Looks like Brent has been suffering from Gear Aquisition Syndrome (GAS).  Vanessa and I have been countering that lately with a healthy dose of Time to Unload My Stuff (TUMS).  Not that we have guitar gear to get rid of, but the last couple of months we have been unloading a lot of the stuff (or crap, whatever you want to call it) around the house that we don't need or use. 

We took our first dose of TUMS when we held a garage sale in early August.  It was something that we had planned to do anyway, but we had no idea of what it would lead to.  The sale was moderately successful, considering that our only modes of advertising were roadside signs and a posting in Craiglist.  A lot of what didn't sell we took to Goodwill, but then we realized that some of it was still marketable to sell through other outlets (ie - online sales).  Craigslist was the first of these, but Amazon and eBay followed.

Luckily I was able to convince Vanessa that Craigslist wasn't that scary of a proposition even though you had to meet people in person for the most part.  I had used it with great success for a couple of months before we were married, and I didn't hesitate at all to try it again.  And of course you can't beat the listing price of "free"!  Most of what we sold on Craigslist was general household merchandise, extra furniture we weren't using, and collectibles / hobby stuff.  I can't speak enough about how much I have enjoyed using that site.  Yeah, there are some idiots on there, but luckily I only dealt with them through email.  When it came time for the transaction, things always went smoothly, and the people I met were nice and cordial.

Amazon has been great for selling media.  Thanks to the wonders of the BMG music club in the 90's, I had collected quite a lot of CDs in the last 15 years.  It turns out that a fair amount of these CDs I just don't listen to, heck some of the music I don't even like anymore!  Since there was no harm in unloading something that I no longer appreciate, Amazon Marketplace came to the rescue.  Amazon does take a chunk out of the final sale, and even in the best case I only got about half of what the CD sells new.  But, the entire process was easy, and I was able to unload CDs that I no longer wanted for a bit of cash.  And, as opposed to eBay, Amazon has no listing fee. 

Finally, the last piece of purging puzzle came via eBay.  I haven't been using eBay for a lot of sales lately, but it came in handy when I wanted to sell some old computer games.  Apparently, I had been holding on to some pretty popular and somewhat rare games - two of my auctions that sold for a good price reflect this.  I sold a couple of other games for a rather low price, but again - why hold on to something that I don't use or appreciate anymore?

I have to admit that a lot of my inspiration of this purging of stuff has come from some of the personal finance blogs that I have been following.  These blogs have all had posts on the common themes of simplifying your life, becoming less of a consumer and more of a saver, and to unload the things that you don't need.  The last few years I have wanted to do all three of those, but these blogs have inspired me to actually take charge.  I'm not looking to sell all of my possessions and become a monk or anything, but I do want to cut down on the things I own for no reason than to just have "stuff".  I've never been a fan of clutter, and having things stuffed in a room you don't use is clutter, even if you don't see it often.  The entire process has been quite liberating, and I have found that I already appreciate the things I hold onto much more.  A great example of this is my camera gear (I still have a bit of GAS with this), it's a hobby I truly enjoy so there's no harm in getting additional equipment when the need arises.  I think the key is acquire things that you will appreciate, and when something no longer has any utility or sentimental value, it's time for it to go!