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Saturday 7 December 2013

Sell Sell Sell - This is the fun part of decluttering







So far this decluttering of the house has been hard work, especially for my other half.  So many things to look at when you are suppose to be chucking things out.  Seriously, he has boxed up (for later) Silicon Chip magazines (i know, big nerd) that go back to the 80's, just in case.  Has he heard of the Internet!!!  He hasn't looked at any of them for 20 years. So things of his are moving from one room to another rather than out the door.  Frustrating!!!!!!

Well not if i have anything to do with it.  If its not nailed down then I'm either giving it away or selling it.  Now this selling business is a new thing for me.  Ive got to admit that its actually a bit of a buzz.  Now i understand Sharon (Miss Townmouse) about your eBay shop.  
Currently i have two ads on Gumtree, a free site for buying and selling goods.   The above NBA basketball assemble is going for $100 and I've had a call already (about 1 hr after posting) that if i don't sell it by Thursday they will buy it for $80.   Ive also made a poster for the front fence that includes this photo for any passing traffic.

The second ad is for a Casio Pad 300 which is a ridiculously priced calculator that Tom had to have for this year (Year 9) but used for two lessons before he left school.  It was $200.  I'm selling it, pouch, manuals and disc for $100.


The other way that I'm selling this is on Sustainable School Shop .  Ive listed his text books and the calculator and in the last couple of days I've sold $80 worth.  Some of them had not even been opened as they were for the second half of the year.  I'm selling probably a little too cheap but i want them out of here.  I wish i had done this a month ago.  Most of the private schools around here have already finished.  Here's hoping there are more slack parents who haven't finished the book list yet.  I will post it if needed.

I'm also going to be listing a Wii console with games, guitar hero,Wii Fit platform and software as well as a unused XBox 360.

I tell you that this week has been a learning curve though.  I totally undersold a couple of items of Hubby's but at least they have "left the building".  I approached the guys in the factory and made a little flyer to see if anyone wanted a used Triton Workbench including bench saw (that was 2mm out) for $50 or a Nail Gun to be used with an air compressor that was bought to build the deck but was too powerful and split the hardwood.  We ended up predrilling, hammering and counter sinking over 3000 nails into a deck. The nail gun was as new and some parts were still in plastic.  I was offering this for $100 though it cost us $300 five years ago.  Lesson learned is that things depreciate sitting on a shelf despite being as new in a case wrapped up.   I need to move them quicker.


Another big lesson was don't be so quick to set a price or agree to a sale.  I could have had a bidding war but sold to the first one who walked into my office.  Two others were waiting for photos so it was a case of him committing first.  Both were a bargain but i also wanted to help this guy out as he just finished his house and was planning to start on his pergola. I threw in the box of nails for free.   Later one of the others came in and told me he didn't really want it but knew the others did so he was trying to drive up the price for me.  DOH!

So what am i doing with the money.   Hubby really needs to sort out his garage.  He has lots of tools so I've got my eye on something a little bit expensive.  Well maybe a lot expensive for a Christmas gift.  Its OK, he knows so I'm not spoiling the surprise.   I'm giving him one of those big rolling tool chests.  Hopefully having everything laid out in drawers and being able to roll it to the job will get rid of all the small tool boxes and perhaps provide incentive to put them all away when he is finished.  By getting rid of the old Tritan bench he now has a spare spot to store it.  I have visions people.  Visions of an organised and neat garage.  Am i dreaming......?

Today we put an Aldi water cooler out on the nature strip with a free sign.  It has sat in the corner of my dining area for years gathering dust and was used alot when we were able to get filters for it.  We tried everywhere and talked of somehow modifying it but it didn't happen and the cobwebs mounted up.  It had a small fridge in the bottom that took a dozen cans.   Out it went onto the nature strip.

Ours had a fridge as well.
This one was not ours but i forgot to take a photo.  I took it out and put a big red sign on it saying "FREE" and another saying that it worked but couldn't get filters.  It was gone in an hour.

Tomorrow another big piece of furniture leaves the house.  A desk that has been with me either at work or at home for now over 20 years.  Its huge and heavy.
This is a custom built desk and has a really thick veneer that can be sanded down and restrained.  It matched two really big cupboards (210x90) that i gave away a few weeks ago.
We are going to reassemble it (it has to be broken down to get out of the room) on the footpath tomorrow and see how long it takes to go.   Many years ago i wheeled out an old rusted BBQ in a wonky wooden trolley.  I went back inside to get the lid and when i came back outside i saw it being wheeled down the street.  I had to chase after them to give them the lid. Some people are keen.

So on with the decluttering.  As you can imagine, a nerd who reads computer mags also accumulates a lot of software discs.  Add them to the driver and installation disc for a myriad of computer hardware and back up discs that were all stored in this desk or the cupboards.  Hubby was concerned that there might be personal information on some of them so i sat down and deconstructed them to have a pile of discs (for shredding at work, a pile of cases (for the op shop) and a pile of paper sleeves for the recycle.  Such an entertaining evening, NOT.



