Customer Reviews

Toss, Keep, Sell!: The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In

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I've read lots of books on simplifying and organizing that tend to repeat the same old lists of tips but was pleased to discover that this one is different. The conversational style of the author is appealing and knowing she has actually gone through the process of needing to downsize and cut spending lends credibility to the content. This book helps us through the process and takes it a step further to offer suggestions for making money on the things we are going to get rid of anyway.

Each chapter includes her own experiences and the stories of others who found ways to unclutter their homes (and lives) and were able to make some money by doing so. The chapters take the reader room-by-room with suggestions on how to decide whether items should be thrown away, given away, kept, or sold. Ingram also offers advice such as encouraging the reader that one really doesn't need more than one set of towels per person in a household, and that one doesn't have to keep all the wedding gifts just because the giver might stop in sometime and wonder if you use it.

Some of the ideas are those most of us have probably done such as selling children's toys and clothes at a consignment shop, or doing major purging for a yard sale (and she gives advice on how to do a yard sale well for the most profit). Others are some I hadn't thought about such as contacting a company like Replacements.com that buys china to stock as replacement pieces for consumers.

Besides the selling tips, Ingram also offers suggestions by way of quick clutter challenges in each chapter to unclutter a space in thirty minutes or less. The book offers simple solutions to clutter without overstating the obvious and without complicated steps.