Selling Most of My Stuff?

[Hmerkle]

GEEZ Mike!
thanks for the early morning wake-up call!

That is an eye-opening story, but I believe it - when I don't get into the shop for a period of time (even if it is cleaning up or tinkering with something, I get irritable and restless! LOML would probably say she can't tell the difference!

 

[JackLeg]

A mind truly is a terrible thing to waste! Even though it's a mess most of the time, and I don't work in it every day, my shop is still my "go to" for "mind therapy." Sad story.

I'll tell another story about an old friend.

He retired after a very successful life, his wife had always wanted a luxurious home and his shop was not to be part of that.

They bought a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood and he had nothing to do since she had asked him (coerced) to sell all his tools.

He basically sat down and let his mind rot. Ten years later he was nothing more than a shell and he finally welcomed death.

I truly believe if he had kept his shop tools and kept busy doing the things he had looked forward to all his working years he would still be alive and doing well.

He was only 69 when he died, he had no cancer, no heart problems, no disease, he just gave up.

 

[jhreed]

Susan, do you have someone in the family that would enjoy woodworking? If you sell, you will not get full value for your tools and supplies, especially the smaller items. Why don't you keep your shop in place and teach a loved one how to use them and if they appreciate them, leave them the shop in your will. You will enjoy sharing your tools and skills and they will make a wonderful inheritance.

 

[Skymaster]

IMHO you will ALWAYS regret giving it up but NEVER regret keeping it and doing as jhreed suggested.

 

[DaveD]

My story....and some advice...

I've been doing 'woodworking' for about 50 years now. My whole life I've liked to do things with my hands. At first 'woodworking' was more of a necessity because I couldn't afford to pay someone for finished products. I did furniture and kitchen cabinets with essentially a cheap table saw, a drill press and a router. As years went by that led to home maintenance, side jobs, and doing that 'inspirational' piece every once in a while.

Over the years I added welding as a hobby and even machining the last few years. Over the years I've sold a few 'non essential' tools just to find out a year later I really missed the convenience, and versatility, of having it there when I needed it. Even if I only used it once every year or so. Having NOT learned my lesson I recently gave my son most of my welding 'stuff'. Six months later I have this nifty project, that I really want to do, that involves welding. Long story short, I have some nice new welding tools!

I've decided I'd have to quit my hobbies 'cold turkey' and sell off EVERYTHING in a short period of time to make it work. Take a filled two car garage and get it down to a 10# tool bag. Yeah, not going to happen.

My recommendation is to realistically write down, in detail, what you want to keep and what you are contemplating selling. Put realistic prices on what you would sell. Not top dollar but, I want to get rid of it CL prices. That very well may be 50% of new or less.Will the answer really help pay off debt or merely give you a more leisurely lifestyle for a few months? If it really helps pay off debt then that's a strong motivating factor to move forward.

If you are still not sure then take ALL those items in your sell column and pile them neatly in a corner and throw a cheap tarp over them. See if you can really resist going under that tarp for 3 months, if you can then start putting two items at a time on CL and start selling. I'd resist putting everything in one ad all at once. When I see those kinds of ads I think fire sale and will try to get you to lower your prices 20% at least. After all your 1st price has to get my attention and normally I figure there is 10% wiggle room in any case.

Now the really hard part, do you have the discipline to actually take that new found money and actually 'pay down debt' at a faster rate than current conditions allow?

While all this is going on, the hubby has given up some of his 'golfing and bowling interests' to contribute to the debt reduction cause, right?

 

[nn4jw]

I wasn't going to say anything originally as everyone's experience is different but looking through the thread I see many of us actually do have similar stories.

I've been "Mr. Fixit" most of my life. At first through necessity, then because I like it and I'm better at it than most "professionals". That's really because I can take all the time I need on a particular job where to a professional time is money. Before I retired I was an IT professional for over 40 years. But in my spare time I was my own electronics tech, appliance repairman, auto mechanic, carpenter, painter, electrician, welder and whatever else needed doing. During that time I collected a lot of tools and equipment. I don't think I've ever tossed a tool I bought. Some don't get used very often, but they've all more than paid for themselves in the work I've done with them over the years.

I too had the debt monkey on my back. More like a 500 lb gorilla. Maybe 10 years ago I got serious about getting out of debt and considered selling off my tools. I didn't because in reality even if I sold everything it wouldn't have made a significant difference in paying everything down. Might have made a couple of months difference in how long it took to get out of debt, but that's all.

Bottom line is I got out of debt, retired, built a shop, added more tools I've always wanted and spend a lot of time out there doing all the things I didn't have time for before I retired. The biggest piece of wisdom I have about that is that it's easier to stay out of debt than it is to get out of debt.

In fact, my lovely wife insisted that I build the shop when I retired just so I wouldn't end up like the guy in Mike's story.

So, no regrets for hanging on to all my tools and for me it was absolutely the right thing to do.

 

[Trent Mason]

Susan,

I'm sorry to hear of your predicament. There are some very good posts here. Thinking back now, I got into woodworking in 2007. That's only 7 years ago, but for a majority of that time, my tools have sat idle in my garage. Due to my work schedule, I now find myself just wanting to relax while I'm at home and with a baby on the way, I doubt I'll be doing any woodworking any time soon. Basically, for the last 4 years, I've barely even touched my tools. Recently, weight lifting has become more of a priority for me and most of my tools are stacked up in the garage to make room for weights, a bench and a power rack. Despite all of that, I still hang on to them. Even when we were REALLY broke, I never sold my tools. Why? Well, as someone mentioned earlier, they are paid for, so they aren't costing me anything. Also, on the handful of times that I've needed to use them over the last few years, it was almost always a really quick, "necessity" project that just popped up. That is when all of those dust covered tools really came in handy. I guess I still have hope that I will one day return to woodworking on a more regular basis. Until then, I'll keep my tools around just in case I need them.

I realize that you're in a different stage in your life than I am, but maybe my story helps you. As for paying off debt, that sounds a lot like what Dave Ramsey tells people to do. That is definitely good advice and unless you plan to use your tools as a source of income (making and selling things), then that may be something to consider. We have been debt free for almost a year now, but it came at a heavy price (Dad's passing). As hard as it was to suffer that loss, I'll never forget the feeling I had on the day when I paid off the last of the debt. It was as if a huge load had been taken from off of my shoulders and it sure as heck felt better than any woodworking project I ever completed.

Still, I would be pretty selective with selling tools to pay off debt. I would only sell the tools that you are 99% sure you won't need for doing work around the house. Otherwise, like others have said, you may find yourself going back out to buy something that you just sold at a huge discount. Best of luck with your decision.