When it comes to selling everything we view ourselves as semi-pros because we’ve done it a few times now. But you have to be careful when selling everything in that you don’t…sell everything!

I realize it’s kind of an oxy-moron to say “sell all your stuff – but don’t sell everything”, but it is true. You will need clothes, or you may find yourself either arrested or featured in a viral YouTube video.  You’ll probably need a suitcase/backpack/dresser/armoire or some other vessel to store your clothes, unless you plan on wearing the same thing every day (not recommended). And your toothbrush, hairbrush, nail clippers, sunglasses, smartphone, laptop, and a few other items will probably be needed to both appear neat and tidy with the former, and the latter to communicate with the outside world and not become a complete and total shut-in.

There’s a lot more to selling everything than just deciding to sell everything. You’ll have to evaluate what you need on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Case in point, we have hair clippers and my wife cuts my hair every five to six weeks. Has been for years. The set is smaller than a loaf of bread, but because it gets use AND saves us money, we take it with us everywhere.

It’s very easy to get carried away trying to sell everything you’ve ever owned!

The second time we had to sell everything I made the mistake letting my resistance bands go out the door. Now, I don’t miss them terribly, but the space they took up in our suitcase (or should I say didn’t take up) made them items I could have kept. I’ll be honest, I don’t use bands too often, but as house sitters each house we sit is different, so having that piece of exercise equipment can sometimes be very helpful when there’s nothing else around.

But if the stuff don’t fit, you must omit…

We were running out of space in our luggage, so my wife sold her yoga mats and yoga block. She bought it all in Panama for $32 and sold it for $20 before our two month house sit in Nicaragua, thinking we didn’t need it. Not a bad haul at all. But she does wish she had her yoga mat with her still.

And just because you decide to sell everything doesn’t mean you can’t buy anything!

Living a minimalist life doesn’t mean you’ll never buy “stuff” ever again. It just means you’re much smarter about it. My wife bought a dress called the Versalette. She bought it because she was able to wear it a thousand different ways, or something like that. This meant she could get rid of other dresses she was lugging around.

And if you sell everything to travel, having a good backpack or duffel might work better than the standard black suitcase that makes you curse every time you’re waiting for said luggage at the airport, watching the carousel go round, wondering if the next black suitcase is yours or not.

As you start to sell everything and downsize your life, it’s a good practice to set things aside for a while to make sure they aren’t needed. As we’ve gone from house sit to house sit we’ve realized we don’t need to lug around certain things and have since let them go, either selling or donating them. This is very easy to do for things like clothing. In fact, prior to our minimalist lifestyle, every spring and fall my wife and I would go through our closets and purge things we no longer wore.

When it comes to sentimental items, try this trick; take a picture of the item. You can upload photos to the cloud where your memories can last forever!

So before you start to sell everything you own:

• Give it some thought if you truly NEED that item or just WANT it.
• Do a trial pack and see how much you can actually take with you if you plan of selling everything to travel or move.
• Let go of any emotions attached to your stuff.
• Take pictures of your stuff.
• Don’t be afraid to keep something if you’re certain you’ll use it.

With that said, it’s a fun experience when you sell everything you own – a rush, even. If you find that down the road you sold something you shouldn’t have…oops! Learn from the mistake.

Now go sell all your stuff!