge. It made me remember that though my store was closed, I am still paying for the service. It is time to “fish or cut bait”….so here I am….attempting to get things in order to go full speed ahead. That room though! What in the heck…how in the heck….can I work in there?
The room is not going to be fixed in a day. Well technically I suppose it could be if I just move the “stuff” to another room, but that really causes more difficulty and shouldn’t really count. So, I am setting a mini goal for myself here….spend two hours working on the room every day for the next seven days. In the meantime, I am hoping that maybe some of you will offer ideas and suggestions for organizing my eBay room into an eBay office. Please feel free to post links or send emails with any ideas you may have. Prayers and positive thoughts are very welcome also. I think I am going to need every bit of help I can possible find at this moment. oh, and if I am not up for air by the end of the week…please send help! 
Feb
17
We have been so busy around her de-cluttering and getting ready for company that will be visiting soon(in only a few short days now), that I have been remiss in reporting my Lighten the Load Challenge 2009 updates over here. I have been pretty consistent with posting progress on the Lighten the Load Facebook Group Discussion Board, but time has been in too short supply around here for posting any place else.
This past week:
350 Units Debt Reduction
65 Units of Junk out the door in one fashion or another
2 Units of personal weight loss
And one more celebration!!! I now have new bathroom flooring! My kitchen flooring still looks like something you would find in an abandoned house, but hopefully soon this too will be replaced. I am so tired of the boxes of flooring taking up room in the dining room. It was become such a fixture in the dining room that stuff is now sitting on top of the stack…NOT a good sign!
We are still looking for others to join in on our challenge, if even for a short while. The Facebook group is growing slowly. Come along…invite your friends…let’s make it a party!
Feb
15
In an effort to move forward with the Lighten the Load Challenge, I find myself offering items from my collections of pieces. This stunning, vintage Acanthus Leaf Low Console Bowl was a terrific addition to my ivory/matte white collection that I used in our wedding several years ago.
Unfortunately, I do not have an identification on this lovely piece, though I have tried many times and have presented photos to the wonderfully helpful member of the Pottery, Glass and Porcelain Board on eBay, but to no avail.
The only markings available is the E430 stamped on the bottom of this glossy piece. I am truly hoping that someone will find this bowl as remarkable as I did and will give it a great new home…and possibly an identification.
This past week has been the most exhausting in a long while. Being sick and trying to keep up with everything has been near impossible. It doesn’t help that Hais is coming around with what appears to be a secondary infection/illness and DH is still not quite up to snuff with the cough that followed his illness.
The Lighten the Load Challenge was definitely NOT in the forefront of my efforts this past week. Having said that, I am embarrassed to post my tiny bit of progress at only 25 UNITS.
eBay– 20 UNITS
trash/junk –5 UNITS
I didn’t even take my earnings to pay on debt, but hopefully this next week will show at least a bit more progress. Maybe-Maybe not. It is Wednesday and it is still an effort to concentrate to even write this entry…so we shall see, right?
CindyDianne reported a success of 121 UNITS with Craigslist and donations this week over on the Facebook Group. A big woohoo to her!
Good luck, and happy lessening to all, on your Lighten the Load Challenge!
Monday is now the “official” day for reporting progress, struggles, ideas, and suggestions with the Lighten the Load Challenge. Feel free to link your progress post on your own blog in the comments of this entry…OR…post it at the new Facebook Lighten the Load Challenge Group.
Today’s update includes all progress from January 1 to this point. Here goes:
Sold VW: 1500 Units (weight)
Debt: 250 Units
eBay: 8 Units
Unfortunately, there was no actual debt reduction with the sale of the VW. Tags, taxes, etc. were all due at the end of the year…so the mula went to that huge bill.
Unfortunately, there was no actual debt reduction with the sale of the VW. Tags, taxes, etc. were all due at the end of the year…so the mula went to that huge bill.
I figured the debt reduction on the amount the principal was actually lowered and not on what I paid, ‘cuz you KNOW I am payin’ some interest here.
The eBay reduction comes from the weight of the products actualy mailed. Because of my closed actions last night, I will be able to show more progress in this area next Monday. I have decided to only post a reduction AFTER it is physically shipped.
Taking small steps toward my challenge is what is going to help me be successful. Our family has been fairly sick, with little motivation to do much of anything., but I did conquer one very tiny area of our house. The MEDICINE CABINET. I am embarrassed to report that I had box after box, and bottle after bottle of different meds that had expired. I went through every package, every prescription bottle and cleared out everything that was expired. I even pealed the labels off of the prescription bottles, so that they could be recylcled.
Speaking of which, our recycling bins are filling quickly, which will show a fair amount of progress after the first Saturday in February. I can hardly wait.
So tell us your progress, your struggles, your concerns, and YOUR ideas for reduction of clutter, weight and debt.
Over at The Sustainable Backyard, one of my other blogs, I posted about the lighten the load challenge 2009. I am challenging myself to rid my home, my waistline and my debt of 11,500 UNITS.
The great thing about using ebay and etsy to help me reach my overall challenge, is there is a double benefit. I will have less in my household and the money to help reduce the debt.
So, it will be here that I post about the amount of units that will relieve my 100 year old home’s aching piers and beams. I will show the progress of items removed from my home as they are sold online at eBay or etsy. That overall challenge of 11,500 units seems like a lot of units with the 1 LB. = 1 UNIT ratio, but I have some larger objects that are quite heavy that I hope leave our household before Spring.
I have already rid our household of approximately 1500 lbs, by selling our 1970 VW Beetle a few weeks ago. Next, I hope to sell our vintage piano that is just gathering dust and propping up some of my collectibles…which will soon be on the auction block as well.
So—do you have plenty of clutter in your life? Want to join in a fun way of seeing it leave? Grab the widget in the sidebar and leave a post here. Soon I will be adding a Lighten the Load Blogroll to both of my sidebars.