Spring Cleaning

"Goal of getting rid of 10 things a day in full swing!" my Timehop ap reported, a pile of things to be donated featured as part of last year's post.

Despite my head and heart still being in the mode of less is more, my hands haven't quite been keeping up, the lessons of having two children and learning a new job taking priority. And quite frankly, still drowning me. How you amazing women with families, careers inside or outside the home, friendships, dwellings and mouths to feed manage to get through a day, I'll never know. You are simply awesome and I want to absorb all of your secrets!

With spring just arriving, the bug has hit again. And with a greater understanding of what I'm supposed to do Monday through Friday and what our little man's words mean, things are becoming a bit more routine. So it goes, the things must leave. Things that aren't used, loved, are beautiful/meaningful or are in multiples must go! And my secret weapon to make this happen:

Swap sites.

Oh, and grandparents I can con into playing with the kids for a few hours so I can actually get something done.

There are three main Facebook swap sites I've joined for the west side of the city in which I live, giving me access to more than 5k people who may want to purchase my goods. Just get invited in, snap a quick pick of the item you're selling, post a helpful description and meet up place and boom - you're good to go. There are quite a few rules (respond chronologically within 24 hours, that sort of thing), but overall I've found everyone I've exchanged with to be friendly, forgiving, fruitful and fun!

In the past two weeks alone I've sold 5 bags, 11 toys, 8 pair of shoes and some home decor. All within 30 minutes of posting! It's easier than Craigslist to post, manage and keeps it all a bit closer to home. Plus you can cyber stalk the person to make a strong of a guess as possible to their "normalcy" before doing an exchange.

A few tips: a) learn the site rules b) put only quality stuff on there c) price reasonably d) a short description is best e) take a good pic f) don't engage crazy g) accept cash only h) meet in public places.

And wa-la! You too could have a house with fewer items within days.

Happy swapping!