Tuesday’s Tip – Car Boot Sales Planning

This week’s Tuesday’s Tip ties in nicely with the main topic of the week “Bank Holiday Decluttering”.

If you do decide to sell your decluttered and unwanted items at a Car Boot Sale, it is a good idea to do a little bit of research beforehand. Find out about suitable Car Boot Sales in your area. You’ll want to know:

• Where is the exact location of the Car Boot Sale
• When can you enter the site for set-up
• What are the opening times
• What are the fees per car
• Whether you need to pre-book a
• Whether there is any catering on site or whether you need to bring a flask/some nibbles etc.
• Whether there are toilets on-site

A little bit of research beforehand will save you from unpleasant surprises on the day. Check out Car Boot Junction online to start you off. It’s an extensive directory for Car Boot Sales across the country.

Also beware: the first thing that happens when you set up is that your car will be surrounded by the Pros, people who are professional dealers at these events and make their living this way. They will try and buy anything of value off you at rock bottom prices so that they can sell them at their stand for a profit. Therefore make sure you know how much your prized possessions are actually worth and how much you are willing to let them go for.

Tuesday’s Tip – Making Money – The Video

Today I’ve got a video for you. It is a clip on YouTube showing the lovely Peter Holmes from BBC1’s Trading Up. The video shows a good example of how you can turn your spare room into more than a bit of spare cash. It is sponsored by the lovely people at Big Yellow Self Storage (I apologise for getting the name wrong in the post about Declutter to Make Money). Once you have decluttered your spare room – often referred to as the “junk room” – why not put the items that are left and that you want to keep in to storage. Check out Big Yellow Self Storage what they have to offer.

And here is the video:

Be inspired and start to plan what to do with the extra cash!

Declutter to Make Money

I have already talked about your different options to make money from decluttering by selling your unwanted items. But have you ever thought about decluttering so that you can make money? A recent survey, commissioned by Big Yellow Storage has come up with some amazing facts.

Households across the UK could be making up to a whopping £38 billion a year, just by storing excess clutter to rent out a room. That equates to over £3 billion a month based on average rental incomes across the UK. It could mean an extra personal income of as much as £320 a month or £3,840 a year per household! It’s time to get the junk out of the spare room to make some money.

More than a third (36%) of us that have a whole room in our home filled with junk and the storage company found that nearly one in three (31%) would definitely rent out a room to make money and beat the credit crunch. With recent figures showing that the rental market is continuing to flourish with a 20% rise in tenancies, it looks like some people have already cottoned onto this lucrative scheme.

You could rent out full time or part time. For instance, you could rent out to weekly commuters from Monday to Friday and have the room to yourself at weekends for your own houseguests or visitors.

In any case, there is money to be made. And it all starts with a few hours spent decluttering. If the task seems too overwhelming to tackle on your own you could hire a professional declutterer. It is a small investment compared to what you can earn in the long or even medium term and the job will much easier to tackle with expert help.

Also, check with your financial advisor as renting out one room in your own home can even be tax free!

What to do with your decluttered books

So you have finally decided to sort out your bookshelf, and the space around it, and the pile of books next to the couch, and .... wherever else there were books, books and more books.

You sorted out books that you've read, and you know you'll never read again, books that you know you'll never read, books that your kids have grown out of years ago and you don't ever intend to give to your grandchildren. And of course all the books from your ex who emigrated to Australia five years ago and has no intention of ever repossessing those books. In other words you are only left with the books you (and your family) love and you are sure you want to keep.

Now what are you going to do with all those books piled high in boxes, bin liners etc.? Of course you could simply put them in your paper recycling bin. But there are some really good alternatives.

Here is a list of "What to do with all those books"

• You can take them to a charity shop. Charity shops always welcome books, since they are a good seller. If they are in sellable condition they will be put on the shelves, otherwise the charity will recycle them. Oxfam have now even specialised book shops who will also take your old videos, DVDs, music CDs and even cassettes and records.
• Take them to work and leave them in your "chill out zone" (if you have one or offer them to colleagues at work
• Organise a "book swapping party" with friends. Who knows, it might even turn into a bookclub.
• List your books on www.readitswapit.co.uk . It's free to join and you send books to people who request them from you via email.
• Donate to your local library. They will be welcome. Books should be in good condition. What can't be used, will be recycled by the library or sold to boost funds.
• If you want to make money yourself, then why not sell your books on one of the following
• car boot sales
• ebay
• www.abebooks.co.uk
• www.booklovers.co.uk
• www.greenmetropolis.com (5p from every sale is donated to the Woodland Trust)
• www.sellstudentbooks.co.uk
• or google "sell second hand books" for even more options

This if of course not an exhaustive list what you can do with your books. If you have any other ideas I haven't mentioned please feel free to comment.