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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Spring Cleaning - or Kill the Klutter!

I think that, in my case, spring cleaning is too benign a term for what needs doing.  I think that "Kill the Klutter" is my new motto.  A more aggressive, take-no-captives approach to five years of denial.  As a matter of fact, I may just have a t-shirt made up.  Whoa~that means adding something to the household. 

As I am working to KTK, I have put things in piles.  These, of course, are different than the piles I'm attempting to kill.  I have a giant bag for Goodwill - clothes only.  Then there is a large box for Goodwill - knick-knacks, doodads, pointy things, heavy things.  Then there is the recycling bag for papers.  Then there is the craigslist pile.  I put things on craigslist that are free and offered for sale.  I used to use freecycle but had so many problems with rude, lazy people that I gave up.  Not that I haven't had problems with craigslist. 

I posted the following things on craigslist recently:  dvd player (free - it's very inexpensive, non-fancy and I said so).  I got 5 emails in response.  3 wanted pictures, 1 wanted a warranty, 1 wanted to know where my town was located, 1 said she lived close and could pick it up right away.  Guess who got it?  I also posted a Ryobi cordless chainsaw with charger for free.  I was flooded with email.  The majority offered me long, involved stories of why they should have it.  And most of them lived anywhere from an hour to two hours away and wanted me to deliver it.  A couple offered me a bribe of $5 - and also wanted me to deliver it.  I picked the most reasonable response from someone who lived reasonably close.  Whether he arrives is anyone's guess.  But the response that really drives me over the edge are the people who want to know where your town is located, you tell them, you go through days of back and forth emails working out a schedule, then they inform you a week later that it's too far.  Now, these people obviously have access to a computer - they are emailing you, after all.  So, what?  They can't Google my town?  The last one got a link to a Google map as a response.

All done.  There, I feel better.  Thank you for listening.

As for the klutter - I am making headway.  I have not forgotten my closet.  But I have come to realize that I must be suffering from AADD, because I cannot make myself stay in one spot for more than a half hour.  I am tackling it in sections and that seems to work for me.  I did take "before" pictures so....when I finally have an "after" picture, I will post it - warts and all.  Spring must be coming - I heard my first Red Winged Blackbird this morning!

4 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

I have not sold anything on craiglist for years, but have bought a few things. I am always surprised when people tell me what the experiences are they are having with customers. What is going on with people these days. Do they have nothing better to do than bother sellers on craigslist? Some ads are written very sharp. Now I know why.

Erin said...

KTK, woohoo! I'm right there with you! Believe it or not, I have sold over $4500 worth of stuff on CL over the past 5 years, ranging from kids toys and baby items to furniture and an aquarium. It helps that I'm an IKEA junkie and nobody around here wants to drive the 3+ hour one way trip there, so whenever I post "IKEA" on CL it's sold in an hour LOL. I use the stuff until there's just a few good years left on it, then resell it while I still can and use the $ for something new :) My latest thing is that I tell them "sure, I'll hold it for you, with a deposit!" :)

Mama Pea said...

Clutter, clutter, clutter! It's so much easier to keep things clean and shipshape when there's not a lot of clutter around. So why is it then that clutter happens so easily? It's like if you turn your back for more than 5 seconds, it sneaks right on in! Good luck to you.

Shula said...

LOL we share a goal for this year :) I just took about 6 bags of horse things to a tack sale, too scared to do the rest of the barn. Living room is done. "The office" is next if we can get in it! CL people are rude, I have a first come, first served policy.