Part 1
No, this is not a craft project tutorial. However, if someone actually transformed their cell phone into a window treatment I would definitely be intrigued. Rather, I am suggesting that you switch your self- talk from:
* “I cannot afford that.”
* ”I WANT this in my house but I really shouldn’t.”
* “Some day I will make my room beautiful!”
* “I need to win the lottery.”
Instead, what if you could joyfully say, “Hey look at my new window treatments!”
Goodbye Busy, Burgundy Toile and Hello Clean, Serene Greige
Recently, we updated our dining room. My husband and I challenged ourselves to “harvest” as much money as possible from our outdated dining room (the busy, burgundy toile) and to put the money into the update (clean, serene greige). By “harvesting” I mean, turning our no longer wanted or needed items from the DR room into cash. The process turned into a bit of a game and resulted in a lovely room while costing far less out-of-pocket than it normally would have.
So, if you are dreaming of something new for your house, but don’t have the cash on hand or want “that particular something” to turn up on that pesky credit card bill (followed by that pesky credit card “talk”), switch your thinking and consider the following:
Turn old stuff that you no longer want or need (aka clutter…which we all know by now is very BAD) into new stuff that you want and/ or need for your home by selling it!
Not all that many years ago people were attending gold buying parties and trading their gold jewelery for cash like there was no tomorrow. I could never bring myself to part with my gold jewelery but that is the general principle. As the old saying goes, “There is more than one way to skin a cat”. By the way, I am wondering, “Is there and who asked in the first place?” If interested, see “more”.
Anyway, the phrase was used as a reference to financing a project. In other words, you can find the money to do small updates by creatively employing the stuff that is taking up space in your drawers, closets and cabinets. The stuff that is practically invisible as you don’t use it or need it. The stuff that is too valuable to throw away but not valuable enough for you to keep on using. Stuff like:
* Game systems (that old Xbox that you upgraded last Christmas)
* Purses (your old Vera, Coach, Dooney, etc.)
* Toys (think Legos, Playmobil, American Girl)
* Sports equipment ($$ volleyball shoes worn 2 times that suddenly no longer fit (ugh), hockey equipment )
* Beautiful dresses (purchased for your daughter’s 8th grade dance that she will never wear again because that would be considered an Instagram crime (ugh again)
* Or… old cell phones (even with broken screens)
Have you seen those cell phone buyback kiosks that look a little like an ATM machine designed to exchange your phone for cash? Those exist because old cell phones are valuable and believe me users do not receive the full retail value!
The Nitty-Gritty of How to Turn Your Cell Phone Into Window Treatments
It really isn’t as daunting or hard as you may think. Just take it step-by-step and in short time you will harvest some of your own green. In order to get you started I listed and explained the first two steps below. I will follow-up with my next blog entry describing the remaining steps.
* Step 1: Choose an item. In my example I used a pair of old smart phones. However, if it is your first time selling you may want to start with something a little less valuable. If using Ebay (which I recommend below) determine if your item meets the criteria for being a worthy item to list. Consider the following:
- (Item value) + (average calculated shipping cost) < or = price in store
- Rarity- If an item is hard to find it may increase its value making it a worthy item.
- Size- Does the item easily fit into a box?
* Step 2: Sign up for an Ebay and PayPal account. There are other avenues for selling items but for now we will focus on Ebay as:
* Ebay provides wide exposure for your item.
* Ebay and PayPal hold your buyer accountable.
* Ebay is safer than other avenues as you don’t physically meet the buyer.
While I don’t enjoy giving Ebay a percentage of my sale it is the price I choose to pay for gaining the benefits listed above. Ebay and PayPal give detailed instructions on how to set up accounts and provide a great deal of information about how to do things the right way so take advantage of reading their information.
Get started…
Hopefully, you are inspired to create a goal and dig up a few items. If so, create your accounts and come back soon for the remaining steps and tips (many of which I learned the hard way).
Leave a Reply