There are lots of ways to get rid of things you don’t want or need anymore:
- Sell them on the Internet (eBay, Craigslist, Yardsellr, etc.)
- Sell them at a consignment shop
- Sell them at a yard sale
- Give them away to friends
- Donate them to a charitable organization (Salvation Army, shelters, etc.)
- Give them away to strangers (Freecycle, Craigslist, etc.)
- Barter them for things you do need
In the past two weeks, I have joined Freecycle and listed all my college textbooks on Half.com, something I had been meaning to do for about four years. I am really trying hard to declutter again. I have an impulse to try and get money out of things I spent money on, but sometimes I just give them away. And it’s not too bad a feeling to just give.
I have had two interactions through Freecycle.
- Someone asked for a scented candle, which I offered. When scheduling a drop-off, they told me they felt “bad karma” from me and told me to bury the candle and never light it. Freaky.
- I gave away my wedding dress.
It seemed like something too nice to just give away. I tried posting it on Craigslist for sale. No luck. I tried posting it on Craigslist for free! No luck. I tried giving it away in a Facebook group. Still nothing. So I joined Freecycle. There’s no way I want to just carry around a wedding dress forever. It certainly wasn’t doing me any good.
I listed the dress and got this email, from a man whose daughter is engaged to a soldier.
I would really like to get this for my daughter. Her wedding is in a few months and most of their money has been devoted to his medical care and his needs since he has came back to the states. This would really mean a lot to me if I could give her a wedding dress to wear, because he wants to wear his uniform for the ceremony and walk down the aisle with his new legs he has been fitted for. No one in the family except her and myself have seen him walk yet, and this would really be a blessing for her to be able to walk down a church aisle in a traditional wedding dress with the man of her dreams along her side.
And there went my wedding dress! The man told me that I was “a real blessing,” and he was so very appreciative of my serendipitous dress giveaway. He told me that when he told his sister about it, she advised him to make sure it wasn’t a Barbie wedding dress or a flower girl dress because people don’t just give away wedding dresses.
But I do! And it felt good! It’s a win, win, win situation. I get the dress out of my closet. She gets a free, and very pretty, dress for her wedding. The dress gets to be a dress, and not an ornament!
And hopefully giving away a wedding dress can help with my karmic issues with the candle!
Born Again Minimalist 
Leave a comment