Why I Don’t Let My Mortgage Company Pay My Insurance and Taxes

I was an insurance agent for many years before I retired to stay home with my son. One of the biggest headaches our office had was dealing with mortgage companies and the havoc they wreaked on our insureds. Most people have their mortgage companies escrow for taxes and insurance, so they money for renewals comes from them. Some mortgage companies were very good payers, and we rejoiced. Many other mortgage companies were so bad at paying their bills we employed someone whose sole job was to make sure the payments got made, and to act as a liaison between our insureds and the mortgage company when it was not.

What is an escrow account?

If your property is destroyed by a fire, the lender will have lost his collateral. Also if your taxes are left unpaid, your state can foreclose on your property in order to obtain payment and the lender could lose his collateral. Because the lender very much does not want to lose its collateral they want to make sure your insurance premium and property taxes are always paid.

When people buy a home and take out a mortgage they usually pay their first year’s insurance premiums up front, either directly to the insurance company or at closing. If you escrow for taxes and/or insurance the mortgage company also collects 2-3 months worth of additional premiums (and/or property taxes) at closing to start your escrow account.

The money in the account will be used to pay your taxes and insurance premiums when they become due. The amount in this account is based on the estimated amount necessary to pay these obligations each year. They make the assumption (often erroneous, but they have no way of knowing in advance) that your insurance and taxes will be the same next year. If the premiums go up at renewal they pay the higher amount and send you a bill for the additional amount disbursed on your behalf, and your mortgage payments will go up to reflect the higher amount. You receive no interest on this money.

Is escrowing required?

If you have a Conventional Loan and you do not have PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance), you have the option to close your escrow account and make your own tax and insurance payments. If you have a VA or FHA loan, the maintenance of an escrow account was a condition for the funding of your government-insured loan. In this case, the escrow account cannot be waived or altered.

I have an escrow account.  What should I look out for?

The biggest mistake you can make when your mortgage company escrows for insurance and taxes is to think it’s not your problem to make sure it gets paid. It most definitely is. If you are not on top of things you can wind up paying more than you need to, or losing your coverage altogether, and then paying more than you need to.

Unfortunately it’s really not in your control, which is very frustrating. Here are some things you can do, though, to avoid cancellation due to non-payment:

1.Who is your current mortgage company? Has your loan been sold? Have you re-financed? It is your responsibility to let your insurance agent know if your mortgage company changes and request that your policies be updated. Don’t assume that they will contact your insurer to let them know. They don’t. And if the insurer doesn’t know, guess where your renewal bill will be sent? Yup. Can you spell d-e-l-a-y?

2. Make sure the correct mortgagee is added to all of your policies. Here in Florida many homeowners have three policies on their home; a regular homeowners policy (that covers fire, theft, etc.), a flood insurance policy (covers rising water), and a windstorm policy (covers hurricane, tornado and other windstorms). It’s very easy for agents to overlook one or more of your policies, so keep on top of it.

3. Call your mortgage company two weeks after you get your policy renewal notice. By that time they should also have received their copy along with the bill, and they will have had time to input it in their system. If the mortgage company has not yet received the bill get a fax number for the correct department so that you and/or your insurance company can fax them a copy of the notice.

4. Call your insurance company one week before the bill is due. If the insurance company has not yet received payment call your mortgage company to ensure payment has been mailed. If not, insist they “overnight” payment directly to your insurance agent (if your agent has the ability to accept renewal payments) or directly to the insurance company. Keep in mind that “overnight” often means 72 hours with many companies, which is why you should insist.

5. If payment is still not showing as received by your insurance company by the day before the due date, overnight them a check yourself (or if you have a local agent you can just bring a payment over). Yes, this sucks. Yes, it’s difficult to come up with the money. With some insurance companies you will have a grace period and not really have to do this. Here in Florida, however, many people are insured for regular Homeowners insurance through the state’s insurance program, Citizens Property Insurance Company. They have no grace period. No even a single day. Not even if it isn’t your fault. If your payment is late your policy lapses - meaning you lose coverage - and may have to have your policy re-written. A huge pain in the tushy you want to avoid. And your rate may be higher. Once your mortgage company pays one of you will get refunded (usually the money is refunded to the party whose check is received last). If the refund gets sent to the mortgage company you have to get them first to make sure it’s applied to your escrow account, and then that they mail you a check. A huge, huge pain in the tushy. BUT, better than losing coverage and suffering a loss, then having to sue the mortgage company.

