Trip Planning & my Bujo Planner

Does anyone get anxious before a trip?? I know I do all the time.  I get myself so worked up with everything that needs to be done for the weekend away that sometimes I opt out of going away at all and it’s like a huge sigh of relief, but even after all of that worry I know it’s worth the planning when I reach my destination, see all my missed friends and enjoy the adventure the weekend brings and I’m so glad I decided to go.  

I think to learning to embrace my enneagram 7 personality type is also helpful.  I plan on going into that further in another post, on another day, but one of our main commonalities is our ability to worry about everything and we are always looking for a safe place. 

 I am loving my "bullet journal" weekend list of the items I need to prep and don't want to forget.  I'm realizing I'll need to make a section for my volunteer slots.  I signed up for 2 spots, so I want to make sure they are easy to find along with a place for my hosts address and food plan. 

This past weekend was another one of those weekends for me.  I was super anxious about what is going to happen, who will I be housed with, will I be able to find my host and my way to and from the venues?  Will I be able to find an IKEA nearby so I can return the mirror they mailed me and it broke, super not happy with this.  All they need to do was wrap the mirror in a few rounds of bubble wrap and this could have all been avoided.  Now I have to drive there to exchange it and hopefully get it home without the glass breaking again.  Plus, I wanted to pick up some shelves for my kitchen wall.  That's my next step in organizing my kitchen.  However, I've been waiting for this mirror not so patiently for about 2+ months now and I really want it installed in my bathroom, like ASAP!   Anyways, these are some of the things I planned to do while some of the workshops were going on , workshops that I opted not to take for a few reasons, one just being it’s just to much to squeeze in a weekend for me anymore and so I let the kiddos who have tons of energy immerse themselves into the wonderful knowledge of our instructors in hopes that it rubs off on me while we dance.  Wishful thinking, I know. 

Haha.  Just realized I haven’t mentioned what I was doing this past weekend, my bad.  I made my way to Philadelphia, the city of love, for a workshop weekend for the DJX Fusion Exchange.  Though as I mentioned above I opted to skip the workshops.  Not that I don’t need them.  I would LOVEto take them, but money and time are just not in my favor.  I was really looking forward to spending that free time with some time with my Philly friends while the workshops are happening, sleeping in a little longer and reading my book, The Joy of Less, which has been sadly neglected this last month.  I want to finish it  so that I can graduate to the Kon Mari book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, which I’m super excited to start reading. I've been hearing some really great things about her methods.  She's so good she's never had a repeat client.  

I am also loving my weekly - to do list - spread so far.  i still need to work on my doodling, but the layout is def a plus for me.  

please note that none of my links are affiliate links.  They are just items I like and recommend.  also this was written prior to my trip and I choose to wait and publish it after my trip.    

The Yerdle turtle Yerdle's on

It's been sometime since my last post, more because I've just not felt like blogging, but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening.  My goal to decultter this year by 1000 items is still going strong and thankfully I've come across a site called Yerdle, which has been a huge support and push towards my goal.  

If you've not heard of yerdle and you want to downsize I highly suggest checking it out, but don't want to just write off your items or donate them with nothing to gain in return.  Resell can be hard and long road to travel, but Yerdle takes all the hardwork out of it with their easy step-by-step posting on their free app and since people are only using real money to pay for shipping items are more easily and quickly re-homed.  

bundle system & how it works

This last month they came out with a new bundling system ready for iPhone use and beginning this month both iPhone and Android will have their new bundling system available.  This allows "getters" to  bundle up to 4 listings from one "giver" as long as they all weight under 10-lbs, this means both the box weight and box dimensions.  

 "Getters" or the shoppers browse the site and when they see an item they like they can choose to purchase that single item at the Yerdle Dollar price plus the $5 flat rate shipping, and the service fee.  If you choose to add more items from that "giver" to your cart you can add up to 3 more listings for for a flat $2 bundle fee.  Once the purchase goes through the "giver" receives an email with a link to the shipping label, so all they have to do is print and tape the label on the box.  

 

things I've learned as a Yerdler:

I don't always find multiple items from one giver and find that the item I would like isn't worth the shipping / service fee so I tend to pass on a lot of items, but sometimes it's uber worth it and I'm glad I did.   

The one thing I've learned the hard way is that if you want something you need to act quickly.  There isn't time to think about most items, especially nicer items, don't last long on Yerdle.  I've had a few things I've missed out on like Toms shoes and a copper measuring spoon set that I highly regret not buying. 

I also find that because I'm trying to downsize I don't find as much to buy with my yerdle dollars, but I'm sure as time goes by I'll find things that I can use and hopefully get some items on my ISO list that I will need extra Yerdle dollars for.  Some of the things i do keep an eye out for is clothing, mostly shirt and workout gear. 

