It's all about the clutter, and cute doggie picture
As some of you may remember, when Elmo broke his leg, I sold a few things to pay for the vet bills through a Dutch website called Marktplaats. It's similar to Craigslist in some ways, and it's the perfect place to sell whatever second hand stuff you've got lying around. After I made enough money for the vet bills, I stopped selling since it was too stressful at the time.
But since I'm doing much better now, I've started selling some things again since last August, and let me tell you what a change this has made in my life so far.
It's all about the clutter, and I have a lot of clutter. Books, for example. I love books and I had an enormous collection of books, so much so that I was running out of bookcases to hold them all. And at some point I realized that all these books served one purpose, and one purpose only...they were making my life more difficult. It's all stuff you have to look after, and keep clean and thus stress over.
And so I decided to sell most of my books. Not all, mind. There are books I'll never get rid of, like my collection of astronomy books (a secret hobby of mine), or my Stephen King books, or some of my books on dog behaviour.
But truth be told...I had a LOT of books I had read once, 15 years ago or so, and all they were doing now was gather dust in my attic. And thus I started the strenuous task of sorting through my book collection, taking pictures of everything I wanted to sell, and uploading it all to Marktplaats.
And I've been selling a steady stream of books every week since then. I sell them for about 3 euro for a small paperback, all the way up to 6-7 euro for good as new hardcover books. And while this isn't making me rich, it earns me a bit of extra cash every week, enough to pay for groceries or a full tank of gas or something like that.
Aside from books, I've also been selling some other stuff that was just lying around the house not doing anything useful. Just this morning, a lady picked up my bread making machine for 25 euro. I hadn't used it in 2 years, and it was still in very nice shape. I've also started adding a few DVDs that I didn't care much about, and some CDs that I hadn't touched in 10 years.
And you know what? It's the best thing I've done in years and years for myself. Every time I sell something, every time something goes out the door (and I get some money in return), I feel better about myself and my life. Every time I rid myself of another piece of clutter, I do a little happy dance.
It's just so very liberating to get rid of your crap.
And now, when I look at my book cases, which are a lot more empty than they used to be, I just let out a very relieved sigh.
Less stuff to look after, less stuff to stress about. It's something I can recommend to anyone. Just go through your stuff and get rid of all the things you haven't touched in a year or so. Make a bit of extra cash and have a better life for it.
And now for something different, yet cute: Last week, as I was watching TV, Pip was lying in Elmo's basket, fast asleep, and Elmo was lying on the couch, also sleeping. At some point, Elmo hopped off the couch and crawled in the basket with Pip, settled down, and went right back to sleep.
My jaw dropped open! Until now, Elmo's only allowed Pip in his basket once, during play, but otherwise he likes his peace and quiet while sleeping and never seeks Pip out to sleep together. And yet, Elmo took the initiative this time, and just cuddled up with Pip for a nice little nap.
I quickly snapped a picture, and here it is: proof that even cranky old Border Collies can have a change of heart when it comes to mischievous puppies.
But since I'm doing much better now, I've started selling some things again since last August, and let me tell you what a change this has made in my life so far.
It's all about the clutter, and I have a lot of clutter. Books, for example. I love books and I had an enormous collection of books, so much so that I was running out of bookcases to hold them all. And at some point I realized that all these books served one purpose, and one purpose only...they were making my life more difficult. It's all stuff you have to look after, and keep clean and thus stress over.
And so I decided to sell most of my books. Not all, mind. There are books I'll never get rid of, like my collection of astronomy books (a secret hobby of mine), or my Stephen King books, or some of my books on dog behaviour.
But truth be told...I had a LOT of books I had read once, 15 years ago or so, and all they were doing now was gather dust in my attic. And thus I started the strenuous task of sorting through my book collection, taking pictures of everything I wanted to sell, and uploading it all to Marktplaats.
And I've been selling a steady stream of books every week since then. I sell them for about 3 euro for a small paperback, all the way up to 6-7 euro for good as new hardcover books. And while this isn't making me rich, it earns me a bit of extra cash every week, enough to pay for groceries or a full tank of gas or something like that.
Aside from books, I've also been selling some other stuff that was just lying around the house not doing anything useful. Just this morning, a lady picked up my bread making machine for 25 euro. I hadn't used it in 2 years, and it was still in very nice shape. I've also started adding a few DVDs that I didn't care much about, and some CDs that I hadn't touched in 10 years.
And you know what? It's the best thing I've done in years and years for myself. Every time I sell something, every time something goes out the door (and I get some money in return), I feel better about myself and my life. Every time I rid myself of another piece of clutter, I do a little happy dance.
It's just so very liberating to get rid of your crap.
And now, when I look at my book cases, which are a lot more empty than they used to be, I just let out a very relieved sigh.
Less stuff to look after, less stuff to stress about. It's something I can recommend to anyone. Just go through your stuff and get rid of all the things you haven't touched in a year or so. Make a bit of extra cash and have a better life for it.
And now for something different, yet cute: Last week, as I was watching TV, Pip was lying in Elmo's basket, fast asleep, and Elmo was lying on the couch, also sleeping. At some point, Elmo hopped off the couch and crawled in the basket with Pip, settled down, and went right back to sleep.
My jaw dropped open! Until now, Elmo's only allowed Pip in his basket once, during play, but otherwise he likes his peace and quiet while sleeping and never seeks Pip out to sleep together. And yet, Elmo took the initiative this time, and just cuddled up with Pip for a nice little nap.
I quickly snapped a picture, and here it is: proof that even cranky old Border Collies can have a change of heart when it comes to mischievous puppies.
