ta da! the ugly little cabinet is just perfect for what i wanted it for. it's now a home for heaps of my really important clutter that i had nowhere to put. all the bulldog, bloodhound and bull terrier statues and 'stuff' are now tidely displayed in the bird room.



i really do seem to be making a complete botch up of this. i must stop bidding on things just because i don't want to loose. i ended up paying $2.50 for this mirror just because someone else put in a bid as the auction was closing.

i have decided that since this blog is all about 'clutter' then i really need to help the finances by 'decluttering'.

i've noticed that people actually buy all sorts of weird stuff so i thought i'd have a go. today i sold 38 old pens for $7.50, a x-stitch leaflet for $6 and some really revolting salt and pepper shakers for $8.50

not bad but now i'm being tempted by this. the auction closes in 15 minutes and bidding is at $1.50.

an interesting day and i'm sure i have actually managed to spend more than the $23.  

imported teak cd thingy. i paid $1.50 by mistake.

$1 for 2 doll stands which hopefully, i can use for bears.

because i seem to be making up the rules as i go along i decided that the doll stands are counted as 2 items so should have actually cost $2. That makes my 50 cent mistake for the cd thingy OK. 3 items for $2.50.

$2.50 for the cabinet which I have grand plans for, to be revealed at a later date.

the following pics are goodies that i have spotted while i've been browsing. the little footstool i completely missed out on as i forgot about the auction and it sold for $1!


$23
- $1 wooden shelf
- $1 jacket
- $1 little house
- $12 enamel teapot
- $6 Ganz bear
- $1 framed print
+ $5 framed print
- $1 tibetan necklace
- $1 bird book
- $1.50 teak cd thingy

- $1 2x doll stands

- $2.50 really ugly cabinet

= $1


oops ...... that's only 13 items, i've got 10 more to find and i'm in the red by $1. who's stupid idea was this anyway?

i think i'm going to have to make up some new rules.

it's a good thing i'm enjoying myself because my wish list seems to be never ending, unlike my finances. they are looking rather grim.


$23
- $1 wooden shelf
- $1 jacket
- $1 little house
- $12 enamel teapot
- $6 Ganz bear
- $1 framed print
+ $5 framed print
- $1 tibetan necklace
- $1 bird book
= $4

it's not looking good. i have the grand total of 7 new items of clutter and by today's count only $4 to buy 16 more items.


decluttering

so the budget's not looking good, but at least i did all the ironing today!

i've been browsing and have found some 'goodies' for my 'wish list'

$60 starting bid for the window

totally awesome elephant with a starting bid of $5 plus $5 for postage

African Grey for only $4,750

Major Mitchell for $850

or a King parrot for just $500

it's a good thing that wishes are free!

i'll have to be content with this book on birds instead which, unlike wishes was not free, it was $1

the dogs and I went and picked up the tibetan necklace. a good buy. it's very nice and the little bell even tinkles when you shake it. i don't wear jewelry much but i guess could use it in the house as an earthquake warning bell!


decluttering

as we drove towards the city today the weather produced a beautiful rainbow. it reached right across to where I knew the earthquake devastation lay. Mother Nature can still show her gentle side if you're willing to look for it.

a wet and miserable day for driving. dodging pot holes, road closures and navigating hi vis road cones and traffic diversions to get from one side of the city to the other. just another exciting excursion in Christchurch.

i picked up the george meris framed print and was very pleased with it. next was the little wall shelf, with a bit of sanding and tidying up it should look great. I already know where I'm going to put it.

today's highlight - the little enamel teapot. awesome! it's gorgeous, i love it. well worth my little 'splurgh'.

i arrived home minus the print as my mother fell in love with it.

what can i say, she makes great chocolate fudge and had washed and ironed the 'too small' jacket i bought the other day? i let her buy the print for the bargain price of $5, after all, this whole mission i'm on is going to fail terribly if i start giving things away!

last count the balance was -

$23
- $1 wooden shelf
- $1 jacket
- $1 little house
- $12 enamel teapot
- $6 Ganz bear
= $2

today i have confused my totally unmathematical mind completely.

