It is what it is. In order to get out of debt and with a couple of months since my last post, I have decided to take my own advice and choose from the options I have listed. My first choice was a new job. I did everything I told you to do and with two months of on line searching. I got several no thank you's, we've closed the position, you're not one of the finalists and my classice favorite- NOTHING.
To say that I was frustrated is an understatement. With bills piling up and income tax going to catch up those bills, I was beyond stressed. One morning, two o'clock in the morning to be exact, I had a thought. I have roughly around xxx amount of dollars of debt. How many things do I have in my apartment. If I had the amount of stuff that equaled my debt and I sold everything for $1.00 I would raise the money to get out. If I sold my stuff for two dollars I would only need half the amount. Three dollars would be one third and so on.
I decided to use my own weakness as a positive. I have my debt by buying cheap items. "Oh a dollar here, two dollars there. It's cheap, why not?" I am positive that others think the same way. So If I keep my prices cheap my stuff will sell. The exception is furniture and items that are not a year old.
I have decided anything that is replaceable; must go! Items that I can't replace- Grandmas vase pased down from her grandmas, grandmas, grandma. Not for sale! Others like, childhood, future pass downs and vacation memoirs also not for sale.
With that figured out, I know my basic nessecities and that plus the not for sale items, I will keep my desire to be out of debt greater than my desire to keep my stuff. We live in a society well beyond our privileges. My ancestors came from England and then some moved west with the pioneers. Through genelogical study I found out that handcarts were the main source of travel and they were per family. Everything for that whole family was in that cart. I would need at least 5-6 carts to hold all of my stuff. And I am one person! I figure if my ancestors could live with in their means, then I can too.
MY YARD SALE!!!!!
I had two free Saturdays a couple of weeks ago and a great, off the road spot. I also have great family who helped me. I priced my items and after a few hours I realized that one dollar is cheap, but at a yard sale, most of the "shoppers" don't want to pay a buck for things. They will talk you down. Or they will gather a lot of things and offer a price. "Hey, I'll give you fifty cents for all this junk." the chicken man in Toy Story 2.
I started my sale earlier with my family and friends. I offered them a walk through of my appartment and they got first dibs on the things I was selling. I then packed and loaded all my stuff in to the van and off we went. I laid it all out and had success. I made about $100.00 the first time and the next Saturday was less. It didn't help with my debt. I actually used it to catch up current bills. I was disappointed. But, catching up bills is better than not paying them at all. I started out with pricing rules but threw them out when the sale started and people started to bargin down what I had on marked.
Don't get discouraged. If your still thinking of a yard sale, do it! It will help even if it's only a little over 100 bucks. 100 bucks is still 100 bucks and that can help with something. I realized that selling my stuff wasn't going to fix the problem. It might help a little but not to the extent that I need. I need to make more changes to my DIRT. If I want to be JDF, junk debt free. Then I have to research other options, even if it means ruining my credit score. A good credit score doesn't mean your a terrible person. It says that you have problems with money. Whether it be budgeting, over spending or liking our "free money" a little to much. Either way a credit score doesn't keep you in or out of Heaven. But that's for a future post. :)
I saw Taio Cruz sing this song, POSITIVE on American Idol. I am linking it here. It is how we all should be thinking as we are in a bad patch of our lives. We have started to make the changes to fix our problem and we know that because we have we can get out!!! Enjoy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrD3XUWW4qo
Until next time, ---CHEAP ADD$ UP---
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