Having a Clear Out

We have recently been having a clear out and plan to finally get around to sorting out Morgan’s bedroom. He’s getting too big for his toddler bed and needs some proper storage where he can put all of his toys, and believe me there are lots that need a proper home.

I have been a member of the Aberystwyth Freecycle Group for about a year now and have done some good transactions through this group in both directions. It has been really useful as a way of getting rid of bits and pieceswe no longer use without just throwing things away. It works both ways though and I keep an eye on the offered ads to see if there is anything we need. The good items do get snapped up quickly but we’ve had a couple of pairs of sandals for Morgan, some left over pull-up nappies which is always useful and a booster seat for the car to use when we visit my mum. Someone even gave us their entire Mr Men books collection when I posted a wanted add for the free Mr Men that were available in washing powder at the time.

Recently however, and as a way to help Morgan understand that stuff costs money, I decided to try and sell a few things in the paper to help pay for Morgan’s new bedroom furniture. So far we’ve managed to sell a number of items and have made about a third of the cost towards the new furniture. I didn’t think people would be interested in some of it but so far so good and every advert I’ve put in has had some response. The adverts are free so it’s always worth a try and of course I’ve always got freecycle to fall back on if I can’t sell something before making a trip to the tip. Morgan has been very good about it as well. He wasn’t too impressed that his toybox was in the car one morning going to a new home with another little boy but once I explained that we were selling it to buy his new bed he seemed happier about the situation (he hasn’t missed it either since it’s been gone!).

There are down sides as well to both systems. Because we live about 10 miles out of town I have to take a lot of stuff into town and arrange to meet people there rather than them coming out to us but that is more to do with where we live than anything else. I also find our local freecycle moderator to be a bit of a control freak but again I’m sure she does a valuable job keeping out the junk posts from the group and ensures everything runs smoothly.

I had a clear out at the weekend and found lots more things we no longer need. I think I’ll try my luck in the paper again before offering them for free.

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