My Story

Several years ago I was in trouble. I was broke with an apartment full of clutter and a big stack of debt.

By the time I was wrapping up my late twenties, I was happily married, but everything outside of my love life was in disrepair. Our home, a one-bedroom apartment, was little more than a disorganized storage facility. Every shelf and closet was stuffed with the spoils of my frequent visits to flea markets, garage sales, and thrift stores. I had what I thought was a lot of interesting stuff, most of which I paid very little for, but it was an unsightly mess. My collecting habits were threatening to cross into hoarding territory!

And the chaos on the surface was supported upon a financial infrastructure of confusion. I had a steady, full time job that I enjoyed, but I was still living paycheck to paycheck with no savings and uncontrolled credit card debt. I considered myself a hard worker but I could never get very far ahead.

As you can imagine, I was stressed.

So I decided to change my life.
With the help and support of my wife, we got ourselves some financial literacy and started to live within our means. I spent my evenings sorting and organizing all my stuff. I spent my weekends planning yard sales or donating items back to the thrift stores. Things were slowly turning around, but this was going to be a long and hard slog... Then I sold my first item on eBay.

I knew right then that I had found the answer to my problem. Clearing out my clutter had transformed from a hassle to a fun and rewarding endeavor. It was like all my gathered junk was finally serving a purpose. I had found a way to turn my time and money searching for second-hand treasure, which could easily be considered a waste, into an asset. I also discovered how much I enjoyed researching and learning about the items I had. My passion as a buyer and collector translated easily into a passion as a seller.

By the end of the month I had sold over $1000 worth of junk.
Within a year I had nearly paid off my credit card debt while clearing out a great deal of my hoarded stuff.
Then, I got a smartphone. Now I was really able to step up my game and eliminate a lot of the guesswork. With a tiny mobile computer and internet connection in my pocket, I could make decisions like expert. The entire inventory of the world was now available because I had the ability to quickly look up what it is worth. I now had the power of information!

Since then, I've seen a lot of great items and made some pretty decent part-time income picking and reselling reuse items in my neighborhood. I've also made my share of mistakes.
I've learned what items will sell... Things I never would've thought of before.
I've learned to balance my time and energy.
I've learned how to maximize my auctions and listings.
I've learned where to get items to sell.
I've learned where to sell them.
Most importantly, I've had fun.

These days, my finances are under control. I still work the same full-time job, but my extra part-time picking income has taken me out of the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. I no longer have any debt, I have some savings in case of emergency, I'm able to fully fund an IRA investment account, and my wife and I are even able to afford some occasional luxuries. I like nice restaurants myself.

I now search all the usual thrift shops and garage sales for not only my own collections, of which there are still many, but mostly for valuable items I can resell. Sometimes I spend lots of my free time doing this, other times I go weeks without really caring. After years of struggling, now I'm in charge.
And it feels great.

I am not going to tell you how I made millions of dollars in a ridiculously small time period, because I haven't. To be honest, I'm not even a terribly ambitious person. I'm also not a financial expert. I'm no genius, but I'm smart enough to want to keep learning.

I was fortunate enough to find a financial strategy that worked for me and I want to share it with you. I think my experiences picking and reselling items can be rewarding for you.

Please join the conversation by commenting on posts or emailing me.

-Peter Guest
 Part Time Picker, 2013

7 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed your posts and appreciate the helpful information. Keep blogging! thanks

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  2. That’s a lot of lesson learned for you! It’s good to know that you finally solved not only your debt problem but also yourself. Changing old habits is not easy, but you’re very lucky because not all people that have the same experience end up like you. I think your wife served as your charm after all. ;-) Anyway, I hope you inspire more people and enjoy debt-free life just the way you do.

    Jaden Allred

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Jaden.
      Having a supportive partner was definitely a big help for getting me on track. My wife also serves very well as a "voice of reason" for a lot of the frivolous spending ideas I constantly contemplate.

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  3. It’s great that you’ve turned your problem into an opportunity to help your financials. The fact that you’ve found enjoyment in doing so is a big plus, IMO. That, and you’re sort of helping your neighborhood by helping them sell off some of their items through your picking. If that isn’t productive, I don’t know what that is. Cheers!

    Paddon+Yorke

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    1. Thanks for commenting.
      A big part of my financial turnaround was learning the proper concept of personal finance management, mixed with just enough extra income to get ahead. Having fun is a bonus, but for me it was pretty essential.

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  4. Wow... In the introduction of YOUR STORY I was beginning to believe you were writing MY STORY. I have a passion for finding and collecting things but I'm at the stage where my shelves, halls, garage, etc are riddled with items. I know I have a great eye and knack for picking, I just don't K of where to start, or how to organize. Help please!

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