When was the last time you did a complete inventory and purge of everything you don’t need?
It’s so easy to accumulate piles of stuff, forget about it, and then rediscover it again years later. And it seems like the more space you have, the more stuff you find to fill that space.
Who knows? You could be sitting on a mini goldmine of stuff that you could make some good money on.
When it comes to getting rid of your stuff, there are basically four different ways to do it:
● Haul it to your local recycling center yourself
● Resell it online somewhere or host a garage sale
● Give it away to family or friends or a thrift store
● Rent a dumpster and toss it all out
Or, you might do some combination of all of the above.
Take a look at each of these methods in greater detail, and their pros and cons:
1. Hauling to Your Local Recycling Center
The biggest advantage of this method is the low cost. And it also makes sense if you don’t have a ton of stuff you want to get rid of.
Toss your junk and unwanted stuff in your pickup truck or SUV. Drive it to your local recycling center. Perhaps pay some fees for removing certain types of stuff.
And then repeat that until your stuff’s gone.
The big con of this method is that it sucks time. You have to find your stuff, put it in a bag, move it to your car, drive a long way to your local recycling center, and then do that several times until everything’s gone.
2. Resell Your Stuff Online or Host a Garage Sale
You could probably resell most of your stuff for at least some money online or at a garage sale.
However, it’s extremely time-consuming to use either of these methods. And when all is said and done, you usually only make just a few dollars per hour.
If you have items you know you can make good money on because you understand their market, it makes sense to resell those online at eBay. Reselling online also makes sense if you have quite a bit of experience at it.
But with most of your things, you don’t know what the market will bear. So, you have to research pricing. You have to create product listings. You have to take pictures. You have to write short
blurbs about the products.
Then you have to deal with customer returns. It easily takes months, and it could take more than a year to get rid of most of your stuff. When you put it all together, reselling online’s quite a
project.
Craigslist can be a veritable nightmare. People on Craigslist look to pay as little as they can. They’ll haggle about your prices…even if they’re already low. Craigslist is not a place to make money. But it can be useful for giving away stuff for free. However, at the same time, it can be a haven for people in really tough spots in life…and these people can be challenging to deal with. Some of them you may not even want coming to your home!
Garage sales are also a lot of work. You have to get your stuff together, set it up on tables, tag it with price tags, sit outside and manage the sales, and then deal with price hagglers. And you may have to host a few garage sales to get rid of all of your stuff. It also is quite time-intensive. And like reselling online, you’ll only end up making just a few dollars per hour (in most cases).
3. Give Your Stuff to Family or Friends or Donate to a Thrift Store
This junk removal method can be a little more time-efficient. Family and friends may come and pick through your stuff and take what they want.
You can show images of your stuff on Facebook where they can easily see what you have to get rid of. But, you probably won’t get rid of all your stuff, unless you have an absurd number of family members and friends.
Donating to a thrift store, like Goodwill, sucks a lot of time. It’s just like hauling your stuff to your local recycling center…except that Goodwill gives you a receipt so you can claim tax deductions for stuff you donate. Goodwill may not take all of your stuff, however. They’ll likely take most of it. But there’s some things they just won’t take. And, you’re not going to make a good hourly rate when donating
your stuff to Goodwill.
You will make some money because of that tax deduction you get for donating stuff. But it won’t be a lot of money. The best reward is that you feel good about having done a service for your local community.
4. Rent a Dumpster and Toss Your Stuff Out in Bulk
It does cost some money to rent your own dumpster. However, it is the most time-efficient of all these methods of junk removal. And it’s the best use of your time.
You simply rent a dumpster and have it delivered to your home. You can get one in 24 hours, and you get to keep it for 10 days without additional fees. Then you make trips in and out of your home, tossing and removing all of your stuff.
When you’re done, you call the dumpster rental company. They take the dumpster away and have your stuff disposed of. There are some things you can’t toss in your dumpster rental. But a dumpster rental will take most of your stuff.
And unlike garage sales or reselling stuff online, dumpster rentals have a quick and firm deadline. Once you have your dumpster, you won’t feel the desire to put off the project and let it drag out for weeks and months. You get your dumpster. You get your stuff out. And you enjoy a cleaner, more spacious home!
So, now you understand the ins and outs of each removal method. You may choose one just for time’s sake. And then again, you may choose a combination of all the above.
For now, you know the details so you can make the right decision for your situation.
