Clean up, Selling, and donating

Well having twins really seems to create a whole lot of stuff over the years.

Yesterday we decided to do something about all the old shoes we had laying around.  So the wife and I have been running for years and haven't done a great job of throwing away the old shows. We usually get a new pair of shoes every couple of years.  So we had a lot of shoes just laying around.

I remembered there was a market for used shoes from some old news broadcast.  What I found was Nike has a recycle/reuse program for old athletic shoes.  Nike Recycle-shoes.  "Our Reuse-A-Shoe program recycles athletic shoes at the end of their life, giving them a new life through Nike Grind. We make it easy for materials to live on from one product to the next—just drop your used shoes at a participating Nike retail store in North America or Europe." Another place would be One World Running. We went to our local Nike outlet mall and dropped off 12 pairs of shoes.

Now the twins go through shoes like the melting snow in Colorado.  We had at least three sets that were never own, 6 that were worn, and another 4 that you couldn't tell were worn. For these user donated them to soles4souls.  Hopefully these will go to people who need them.  We just dropped these off to our local DSW store.  If your local stores don’t accepts donation it looks like Zappos will do free shipping for this cause.

I know these is a market to sell your shoes for cash. This time I didn't feel like the effort was worth my time, because of the other things I needed to sell. Now for my wife's old work shoes we will probably try to sell some of those in the future.

To go along with shoes we have lots of old bikes and strollers.  I moved these out of the garage to the basement to cleanup and start taking pictures to sell.

It's been awhile since I've sold stuff online and I have used ebay in the past.  I will probably go with either Facebook or Amazon to avoid the 10% charge ebay likes to charge.

Debt is not the end. It is ok

Being in debt is not the end and you are not a bad person for being in debt.

Look I know you read books about debt like from Dave Ramsey listen to FI or personal finance podcast.  They usually talk about these people with huge debt that pay them off in a very short about of time.  Dave's books layout a great philosophy to pay off debt, but they can also make you feel like a horrible person for getting into debt.

It doesn't matter how you got into debt. Student loans, car, house, medical bills, life spending. It doesn't matter there are a 101 different ways it could of happened and its ok. 

The universe may feel like it's against you.  You small apartment may feel like a shoebox that is getting smaller.  Just remember things happened in the past and know that you realize it everything will be ok. 

Every time you feel this pressure, void, or loneliness just get up and go for a walk.  Think about anything else like your favorite sports team, what you are going to make for dinner, what color you want to paint a room, or just listen to your favorite podcast/music.  Breathe and relax.

The best thing you can do for yourself is keep moving forward.  Life is strange, difficult, and beautiful.  You got this.

Underwear what happened to you

Let talk about cloths specifically underwear.  

Guys it time to replace you underwear.   This is a common thread no pun intended among pod cast when it comes to guy underwear. Silly I know.

The funny thing about cloths in general they really last a very long time. Truth be told I don't remember the last time I went shopping for underwear.  They kind of just last and you don't think about them. I've had enough to get me though a week or two.  Well the time came to replace some as all good cloths do. 

So I take my son to the local target as all good dads do.  We head to the undergarment aisle and what do you know the underwear universe has change.  I don't know where I've been, but all the old material of my Dad's day is done.  No more just cotton.  They are all this fancy material to reduce sweat and smells.  No longer are there just boxers or briefs.  They have all this crazy in between stuff. In fact the price when from 10 for $10 to being $10-$25 each. 

I seriously almost just walked out and let with my current setup last for another 10 years.  Clothes are a difficult thing to buy especially if you are someone who is cost conscious.  I like to buy things that last so I decided to try out all this fancy new stuff.  I did something I’m not proud of.  I looked on my phone to what best underwear to buy.  The shame. Internet failed me they recommended like $50 a pair stuff. HA.  What I did do because I kept hearing the advertisements forever and they were highly rated on the site is buy a pair form Tommy John with a 40% off.  They have 30 days return policy so it they suck they will go back and I’ll find something else.  To me if I’m keeping something for such a long time I want something to last and be comfortable.  I will probably go back to target and buy some cheaper pair to fill out my drawer unless these Tommy John are Gods gifts to man.


Ha there it was. Something we all think about, but no one likes to talk about. UNDERWEAR.
UNDERWEAR please stop changing; life is already complicated enough.