De-cluttering the Storage Shed of Yard Sale Stuff

My storage shed had been yelling at me like a banshee woman, "Clean me out!" 

The problem was that life events had gotten in the way.  The weather was quite frigid.  My mother-in-law, who had been ailing, passed away.  My sister-in-law, who had been caring for her, had to move out of her home.  My cluttered storage shed stayed in the back burner, stewing in her anger.

Finally, while not feeling so great, with all my hormonal problems, I decided that it was fair weather enough to tackle the beast in the abyss.  I started with the many bags of clothes that I had accumulated.  You must understand that not all of the clutter was from my little household.  A lot of it I had held onto in the hopes of having yet another yard sale.  

Since I had been suffering (and still do) with hot flashes--too cumbersome to deal with in this Texas heat--I kept putting it off.  Here in San Antonio, you could pay for three yard sales and get the last one free (with proof of having paid for the prior three).  I realize now that I never had one in the whole of last year.  Huh? How about that?  No wonder I had so much clutter to deal with on Sunday.


Getting back to the actual de-cluttering,  I started to sort the clothes by size and gender.  I had piles for men, women, boys, and two sets for girls sizes (6 and under & 7 and above).  Everything was going fine until the piles started getting higher.  That's when it dawned on me (with the reminder from a hormonal attack), I can't have another yard sale.  Of course, my wise husband already knew that. 

I still bagged the clothes as much as I could by category.  I'm a nutty stickler like that.  I finally broke down and asked my husband to call one of his other sisters who I knew has had yard sales to please ask if she would like the stuff.  Yes!  Sorry, sis-in-law, my trash has become your treasure.  May you be blessed with that which you want and make some money from the rest.

I also had some household stuff like small appliances and dishes.  Those I attempted to put in larger boxes for easier exporting from my home.  I let hubby know what he could pile into the van to make it disappear from my eyes.  OH, I now have space to walk into my storage shed.  I have had to keep some of the gardening stuff inside my utility room, which already houses the washer and dryer and the wheeled hampers (for dirty clothes).  My utility room will breathe a sigh of relief when I work in there next.

Even though I think I have a small family with a mere four children, some individuals may think I have a large family.  I am very blessed to have the family of four children and two parents.  I just never realized how many times, probably two per year, that I would have to de-clutter.  My yard sales would often give me a real reason to de-clutter.

I used my yard sales to socialize with other adults, too, but that did not pan out last year.  It turned out that no one (out of four persons) could sell with me for the first yard sale.  I was greatly disappointed, but I understood their excuses.  I had also used my yard sales to make a little bit of extra money to buy organizational aids and containers and home schooling material, but it did not even pan out the prior year due to the economy.  People wanted to pay next to nothing for our items. 

For the many reasons I have listed, I am now resorting to the internet to hopefully create some revenue for our household.  The door to making money at yard sales has closed.  Another door could be opening.  I am hoping that my venture at creative writing will pan out for me.  Writing is my passion, and I am enjoying it so much.  I pray that my readers are enjoying my writing and getting some entertainment, too.
How about you, my readers?  How do you help your household financially?  I would love some feedback and/or advice.

Thanks so much for reading this blog entry.

Peace, I pray for you, my beloveds.