Since Tom had a friend over and we hadn't been out for a while we went to our favourite restaurant, The Golden Grill in Werribee tonight.



One thing about having an Aspie family is that if they decide they like something you had better get use to it  because you are going to be going to that one spot over and over again.  The waitress in this place doesn't even bother to ask the boys (Hubby and son) what they want.  Its the same thing every time.  I mix it up a bit as it really depends on how much space i have.  The good thing about this place is that they don't buy in the big rolls of meat from some generic factory.  They marinate and make their own rolls and freeze for later.  The Turkish bread is made on site and everything is so so fresh and authentic.  Tonight there was a party for a 70year old and they had live Turkish music.  Tom didn't like that one bit - something different.

See how good i am, just a fresh garden salad with humus and tzatziki.  

So good in fact that i DID NOT have even one of these beautiful authentic Turkish treats.  Yummmmmmmmmmmm
Last Monday i had to go to Geelong to finally register Tom's RAV4 in Victoria (yes, after alot of work it finally got a road worthy) and stopped off for a quick coffee at Eastern Beach.  Its so relaxing to be near the water and hear the tinkle tinkle of the ropes on the masts of the boats.



To finish off i am giving you Tilly pictures.  Her hair is quite long and we are waiting for a grooming appointment so these will be one of the last ones with a full coat of hair for a while.  Those eyebrows are amazing.
Yes, asleep again......

and again.......

and again.... this one with Hubby.

Our big girl now weights 3.5kgs.  I bathed her today and she is so so tiny, all pink and black spots under that white hair.  Very bony which is natural for a Chinese Crested Powderpuff.  I do try to take photos of her awake but they usually turn out a blur.  She is either asleep or as fast a lightening.  Tonight Hubby was sitting on the couch and she was doing her parchore thing where she uses several things to negotiate her way and one of them was his tummy.  From floor to couch and across his tummy and onto arm of couch and then back on to floor and around the coffee table a few times, out to me and screech on the brakes before running back and doing it all again and again.  It lasts about 15 minutes before she will decide that's enough, climb up to your shoulder and plonk herself down for a sleep.  You don't get any say in the matter.  Her favourite spot on me is to lay across my chest.  Great platform and no danger of slipping off.

Update Sunday Afternoon.

We put the big desk and return out with the help of 4 of us, it is so heavy.   We went inside for lunch and then i thought id walk out and take photo of the desk of the nature strip.


Gone.  It took me longer to print the FREE signs.  Hubby thinks that people must be driving around with a ute or trailer actually looking for stuff to pick up.

Thanks for Visiting Living In The Land of Oz

6 comments:

  1. Lynda, that sustainable school website is brilliant! I am one of those disorganised parents who didn't get to the school list, because I was hoping to go secondhand. And now this wonderful resource. Will get right onto that, thankyou:) Hoping your decluttering and selling spree continues apace. Well done you!

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  2. HI Linda , good on you , your doing an awesome job of decluttering . Gumtree is good, I also find facebook as great selling sites, usually buy swap and sell sites in your area also a second hand school books site. I have more than halved my booklists for next year thank goodness.
    Im wondering if my son has a bit of aspi as when we go out he always wants the same thing even if he hasnt been there for 12 months he still thinks he is going to have the same thing everything has to go according to his plan.
    Miss Tilly is so cute, thats next on my list a hair cut for the pooches but at moment Im organizing a new hot water service mine just packed it in. I know nice a week before xmas aaaagh x

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    1. I know, what a pain. We had to replace ours a month ago but the new one is more efficient and the hot water flows evenly. Lovely. I didnt think she was so cute when i went out into the back yard and found potatoes everywhere with little bite marks. Id say serves her right because she got "the runs" but it was me who had to clean her up - she had 4 baths in a day. I managed to save only a few but i dont think it was a good crop anyway. I spent more on the seed potatoes than what i got out of it.

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  3. Good on you for getting the decluttering done. I am putting it off, but only till it is cooler (currently 34 degrees at 9.40 pm)

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  4. I keep on thinking I need to declutter the garage too...I have also used Gumtree, but it has been mostly to buy and not to sell. Around my neighbourhood in Perth verge stuff also flies, I have seen people driving trucks going from street to street picking up good stuff. I presume they might restore and resell.

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  5. Wow, you are on a roll Lynda! Good work with hubby's stuff. Mine is super-glued to his gear LOL so I'm only allowed to declutter 'my crap'. Better than nothing. It is a good feeling I reckon to think someone will get some use out of a cast off - although I wonder how much of the curbside treasures end up cluttering up someone else's garage! Have a great Christmas and New Year.

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