How To Make £££ & Declutter Your Home

Recently I’ve been having a huge sort out in preparation for the upcoming ‘Spring cleaning’ sessions. It got me thinking about ways to make money from items around your house that you’ve grown out of…physically & mentally.

We all have things around our home that we could do without. Either clothes that we realistically won’t ever fit in again, baby toys that are no longer played with or ornaments that don’t make our heart race. It’s all too easy to shove these into a cupboard or up in the loft & attempt to forget they ever existed BUT how about making some £££ from that clutter?

Over the past couple of months I’ve been sorting through outgrown baby clothes as well as home wear that are no longer needed & made over £500 in doing so, as well as freeing up space & clearing my mind.

Here are my top tips for making £££, some without leaving the comfort of your own home –

• Some items may not be suitable for selling –

Either they are broken & beyond repair, out of fashion (although you’ll be surprised what floats other peoples boats!) or are better destined for the charity shop as it isn’t worth your time or effort for the 50p you’re likely to get from it.

• Sell online –

We are SO lucky to be able to have such an amazing resource at our fingertips. Depending on if you’d be happy to brave the post office queue then you can fetch more £££ from selling on Ebay or follow my lead & set up a separate Instagram account to sell all your bits & bobs, especially baby clothes using hashtags to attract potential buyers. If local selling is more your thing then sites such as Gumtree & the Facebook local buy/sell sites are brilliant, although prepare for items to take slightly longer to sell if they are specialist & for slightly less as people want ‘something for nothing’ so tend to barter.

• Take into consideration postage costs when selling –

Upon taking 25 parcels to my local post office, which thoroughly annoyed everyone, I realised that some of my parcels were over the Royal Mail limit & suddenly sky rocketed from the £2.80 fee to a whopping £13.75! After research I realised that couriers like Hermes work out much cheaper for heavier items although you do have to have access to a printer. I would have ended up losing a lot of money because of this so make sure you weigh everything & note P&P fee’s to buyers.

• Selling at second hand stores –

If you don’t have the time, patience or know how to sell items yourself then you can take things to a second hand store & have them do the hard work for you. They usually work on a % basis so you may not get the most money but it’s still cash in your pocket rather than clutter in your loft but without having to lift a finger.

• Hold a car boot/nearly new sale –

This is actually quite an enjoyable experience if you make a day of it although be aware of the boisterous traders that will be all over your stall like fleas. Baby ‘nearly new’ sales are popping up all over the country now too so that’s a brilliant way to get rid of all your little ones outgrown bits at once. You will have to pay for the pitch but consider splitting with a friend so you can both get in on the action.

• Sell books/DVD’s/mobile phones –

Websites like musicmagpie.co.uk & zapper.co.uk will pay you for these, albeit a teeny amount but many people have such a lot of books & DVD’s that are never read/watched, especially as Netflix & Sky Movies offer showings without the storage space.

• Realise that it does take time –

Sometimes it may feel like it isn’t worth the time & effort you’re putting in to sell things, especially if you only fetch a couple of £££ per item. Just remember that things do add up & it’ll be worth it in the long run. If it seems overwhelming then try grouping items together so that you can do them in bursts rather than all at once.

• Learn from this –

Don’t buy things without REALLY REALLY thinking about it first. I am awful at this but gradually getting better. One of the best tips I’ve heard is to leave it for a couple of weeks & if at the end of that time frame you still can’t stop thinking of it then go back & buy it. Do you really need it? How will it impact your life?

How have you found the best way to get rid of your junk?

Love, Charlotte x