I don’t think I know anybody who doesn’t freely admit to hoarding stuff that may “come in useful”. Chances are it never will. I thought to myself as I was carefully storing the 232nd plastic bag in the “plastic bag” drawer - why am I doing this, what can I do with 232 plastic bags that I can’t do with 231? Now this isn’t the worst example as obviously when I am next making a “plastic bag” mosaic in the garden I could find myself short. If you keep things that you will never use again have you considered selling them.

Obviously there isn’t much of a market for second-hand plastic bags - unless the shops all follow Marks and Spencer’s example - but for many other items there is. If like me you have a stash of DVDs that you have only watched once and may never watch again then why not sell them. The same goes for books, unless you like reading them over and over it is usually pointless keeping hold of them. eBay makes it so easy these days to sell your unwanted items but old fashioned car boot sales are an alternative. There are many other ways to get cash for your unwanted items too. You won’t believe the stuff that you can sell either. Car boot sales in particular are great for getting rid of stuff you can’t believe you ever bought in the first place.

The only thing to be careful of is to make sure you aren’t selling something you think is rubbish that is actually worth a fortune. So before you sell your entire record collection for £2.80 make sure there are no limited editions in there that could be worth hundreds of pounds. Not only can selling your unwanted items make you a bit of cash but you will free up so much space around the house. Perfect for filling with new rubbish!

Image Source - D’Arcy Norman