I'm sure this type of challenge has been done before, but here goes anyway: I'm going to finance an expensive purchase by selling the junk I already have!
This challenge will only really work once (hopefully!), and it won't work for people who already live a clutter-free life, but I happen to have a lot of selling potential at the moment. ;)
I think this challenge will kill a bunch of birds with one stone, including:
1 - Motivating me to actually get rid things I don't need or use, and making me more ruthless about what gets cut (no more "I might use it someday")
2 - Giving me some monetary value back out of things I was probably just going to donate (though donating would have had its own moral/societal value)
3 - Motivating me to be frugal in my final big purchase rather than let scope creep get the better of me
4 - Converting many low-value things in my home with one high-value thing, which feels very mustachian
5 - Getting something I want without really having to spend any money
Since I got this idea, I've been seeing all sorts of things all around the house that I can try to sell. I'm trying to make sure I don't get too overeager and sell off anything that I actually use, or like a lot, or things that don't belong to me. ;) But we have a lot of things we don't really use that fit in with our lifestyle anymore, and the thought of this challenge is finally the kick I need to get rid of them. I'm anticipating that it might be tough to sell some things, or to make more than $5 at a time, but hopefully I can get there.
If anyone else wants to take this challenge with me, I'd love to hear about what you want to buy and the things you'll sell to make it happen!
As for me...
I've played piano my whole life, and it used to be one of my favorite hobbies, but I haven't had a piano in my living space for the past 9 years due to space/living issues (college dorm room, second-floor apartments). It's something I really miss, and every few months or so I'll get hit by a wave of piano nostalgia and longing.
You can get an old upright piano for pretty cheap, but the issues are always paying to have it moved every time you move (and we've moved 7 times in the last 5 years), and worrying about bothering neighbors (I can't even do a Zumba dvd without getting paranoid that I'm bothering the people below us).
The clear solution to my problem is to get a nice digital piano that feels close enough to a real piano. It would be easily portable and I could adjust the volume or use headphones to reduce or eliminate the noise. The problem is that nice digital pianos are pretty pricey. I seem to have a LOT of hobbies, so the husband is hesitant to let me indulge financially in another one (and I am, too). One previous hobby purchase that comes to mind is a $200+ synth I bought when husband and I thought we were going to start a rock band together. It's a cute little thing, but I don't know how to use a synth and I never got around to learning. So I thought... "What if I sold the synth?" And then I thought "What if I sold enough other stuff to pay for the whole piano?!"
I'm anticipating the piano will cost somewhere between $500 and $800, and the synth sale will luckily get me a good chunk of the way there. I think that a lot of other sale items will come from other past hobbies that I've lost interest in (some craft supplies, costumes/wigs, etc.) along with general household clutter.
I'm pretty excited to get started!
