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| Just some of the things claimed during our Facebook Freecycle |
January certainly seems to be the month of 'Clean all the things!!!' Everyone seems to be sorting through things and decluttering, jumping on their New Year's resolutions that will make this year the year that they finally get it all together. The stores know this, and the flyers are filled with sales on boxes and bins, wardrobes and drawer units, all for the budding organizer. And if that is the bandwagon this month, I've jumped on it with both feet.
Friday night, Nik slept over at my mom's so that first thing in the morning we could tackle the giant pile of junk in our ridiculously full storage room. Knowing that there was a lot in there that we really didn't need, we talked about what to do with it. We could have a garage sale, but no one will come to a garage sale in January in Winnipeg, so we would have to store everything still until spring. We could try listing things on Kijiji, or elsewhere online to sell or swap, but that would also mean a lot of waiting and arranging. We could truck everything off to a thrift store. Many of my friends and acquaintances have done that in the last couple weeks. Truck and van loads of stuff to charity. January seems to be their windfall month. Yes, the secondhand store seemed to be a good option.
But I had also seen people asking for things on Facebook. Does anyone have a salad spinner? What about any maternity clothes to share? Oh, shoot, friends would respond. I did have that, but I dropped it off at the thrift store last week. So I thought, well, I will offer up my cast offs on Facebook before we truck things down to the thrift store.
I was amazed at the response. We had a respectable pile, over 35 individual things, plus books, dishes, Christmas decorations, and adult clothing. At least half was claimed, and most of that was picked up that same day. Everyone's response was similar: Thanks, this is great, I will get a lot of use out of this. People sent me Facebook messages and left comments saying, "This is a great idea. We should do this, too."
One message I received told me this story:
"It was nice to see someone else who gives things they no longer need away instead of selling. When we moved overseas, we gave everything we weren't taking with us to a local charity that has a food bank and store to raise funds to help those who need it. They also give things to people who may have lost stuff in a house fire or are really in need. So we gave beds, living room furniture, kitchen stuff, toys, etc. I couldn't bring myself to sell it because I KNEW when we moved here people would give us a lot of stuff and I was right. We got beds, a beautiful cupboard for in the livingroom, dishes, bedding, tables, a TV and microwave.
Sure we could sell it like most people do and we have before had garage sales, it's just at this point in my life it's like sharing what we've been blessed with."
Sharing what we've been blessed with. What a simple and profound way to look at things. I have to admit, I thought I was just getting rid of junk. But I was surprised at how good it felt to just give things away to people who could use it. We'll definitely do it again.
Friday night, Nik slept over at my mom's so that first thing in the morning we could tackle the giant pile of junk in our ridiculously full storage room. Knowing that there was a lot in there that we really didn't need, we talked about what to do with it. We could have a garage sale, but no one will come to a garage sale in January in Winnipeg, so we would have to store everything still until spring. We could try listing things on Kijiji, or elsewhere online to sell or swap, but that would also mean a lot of waiting and arranging. We could truck everything off to a thrift store. Many of my friends and acquaintances have done that in the last couple weeks. Truck and van loads of stuff to charity. January seems to be their windfall month. Yes, the secondhand store seemed to be a good option.
But I had also seen people asking for things on Facebook. Does anyone have a salad spinner? What about any maternity clothes to share? Oh, shoot, friends would respond. I did have that, but I dropped it off at the thrift store last week. So I thought, well, I will offer up my cast offs on Facebook before we truck things down to the thrift store.
I was amazed at the response. We had a respectable pile, over 35 individual things, plus books, dishes, Christmas decorations, and adult clothing. At least half was claimed, and most of that was picked up that same day. Everyone's response was similar: Thanks, this is great, I will get a lot of use out of this. People sent me Facebook messages and left comments saying, "This is a great idea. We should do this, too."
One message I received told me this story:
"It was nice to see someone else who gives things they no longer need away instead of selling. When we moved overseas, we gave everything we weren't taking with us to a local charity that has a food bank and store to raise funds to help those who need it. They also give things to people who may have lost stuff in a house fire or are really in need. So we gave beds, living room furniture, kitchen stuff, toys, etc. I couldn't bring myself to sell it because I KNEW when we moved here people would give us a lot of stuff and I was right. We got beds, a beautiful cupboard for in the livingroom, dishes, bedding, tables, a TV and microwave.
Sure we could sell it like most people do and we have before had garage sales, it's just at this point in my life it's like sharing what we've been blessed with."
Sharing what we've been blessed with. What a simple and profound way to look at things. I have to admit, I thought I was just getting rid of junk. But I was surprised at how good it felt to just give things away to people who could use it. We'll definitely do it again.
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| Storage room 'After' picture See that clean floor? Imagine it stacked to the ceiling with junk, and you've got your 'Before' picture. ;-) |
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