Category: Cleaning

This post is brought to you by i​Robot​. While this was a sponsored opportunity, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Friends, I had a meltdown the other day.

A full-on lock myself in the bathroom, ugly crying, snotty tissues meltdown.

It had been a day. My stress level was off the charts, thanks to a to-do list that just kept getting longer.

After the umpteenth thing didn’t go according to plan that day, I lost it.

Later that day after licking my wounds, Grunt and I pulled out our calendars to plan out the rest of the summer and see about squeezing in one more fun trip with our girl.

It became quickly apparent that we didn’t have as much free time as we thought we did this summer.

Add to that, the previously mentioned to-do list and it became abundantly clear to me – time is fleeting and especially the summer.

It was then I also realized my never-ending to-do list means nothing. There’s not a thing on it that’s really all that important in the grand scheme of things.

What is important is making sure I spend every possible second I can during these special summer days with my best girl. She’s growing – fast, and I want to be stress-free and present for her, not a slave to my to-do list.

Cleaning the house is a constant on my to-do list. It’s always a hot mess and I just don’t have that much time to clean it. One thing I’m able to cross off my to-do list now though, without leaving my seat I might add, is vacuuming the floors.

Meet Greta. She’s an iRobot® Roomba® i7+. And she is a godsend.

For the first time, in a loooong time, I’m actually ok not putting on my house shoes when I first get up in the morning – because my floors are no longer always covered with dirt, crumbs and other questionable debris.

Greta vacuums every flooring surface clean: wood, tile, carpet, rugs – everything. The Roomba i7+ has Dual Multi-Surface Rubber Brushes that are flexible so they hug every type of floor surface. They were also made to stand up to hair – it doesn’t get tangled in the Roomba. With a dog and two girls with long hair that both shed like a dog, that’s important stuff, folks.

When I’m ready for Greta to clean, all I have to do open up the iRobot HOME App on my phone and hit clean.

The Roomba i7+ has Imprint™ Smart Mapping Technology, so after running a few times, she mapped out my floor plan all on her own. All I had to do was go in and name the rooms. With the floor plan in place, I have the option to choose to have Greta clean certain areas, rather than the whole house. I don’t even have to be home for her to clean, I can open up the app anywhere and put her to work. You can also opt to set up a cleaning schedule to have your Roomba clean on certain days and times.

Greta also cleans up after herself. She automatically empties her bin into a disposable bag that holds 30 bins of dirt, dust and hair.

I don’t have to think about vacuuming for weeks at a time. That means more time for my best girl.

If you need us, we’ll be by the pool this summer soaking in the sunshine and sweetness of being seven – and telling the to-do list exactly where it can go….

From now until 6/29, you can save $150 off the same Roomba i7+ I have – find it here!

You can also save on other select floor cleaning robots thru 6/29 as well – that robot mop is going at the top of my wish list!

I’ll be reporting back in a month or so about how my Roomba is doing – leave any questions you’d like answered in the comments below!

The title of this post speaks for itself.

We had a ton of stuff piled up in the garage, in the guest bedroom, in our closets – everywhere. Yes, I have slight hoarding tendencies. 

Most of that stuff, we didn’t need.

So I finally sifted through all the clutter, went all “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” on many things and then sold them.

Given the amount of things I’ve sold in the last couple of months, I’m sure that some of my Facebook friends thought we might have been going through a rough patch financially. There were a few “Is everything ok?” messages I received, but no, we aren’t having to skip meals or anything. That being said, we were working on the farmhouse remodel and there were a lot of unforeseen expenses that came our way such as getting the whole house replumbed, a new garage door, a new water heater and lots of other things that added up pretty quickly. To help pay for all of that, I pulled on my big girl panties, waded through the excess furniture, clothing, home decor items, and random other miscellaneous stuff that had been piling up, and sold whatever we didn’t need or want anymore.

I didn’t keep track of the exact amount of money I made from selling all the unwanted items, but I know it is somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000 over about two months because I paid $1500 cash for all the plumbing updates and new garage door at the farmhouse, then had a little over $500 left to spend on other items.

Here’s how I did it. From beginning to end. The cleaning out to the selling. All of it. 

Now y’all, keep in mind that you may have more or less things to sell than I did. Your things may  be worth more or less than mine were. Don’t go getting all scrappy with me if you don’t make $2000. This is one of those “results will vary” kind of deals. I feel like a commercial saying that, but there are some people out there who might think I can magically put $2K in their pocket by them reading this post. I’m not a magician, y’all. 

