Storage Wars

I'm finally storage locker free! 

You might be asking yourself 'how does a mid-20-something gal have so much stuff that she requires a 8'x8'x8'storage locker in the first place and why is this equally budget-conscious frugalista spending $143 each month for someone to store her stuff?' Well, please let me back-up and explain. 

When I made the decision 18 months ago to move in with my Eye Candy, I had been on my own in my own condo for a few years and we had the task of combining 2 adult apartments into one. I had a shabby chic collection of furniture that I had inherited from my Gramma before she moved into a retirement place; meanwhile, my Eye Candy was back in Montreal after years of living in & out of hotels for his consulting roles and was in the process of purchasing furniture & decorating his place. In most ways, his condo represented a blank canvas for us to fuse our tastes together and set-up a home for two.

In Quebec, it is quite common for couples to live common-law instead of getting married. For every 1000 adults in the province in 2010, only 2.9% are married versus the provincial rate of 8.2% in 1970 and it is well below the national average of 4.7%. With that being said, living together in Quebec is quite a significant and serious stepping stone in a relationship. I was incredibly excited to be moving in with my Eye Candy and confident in my decision. After all, I was in love. But because I was head over heels in love, I opted for a storage locker. 

Storage lockers are the modern girl's pre-nup. 

I had seen too many friends get burned by boyfriends after they moved in together and discovered that Prince Charming was far from being a knight in shining armor. In too many cases, these ladies had sold their condos and furniture to set-up their love nests, and when the relationships turned sour, they were left homeless and had to start from scratch. I opted to take on a $143 monthly expense to keep my condo tightly boxed and dismantled in a storage locker. This represented my safety nest, and in some ways, my independence. 

But with each day that passes with my Eye Candy, I continue to fall a little bit more in love and while life was good when we were dating, living together is incredible. 

I decided a few months ago that I would give myself the deadline of August 31st to clear out my storage locker. My Eye Candy and I are going to continue to live in our condo and there is no need for me to hang onto a second bedroom set, living room furniture, dining room table, desk, tv, and so-on. 

Fortunately, the timing worked out perfectly as my sister is about to take the same step in her relationship and has just finished off grad school, moved out of my parents' house, and is now setting up her first apartment with her boyfriend in northern Ontario as they both start their first jobs. 

I was more than happy to have movers come and take my locker to her. They are getting a shabby chic start to their new life together and I'm getting a $143 to move into my investment account each month. I also passed along to my sister a copy of A Good Girl's Guide to Living In Sin as a checklist of things to consider as her relationship and lifestyle moves forward and changes. 

There is a lot that I could have done with $143 each month for the last 18 months instead of storing furniture. But in the long-run, this was a small price to pay in order to feel confident in my decision to co-habitate sans mariage. After all, living with the man of your dreams should never get in the way of a girl's dreams. I stopped considering my storage locker as a safety net ages ago, and instead, it became more like a baggage weighing me down. Today, I am not only able to achieve my own financially fabulous goals, but I'm working with my Eye Candy to achieve our shared goals and this is the best security that a modern girl could ask for.

*Rosie* 

Going once, going twice

I made my first Craigslist sale tonight! Where has this site been my whole life?

On Sunday afternoon, my Eye Candy and I cleaned out our storage locker in the basement. We had become that couple in our condo building - the ones with the stuff stuffed into the storage locker so high that you couldn't open the door or see into it. But after only 90 minutes of shuffling about, we had taken everything out of the unit, sorted what we still needed (well, not all of the items are needed by both of us as my camping/hunting days are non-existent), and piled up items for donation. But then I decided to see what "stuff" I could resell on Craigslist.

Within an hour of my posts going up my inbox was full and tonight, my first transaction occurred. Just as planned, a woman arrived at 6:30 pm sharp to pick up the beige umbrella that came with our patio set but was never used (having replaced it with a fun blue one). She paid me $15 for it. Score! I also have appointments set for this weekend to sell a few other miscellaneous items so my fingers are crossed that the transactions all go through. As for the cash, I'm putting it into our couple Mad Money envelope that we can use together on a rainy day.

Here are some of my suggestions for a successful (and safe) posting on Craigslist:

1. Include pictures no matter how wonderful your adjectives are.
2. Measure! Include dimensions. It will avoid pointless back & forth emails.
3. Date! State when you got the item and it's current state (brand new, gently used, clunker)
4. Explain why you are getting rid of the item. I find this helps to give credibility to the current quality of the piece.
5. State "pick-up only". You don't need the hassle of driving around town.
6. Don't leave your phone number on the posting. You don't need creepies calling you in the middle of the night to ask if you're fridge is running.
7. Correspond by e-mail. If the person seems strange via e-mail, stop correspondence. It may be judgmental, but if I get the heebie-jeebies just e-mailing you, then I really don't want you to know where I live.
8. Arrange a time for pick-up that has daylight involved. 6:30 pm was the perfect time for my transaction as 2 of my neighbours were in the condo foyer picking up their mail. (They also asked if my Eye Candy knew that I was selling what appeared to be his items....)
9. Be ready with the item and have cash ready in case you need to give them change for a $20, $50, etc depending on your sale price. If it turns out that the purchaser is a little off their rockers even though they were normal via email, you'll want them out of your space immediately.
10. By that token, don't invite the purchaser into you home under any circumstances. Have the item ready on your porch so you simply have to open the door and hand it to them. If it is too heavy to carry yourself, arrange for pick-up on Saturday morning when your beefy boyfriend or cute handyman neighbour or sporty girlfriends are available to help you.  

*Rosie*