Are You Sitting On $1,000?

Many people have so much junk in their garage that they have to park their cars in the driveway. If that's you and you're just starting your total money makeover, then you should take a look at what you can sell to raise some cash for your $1,000 baby emergency fund.

The hardest part of the process is starting. When you face what seems like an enormous task of sorting through a bunch of stuff, most people quit before they begin.

Block out a Saturday, get all the family members involved, and start going through your inventory. Reserve that day for nothing else. You don't run errands, you don't go visit family ... nothing. That day is Baby Step 1 day. And it only takes that long to do.

Start at the Beginning

Focus on one part of the process at a time. To start, throw out anything that is too busted to be sold. If it looks trashy and is just taking up space, ditch it. Don't worry about pricing stuff yet. Just go through and start filling up trash bags. Even if you only get rid of 10% of the mess, that's 10% less than you had before.

Separation Saturday

Now you've got some momentum on the day. Once you've cleaned a bit, then start separating sale items. Create categories for each type. For example, a couple of old bikes, golf balls and a young child's basketball hoop could go in the "sports" pile. Books go in the (surprise!) "books" pile. Make your own system if you'd like.

Don't make excuses for keeping stuff at this point. If you haven't ridden that dust-covered bike in years, then chances are you're not going to. Let it go and save the money. You might also consider going through your closet and selling old clothes.

Name Your Price

Once you've organized everything, don't be surprised if you feel some relief. In addition to the majority of the work being done, you've also got some order in the house. Now it's just a matter of pricing everything and figuring out where and how to sell it (yard sale, online, want ads, etc.).

When you do it like this, you're well on your way to getting your $1,000 emergency fund set. So hurry up and do it! Check out this for your next steps in organizing a garage sale.

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