It's Only Stuff
Everything came together so brilliantly in the sale-and-purchase of this home and our new house at the same time. The timing worked, we found what we wanted, the complicated steps to move cross country are falling into place . . . .
So it was bound to happen, a snag had to arise. And here it is: we can't get rid of our furniture.
Last winter we had an auction house clear out a lot of stuff in the basement and sell some of it. We did well financially on that. They also reviewed all the furniture we knew we would not take to a smaller home, and they said when the time came to move, they would pick it all up and auction the pieces.
Well, the time has now come to move, and now they can't take it. They are short handed or understaffed or the trucks imploded or something, and they can not take our furniture. We now have three weeks to make other arrangements.
I tried two other auction places and they were not interested in what we have. I tried two furniture consignment shops, but only one is interested but isn't sure they can make the timing for pick up in late July but might. Maybe. They'll set up a visit to come by and view everything some time next week and determine what they could take . . and there goes our window of time. We need a firm date to get all of the items removed before we move in three weeks.
I then called Habitat for Humanity -- if no one can auction or sell our furniture in time, we'll have to simply give it away. Habitat also needs several weeks' lead time, but they will take all of it if we decide right now. I can't, however, wait to see what we could sell and then donate what's left at the last minute. They need to schedule the pick up now.
This is all good stuff, and there is a lot of it -- a bed, dressers, couches, dining table set, Hitchcock furniture, an armoire, some lamps, chairs, and more. Donating it is worthy and there's a charitable tax deduction, but it's more than a third of everything we own, and giving it all away for nothing seems so imprudent.
I did give our coffee table to a friend who wanted it, and another friend will take the small Hitchcock bench. And Jim's John Deere mower and cart will be given to a very deserving friend who is thrilled to get it and will make good use of it. So a few pieces are finding good homes, but disposing of so much piece by piece over the next three weeks isn't feasible.
We can't take it with us -- our long haul move is costing us a fortune and the quote was based on taking only half of what is in the house. Paying to move all the stuff we won't need and then paying to store it in Santa Fe is crazy.
So, there's the snag. Our quickly diminishing window of time means we'll probably end up donating all this furniture and won't see any money for the tangible things we have spent our lives collecting.
But, you know, it's only stuff. I need to remember that.
So it was bound to happen, a snag had to arise. And here it is: we can't get rid of our furniture.
Last winter we had an auction house clear out a lot of stuff in the basement and sell some of it. We did well financially on that. They also reviewed all the furniture we knew we would not take to a smaller home, and they said when the time came to move, they would pick it all up and auction the pieces.
Well, the time has now come to move, and now they can't take it. They are short handed or understaffed or the trucks imploded or something, and they can not take our furniture. We now have three weeks to make other arrangements.
I tried two other auction places and they were not interested in what we have. I tried two furniture consignment shops, but only one is interested but isn't sure they can make the timing for pick up in late July but might. Maybe. They'll set up a visit to come by and view everything some time next week and determine what they could take . . and there goes our window of time. We need a firm date to get all of the items removed before we move in three weeks.
This is all good stuff, and there is a lot of it -- a bed, dressers, couches, dining table set, Hitchcock furniture, an armoire, some lamps, chairs, and more. Donating it is worthy and there's a charitable tax deduction, but it's more than a third of everything we own, and giving it all away for nothing seems so imprudent.
I did give our coffee table to a friend who wanted it, and another friend will take the small Hitchcock bench. And Jim's John Deere mower and cart will be given to a very deserving friend who is thrilled to get it and will make good use of it. So a few pieces are finding good homes, but disposing of so much piece by piece over the next three weeks isn't feasible.
We can't take it with us -- our long haul move is costing us a fortune and the quote was based on taking only half of what is in the house. Paying to move all the stuff we won't need and then paying to store it in Santa Fe is crazy.
So, there's the snag. Our quickly diminishing window of time means we'll probably end up donating all this furniture and won't see any money for the tangible things we have spent our lives collecting.
But, you know, it's only stuff. I need to remember that.
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