I've never done Ebay, don't really know how. I'm sure my daughter would help me, they routinely sell things on it. My daughter here in town with me insists I do a yard sale every 2-3 years. She does most of the work. Last one I made over $300, well worth it. She gets tired of trying to find things in my storage rooms so we have a yard sale.

Thanks, B2Y :). You got me a little bit motivated. I'm going to start with my jewelry armoire. It is full of mostly junk!! I'll take it one tiny step at a time. I refuse to part with my kids baby teeth though :o.

When thinking of what one might do with old cards, wrapping paper, school supplies, ribbons, craft supplies think of a local nursing home or retirement center. The one that my Mom lived in had a scrapbooking/card making session once a month. With all the things that are available you can use anything. Like I got a card today that was in a purple envelope. My Mom could have used that one envelope for many things. And when she finished with what she thought was all useable pieces she would have cut the final little pieces into confettit to put into a card. The ladies that do this class belong to a church that comes in once a month and everything they buy comes out of thier own pocket. Organizational things they can use. When we all got all of our things out of Moms apartment and all that was left we thought was trash, we invited these girls to come look through stuff before we threw it away and they had such a good time.

I'm an unsentimental minimalistic organizer by nature, married to a sappy disorganized hoarder-by-DNA. WWIII breaks out every time I try to sort and downsize! I will admit, I have gotten rid of things ( a FEW things!) that I later wished I had kept. But really! I don't see the need to hump around his boxed up undergrad textbooks, which weigh a freaking ton, through four moves!

We keep, at DH's insistence, old issues of Sports Illustrated, his Cub Scout uniform, his little league football helmet, every scribble the kids produce, every birthday card from anyone, anything that ever belonged to a relative or was given to us by a relative... you get the picture.

I have very little from my maternal grandmother, nothing at all from my paternal grandparents. From my dad, I have an old plaid shirt that I wear to do yardwork. From my sister, I have sheetmusic. Now when my mom dies, oh boy. She has 108 acres, a 2000 sq ft house, and 7 outbuildings crammed full of farm junk. My sister and I and our DH's will have soooo much fun.

I would rather spend all my money on doing fun things and traveling with my loved ones, making memories, rather than acquiring possessions, if I had the choice.

Blessings, you have a very healthy and motivated idea at work in your life.

Yes, your original post made me smile and laugh because you are right. We can't take any of this "stuff" with us. In our family we have become accustomed to reaching whatever point we feel is best and allowing relatives to identify that which they would like to have when we are gone. To the point of making lists and labeling the pieces with their names so there is no confusion.

Look around the home and how much "stuff" has been accumulated over the years we will never use, yet may be of benefit to someone else in need? In our home, if you haven't worn it in over a year or used it, we donate it to Amvets or whomever. The valuable and important items have already been determined and listed in our trust for the children in full agreement.

I do NOT under any circumstances wish my children to have to experience what I and my siblings endured having to go through 80+ years of "stuff" left in my parents home, room by room. Let's just say they never threw anything away as in how many plastic bags does a person really need on hand? Four trash cans full it a tad too much, don't you think?

So Blessings, I recommend you do it now while you can actually make the decisions and move the "stuff" out of your life someone else may benefit from using. Just make sure someone assist you with the massive task ahead of you and have fun in the process.