Great Community:

 Yerdle offers 2 support groups on Facebook, one for newdlers (Jetsetters) and then once you "give" over 30 items you graduate to the pro page.  These groups, become a great support community where you can share you're finds and support each others questions and share listings.  When I first started I wasn't aware of the jetsetters page, but it wasn't long until I hit pro before I received an email to join the FB group.  This has been support and I love learning about other members and supporting out pages and questions that we have.   

I love how the community supports each other and shares listings of other members that they think others will like.  We give and get from each other items that we no longer have a use for, save these items from being toss in the land fills, and earn some points to trade for items that we can use.  Personally, I find this to be more beneficial then donating them, but I'm also used to shipping items out and I've figured out how to get my shipping supplies pretty much cheap to free.  

My gives:

I have personally given over 270+ items since joining in August and I'm pretty excited about re-homing my items to others who can use them and earning Yerdle dollars to purchase items that I can use.  Items I've been able to "get" are new gym bag, new with tags workout clothes, microwave egg cookers, computer headphones, new clothes and dresses, most of my Halloween outfit this year, a $60+ digital TV antenna, travel wallet, and some cute sunglasses.  Most items were on my list of items I wanted, and I only had to "give" items I wasn't using and pay a flat rate shipping fee to get them.  I'm also grateful that a few items that I "got" that didn't work out were easily #reyerdled quickly so it eliminates clutter building up.    I've even create larger bundle options for people so that more stuff goes out quicker.  I'm pretty sure I'll hit my goal by the end of the year, especially since I haven't added up all the items we purged during our flea market set ups this summer .

disclaimer:

If you choose to sign up, and you use my link --> https://yerdle.com/i/jessa-george, this gives you and I both Yerdle dollars when you sign up.  Yerdle will give you & myself anywhere from 20-40 Yerdle dollars when you sign up to get you started it just depends on how much they are giving during that time frame or promotion, and I also earn a chance to get free shipping credits when you give your first item.   I do not earn any real money if you choose to use my link, but it does help them to know how you found out about the site.

declutterization, a new year

It's been a huge process trying to downsize; however there have been some road blocks along the way in doing so like my mom not being much help in parting with items and myself buying more items that I thought would sell fast or items that I just wanted for myself and didn't end up using. 

We have recently moved the majority of our clothing stock to a storage unit, but at this point it's costing us money since we haven't sold much in that department.  It's been hard enough working with the vintage items and getting those sold and out the door.  Plus, my personal shopping aspect has been increasing and also helping with an added income.  

We luckily didn't fill the truck completely; only about 1/3 but it came with the storage unit and had an electronic lift.   I had 3 friends and 2 neighbors who helped us move everything out.  It took 2 days.  The first we loaded up everything in like 3 hours and the 2nd day we unloaded and then sorted everything so now our units looks like the picture below.  All clothes & shoes on the left and toys and fitness items in the back and our Amazon books / dvd's.    The metal shelves on the right hold more toys and misc items.  Then we have a whole other unit on the other side; same size that has our own personal items to store that I don't want at the house.

Last night I did make some progress in parting with a few more items.  I posted 3 non-vintage items on my IG Shop and then gather a small box of vintage goodies that have been taking residence in my kitchen and dining room and took them upstairs so they can be prepped for photos, which I did Thursday morning.   I also gather about 3 medium size boxes of items from the kitchen and living room to take to the Flea market to sell.  Mainly things that I jut don't want to mess with shipping on.  When my mom saw the boxes she wasn't sure what I had in mind for them, and then when I said they were for the Flea Market she made sure to point out that we wont get as much at the Flea Market for it and I was like; don't really care just want them gone and would like some cash for it.  She also pointed out that they should be posted on CL first.  I told her if she wanted to post them there, then she could; however I wasn't.  CL has become such a pain in the @$$ lately and I just don;t like dealing with people who want you to meet them where it's convenient for them and not considering you and then wanting to ask for half of your asking price.  Just to much hassle for what I get out of it.  She said she would, but I'm not holding my breathe that this will actually happen in the next 2 weeks, because she has yet to show me that she's a reseller; only that she is a hoarder and wont work towards making any money or parting with anything from the house. 

I went through the main floor gathering items that I listed on a house plan map that I wrote up prior to heading home.  I knew that once I got home I would be lost without some kind of plan.

The main idea comes from postings from My Love Forwards Declutterathon posts, where she does a few projects a day for 26 weeks to eliminate the clutter.  She also has a Clutter Questionnaire for you to fill out to help figure out why you have clutter, so that you can nip it in the butt.

The projects are typically a small cluttered area each day or breaking up a larger project into smaller doable time frames for the week so that way you're not overloading yourself.  I personally want to be able to have some friends over for dinner and a movie by the end of the month, but the house in it's current state is not anything I want my friends to see, so my intention is clear out as much as I can and use the Flea Market to help eliminate some of my larger items while still gaining a few dollars for them.

So well see how far I get to see if by the end of this month the main floor is cleared out enough to my idea specifications and eliminate any items that don't belong or if they have a home elsewhere in the house make sure they get there.