Over Stuffed

Stuff costs money. Everything. Not only to acquire it, but to maintain it. A few weeks ago, we sold my dune buggy. It was an awesome car, but it cost. It cost in terms of insurance, oil, gas, tags, etc. It also represented money. Money that could be working for me. Money I could be earning interest on.

“Do you really need it?” is a question you must ask yourself about all your possessions. Sit down and do an inventory of everything you own.

Here's what you do: pull out a sheet of paper and create four columns. In column 1, write down what the item is, in the second column, write down when the last time you used the item (if yon can’t recall, simply write 100 years), in the third column write down what you think someone would pay for it if you sold it to them.

Once you have your list, begin selling off your stuff starting with the longest since used date. When in doubt, it goes out. The items on your sheet are not earning you any money right now. Sure, they may increase in value, but you don’t know for certain.

Convert your stuff. Sell your stuff on ebay, to friends, put them on craigslist, have a flea market day. You could be sitting on thousands of dollars of stuff, stuff that you aren’t using and that isn’t making you any money. We were.

In the 4th column, write how much you actually sold the item for. When you see what you get in return for those “precious” items, you will be much more shrewd and careful with what you buy in the future. This exercise is what helped us make the switch to buying used at every turn.