How I Made $2K+ in Two Months Selling Crap We Didn’t Need

1. Go Through Your Entire House

This is, of course, the no-brainer here. You are going to have to go through every room, every closet, every nook and cranny and be ruthless.

Purge like you’ve never purged before.

No matter how big or small the item is, if you no longer need it, don’t like it anymore, doesn’t fit anymore, or haven’t used it in a year, let it go.

I had been holding onto multiple pieces of furniture, some small, some larger, from our previous home as well as some pieces I had picked up at yard sales and thrift stores, because I kept telling myself I might need them here or there or at the farm. I took a long, hard look at each of the pieces and determined that I really didn’t need about 90% of it. The only things I kept were a couple of side tables for when we makeover the guest room and a couple of pieces to makeover and then sell because I knew I would get a substantial amount of more money out of those pieces if I just took a little time to redo them.

I went through all of our closets and got rid of anything that no longer fit or that we hadn’t worn in a year.

I went through the closet in my office where I keep little home decor knick-knacks and got rid of any that I hadn’t used in a year.

Just turn on some good music, grab yourself a beer and get to purging, baby. 

Gather all the items you are purging in one space. For us, we used our guest bedroom.

2. Create Two Piles / Categories.

After you have gathered all the items you no longer want/need in one space, create two piles or categories within the space.

Category One: Larger items that can be sold locally online such as on Craigslist, Facebook, Close5 app, Letgo app, etc. I only sold items locally. I wasn’t going to deal with the headache of shipping items.

Now you might be asking yourself, “How do I decide what could be sold online?” Here are the general guidelines I go by when determining what I will sell online locally…

Try to Sell Items Online First if They Meet the Following Criteria:

• You think it will sale for $20 or more. (This is a personal preference here, but I’ll only take the time to list something online if it will sell for $20 or more. You might have a higher or lower number.)
• Furniture – just about any furniture piece, unless it’s badly damaged or banged up, I will list online.
• Item Lots – I group all my daughter’s outgrown clothes together by size and try to sell in one big lot or in smaller lots to a few different people.

Category Two: Smaller items that can be sold at the upcoming yard sale you will now be having since you cleaned out so much shit. 😉

You might have some things you think just need to be tossed in the trash right then and you can totally do that, but y’all, I tend to put those items in my yard sales first. You would be amazed at what some people buy at those. My friend Jason’s mom, sent over old bras with him to sell in one of our yard sales and they went like hotcakes. Hell, Kathryn even sold a bottle of partially used shampoo at one of our sales! I think she was just going to give it away, but someone actually paid money for it!

3. List the larger and higher-value items for sale via local online marketplaces.

You’ve got your two piles now – one for the things to try and sell locally online and the other for your yard sale. Let’s get those higher priced items listed for sale now!

First:

• Take photos of the items you will be listing for sale online.
  • Take photos in well-lit spaces.
  • Shoot from different angles.
  • Get detailed shots.

• Take measurements of each piece.
• Make note of any imperfections.

Next –

List your items for sale on:

• Your Local Craigslist Page – if you don’t already have an account, you’ll have to create one and then it will walk you through setting up a listing.
• Facebook Marketplace – type in “Facebook Marketplace” in the Facebook search bar while you are logged in and it will bring up local listings in your area, then click the blue button on the right that says +Sell Something.

• Local Facebook Yard Sale Pages – while logged into your Facebook account, do a search there for “InsertYourTownHere Yard Sale.” There are probably lots of local yard sale pages already out there that you can request to join and then list your items for sale. Once in the group, if you scroll down a little on the right, you will see more suggested groups that will most likely also be local yard sale groups you can join and list your items on.
• Your Own Facebook Profile – If I have items that I think some of my friends might be interested in buying, then I will also list them for sale on my personal Facebook page. I just create a post detailing what I’m selling and then list the items in the comments. I’ve found this very useful for selling lots of kid’s clothing and smaller home decor items.
• Close5 and Letgo Apps – you can download both of these apps for free on your smartphone and list items you wish to sell.

When Listing Your Items Be Sure to Include:

• The photos you took of the item.
• What the item is (yes, there are some people that just can’t tell from photos)
• Measurements (especially for furniture!)
• Any imperfections on the item – photos of these imperfections are helpful for buyers as well.
• The overall condition of the piece (Brand New, Like New, Excellent, Great, Good, etc.)
• What the item is used for or what it could potentially be used for – for example, a dresser could also be used as a buffet or sideboard in a dining room. I also had a piece once that could double as a storage cabinet or a bar.
• The item location or where you are willing to meet someone to sell the item.
• Any other buying criteria you have. In all my listings, I always include the following language:
  Located in ABC City. Pickup only. Cash Only. First Come, First Serve. No holds. Cross-Posted.