Ugh.  How do I avoid an escrow account, or get rid of the one I have?

I have a conventional loan, and I put 20% down so I wasn’t required to have PMI. My experiences with the myriad ways in which mortgage companies screw up was a major factor in my decision NOT to have my mortgage company escrow for insurance and taxes. I wanted to be responsible for getting my payments made on time, and I wanted to be able to earn interest on my money as I saved it. It’s like getting a discount.

If you have a conventional loan and have had or can have PMI waived (you’ll need at least 20% equity), talk to your mortgage company about letting you close your escrow and self-pay. Talk to a supervisor. This may be harder now due to the current mortgage crisis, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If you’re shopping for home financing, are eligible for a conventional loan and can put down 20% or more, make one of the questions you ask, “Must I escrow for insurance and taxes?” Some companies charge a point (a percentage of the loan amount) or offer a higher rate. I’d steer clear of those.

Of course if you don’t escrow you need to be disciplined about putting money aside to make those tax and insurance payments. Perhaps a little saving by delusion will help…

The preceding information is not advice, it’s just my thoughts and opinions. I’m just a girl on the web, not currently licensed in insurance or anything else in any state. You should absolutely seek the counsel of an insurance agent and/or a mortgage professional licensed in your state before taking any action at all. Coverages and programs discussed may or may not be available in your state.

Love Uncluttered

I spent the past two weeks pretty entrenched in family stuff. My Dad is selling his house and buying a condo on the beach. My sisters were in town, so we’ve been furniture shopping and started to sort through some of the stuff in the house, figuring out what he’ll take with him (15%), what my brothers and sisters and I will take (15%) and what will be sold at the massive garage sale we’ll have (we can all figure out this percentage, I hope).

I’ve talked in the past about the mounds and mounds of clutter and crap my stepmother amassed. My Dad lived in a house full of clutter with her for thirty-five years and never complained. The house was always relatively clean, but there was nary a surface unoccupied. And as each of us moved out of the house she took over our rooms and filled the closets and drawers with little gifts she thought the kids would like, or napkins for a future dinner party, or address books (we’ve found at least twenty, filled with the same addresses over and over and over again). There are hundreds of glasses, every kitchen gizmo and gadget you can think of (and some we still have no clue about), family heirlooms and enough serving dishes to give one to every soldier in Iraq. Well, not really. But a LOT.

Now that she’s not there my Dad’s innate need for order (I am an accountant’s daughter) has resurfaced, and with a vengeance. He cannot tolerate any new mess, any new clutter. Extra food brought into the house for the duration of my sisters’ stay is already out of the house, and my sister doesn’t leave until tomorrow. This after noon he asked us to clean up the kids’ toys, about 1/2 hour before more grandkids were showing up. We explained and he relented, but the mess really bothers him.

His new home will be very different from the one he lives in today. The furniture will be less ornate (his new bedroom and dining room sets are lovely and elegant with very clean lines), there will be surfaces uncluttered, and likely there will be empty drawers. To me a much more relaxing place to be.

But that’s not the point.

What’s so fascinating, so wonderful, so cool, is how he adapted for the woman he loved. She brought him so much joy that he learned to live with the clutter, the shopping bags, and the bills. He didn’t try to control the house or her love of stuff. I don’t think he even noticed that much; not until she was gone.

We all deserve to be loved like that, don’t we?

How Men Hang Curtains

Six months ago I bought new curtains for our dining room. The cheap white sheers that are hanging there are too short and, thanks to Son, yogurt stained. Last weekend I asked Husband to hang the new curtains. After grousing, as usual, Husband went out to the garage to get some tools.

When he walked into the garage he commented that we’d had the last garage sale we’ll be having for awhile, so it was time to get it back in order (a socially acceptable translation to what was actually said).

He went through the shelves and moved things around so that they fit better and were more organized, and only threw a few things.

