An Urge To Purge

Wednesday July 8th, 2009 - Lake Villa, IL

I’m in a purging mood. Again. It’s time to rid myself of anything and everything I don’t absolutely need for survival or haven‘t used or worn in the last year. The last time I did it was a couple of years ago and it felt absolutely fantastic. Then I let myself load up again.

It feels like there’s way too much clutter in my life right now. I’m bursting at the seams with books I’ll never read and DVDs I’ll never watch and clothes I’ll never wear. Most of it was acquired cheaply enough but after a couple of years it adds up both financially and in the space it takes up. Looking back on it I wish I’d never bought even half of this stuff.

A perfect example is a big load of CD audio programs I bought probably a year ago. If I would have even listened to ONE of them I wouldn’t complain but I haven’t had the time like I thought I would. Might I in the future? Sure, and Michael Jackson may return too.

Last time I put everything in boxes and took it to a book store that buys used books and music. They pay pennies on the dollar but I had so much stuff I was able to squeeze out a couple hundred bucks for my effort. I remember feeling ripped off in one way but relief in another because it was like emptying the garbage from my soul. This time I’ll be smarter.

My friend Shelley has continually offered to help me with an Ebay store. I’ll at least try it out and see how it works. I’ve got a lot of things that I think other people might be able to use and pay me more than I’d get from the used book store but still get a nice bargain.

I have a ton of sports cards I probably didn’t need to buy but I did and those will get me some revenue if I get them listed. I bought many of them on Ebay but I also bought out an ex dealer in Milwaukee who wanted to get out of the business so I’ve got some inventory.

This will require keeping records and sorting and packaging but it will teach me a lot of things I need to know about business and it will also help me make smarter decisions next time I have extra money. The only thing that looks good in piles in my room is hard cash.

I think I’m going to start my purge by unloading my current vehicles. I have two Toyota Camrys that run and look halfway decent but aren’t exactly what I want. They both need a couple hundred bucks worth of detail type work like fixing the radio antenna on each one and front end work, etc. I’d prefer to run them through the auction and start all over again.

Jerry Agar stored one of them and used it for a few months but now his aunt in Canada gave him an old Buick Skylark for free so he doesn’t need mine anymore. I suppose if I’d fix the front end I could drive it another year or so but my gut says to start over so I will.

Drew Olson was letting me use his Ford Explorer which is sitting at the auction unsold. The price he asked for it was never met so I’ll have to pay a $100 fee but it’s in my name so I can start driving it again immediately. It needs tires and sucks gas but it’s a runner to get me around until I figure out what to do next. This feels like the time to do it all again.