Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

[middo]

Finally got rid of a few things that had been hanging around.  An old brew pot from my home brew, which was difficult to get into the rubbish bin due to it's size went out this morning in the rubbish collection, along with a brake rotor which I had been intending to throw out for ages but never quite made it to the bin, and an old alternator replaced about 4 months ago.

Gives me a bit more free room where the motorcycle is parked.

[slackmax]

Decluttering by attrition. As I was looking for something in a cabinet, a jar fell onto one of my old glass beer mugs and broke a big chunk off of it. Recycled it. One less mug to take up space. Got about 15 more, lol.

[ixtap]

The living room is full of piles to be donated at various places, with two more piles in the garage. Need to start deciding which tools to donate. I know we have an excess of tools partly because two handy people joined households, but why do we have three hammers?

Going to start trying to sell the furniture soon.

The last time we lived on the boat we had a storage room. This time, even the bikes will have a place onboard!

[former player]

Four pictures off to the auction house to sell and half a box of old paperwork ready for recycling.

Still need to sort out some other bits and pieces to go to auction (jewellery I never wear, a few collectors' bits and pieces).

I'm getting some shelving put in a built-in wardrobe in my sewing room (formerly the spare room) which will hold my fabric stash.  Along with selling superflous items stored in there that then will be nicely decluttered.  I'll still have some excess paperwork and stationery to deal with but as that's stored away in the study it can wait till everything else is done.

[Sibley]

The living room is full of piles to be donated at various places, with two more piles in the garage. Need to start deciding which tools to donate. I know we have an excess of tools partly because two handy people joined households, but why do we have three hammers?

Going to start trying to sell the furniture soon.

The last time we lived on the boat we had a storage room. This time, even the bikes will have a place onboard!

To be fair, I'm not necessarily all that handy and I have 2 hammers and a mallet. Please don't ask how many screw drivers I have.

But yes, there is a point at which its ridiculous.

[Tyson]

Decluttering by attrition. As I was looking for something in a cabinet, a jar fell onto one of my old glass beer mugs and broke a big chunk off of it. Recycled it. One less mug to take up space. Got about 15 more, lol.

One trick I use when I have a bunch of things like old mugs is to re-frame how I think about them.  Normally I'd think "Which of these mugs do I want to get rid of?" and then I'd get sucked into the morass of making a bunch of decisions about which ones to part with, and it was really hard.

The trick I learned was to flip the question in my head.  So, nowadays I ask "Which of these mugs do I want to keep?  I'm only keeping 4, which ones do I like the best?"  Then I only have to pick 4 mugs that I really like (easy), and then the rest I can mass-recycle without any qualms, knowing that I still have the best of all the mugs still in my cabinet. 

[SunnyDays]

Decluttering by attrition. As I was looking for something in a cabinet, a jar fell onto one of my old glass beer mugs and broke a big chunk off of it. Recycled it. One less mug to take up space. Got about 15 more, lol.

One trick I use when I have a bunch of things like old mugs is to re-frame how I think about them.  Normally I'd think "Which of these mugs do I want to get rid of?" and then I'd get sucked into the morass of making a bunch of decisions about which ones to part with, and it was really hard.

The trick I learned was to flip the question in my head.  So, nowadays I ask "Which of these mugs do I want to keep?  I'm only keeping 4, which ones do I like the best?"  Then I only have to pick 4 mugs that I really like (easy), and then the rest I can mass-recycle without any qualms, knowing that I still have the best of all the mugs still in my cabinet. 

Bingo!  Deciding what you want to keep is the key to getting rid of what you don't.

[Captain FIRE]

Bingo!  Deciding what you want to keep is the key to getting rid of what you don't.

Yes, this was a huge shift in thinking for me resulting in a lot more items purged.  I still have to remember to focus on it though.

On the purging note: bugaboo stroller with numerous barely used accessories, gifted to me by neighbors found a new home today.  Also passed along a bunch of other odds and ends that had missed in prior purges (e.g. 2 pairs of newborn socks, a 6 m hat, etc.)

[Prairie Gal]

Person finally came to pick up the deep freeze today. Yay!

Put a non-working lawn mower, old BBQ and several other small items on the driveway for free and all got picked up today. Another Yay!

Getting down to the nitty gritty of stuff left at the old house. I need to get rid of an old desk, which might be a little harder.