He got rid of empty boxes we’d been saving for moving, which doesn’t look like it’s happening soon. He told me at this rate we’d never move, and he was giving up all his dreams and accepting that we’re stuck here.

He spilled purple paint on the floor of the garage, cursed colorfully, and cleaned it up.

He organized his power tools, then started to straighten up his toolbox (one of those red Crafstsman boxes with the drawers and such). He decided he needed another toolbox. At my suggestion he went to Home Depot and got some pegboard (at $10 a much more frugal alternative).

He took out the power tools, cut the pegboard to the proper size, then hung the pegboard on the wall.

He built a table as a stand for the toolbox to provide more storage underneath for his power tools.

He lovingly organized his tool box and hung some tools on his new pegboard.

He re-organized his power tools again, storing some underneath his toolbox in the new space now provided for them.

He swept out the garage.

The garage looks great!

And can someone please tell me why a man would spend six hours organizing and straightening a garage, then throw the wax ring from a gallon of milk on the floor not two hours later?

My curtains? Still in the bag.

Am I Getting Smaller or Is Furniture Getting Bigger?

Yesterday I went shopping with my Dad for some furniture he needs for his new condo. As we went from faux bedroom to faux dining room to faux living room in several different stores I was struck by one thing almost all of the furniture had in common: it’s MASSIVE.

Huge four poster beds with ornate six-foot high headboards, nine foot high armoires, twelve foot long dining tables with huge claw feet and chairs that double the width of the table. And it wasn’t even well-made!

Is it about more is better? The bigger my stuff the more successful I am? Does everyone think they need to live royally?

Egads! Not everyone lives in homes with open floor plans and vaulted ceilings. In my house the furniture would look ridiculous; straight out of Alice In Wonderland.

Whatever happened to simple, clean lines? Furniture that’s well-made, comfortable and not king-sized. Where did all the dove-tail joints go? In one store my Dad looked at a bedroom set that was priced at over $10,000 and it was crap. Glued joints, dresser drawers that didn’t sit smoothly in their tracks, dime store hardware.

Who buys this stuff? There’s got to be something out there between Ikea or Shaker styles and this galumpta furniture!

My Dad was not a fan of the huge, ornate pieces, thank goodness. After 36 years of my stepmother just knowing what he liked he finally got to discover his own taste. He found a beautifully simple, elegant dining room table, very similar to my own, priced at $3000.

Three thousand dollars for a dining room table? I was distraught when my son scratched my beloved $200-on-clearance-at-Bombay table. I don’t even want to think about what I’d do after a $3000 table was ruined.

“That’s not bad at all, is it?” he asked me. “Dad, it’s beautiful,” I say, ” But you’re asking the wrong person.”

He thought it was well worth it. Not to me. Perhaps I’m so different because I grew up with my Mom, struggling all the time. But I guess that there are many that think $3000 for a dining room table is reasonable; otherwise these places would not stay in business.

I think I’ll stay on my side of the looking glass. Me and my simply-elegant-but-now-scratched-$200-on-clearance-at-Bombay table.

Self Storage Part 3 - How to Be a Smart Self Storer

This is the last in a three part series on Self Storage.

Check out the other articles in this series:

Self Storage Part 1 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Good Idea

Self Storage Part 2 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Bad Idea

Now that you’ve made a decision to store your items there are things you can do to make sure you store smart.

1. Gather and Cull. Again. Once you’ve gathered all the items that need to be packed, go through them again and weed out any items that can be thrown away, given away, or actually used. Don’t be afraid to get rid of unnecessary items in order to have room for the stuff you really need to store.

2. Pack smart. Don’t close up half-empty boxes. Make the most of the space you have since the more space your stuff takes up the more you’re going to pay to store it. Make sure breakables are well-cushioned, too!

3. Make an inventory. Just writing “kitchen stuff” on the outside of a box is not the best way to go. When I recently put some items in my in-laws’ hangar I modified my Relocation Packing System (I’ll post that soon!) to keep track of what was being stored. Who wants to look all over the house for something that you forget you put in storage, or have to go through fifteen boxes to find your lobster pot?

