Have a Clear Out – Before You Clear Out. Use the hidden cash you already have to travel the world

Save Money to Backpack Southeast Asia

by Marc Valentine

What to do with your household items before you go backpacking + how to uncover the hidden cash sitting around your home – just in time for your travels.

When I finally decided once and for all – that I was going on that extended trip overseas I had been dreaming about for so long (and after I had already booked my flights).

Something occurred to me. How exactly am I going to Fund this trip?

Travel costs money, and a large amount of travel is going to cost a large amount of money. (see how I used maths there? clever hey.)

Considering I’m kicking off my trip in Southeast Asia, any extra cash I can scrape together will make a real difference to the length of my trip. (you can easily live in Asia for as little as $30 per day)

Why don’t I sell my old mobile phone on Ebay? I don’t use it. It just sits in my kitchen drawer – Keeping the potato peeler company.

Oh yeah, and I’ve got those old motorcycle boots that I haven’t used for like 5 years – they can go too!

And then I asked myself this question…

Exactly how many old un-used personal items do I own, and how many of those items might be valuable to somebody else?

And that’s how it started…

The laundry cabinet. The office wardrobe. The spare room. My bedroom wardrobe. The garage.

Every square millimeter of dedicated storage In my house. Was packed full of crap things. That I never use anymore.

I bought these items once, so they must have added value to my life at one point in time, So then surely they will add value to somebody elses life too?

Therefore they have commercial value – & I can sell them!

So I took some pictures of the gear I wanted to sell, fired up my old Ebay account, and started loading up stuff for sale.

Below You’ll find an itemised account of every item I sold to help fund my trip, including the final sale price.

Keeping an accurate record helped me come to terms with selling some of my personal items. (I had nursed some of these belongings for years) So as each item sold, I would mentally allocate the funds to an item I needed to buy for my trip – turning a negative into a positive.

To give you an example…

Motorbike boots

 

 

 

 

 

Sold on ebay for $81

My Iphone 3gs

 

Sold to Help Fund My Travel

 

 

 

 

 

Sold on ebay for $229

Total = $310

Wow. I just paid for my backpack – with stuff I would have stuffed in boxes for 12 months had I not sold it.                                                                     (keep in mind, each item sold today, would be worth even less in 12 months time)

So that’s how I paid for my travel backpack.

Heres the full run-down of the stuff I sold to help fund my backpacking through Southeast Asia & Europe.

Motorbike boots $81

Motorbike clothing $71.30

Iphone 3gs $229

Lawn mower $50

Old fridge $150

Mazda bumper $150

Total $731.80

 

I off-loaded stuff that was occupying precious space in my home (& my mind) – and now I have even fewer items to box-up and store (and think about) while I’m away. Win. Win. Win.

The real question is… What is it that you’ve been hoarding for years?

Chances are…

Whatever it is.  Someone.  Somewhere.  Will want to buy it – & Help Fund Your next Overseas Adventure.

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