Getting rid of stuff

Started many things today, finished just one.

I finished cleaning and organizing the utility room today. I actually started this room two weeks ago, doing just a little bit each day.

Now the only problem is that the mess that once was the utility room is now the bigger mess in the garage. Clearly we have too much stuff. A yard sale would be great, but the time of year is all wrong, and frankly, I have no time to organize one. Also, Simon is against it. He did not enjoy our previous yard sales at all! He swore "Never Again!" and I think he really meant it. Simon wants me to just donate it all and write it off on our taxes.

I do not know why it bothers me to just give this stuff away like that, but it does. Donating is easy and I know that I will feel really "free"when the stuff I don't need is gone. So why do I have an issue with this??? Well, maybe it is because donating stuff feels a bit like just throwing perfectly good stuff out. It feels wasteful, even though it is less so than having lots of junk around that you never use. It might also be that cash is tangible....I can sell my stuff and then turn around and buy more stuff (like furniture and new windows)....a tax deduction is a little less apparent than cold hard cash- same wealth building potential- just not so visible.

Well, let me see if I can overcome this. Nortwest Center is going to have a truck in my area on Thursday. Perhaps I will throw some of my more valuable junk their way and see if I don't regret it.