• List loose items (treadmill (really, just sell it!), canoe, crib, etc.).
• Inventory each box individually. You don’t need to go into excruciating detail. Instead of “12 blue highball glasses, 12 lowball glasses, 12 blue juice glasses, Proctor-Silex Toaster Oven” simply write “blue glasses, toaster oven”.
• Assign each box a number. This will help you find things quickly, and save lots of tape wasted by looking in the wrong box.
• Place your name and contact number inside and outside each box and attach a tag or label to each loose item.
• Save list in a computer file.

See how easy? This can save you loads of aggravation. Loads. Trust me.

4. Figure out how much space you really need. You don’t just have the space on the floor, so don’t forget to go vertical. Err on the side of too small, as they’ll be happy to sell you a bigger unit if all your stuff doesn’t fit. And if it doesn’t fit perhaps you’ll want to cull some more!

5. Look for the right facility. Don’t store your grandmother’s fur coat in a facility without air conditioning. PODs can also be a good alternative to traditional storage. Consider location, price, condition of the facility, security, service, and access. Here is a list of questions to guide you:

• What kind of security system do they have?
• Are the grounds patrolled, and if they are, how often?
• Have they had any break-ins and if so, how did it/they occur?
• Are there smoke alarms in each building?
• Is there a sprinkler system in case of a fire?
• Are there any limits to your access?
• Can you rent space on a month-to-month basis? If so, how much notice do you require to vacate the storage unit?
• If you can’t tour the facility yourself, can you see photos of the facilities, including a picture of an empty unit?
• How is the climate controlled?
• Will my items be safe from the elements? Leaky roofs ruin stuff. Visit on a rainy day.
• Are the grounds and inside the facility well taken care of?
• Are there large bushes or overgrown vegetation along the sides of the building? This may be a deterrent if you plan on accessing your storage unit at night.
• Are both the inside and outside areas well lit?
• Is the security fence intact? Make sure you walk around the entire perimeter to make sure.
• What is required for someone to access the storage unit areas?

And, finally, the gut check:

• Do you feel comfortable leaving your things in their care?

6. Buy the best lock you can. The better the lock the better your chances of your stuff staying where you put it.

7. Use tarps. Put one (or two) on the ground under your stuff, and put one (or two) over your stuff. If there’s a roof or plumbing leak you’ll be really happy you did.

8. Visit your stuff monthly. Make sure that all is well secured. Look at the units on each side of yours to make sure there are no leaks, pried locks or other red flags.

9. Get your stuff out as soon as possible. Don’t let it languish there past your initial target removal date without revisiting the wisdom of paying to store the items. Are you ready to let go of the items? Can you sell or donate them? Can you find a place to store them for less, or no charge at all? Are they worth the money you’re spending?

10. Pay. Your. Bill. The most un-frugal self storage mistake you could make would be to stop paying the storage bill. They will lock you out and sell your stuff. I once picked up a beautiful solid wood bookcase for $10 at a storage company’s abandoned stuff sale. And they’ll throw out your childhood memorabilia and paperwork, leaving you vulnerable to identity theft. Really, pay your bill.

That’s it on self storage. I hope this series helps you make the smartest choices for you.

Self Storage Part 2 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Bad Idea

This is the second in a three part series on Self Storage. Look for Part 3 tomorrow. See the bottom of this post for a link to Part 1.

In Self Storage Part 1 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Good Idea I listed some scenarios in which paying to store things can not only be a decent idea, but can also be a frugal one.

I admit it. I have a “thing” about paying for storage. I hate the idea. If I don’t have room for it I should get rid of it.

That frugal, sensible part of me wars with the other part of me: the part that doesn’t like to let things go. It’s hard for me, but I’m getting better. Before you decide to pay to store stuff, ask yourself these questions. If these are true for you, you may want to think twice before agreeing to rent storage space.

1. If you don’t even remember what’s in the boxes. Spend the time to go through them. Sell, toss or donate anything you don’t really need or want. If you still need to rent space you’ll likely be able to rent a smaller one, for less money. Who knows, you may wind up with little or nothing to store after all…

2. If you don’t really want the item(s) you are planning to store. Don’t store something out of a sense of duty or obligation if you don’t want or need them. Just because Aunt Bernice left you her taxidermied pets doesn’t mean you have to keep them. And just because you lost your…fruit…on that couch doesn’t mean it shouldn’t support someone else’s grapes. Memory box items should be smaller than a breadbox, so take a picture and put it in a scrapbook. But not of the pets. Please.