[halftimer]

I had to get a new phone last week (a few too many repairs on the old one, it was time) and the box it was shipped in didn't even have time to hit the recycle bin before I sold a similarly sized item online and shipped it back out again with the new (old) contents. 

[slackmax]

Had a frankly dismal day at the flea market today as I was trying to make a profit and declutter. The positive 'spin' is that I sold my Roberta Flack / Donny Hathaway album. I had heard it plenty and it was time to let some one else enjoy it.

[okisok]

I had to get a new phone last week (a few too many repairs on the old one, it was time) and the box it was shipped in didn't even have time to hit the recycle bin before I sold a similarly sized item online and shipped it back out again with the new (old) contents.

Love this! Packing/shipping materials are an item I'm working on. At my past job, we always needed shipping boxes and packing paper. Now I don't have that outlet I allow myself to keep one padded mailer at a time and everything else gets recycled.

[okisok]

An old clothing item bit the dust last week. I ordered a replacement and threw away the old one when the new one came in. The box got flattened and used for weed control in the garden. Shipping paperwork straight to recycling.

Went through prescription medication today to sort them by expiration date. One of my meds is $9 PER PILL so I cannot afford for one pack to go bad because of poor organization. Luckily, I only take them as needed and not daily, and none of them had expired. This is your reminder to check your meds!

My house came with one compost pile. Now it is full of lawn clippings, dead leaves, and kitchen waste. I made another from an old piece of fencing I removed. The first one is perking away and the second one is ready for another year's worth of waste diverted from the landfill.

[Frugal Lizard]

My brother and I went through all .... everything from my mom's apartment and sorted out what was straight up junk and what we would keep and what to donate. She has a few items at her retirement home. It was hard slogging but we got it done. Better now than after she is gone. 

[oneday]

Congrats Frugal Lizard. That is quite a momentous achievement!

[shadowmoss]

Old pillows.  What do I do with them.  They are objectively fine.  My Mom passed in February and I'm clearing her place now.  A lot were left behind when she bought the 5th wheel last summer.  Some were hers.  We seem to have a massive overabundance.  I'm thinking 10-15 bed pillows of various sizes.  I hate to just put them in the dumpster, but I don't need this many.

[Tyson]

Old pillows.  What do I do with them.  They are objectively fine.  My Mom passed in February and I'm clearing her place now.  A lot were left behind when she bought the 5th wheel last summer.  Some were hers.  We seem to have a massive overabundance.  I'm thinking 10-15 bed pillows of various sizes.  I hate to just put them in the dumpster, but I don't need this many.

Donate them to Goodwill - I promise you someone will be delighted (and grateful) with nice pillows for their home.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Finally sold a new coat (gift) via eBay & got it out of the closet. I also kept the box it was mailed in, and used that for shipping to the buyer, which means I have two items out of the house!

[oneday]

Ah, tea. My old nemesis (or something). I have some flavored tea I'm very "meh" on. Thanks for the reminder okisok and Fresh Bread . I will make an effort over the next few weeks to use it up. Today would have been a good day for a cup in the afternoon, too! Ah well.

One of two boxes of meh tea gone!

Both boxes of the pedestrian tea are G-O-N-E! Woo!

[mspym]

@oneday High fives for no more bad tea!

[oneday]

@oneday High fives for no more bad tea!

Yay, high fives!

Time for the Tea Trials to begin. I've bought another box of tea and am recording brands and varieties along with my ratings, so I won't end up with 2+ boxes of something gross again.

[middo]

Slowly throwing the renovation rubbish out in the council rubbish collection.  The 80 litre bin doesn't hold much, but we have very little normal trash, so I get a fair bit of plasterboard or tiles out each week.  More than half of it gone from February, and hoping to get rid of the rest of it in the next few months before we start the kitchen renovation.

[oneday]

Slowly throwing the renovation rubbish out in the council rubbish collection.  The 80 litre bin doesn't hold much, but we have very little normal trash, so I get a fair bit of plasterboard or tiles out each week.  More than half of it gone from February, and hoping to get rid of the rest of it in the next few months before we start the kitchen renovation.

I've done this same thing before. If the trash company won't offer a smaller bin, at least I can make use of the excess space sometimes!

[okisok]

Took 3 books to the little library down the street. I read two of them this week and then decided I was not going to read the third. The little library was empty except for a discarded shoe, so I was glad I put three different books in there for the next person.

