Think Outside The Box When Times Get Tough

When the economy takes a turn for the worse it can affect people in many different ways. Depending on the industry you work in it can mean reduced hours leading to a reduction in income or even worse layoffs and a loss of income all together. If you have ever found yourself in this situation you can understand the uncertainty and anxiety of having the money disappear but the monthly bills still coming in. In these trying times you have to get creative and think outside the box.

One way you can do this is by seeing if you’re sitting on your next mortgage payment in the form of things you can sell on eBay. I’m not suggesting you go out and pawn grandma’s antique engagement ring or autographed Bernie Smith jersey but everyone has stuff in their house that has outlived its usefulness to them. As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

A trip up into my attic revealed all sorts of treasures on Saturday morning a couple of months ago. Remember compact discs and jewel cases? Someone with a bit of creativity can make all kinds of arts and crafts projects out of them; they have to get those supplies from somewhere right?  Old books you’ve read and are likely to sit collecting dust for the next decade? Why not pass those books along so someone else can enjoy them? I managed to digitize all of my old DVDs and sell them to the tune of $2-4 each.

That’s just one room in my house. A trip to the garage revealed duplicate tools, a tackle box full of old fishing lures and broken lawnmower that went to a guy who works on small engines to be used for parts to the tune of $20. In our basement we had home furnishings from our apartment before we got married. White glass block table lamps may not match our current décor but there is someone out there looking for those lamps. My wife has enough vases to put flowers in 7 houses worth of rooms. If you have kids why not save the sentimental toys and sell the ones that never got played with?

Are you going to get rich selling off the clutter? No. But, when times are tough every little bit helps and it can help get you through until your finances turn around. As an added bonus you’re cleaning up the clutter and someone else can enjoy things that you aren’t using anymore.