3. If the items to be stored aren’t valuable. Do the math. Spending $150 a month to store $1000 worth of stuff is a bad financial decision. Spending good money to store 1000 Gatorade sports bottles just doesn’t make sense. Donate them to a local school instead.

4. If you have room to store it in your home already. Maximize the storage space you already have. We have very little storage inside our townhouse, but we do have a small garage. Husband has built shelves in the garage to keep things neat, organized and off the floor. He’s built shelves that hang from the ceiling. We store things under our beds, use a toy box as a bench, built extra shelves in our closets. Get creative with your storage solutions.

5. If you can store it somewhere else for free. Okay, I’m know that I’m lucky to have in-laws that rent an airplane hangar. But that’s not the only way to store for free. Can someone else use the item? I have friends trying to sell their empty condo. We made a deal that they can use some extra furniture of ours to make their condo look lived-in, and therefore more attractive to buyers. It’s a win-win. I have less clutter, they have a more salable property. If someone agrees to store stuff for you at no charge make sure you discuss ahead of time how long the arrangement will last, and don’t take advantage. If you agree you’ll get it out of there by July 1st, then get it out of there by July 1st.

6. If you don’t know how long you’ll be storing it. If you don’t have a plan ahead of time you greatly increase your chances of spending an enormous amount on rental fees that doesn’t make financial sense. Have a plan. Really.

If you’ve answered these questions and you still need to rent storage space you can still save time, money and grief by renting smart. Read Part 3 of the series for great tips on how to be a smart self-storer.

Check out the other articles in this series:

Self Storage Part 1 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Good Idea

Self Storage Part 3 will be published tomorrow.  Come back to read it!

Self Storage Part 1 - When Paying to Store Your Stuff Is a Good Idea

This is the first in a three part series on Self Storage. Look for Part 2 and Part 3 over the next two days.

Nearly 1 in 10 US households currently rent a self storage unit. That’s 10.8 million of the 113.3 million US households, an increase of approximately 65 percent in the last 12 years.

Wow. Americans have a lot of stuff !

So when is does it make financial sense to rent storage, and when is it a waste?

When it makes sense:

1. If you must return to the nest. I’ve rented storage space twice in my life. Both instances were in my twenties after misguided attempts to flee South Florida that turned out not-so-great (though I’m confident that my next exodus will lead me to the Promised Land, or at least Georgia) . Both times I’d had to shack up with a parent temporarily, so placing my stuff in storage made sense. I figured I’d spend less in storage rent than I would have to replace the items that I stored.

2. If you are putting your house on the market. We currently store a few things at a hangar rented by my in-laws, and they generously don’t ask us for money. We’re getting the house ready to go on the market, so I’ve packed up some items I want for the new house (the one that at this point is just a twinkle in our eyes) but don’t need here in a clutter-reducing move. I also had stored some garage sale items there. Storing them there makes the garage less cluttered, but if we needed to, or if my in-laws needed the space, we could store the items here. All of the real estate experts say to get rid of clutter to make the home more attractive to buyers and sell quicker. In this market you need every edge you can get, so a few months in storage fees could save you time and get you more money.

3. If you are renovating. Home renovations are stressful enough without trying to squeeze the target room’s furniture into every available nook and cranny elsewhere in the house. It also protects the items from damage.

4. If you are relocating. If your house won’t be ready when you get there, or if you want to rent first to get a feel for the area before committing to buying a home, renting a smaller, less expensive apartment and storing all but the necessities can help you save for your dream house. Oh, I just remembered a third time I paid for storage: when I was in college the local storage company always did $99 Student Summer Specials. I’d store all my furniture and stuff for the summer break. It would have cost me way more to schlep it all home and back…

5. If you are traveling. Taking the family for a year-long trip around the country in an RV or circumnavigating the world in a sailboat? Yes, storing your household items makes sense.