If it’s a smaller item that you are willing to meet someone with, then replace “Pickup only” with “Willing to meet at” and then wherever you want to meet. I don’t hold anything for anyone unless I have cash in hand from them. The “cross-posted” lets people know that the item is posted for sale in multiple places and not just that one. Below is a posting of mine for a table and chairs set that I sold.

Any large furniture pieces that I sell are usually pickup only items. I’m fine with putting a small side table, mirror, or something similar in my car and meeting someone with those, but if it’s a bigger piece that requires more than one person to load it, then that person has to pick it up. I don’t care to help them load it when they come, but I won’t deliver or meet with those items. The main reason for this is that I’m not going to haul something across town and then they decide they don’t like it when they see it. That being said, having a stranger come to your house can be a little scary though. Here are my tips on that…

Things to Keep In Mind for Selling Pickup Only Items When People Come to Your Home: 

• Try to have the item in a spot at your home that is very easily accessible to where the person would park and also that is very visible to neighbors. For me, I have found that my garage works best for this. As soon as someone sets up a time to come see something, I have Grunt help me pull that piece right smack dab by the garage door and that way I can just open the garage door and show the person the piece right there. If the weather isn’t questionable, I’ll even pull the piece outdoors. What you really don’t want to do is have a person walk all through your house to see something.
• Try to set up times for people to view items when someone else is also at your house with you.
• If someone else can’t be there with you when someone comes, then send a text to your significant other or a friend saying, “Hey, just wanted to let you know someone is coming to look at XXX at XXX time.” I do this with Grunt Labor if he isn’t home. If I don’t text or call him after that person is set to arrive, then he calls me to make sure everything is ok.
• Only let people come over to see items during daylight hours. Yes, I know bad things still happen during the broad daylight, but still, it’s better to have them come during the day rather than at night.
• Sometimes people will come and look at an item and say they want to buy it, but can’t take it with them that day. If you’re a sweet, kind soul, then you may take their word for it. Because I’m not a sweet, kind soul though, I tell them that they have to leave at least half of the cost of the item as a deposit for me to hold it for them. I also tell them that it must be picked up within a week or I keep that money and also re-list the item to sell.

Things to Keep In Mind When You Are Meeting People to Sell Items: 

• Meet only during daylight hours and in populated areas you are familiar with. I tend to lean toward grocery store parking lots, large retail store parking lots, etc.
• Take someone with you or let your significant other or a friend know what you’re doing, just like I noted above.
• Be sure to ask them what type of car they will be driving so you can be on the lookout for them.

Here’s another sale posting where I sold a lot of toddler shoes and was willing to meet the buyer:

After Listing Your Items for Sale: 

• Keep a good eye on your email, Facebook Notifications, Facebook Messenger, phone, etc. for anyone who may be contacting you about purchasing an item.

• “Renew” Your Items on Craigslist every 48 hours.

With Craigslist, after you list an item, you can renew it once every 48 hours for the first 30 days that it is listed. This bumps your listing to the top of the sale category you posted it in. To do this, login to your Craigslist account, and you should see a link that says “Renew” beside your listing. Click that.

• Bump Your Sale Posts in Facebook Yard Sale Groups

Like renewing your Craigslist sale posts, bumping your sale posts in Facebook yard sale pages will also move them to the top of the discussion. To bump a listing, you simply comment on the sale post by writing “bump.” Most Facebook yard sale groups have rules about how often you can bump posts, so make sure you are following those. Generally, I bump those posts about once a week.

• As items sell, be sure to delete the listing.

I try to delete items that sale just as soon as they are sold. That way I don’t get calls about them and people don’t get mad if they see something for sale and then it turns out, it isn’t anymore. Be sure to delete the listing on all the outlets that you listed it on – Craigslist, Facebook, etc.

• Lower prices if needed.

If I haven’t had any bites on items that I’ve listed after a couple of weeks, then I will lower the price some.

4. Have a Yard Sale.

And now, the final piece of the “get money for the crap you don’t need” puzzle. Have yourself a yard sale. Now is the time to get rid of all of those smaller items you set aside in the yard sale pile earlier. I wrote a post last year detailing all of my tips for the most successful yard sales, which you can read here. All the information you should need for a great yard sale is in that post. One thing I will add though is that if you’re doing a big clean-out where you have lots of larger items that you have listed online for sale, then wait about a month after listing those before having your yard sale. That way, you can add any items that didn’t sale online to your yard sale as well. From my experience, you can usually make a little more money on those larger items by selling them online as I’ve noted above, rather than at a yard sale, thus why I suggest waiting a month.

