Decluttering the Hoard in 2019

Hello everybody, Tsubaki here with a helpful and informative post on how I have officially decluttered everything! Everything being over hundreds of items that were not being used or were bought as a temporary fix when I was living in a much smaller space that was being shared with other people. Just to put how much space my hoarded items were taking up, it was approximately 70% of a full room in a decent-sized New York City apartment.

Decluttering any amount of items really takes a mindset that will help you evaluate the value of items you have. An example would be selling or donating a sweater you bought and never used because it wasn’t your style but keeping a sweater you use every Fall and Winter because not only do you use it but you can make great outfits with it. However instead of sweaters, it is piles of stuff you ordered from personal shoppers in Japan, Kawaii crates you didn't sort and plushies you bought because you were buying something anyway and it happened to be in the store! I am honest when I say that I am super guilty of buying a lot of unnecessary items and now at the end of 2019, I can say for a fact that I have a clearer head with purchases. 

Obtaining this way of thinking is simple but not easy. The way I came to this realization is by looking and calculating how much all the stuff I bought has put me in debt. After digesting that number I came with the conclusion that in order to have my space and some money back, items need to go. All the items I bought were more towards figures, cute stationery and cute limited collab storage and keychains so I didn’t use Depop but I used the app called Mercari to sell most of those items. I knew I was taking a lost because most of the items were used and not in original packaging but getting something back financially and having space made it worth it. Personally I didn’t use EBay because I didn’t want my items to be auctioned. Also Mercari has an option for you to take the price of shipping out of the amount the buyer paid for the items and they email you a prepaid shipping label. It saved me so much headache plus anybody with a basic printer can ship almost anything! I will link my Mercari code here in case anybody is interested in selling and or buying on there! 

Remember to take you time really sorting your items for selling. Being picky about style, color and even which anime or manga character it is or is on it is completely valid. You want to keep your favorites that make you happy so that you can start a new point in your life with a fresh space.

Now onto how I saved money with packaging for those who want to sell stuff. Everybody that uses Amazon especially Amazon Prime knows that everything you order comes with a decent box depending on the item and packing material to secure the item. I have been using old Amazon boxes and packaging along with packaging from Etsy and smaller sellers to get around buying packing material. Everyone ends up using boxes that were used before to ship items, do this too so you don’t have to give money to a supply store or Postal Office. Just remember to use boxes and packing material that are still in relatively great condition. Which boils down to not using a box that has a clear noticeable hole in it and bubble wrap that has already been popped all the way. A side note is to always try to take off as much of the old label as possible before using the box to ship an item to sell. It makes the fact that you are using an already used box less noticeable. 

Some huge warnings for selling anything. People are always upset if somehow the item isn’t what they expected. Try to make sure your item description is VERY descriptive. So many people will try to get their money back and send it back but in the end you don’t need the items so you hope they are happy once the tracking says they have it. 

If you have sold has much as you possibly could and are still left with a few items that didn’t sell, remember that donating to a local charity is an option. I have actually donated eight bags to GoodWill in December to clear a corner of the room that I used for donation storage. I am very happy to see the floor of that corner again and that those items that are still in good condition will be given or bought by people that need them. 

I am still left with a few items I know will sell so I will still keep selling until I think there is nothing left. I will delete the app I am selling in as soon as I have nothing else to sell because it is a double edged sword. You will get tempted to buy stuff on the app you are selling on which might defeat the reason why you wanted to declutter in the first place. 

This is a current picture of what is left to sell after clearing almost the entire room! This room used to not have a desk and was packed with tons of totes and boxes of stuff that wasn’t being used and you couldn’t see the floor. I need to work I’m getting shelves to have a better place to store everything that is left which is all of our model kits and books. I plan to follow up on this journey with how I decided to track spending, what I have been using to track spending and the budgeting method that has been most beneficial for me. 

I hope we can all start 2020 in a better financial state, better mind set and an otaku on hype!