Leah Ingram's latest book, Keep Toss Sell!

I hate clutter. I’m constantly weeding through boxes and bins of toys (not that we have many) and throwing out broken parts, mismatched bits, and goodie-bag swag. I keep our crap to a minimum (and I’m grateful that I have family, on both sides, who don’t overwhelm my boys with gifts).

Usually when I have major purges of stuff, it’s in response to a call from a charity, and I can always muster a clutch of giant garden-waste bags filled with clothes, household goods, shoes and toys. I’ve yet to think about other options, like selling some of our stuff for a sweet little sum. My friend and writer colleague Leah Ingram, however, has. As well she should: the writer of the blog Suddenly Frugal, Leah’s now written two books on money-saving. This guest post is derived from her newest book, Toss, Keep, Sell! The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In (Adams Media, 2010). Read this, then march into your playrooms and bedrooms armed with (like me) bags and (like Leah) a calculator:

If you’ve got kids, then you’ve probably got toys. And games. And books. Chances are your kids’ playroom or bedrooms are cluttered with things they have grown out of. Well, guess what? Instead of collecting dust, you could be collecting some cold, hard cash for them.

Recently, I did a TV segment to help one mom declutter her playroom, and guess what? In just a few minutes of time, she found a big box worth of stuff that she could sell to bring in extra cash and clear out the clutter. For example, she told me how she kept stepping over a camouflaged-clad helicopter and tank that her son, now 11, hadn’t played with since he was 8. Why was she keeping that stuff around? You can bet that those were two items that made it into her “to sell” box.

Not sure how to begin tackling the clutter? Well, in my new book Toss, Keep, Sell! The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In, each chapter has something called a Quick Clutter Challenge. It’s when I have readers set their timer for a predetermined amount of time, and then focus on cleaning up a specific kind of clutter. With kids, we’re going to focus on their toys.

If your kids are anything like mine, they probably have way more toys than they can ever play with. Or, they’ve grown out of a whole bunch of those toys, but you don’t have the heart to get rid of them, just in case they want to play with them again, for old time’s sake. (I think that’s what this mom, who kept those Army toys around, was thinking.)

Really, what are the chances of them wanting to take a trip down memory lane like that?

So as part of my guest post today, here’s a Quick Clutter Challenge for you. I want you to set your timer for 15 minutes and head into the playroom or your kids’ bedrooms. Find things that you know they’re just too old for, are still in good condition, and don’t hold any sentimental value (you can designate one box for keeping what you consider a keepsake, but limit it to one box only).

Once the timer goes off, you should consider bringing these toys to a local consignment shop so you can make extra cash. Not aware of any local places to go? I would recommend using the website of NARTS, the Association of Resale Professionals as a resource. On the site’s Shopping Guide page, you can search by state, zip code, or merchandise category for nearby resale stores.

In addition to locally owned stores, there are also national events and store chains that work on a consignment basis to help you make money from your castoffs. Here are three worth investigating.

* Children’s Orchard You can find store locations in 24 states.

* Just Between Friends (JBF) The JBF twice-a-year shopping event offers people like us the chance to set up our own consignment shop “booth” to sell children’s clothing, maternity wear, and other kid-oriented products in an established space. As of this writing, there are JBF consignment sales occurring in 22 states, from Arizona to Wisconsin.

* Once Upon a Child Once Upon a Child currently has locations in 40 states and three Canadian provinces.

Copyright 2011 Leah Ingram, Reprinted with permission from Toss, Keep, Sell! The Suddenly Frugal Guide to Cleaning Out the Clutter and Cashing In (Adams Media, 2010)

Author, clutter-buster and frugal mom Leah Ingram

Is it just minty-fresh enough?

I don’t like to whine (though I am genetically attracted to complaining. There’s a difference: Complaining suggests that there’s a problem that can and should be fixed. Whining is unproductive, but sometimes feels good.) So. Here’s my current complaint.

I can’t find toothpaste for my boys that meets their need for something simple, yet without too bracing a mint flavor; and my need — no, my determination — to avoid buying something specifically kiddie. My reasons are dual. One, the kiddie-focused stuff is sneakily (or maybe not so sneakily) more expensive per ounce. I do not enjoy being taken for a ride just because Dora’s face or Spiderman’s body is on the bottle or tube, thanks very much. Two, the kiddie stuff does not, or only elusively, can be found in mint of some variety. They are all either bubble gum, or something oddly named “Sparkle Fun Flavor.”

Excuse me? What does Sparkle taste like? And is there a regular Sparkle, or just Sparkle Fun?

And don’t get me started on bubble gum flavored toothpaste.

OK, whatever, get me started; I’m already there anyway. I sort of understand the impulse to get a special toothpaste for a new tooth-brusher, because made-for-adults, super-charged, tartar-control, extra-whitening gel with the mouthwash breath strips embedded within may be juuuuust a tad much for tiny mouths. But bubble gum? Here, little one. Spit out your bubble gum — chewing it is bad for your teeth! And to keep those teeth nice and clean and cavity-free, let’s brush it with this stuff that tastes like… bubble gum.

I like mint. I know you don’t need mint to get clean teeth; didn’t our forbears, when they practiced oral hygiene at all, use things like baking soda? But for better or worse (and I think it’s better), mint is the flavor associated with a clean mouth and fresh breath. There’s a reason Altoids, those curiously strong breath mints, don’t come in Juicy Fruit flavor; it’s just wrong.

But for kids, it seems everything has to shine, sparkle, make noise, shake, transform into something else, exist in unnatural hues — and, of course, taste like candy–  in order to attract them and, of course, the parent hanging out in the oral hygiene aisle, utterly perplexed.

I do buy these cute little Firefly toothbrushes that light up, but I do that, quite honestly, because the Firefly brushes are $.99 each at Target, whereas brand names in kid sizes are upwards of $2 or $3, depending (and if you want a character, like the big-eyed, big-headed Dora or our old buddy Spiderman, or the ever-ubiquitous Barbie, expect to shell out more). I’ll get the Firefly brushes in all different colors to make them happy, but I’ll be damned if I’ll get them Sparkle Fun toothpaste.

I have tried letting the boys use our toothpaste, but that brings up another toothpaste bugaboo of mine. There are way, way too many choices in adult pastes and gels these days, and all of them seem to have something about them that turns off my boys (I’ve tried, believe me). What happened to plain toothpaste? Once, I found a made-for-kids, mild mint gel. Can’t find it again, and I’ve looked. And I can’t find something in regular toothpaste section that qualifies. My kids don’t need stain-whitening; tartar-scrubbing; or breath-freshening (well, maybe sometimes they do!). They need, you know, toothpaste. They don’t need Sparkle Fun! Not fun.

And….that’s my rant. I’m squeezing the last drips out of our mild mint, and I have a few more stores to check. Ideas, anyone?