Above Photos (click to enlarge):
1. Living Room – Mostly big items
2. Dining Room – One of our staging areas
3. Garage – After the first round of downsizing
4. Yes, we have 18 gallons of paint!
When you refer to organization, most people tend to think of it as making sure things are placed in the correct spot, neat and easy to locate. At least that’s been my general understanding of it throughout life. But now, getting organized has brought on a whole new meaning and purpose!
Imagine taking a picture of almost everything you own, and putting a price on it. Sure, there are some things we plan to keep, but most of it has to go. There simply isn’t room for all of our “stuff” in a tiny house. This means it has to be put into storage, or sold. Coupled with the fact that we are trying to eliminate all unnecessary and extra monthly expenses, the storage option isn’t really an option for us.
Tip: If you have sentimental items or something in particular you want to keep, consider storing the item(s) at a friend or family members house. We all have those “hard to part with” items. You may find it easier to sell or give them to friends and relatives. It’s just more comforting to know the item is “safe and secure”.
It’s not only about taking pictures, organizing and pricing the everyday items in our house. There are a lot of “out of sight” items to deal with also. We have over a decade of bills, invoices and random paperwork to go through. Again, there is no “extra” space to store boxes and boxes of paperwork. How are we going to fix this problem? We’re going digital! Until I can get my hands on a Neat scanner system, we are using the old school bar scanner to digitize all paperwork. It’s slow, but still effective. I would be willing to bet we’ll need a new shredder before it’s all over with too!
Tip: The IRS does accept digital documents. For more information, please visit their web site. This means you can safely convert to a digital filing system. No more boxes or filing cabinets with years of receipts, invoices, bills, etc… You’ll be more organized and protected against natural disasters. You’ll have the ability to search and locate items in a matter of seconds and tax time will be less stressful. Trust me, you’ll like it. You may also want to consider cloud storage!
Although it’s a lot of hard work preparing everything, the plan for selling it all is pretty simple. I’m building an estate sale web site. I figure the best way to show it all, and allow people to pick through and buy stuff is via the Internet. We still plan on having a weekend or two where people can come, look at the items and buy what they want, but I think the web site will help tremendously. With all of the items being available to buy before the general public picks through it physically, I’m hoping the “I can have it now” factor can help to speed up the process and boost online purchases. If you have any plans to build your garage or remodel it, then check out experts like Midwest Garage Builders.
I guess that’s it for now. Thanks for following along. We have BIG news about the build coming up!!
Stay tuned…
