End of the Year Clearance! Everything Must Go!

Okay, not really everything, but compatible desires for less stuff and more money have had me posting lots of things on Craig’s List.

It started around Christmas time. Julie got the idea that maybe we could sell things to pay for our principle excursions in Mexico. The big ones are that we have a tour guide who will take us to Chichen Itza and Tulum (that will be $165 each) and then our admissions to Xcaret Ecological Park will be about $71 each if we buy online.

Now, that does seem like a lot of money to hope for, but we have a lot of stuff, and Julie and Maria were mainly looking at getting rid of some Disney things. There were two Pooh Cookie Jars, a Cinderella snow globe, and a Wedgewood Cinderella figure.

That doesn’t sound like a lot, but they are all collectible items, and have been marked by others at fairly high prices. The problem with collectibles is that you have to find someone who wants them. I got lucky a few years ago, and I found someone who came and took a set of Pooh snow globes and several ornaments without haggling. I was hoping she would see these, but maybe she went out of business.

Our timing was somewhat off. I think we should have gotten them posted a full week before Christmas, but it is a busy time of year and we didn’t. The week went buy, and the only thing that went were Julie’s spare Medifast items (those things are gold!). We just posted again.

I added some items of my own. There are two more sets of ornaments, a set of Pooh mini-snow globes, portable keyboard, and a food sealer.

Mainly they are things that are collecting dust now, and we could use money, so there are very practical issues there, but there is also an element of letting some things go, and letting other things stay.

I honestly wish I had never bought any figurine in my life. Once you have them, and have spent money on them, getting rid of them feels like a waste, but keeping them isn’t necessarily rewarding. (I’m not even trying to sell the Cherished Teddies, but if I thought anyone would pay for them…)

Also, sometimes it is letting go of plans, but maybe they weren’t good plans. The food sealer was for food storage, and especially for packing up pet food for pet 72 hour kits. I have never opened it. We still have a respectable food storage, and that’s growing. I don’t have great pet kits, but I can do what I want with Ziplock bags and duct tape. I didn’t need to be so complicated.

The keyboard is awesome. It is a Yamaha PSS-140. I know the Casio SK-1 had better name recognition, and that was actually what Danielle started with when we started the band (such as it was) and it seemed like a wise choice. Later though, when I felt like I needed my own keyboard, I had to go for the Yamaha. I think it was the drum pad that really won me over, and of course it was bigger.

I do feel like I will go back to music some day, and start writing music again, and this time I will somehow get down actually being able to pick out the notes, rather than just having to remember them in my head (or use that cool software like in Drumline). However, I think I will stick with the piano. I like the texture and the resistance with the piano better, despite my fondness for the sample rhythm on the Yamaha. The keyboard is fun, but I don’t need it.

With the Disney stuff, a lot of it was more, oh, that is cute, and I have disposable income, which is why you make small children save half of their disposable income and train them against impulse buys when they are young. Otherwise just being able to buy things is kind of intoxicating when it happens, and it’s not awful, but it’s not valuable either.

Some of them had plans. The Wedgewood figure was going to be the topper on Maria’s wedding cake. I’m not saying she will never get married, but she may not need Cinderella on top. They may not end up with separate households requiring cookie jars. We have so much junk like that. I did accumulate a hope chest, and most of the items have either come into use here, or been given as gifts, or been given away. We are now using Julie’s china set, and Maria’s bathroom set. Really, just save cash. Even if your circumstances change, by the time they do, your tastes may have changed also.

So we will see. If they don’t go as marked, we may try eBay or Amazon marketplace. They don’t need to go, and we will still do what we want on our trip if they don’t sell, but it would be nice.

Let me know if you want anything!