So, your dominant other (mother, father, spouse, etc.) has demanded that you go clean out the garage, attic, spare room, second bathroom (yes, I will get to this one in a little bit), etc. and they call the contents junk but you consider it a very thorough and well planned collection (of what we don't know but don't we have a lot of them!).

Case in point, my mother-in-law reads or read a lot of books, paperback romance novels and true crime for this most part. When we went over to get this situation under control, she was living alone. She had them in closets, drawers, what was the living room (I didn't even know they had another living room to be honest and I had been with my wife for 10 years! So much for being observant), the second bathroom (see, I told you we'd be back to this), even the girls previous bedroom. Never realized there were actual beds under all those books. How does this begin? Usually innocently enough as it seems. She would buy some books, their maybe a garage sale or two along the way. Before you know it you have books poking out of every free crevice in the house.

Oh by the way, we are not talking about a huge house either. Just a 2 bedroom, 2 bath arrangement which had become too much for my dear mother-in-law to keep up. Oh and then there were several out buildings that her husband had built only one of which he claimed sole use. So, as time move along more and more books are acquired. These books were not just for the sake of purchasing but were actually read. By all accounts, I believe she had read every book in residence. More than I can say for my own ever growing collection of books.

At one point in her life she had also engaged in the hobby of building or more accurately purchasing miniatures. My personal favorite was a replica of Dracula's Castle. Anyway, the woman had some serious piles of stuff that needed to be dealt with and quick. We went through and tried to organize this dizzying array of items. Truthfully most might be tempted to back up a dump truck and chuck them all. Yes, and we would have to have an ambulance for us when her mother realized what we were doing to her prized possessions. Long story short paper bags were brought in to help manage the mass and boxes were employed as well if I remember correctly. Some were actually sold which helped fill the coffers just a bit more but her most prized possessions were at least in some organized state.

Truthfully she could have very easily offered these books on line through a website, auction site or what have you and had a viable business. She could have done the same with the miniatures she had collected over the years. Unbelievably she still had the original packing for most of these items which also contributed to the pile. Overall she was sitting on a veritable treasure trove which everyone just labelled junk.

Sometimes our "junk piles" can actually be a valid collection that can be reorganized into an untapped income source. You never know what you'll find until you start looking around. So go get dirty and see what treasures you can find in that garage which is supposed to have room for two cars, isn't it?