Guest post from ads’ere member Sarah-Jayne Windridge-France
A little while back a friend asked me if there was a fire (or, perhaps more fittingly for Yorkshire right now, a flood) what would you save? I have a list of approximately 90 items … with at least a couple of hundred in close reserves!! In other words too, too much.
My life has always been pretty hectic, but with 3 kids and health issues, and a constant time famine, it seems to get more and more so. I envy those of my friends whose houses and lives are immaculate and for whom clutter is a four-letter-word! This is merely something that I aspire to, but will most probably never happen in this lifetime. Oh to run away from everything and start anew. I can’t tell you what a tempting thought that is!
As of January 2012 I decided that I had procrastinated for long enough. Besides, we’re brassic. Having ploughed our life savings into a much-needed specialist extension/conversion for my disabled son, and something just had to give. That is why this New Year’s resolution (of which I assure you there were many more) I have actually stuck to and, as the months sail by, I am increasingly proud of my resolve. My hoarding gene is depleted. I say depleted because for one who has always hoarded as if there were a war on, – I will never be able to totally eradicate my (sadly less slim and toned than I’d like it to be) body of this gene. That is simply impossible. BUT, as of this year, I have decluttered with gusto (albeit barely scratching the surface so far), sent umpteen bags of undesirables to charity (for which they have been incredibly grateful) and the rest of my abominable treasures I have taken to flogging on various ‘free-sites’ to the highest (take for that – anyone who’ll have it) bidder.
Now I’ll be honest I LOVE a good car-boot. I don’t think there’s one friend that I haven’t dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn into a wet dark field to sell our oh so exciting wares! It’s jolly good fun and can be a quick money making scheme too – particularly if you just want rid and are happy to release your sentimental clutches from your old faves for 50p! British Summertime 2012 however, with a very special thanks to Mother Nature and her good friend Mr Rain, has put a complete car bosh on even the remotest idea of going booting!
So, to this end I’m decluttering and down-sizing my life in more ways than one and already have a fractionally clearer mind and far better conscience for it. Now don’t go getting giddy – to date I can’t honestly say that any floor space is actually completely clear, nor are any cupboards empty … and don’t you dare enter my dining room (which currently resembles Steptoe’s backyard) … but it’s all very much a part of the plan and an ongoing project. I am (almost) constantly searching and slim-lining…. drawers are suddenly sliding shut a little easier and cupboards and wardrobes are no longer hanging ajar … although some things are merely jiggled about a bit and put back in their place just neater! I’ve not quite gotten fully to grips with the thrifty/frugal new me per se!
I have, however, *smiles very smugly to oneself* got the matter firmly in hand…. and a small number of select ‘classified’ sites that are crying out for old treasures/junk/much loved nuggets of youth … like mine, are getting it BIG TIME!
So, you ask, – am I EBaying like topsy … well actually no! You see I’ve never been a real fan. EBaying is incredibly time consuming (I can’t sit there watching all day or all evening for that matter) and, in all honesty, I can’t afford to waste money on goods that don’t sell or the constant trips to the Post Office for that matter! Besides which I find it all a little sinister and impersonal. I’m a sentimental fool at heart and unwanted or not – I like to think that my old treasures will be passed on to someone with a smile on their face and a twinkle of satisfaction in their eye.. I actually prefer more local ‘free-sites’ where I feel there’s a little human contact. The onus is very much on me to ensure that I supply just what I offered, nothing more (well ok on occasion I’ve been known to give a little extra), nothing less – because 95% of the time I hand over the goods in person … often rather reluctantly.
Therefore the sites that I am championing are preloved, netmums and the newer and perhaps little known site adsere. As a combo these three sites suit me down to the ground. The amount of things and the scope of things I have blatantly posted on these sites in the past six months would make even the most fearsome of EBayers blush! Everything from much loved children’s toys, to brand new and unworn designer underwear and nut holders!?* Each of these sites are providing me with something slightly different, but nonetheless useful. The ads’ere Site Manager was so terribly impressed with the sheer volume of goods that I bunged on there, in such a timely manner, that she sent me the most stupendously delicious Easter egg, as a ‘nod’ to my foolhardiness … or is that foolishness – I do wonder!
Can’t quite believe the CR@P I’ve shifted… But then that’s what they say isn’t it ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ … and they’re right. I love nothing more than rooting through charity shops and car boot sale stalls … though, for now at least, this is strictly forbidden territory – which I am finding incredibly and frustratingly hard to resist! Y’see my other alter ego is a raging SHOPAHOLIC 
So, on that note, I shall quickly check my site accounts before I retire to bed and rest assured in my newly sworn proviso that as soon as something is sold, I vow to place another item, or two, in its place. You may think that it’s hard to find something … but I assure you that everyone has something, and some of us have FAR more than most! In the wake of my depleting treasure a little mound of pennies raised by sales are hastily placed in a slowly swelling pot fondly known as the ‘Forty Fund’ for that is my ultimate goal. (I would have said paying off the mortgage – but for once I set my sights just a fraction too high!). If this keeps up by next year I will be having one ALMIGHTY birthday shindig!
As always … WATCH THIS SPACE