$2
- $1 framed print
= $1+ $5 framed print
= $6

i nearly forgot ...... tibetan necklace which was another $1 auction bargain that I won today. I guess that total is actually $5

uncluttering

i'm getting used to navigating this extremely interesting city that we live in but today i had to wonder about two small things.

firstly, did the council already have the road signs stating  'caution earthquake damage ahead' or did they have to get them made? 

the second was when i found myself driving along and thinking what a clever idea to have empty shipping containers lining the other side of the road to hopefully protect the houses below if another aftershock was to dislodge any boulders on the hillside above. I then realised that I was actually between the dodgy hillside and the containers.  aftershock + falling boulders = me squashed!

mother nature really doesn't care what or who is in her way when she wants to have a hissy fit!

interesting day. the jacket was lovely but definitely not the size it was advertised as. my rubenesque curves were leaning towards looking like another dozen muffins. after a good wash it will be added to the 'declutter' list and may hopefully recoup the $1 spent. i suppose i'm going to have to iron it too. rats!


the little house turns out to be a really tiny church, so tiny in fact i'll have to be careful, i may loose it in the feather duster!

a framed Georges Meis print caught my eye as I quickly checked todays auctions before i left this morning. $1 spent and i pick it up on saturday.

so an interesting day and at least the dogs got to go out and enjoy a ride around our earthquake damaged city, we even managed to stop at a park and the beach.

decluttering

there used to be a simple way to plan a day like today. i'd just look up where i wanted to go on Google maps and plot my course. there's a small problem now ...... if the road i need to use is actually in the same place it was the last time i used it, now it's probably closed or it's so full of liquefaction pot holes i really need an SUV instead of my little nana car to drive down it.

tomorrow i'll be picking these up. hopefully $2 wisely spent. the trouble with buying clothes on line is you can't try them on before you own them. If the jacket looks awful i'll just sell it, after all, i only need to make $1.

I've decided to 'alter' my rules once again, and have over spent once again. $6 for this Ganz bear but if my Google researching is correct she's worth way more than that. the only trouble with that thinking is the fact that i looooove bears and i probably won't want to part with her. she is cute!

$23
- $1 wooden shelf
- $1 jacket
- $1 little house
- $12 enamel teapot
- $6 Ganz bear
= $2

although it's not quite in the red, somehow i think i need to make some money by selling something!

decluttering

i admit i'm bad at maths. i admit i do like a challenge. i admit i hate ironing shirts, i love spending dollar coins & i love a bargain. what the hell ..... i'm having fun!

i'm compulsive, i'm changing the rules. it's my blog, my money and my clutter so i've decided i'm allowed to change the rules.

to console myself on losing all three auctions tonight i decided to buy the little enamel teapot. so i spent $12. i'm just going to have to do a bit of material decluttering and search the house for some stuff to sell. I need to make $11 in order to balance the books somewhat.

this may all end in a complete financial mess but hey, at least i'll have had fun getting there!

so I realise i have a wish list.

today's wishes would include this gorgeous teapot for $12

and this cutie. My $1 bid has of course been beaten. it'll be interesting to see what it finally sells for.

my $2 bid for these cool cups (I saw them as a good deal at 3 for $1!) has been beaten by a dealer.

sigh

on the auction list tonight are these. i think they would be a nice way to remember the cathedral and sumner before the earthquake. 

decluttering

i thought the bonus of added years was to do with the description of added weight.

it was going to be acceptable to be of a 'rubenesque' stature. what a lovely way to describe the curves that were all deciding to try 'the hanging out' directions instead of the 'tidy tucked in' outline they used to give me. I find that these days the word has changed to 'muffin'. the 'rubenesque' curves are now called a 'muffin' and good grief, there seems to have been an awful lot of baking going on, half a dozen 'muffins' at least!

sigh ....... i'm at the age of acceptance, pass the chocolate fudge.

tomorrow night i'll find out if my $1 bid has won this weird looking thing. the description states that it's 'slightly' broken. hmmmmmm

decluttering

today is the day i say "thank you" to an ex husband for running off 23 years ago. if it wasn't for him i wouldn't have the family i now have, my grandchildren wouldn't have the poppa they now have, and i wouldn't be the person that i find i'm quite happy to be ...... i wonder if he'll ever read this blog?

$1 spent and i have no idea where this will end up!

decluttering

i am waiting for this phase i'm going through to pass. ironing shirts is an evil that must be faced. i can hear them calling me from here.

it was the elephant that started all this. i happily paid my $1 and proudly carried my purchase home.

there has to be more great $1 deals out there!

decluttering

i used to dream that you would come and rescue me. now you're actually here, i find i don't need rescuing anymore.