[Poundwise]

BIG win (by my standards at least)! We've accumulated an immense bag of worn out and ragged clothing, and I finally brought it to the farmer's market where there is a textiles recycling collection. As a bonus, I also picked up some Too Good To Go treats and combined the errand with another one (the farmer's market is some distance from my home), so that I wasn't driving out there just to recycle.

Next week the church is restarting our annual tag sale which was canceled during the pandemic, so I'm looking forward to making some space in the garage at last.

[slackmax]

Took 3 books to the little library down the street. I read two of them this week and then decided I was not going to read the third. The little library was empty except for a discarded shoe, so I was glad I put three different books in there for the next person.

One discarded shoe! Ha! I was going through my shoe collection and found one worn out wingtip shoe worthy of going to textile recycling.

'm waiting, though, to find the matching shoe, since I'll forget I already recycled this one, ha ha.     

[slackmax]

Since I chose not to go to the flea market today where I sell stuff, I plan on roaming around the house, for just a half hour, looking for hidden gems that I can put into the sell pile or the recycle/toss pile.

I am continually surprised to find news stuff I had somehow overlooked before.

[oneday]

Recycled plastic shopping bags accumulated by the household above and beyond what we can use as trash bin liners. That bag of bags had been hanging off the front door handle for a week! Finally remembered in the way to the grocery store this week.

[Prairie Gal]

Gave away an old piece of dark room equipment to someone that was very happy to get it.

Took a bunch of extra boxes from moving to the re-cycling center.

Just a few bits and pieces left at the old house to get rid of. The last 10% is taking as long as the first 90%, it seems.

[Prairie Gal]

I tried to give away an old desk, but had no takers, so today it went to the dump. It was made out of MDF, so no great loss. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Put two clothing items into the donation pile. Neither fit particularly well, and are just taking up space in my closet. Moving them on to someone who may get joy from them.

[Prairie Gal]

 - sold a big Paris Ikea picture for $10.
 - a lady is coming to pick up a bunch of hangers tomorrow.
 - put a bunch more moving boxes in the recycling bin.

And that's a wrap on the old house.

[Tyson]

- sold a big Paris Ikea picture for $10.
 - a lady is coming to pick up a bunch of hangers tomorrow.
 - put a bunch more moving boxes in the recycling bin.

And that's a wrap on the old house.

Congrats, that must feel awesome.

[Prairie Gal]

- sold a big Paris Ikea picture for $10.
 - a lady is coming to pick up a bunch of hangers tomorrow.
 - put a bunch more moving boxes in the recycling bin.

And that's a wrap on the old house.

Congrats, that must feel awesome.

Thanks! Indeed it is.

[slackmax]

Congratulations on being done, Prairie Gal!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Way to go, @Prairie Gal !

I made the teens try on all of their shoes this weekend, and found five pair that need to go to the shoe recycling drop off, and one pair to give away on Buy Nothing.

[mspym]

Congratulations @Prairie Gal !

This afternoon’s task is being an audience and sounding board for a friend as she KonMaris her library.

[Poundwise]

Recycled plastic shopping bags accumulated by the household above and beyond what we can use as trash bin liners. That bag of bags had been hanging off the front door handle for a week! Finally remembered in the way to the grocery store this week.

It's a great feeling finally getting them out of the house, isn't it?
I have a bag of bags buddy whom I found through Buy Nothing... I save my bags for her and she uses them when she walks her dog. I'm hoping that if more people do this, there will be less grousing on social media about the plastic bag ban in our community.

As anticipated, the tag sale is very cathartic.  We got rid of a minivan load today, and my goal is to fill two more loads. Already, we're seeing a positive domino effect and it's now possible to reach all areas of the garage (there was only a narrow pathway before).  I spent all day yesterday and today going through boxes and tubs. Unfortunately, there were several items that were spoiled by the humidity, and others that will need cleaning before they are saleable. I threw out some broken items that I had meant to fix, and that was very freeing.

I still have 3 bins of items, mostly toys, which need to be reunited with their missing components in order to be desirable. It's frustrating to see the number of high-end toys that were played with only a couple of times, or simply even opened and scattered before the instructions were read, that were rendered unusable by losing pieces. I used to be better about monitoring the kids but nowadays I'm too busy during holidays to keep an eye on the gifts opening.

I do recognize that my obsession with disposing of items in the optimal way will someday lead to hoarding when I get older and less capable.