6. If you are experiencing family challenges. Death and divorce are emotionally exhausting, tumultuous ordeals. We often don’t make our best decisions when we’re still raw. Placing your stuff and/or inherited items until you’re ready to make good decisions about what’s next can save you from making a decision you’ll regret later.

When the idea for an article on self storage first came to me I was sure I was going to write an article with a very negative slant; that paying to store stuff is mostly a bad idea. But as I began composing the piece in my head I kept coming up with situations where it’s a good idea, or at least one that makes sense. Hence a series was born.

But don’t worry. Tomorrow’s article covers when it’s a bad idea. Check it out!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Part One of today was a success. I participated in a garage sale at my sister-in-law’s house, and arrived back in my less-cluttered home with some money in my pocket and a smile on my face.

Being out in the hot sun always saps my energy. Add schlepping stuff from our house to their house, and then schlepping the leftovers to the nearest donation site and I was left exhausted, and a little dehydrated. After relaxing to try to renew my energy I counted the money and put it aside to deposit into our long term savings account. Woo hoo!

Part One of the day was now complete. The Part Two I wished for was a long soak in a hot tub followed by a nap. The Part Two the world served up instead offered a birthday party at a local gymnasium with twenty three and four year olds. G-d is cackling. I love a good sense of humor.

So I trudged upstairs and settled for a quick, warm shower. As I waited for Son to wake up from his nap I gathered the clothes I’d been wearing along with what was in the hamper and threw them in the washer. I’m so efficient!

After son awoke I rushed to fill out the birthday boy’s card, grabbed it, the present, the invitation and Son and off we went. As I waited at the light I glanced at the invitation for the first time since the say we got it and realize I didn’t know exactly where the facility was. So I reached for my cell phone to call the facility and……….

Uh oh.

My phone was not in my purse.

Uh oh.

No. No, no, no no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I knew exactly where my phone was.

In the pocket of the shorts I’d been wearing to the garage sale.

The ones I’d thrown into the washer.

The blood-curdling shriek inside my head thankfully did not come out of my mouth. Son would have been terrified.

I turned around and headed back home. I knew the phone was a goner, but I still needed to find out where the dang party was.

Still, as I walked up the stairs I couldn’t stop myself from hoping against hope that I’d realized the phone was in the pocket and placed the phone on my vanity.

Alas, my hope was for naught.

And the washer was already on the spin cycle.

I stopped the machine and pulled out the shorts. There in the pocket was my phone.

It was very clean. Very beautiful. And very, very dead.

I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.

It could happen to anyone, right? Sure.

But this isn’t the first time I’ve made this brilliant move. I did the exact same thing six months ago. That time, though, Husband was the one who actually threw them in the wash without checking the pockets, but I can’t really blame him because Son had just thrown up all over me.

Sigh.

So now I have to buy a new phone. Again. Luckily I was able to “buy” one for free, and it only cost me $18. In the world of cell phones and doublespeak the phone itself is free, but I have to pay to upgrade.

Whatever. I don’t have it in me to argue about the $18. I got off easy.

Watching Son’s face as he raced around the gym was enough to ease my stupidity-induced angst. So, Part Two turned out okay in the end, too.

Good thing there’s no charge for stupidity.

I’d have had to take out a second mortgage.

Today I Went Shopping In My House for Tomorrow’s Garage Sale

I’m taking a break from getting ready to do another garage sale, this time at my sister-in-law’s house.

I’ve written before about how to have a successful garage sale, so I thought I’d jot down a few notes about what I’m doing today.

I had several things left over from our last sale, so all of those items have already been schlepped over to my sister-in-law’s house. That gives me a good start, but frankly much of that stuff is crapola, so if I got $20 for everything that’s already there I’d be surprised. If that was all I had to sell I wouldn’t bother schlepping.

Now you may be thinking, “But she just had a sale a few weeks ago. How much more crap can she have?”

Oh my. A lot, it turns out.

Over the past few days I’ve gone shopping in my own house. I’ve gone from room to room, selecting things I may like, but am ready to let go of. I went through the junk drawers and got rid of lots of junk, either in the trash or in a box destined for the garage sale. I also found a light bulb for our refrigerator, which was serendipitous because we just had one burn out a few days ago. I have no memory of the bulb burning out before this week, but it must have since I found a 2-pack with one missing. Good thing I looked, otherwise Husband would have made a trip to Home Depot tomorrow and I’d have two 2-packs with one missing from each.

