A Couple of Firsts For Me

Sample craigslist page

I do not claim to be the most technologically savvy person on earth, and so, the other day when I was able to establish my own Craigslist account, publish ads for a few items for sale, and then actually make a sale, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

I've been on a quest for the last six months or so to sort through my house and get things in order.  For me, it is all relative to retirement.  When that time comes, I want my household items and all our important homeowning papers to be sorted, organized, and everything put in its place.

I don't want to have drawers overflowing with stuff we don't need, and closets full of things I don't even recall are in there.

So I'm sorting.  I know of one professional organizer (you know - the kind that gets paid to help people clean up and organize their junk) who suggests you sort your stuff into three piles:

1.  Keep
2.  Get rid of
3.  Think about

I'm amending that to the following:

1.  Keep
2.  Donate
3.  Get rid of (throw it away)
4.  Sell on Craigslist

And I'm being ruthless.  Some of my dresser drawers in my bedroom are now completely empty, and I feel very satisfied about that.  I suspect some people need my stuff more than I do.

So yes, I've set up my craigslist account.

I've advertised a few items.  See those shoes and the red Vera Bradley purse?  Those are my spiffy ads.

I even learned how to upgrade my ad by importing additional views of the item for sale.

Additional views of the one pair of shoes

Then yesterday, I made my first sale.  Yee-ha!  The purse is sold, and the money is now in my "Vacation Funds" envelope.  

Oh there are places to go and things to see.  And they cost money, so I gotta sell stuff.

In other news, I finally finished the longest book I've ever read, Sacajawea.  At 1408 pages long, it was sometimes a laborious read.

I had a goal in finishing it, though.

I wanted to use the Tiny Free Library at the church around the corner, and get a close up look at how these little book lending boxes work.

Two Tiny Free Libraries at this location

I examined the contents of both little libraries before I made my selection.  The rule is "take a book, leave a book."  

I found all sorts of books in those two places - kids' and adults' books in a variety of genres.  I ended up leaving my Sacajawea book in the left box where I found a book of interest to me.

I also noticed that the book I took was stamped in the front cover with the church's address.  Perhaps somebody is tracking what comes and goes, as these little libraries have only recently been installed there.

So in the last few days I learned two new things, how to use a Tiny Free Library and how to advertise and sell via Craigslist.

Look out Ebay, here I come!