[middo]

We watched a "hoarders" show on TV on the weekend.  My wife was intrigued and horrified.  At the end, she told me she was going to clean out the "back room" where all of her papers and books are.  She has a habit of collecting books that are being disposed of.  We had a chat about how she was worried about losing "knowledge" and how the books and papers didn't really contain knowledge as she never looked at them.

Hoping to get back a fair bit of space in that room soon. 

We also had a chat about my habits with "things that might be useful" when repairing things around the house.  She now understands why I am more inclined to throw things out than I used to be.  That "may be useful" bit of wood that I uswed to keep I can buy a new piece easily if I ever do actually need it.  But tools, they are a bit of an issue still as throwing them out when I will use them later is a different matter from when I may use them later.

[mspym]

@middo any sort of hoarding show makes us start to clear things out. I think the prospect of moving countries in a few years will provide an even stronger motive - is this really worth shipping overseas?

[middo]

@middo any sort of hoarding show makes us start to clear things out. I think the prospect of moving countries in a few years will provide an even stronger motive - is this really worth shipping overseas?

I'm a little horrified at how much stuff we have now.  We moved to Melbourne 4 years ago with 2 loads of motorcycle luggage and one posted box of clothes.  Now we have a house full of stuff.  Most of it will be given away when we move back to WA.  But it is a lot of stuff.

[okisok]

DP and I cleaned out the garage today and filled up the garbage and recycling bins. Some of the trash was from the shed cleanout a few weeks ago when we filled up both bins, but still.
I got one box out for donation. One bag of hand-me-downs went to a relative and some borrowed items were taken back to the original owner.
Lots of kids stuff was sorted and some discarded.

I'll have to try showing DP some "Hoarders" episodes. Some of the reasons he gives for keeping items are exactly the reasoning hoarders give for holding onto so much trash.

[Fresh Bread]

I love watching Hoarders but unfortunately my spouse (who is the one that hangs on to stuff) can't stand it!

He's not a hoarder but, for example, t-shirts must be almost more holes than t-shirt before they can become cleaning rags. Yet he needs new ones to replace the daggy ones that can't really be worn outside the house. So he has a lot of t-shirts! However, he has just decided to give up a suit that is too big and he'll never wear again. He hired one for a recent event and that is a much better option than storing one and having to keep it clean / not musty. Suits take up a lot of space.

[slackmax]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now. 

 

[okisok]

Took a garbage bag full of bubble wrap and packing materials to work for the free table.

[Fresh Bread]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

[happy]

I've watched it quite a lot. No, they don't all make it. Obviously they like to film good news stories but some don't even make it though the initial cleanup. Aftercare and followup is offered and they say only those who take it up will have a chance at long term change.

Change of season is officially here with a polar blast of freezing wind. I've been pulling out winter clothing and rearranging. Found 2 4 items to donate and 2 coathangers to get rid of.

[slackmax]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

Of the shows I saw, about half of the cleanouts got canceled in the middle of things by the hoarder, who freaked out about losing her stuff, and threw everyone out.  The other half were happy endings, with the hoarder now happy, inside her now clean home. I think 75% of the hoarders on the show were women, by the way.   

The show spends a lot of time on the drama among family members of the hoarder.

I should know, but can't remember if the show ever revisited the cleaned up hoarder places a year later to check on things.

Often there was some local agency threatening to do something drastic if the place wasn't cleaned up by a certain deadline, but I don't think any hoarder ever had the drastic thing happen. Not sure.

[Sugaree]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

Of the shows I saw, about half of the cleanouts got canceled in the middle of things by the hoarder, who freaked out about losing her stuff, and threw everyone out.  The other half were happy endings, with the hoarder now happy, inside her now clean home. I think 75% of the hoarders on the show were women, by the way.   

The show spends a lot of time on the drama among family members of the hoarder.

I should know, but can't remember if the show ever revisited the cleaned up hoarder places a year later to check on things.

Often there was some local agency threatening to do something drastic if the place wasn't cleaned up by a certain deadline, but I don't think any hoarder ever had the drastic thing happen. Not sure.

https://screenrant.com/hoarders-where-are-they-now/

[LaineyAZ]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

slackmax, on a related note, I'm always curious in an economic forecasting perspective on how things like flea markets are doing.  Are you seeing fewer buyers overall, or less money being spent?
I'm asking because in the last Great Recession I had a relative who was a vendor at Nascar, baseball, and other sporting events.  He was the first to notice that attendees were spending a lot less.  I've come to consider that one of the early warning signs of an impending recession.