I think that just about covers it.

Here’s to reclaiming some of your square footage and making a buck or two while doing it!

If you have any selling tips, please do share them in the comments! I’m always up for hearing more ideas! 

You might also want to read…

DIY Clothes Rack and Free Printable Size Dividers for Your Next Yard Sale

Three Things That Could Cut Your Electric Bill In Half

Five Ways to Decorate Your Entire Home on a Tiny Budget 

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Skout’s Honor. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am not a dog person. I never have been. It’s like God just forgot to give me that little piece of my heart that thinks dogs are cute and cuddly no matter what they smell like or how much hair they shed. It’s just not in me. 

However, it is very much in the Circus and Grunt Labor.  Therefore, I am a dog person only when it comes to our dogs.  When Grunt and I got together he had two dogs, Zie and Zoe. Zie was a Boston Terrier and Zoe, a Boxer. I must have been really infatuated with that man because I actually let Zie sleep in the bed with us. Unfortunately, little Zie died a couple of years ago. I had never cried over a dog before until her. I think that was one of the hardest things our family has ever went through. Zoe is still driving me crazy on occasion, although I find myself petting her much more than I had ever intended to. The Circus loves on her often, occasionally dresses her up in tutus and Zoe, bless her heart, just goes with it. 

Before this house, Zoe had never slept in our bedroom before and her dog bed had always been on a hard surface like wood floors or tile. Her usual spot in the new place is in our bedroom – which has carpet and is more prone to be taken over with stains and dog smells. A little while after we moved in, I walked through the sitting area in our master bedroom where her bed is and got an overwhelming scent of dog. 

The smell of dog is not one I have much patience with. 

I tried spraying some air freshener in the area and we even got her a new bed, but the smell still came back more often than I cared for. 

After trial and error though, I have finally figured out the winning combination for getting rid of those dog smells and also for removing pet stains. 

First, you need a good vacuum cleaner. 

Our previous vacuum cleaner was, I think close to a decade old, if not already. It used to be great, but was losing its suction and just not pulling up as much stuff as it once had. Around Black Friday, I found a vacuum cleaner with good reviews on sale and treated myself to it. I can’t even begin to tell you the joy I have derived from that vacuum cleaner. I truly had no idea that Zoe shed as much as she did, until I used the new vacuum cleaner around the house and specifically where she hangs out most of the time. Vacuuming her area has made a huge difference in knocking that dog smell out. 

The second part of the winning combination is an odor eliminator from Skout’s Honor. 

Skout’s Honor Odor Eliminator is all-natural and knocks those smells right out. You can even use it in other places like stinky kitchen garbage cans. 

Skout’s Honor also has a Stain and Odor Remover that will pull up any urine stains and get rid of the smell. 
​I used to use my steam cleaner for this and it worked, but it is so much easier to just grab the Skout’s Honor, spray it on the stain, wait five minutes and blot it up instead of dragging out the steam cleaner, filling it with water and using it.  

Now, I come from a land where old ladies driving Cadillacs load their cars down with ammonia come spring cleaning time. I tend to lean toward powerful cleaners with chemicals, but I will be the first to say that this stain and odor remover, which is all natural is the most powerful stain remover I’ve ever used. This is the before and after of a stain that was in our bedroom:  All you do is spray it on, you do want to saturate the area though, wait five minutes and blot it up. If the stain is really set in, you might want to scrub it with a cloth a little. I usually run over the spot with a vacuum cleaner as well after using the spray, but that’s not necessary. 

These stains were on the rug in our jungle room downstairs:  I have no idea where they came from, they just showed up one day and everyone claimed innocence. I had literally tried everything on them and couldn’t get them to budge. Skout’s Honor can also be used on stains besides pet ones, so I gave it a whirl and am so glad I did. 

We sprayed them with the Skout’s Honor Stain and Odor Remover, let it sit, scrubbed them with a cloth and they came up. There were some spots that I did have to do twice since they were set in.

The best thing about this stuff in my opinion is that I can let my kid do it. 😉 

Seriously, y’all. She wants to help with cleaning all the time, but I’m always scared to let her clean with those harsh chemicals. Since this stuff is all natural though, she can have at it. Also, it’s a roundabout way of me getting out cleaning. There. I said it. This stuff is easy to use, safe to use and super powerful. On top of all that, Skout’s Honor donates a day’s worth of food to a shelter animal with every product sold. That’s pretty cool, even if you aren’t too big of a dog person like me. 

Find out where to buy Skout’s Honor here.