Even though we just went through our drawers and closets a few weeks ago, we’ve done it again. I don’t know about you all, but I often am willing to let go of things on a second or third pass that I wasn’t willing to let go of on a prior pass. Ergo another pile of clothing sits ready to make the crosstown trek very, very early tomorrow.

Husband was supposed to go to my father-in-law’s airplane hanger, where we’d stored the last garage sale’s leftovers, and take them to his sister’s. Since I was already in the area I went and did that, while he went and took everything out of the closet we have under the stairs.

I hate that closet. While it’s great to have the extra storage in our closet-deprived home, Son and our dog are the only ones who can walk upright through the door or stand on anything but one’s knees. As a result it gets cleaned out only once every few years. One of the things that’s stored in there is my old PC - the one I bought less than a year before Husband moved in and declared us a MAC only household (well, at least until I got my laptop). It’s now eight years old, and though we were thinking of saving it and putting it in Son’s room when we move, at this point I think it’s time to just let it go. Sure, I didn’t get my money’s worth out of it, but you have to know when to cut your losses. Now it’s a frugal blunder AND clutter. Bub-bye!

Also going from under the stairs is a huge box of candles we’ve not opened in six years, some baskets, photo frames from my old office and crafts I’ll never do. I also cleaned out some junk boxes (methinks I have two many areas in my home whose first name is “junk”), and culled the rolls of gift wrap (which I keep in a kitchen-size garbage pail). Lots of recycling, lots of garage sale treasures. Do we know how to have fun or what?

Next I went through the drawers in all of the nightstands in the house. Heck, we may as well call them junk drawers, too. I have lots of half-used boxes of stationery, a few old hand-held games and piles of miscellaneous crap. More for the garage sale, more for the garbage.

Ahhh, I’m feeling good.

I almost forgot to look under the beds. Husband’s old drafting table lives under one, my grandmother’s antique headboard and footboard under the other. Which one do you think is going?

While I clean out my makeup and toiletry drawer (don’t we all get those great gift bags with a to-die-for eyeshadow but lipstick in such an awful color we wouldn’t even use it to write “flick me” on a sleeping drunk at a party?) I ask Husband to go through his desk. I come away with a box of treasures, he comes away with a pencil.

Sigh.

Things are well in hand. Then I take another walk through the house, my goal being to take ten more items from every room to sell at the garage sale. Our Eiffel Tower clock has chimed it’s last minuit. The kitchen was easy - I just opened the utensil drawer and removed everything I’d not touched in the last three years. Except the Mickey Mouse egg forms. Son will love them. But at least now I remember that I have them.

I have Son’s toys to go through and then I’ll call it a night. Tomorrow morning I’ll get up before the crack of dawn, go through the house and find five more things to sell and head on over. We always have such great fun, and I’ll be exhausted at the end of it. I’ve limited myself to one box coming back into the house, as I always throw a few things in the box with the disclaimer, “if I get the price I want I’ll sell, otherwise back it comes”. One box. That’s it. The rest will go to Women in Distress.

And on Sunday I’ll start collecting things for the next garage sale. We’re going to be doing a two-weekend sale at my Dad’s after he decides what he’s taking to the new condo. Whoppee!

Today My Son Broke a Cherished Glass Container. Hallelujah!

Despite the fact that my house is full of stuff I really hate clutter. I struggle all the time with de-cluttering, especially in my too-small house.

It’s fairly recently that I “got” one of the most powerful tenets of de-cluttering: Just because I like it doesn’t mean I should keep it.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh…….

This morning Son went to give the dog a cookie, her treat for doing her duty (if I had a treat for every time I … never mind).

He inadvertently dropped the glass lid of the container and the glass shattered against our ceramic tile floor.

Being three, his eyes began to fill with tears as he looked to me for my reaction.

“It’s okay,” I said as I gave him a reassuring hug. “You just helped Mommy de-clutter.”

And it wasn’t really a cherished container. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been dog biscuits in it.

But still.