Using Craigslist

Many of you have basements full of the type of stuff in the picture above. We have been slowly but surely moving things out of our basement recently, some items going to the recycling center, some getting thrown out, some going to our kids, and surprisingly lots going to paper recycling. But we had another pile: the donation pile. Usually I just put these items in a bag, call Purple Heart or St. Vincent DePaul and have them taken away. This time, however, we had a wide variety of things to donate, not just clothing, and we wanted to come up with a way to get these items to those who could use them (reuse!). So we took photos of 4 items (a popcorner, an old VCR, a small coffeemaker and a Robocub) and put them on Craigslist, in their free section. Within 3 minutes I had at least 15 e-mails, and all of the items were taken. Today, between 3 and 4 PM, we arranged for all of it to be picked up. Many other items we had set out were taken also. So before you think of disposing of an unwanted item, consider this option!

A small point about the Prius

We all know that the Toyota Prius is a relatively small car - it is certainly not a van or SUV. Many people have told us that they would like to buy one, but they need a bigger car to haul stuff. In particular, I remember one conversation with someone who wondered where they would put their rocking chair, if it ever had to be moved. I wondered how often they had to pack up and move a rocking chair, but got the bigger point -- "I need a car big enough to move my stuff."

So Tom and I have owned this little Prius for a few years now, and we have found that, in addition to great mileage, it can haul more than you'd think at first inspection. We really tested its capacity this weekend when we arrived at the mall to pick up our new chair (and this one is full-sized, upholstered, not a little wooden chair). We had forgotten to drive our bigger car that does do most of our hauling (cause hey, we're just like you!), and decided to give the Prius a chance to make it into the hauling hall of fame. As you can see from the relatively un-artistic picture above, our baby pulled through for us.

Next, we're going to try moving our rocking chair - just for the heck of it.