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

[Frugal Lizard]

It has been a good week of tidying up.

All the extra potatoes got donated to the seed library. The cold cellar is emptying out. The crates for sweet potatoes onions squash and potatoes have been cleaned and left out in the heat and sun to sanitize. They are back in the basement, ready for harvest.
The soft mushy onions got composted. Only the firm onions remain.

The ginger had sprouted, so I planted it out with the other ginger. The drawer is now delightfully clean. It is so nice to go to that corner of the kitchen and not cringe from the smell.

[former player]

@Fresh Bread was getting your colours done a good experience? Would you recommend?

I had mine done years ago, I went with three friends and had a good time.  It makes clothes shopping very easy as large swathes of what's on offer can be dismissed immediately, and almost everything in my wardrobe goes with everything else so getting dressed is pretty effortless.

You could probably DIY some of it - mine started by sitting me in front of a well lit mirror and putting first a pink and then an orange large scarf around my neck, it was immediately obvious which I looked better in.

[Freedomin5]

Got rid of a big ikea bag full of clothes. Church is doing a clothing drive for a local homeless shelter. Also got rid of a bag of hotel toiletries.

[Fresh Bread]

@Fresh Bread was getting your colours done a good experience? Would you recommend?

I had mine done years ago, I went with three friends and had a good time.  It makes clothes shopping very easy as large swathes of what's on offer can be dismissed immediately, and almost everything in my wardrobe goes with everything else so getting dressed is pretty effortless.

You could probably DIY some of it - mine started by sitting me in front of a well lit mirror and putting first a pink and then an orange large scarf around my neck, it was immediately obvious which I looked better in.

If you can get into a group session I think it would be good value. It was a bit much for my solo session. I tested the expert as I'm in-between two types and she had a hard time deciding how to tackle it. Eventually she tested by using a particular set and it had three colours in each group. The first was wrong by being too bright - the eye was drawn to the colour and away from my face. The second was much better. But the third brought the colour back to my eyes. The end result seems pretty accurate, I'm drawn to the colours that are 'me' anyway. The problem is finding things in the colours now which are rich but muted.

It goes beyond colours too. My type apparently prefers natural fibres and hates the feel of anything synthetic. Whereas my husband is happily sat in head to toe 'technical fabrics' right now. There were are few moments of "oh isn't everyone like that?" and finding out that no, they aren't.

I got a whole booklet about what to wear if you want to achieve a certain effect (e.g. appear taller, slimmer, wider or shorter). We covered hair colours, hair style for my face shape, and what jewelry and make-up to wear too. So in other words, there's added value in speaking to a professional stylist for a couple of hours.

There are some free apps but I tried two and got two different results, hence going to see someone!

[MayDay]

@Fresh Bread was getting your colours done a good experience? Would you recommend?

I had mine done years ago, I went with three friends and had a good time.  It makes clothes shopping very easy as large swathes of what's on offer can be dismissed immediately, and almost everything in my wardrobe goes with everything else so getting dressed is pretty effortless.

You could probably DIY some of it - mine started by sitting me in front of a well lit mirror and putting first a pink and then an orange large scarf around my neck, it was immediately obvious which I looked better in.

If you can get into a group session I think it would be good value. It was a bit much for my solo session. I tested the expert as I'm in-between two types and she had a hard time deciding how to tackle it. Eventually she tested by using a particular set and it had three colours in each group. The first was wrong by being too bright - the eye was drawn to the colour and away from my face. The second was much better. But the third brought the colour back to my eyes. The end result seems pretty accurate, I'm drawn to the colours that are 'me' anyway. The problem is finding things in the colours now which are rich but muted.

It goes beyond colours too. My type apparently prefers natural fibres and hates the feel of anything synthetic. Whereas my husband is happily sat in head to toe 'technical fabrics' right now. There were are few moments of "oh isn't everyone like that?" and finding out that no, they aren't.

I got a whole booklet about what to wear if you want to achieve a certain effect (e.g. appear taller, slimmer, wider or shorter). We covered hair colours, hair style for my face shape, and what jewelry and make-up to wear too. So in other words, there's added value in speaking to a professional stylist for a couple of hours.

There are some free apps but I tried two and got two different results, hence going to see someone!

Where did you have it done?

I am fairly sure I am in the rich but muted or jewel tone family but have a heck of a time actually finding those colors.

[Fresh Bread]

It was local to me but I'm in Sydney, Australia. There are usually group sessions at our local adult education centre and online ones too.

[SunnyDays]

I "did my colours" many years ago just out of a book, which I've forgotten the name of.  It's pretty easy to do just going online and getting the seasons lists of colours, then testing yourself in good lighting.  I'm a Winter, so need clear colours, and cannot wear brown by any means.  I look like death in anything murky.  It saves a ton of time, effort and money in stores, when you can quickly reject the wrong colours for you.

It's been hellish hot here for a week solid, and I haven't been feeling well, so I've been sitting in my cool house picking away at more stuff.  So far, I've found a robe, a few shirts, a pair of sandals, a bunch of envelopes and miscellaneous stationery items.  It seems that the more I get rid of, the more [useless stuff] I realize I have.

[mspym]

@SunnyDays My mum could do hers out of a book which I am a bit jealous of. I am somewhere in the warm family but intensity and clarity are TBD. I wish I was a winter because then it would be less problematic to find neutrals [i.e. white, black and navy are all very easy to find and all make me look like death.]

Decluttering
- I'm washing an Underarmour hoodie and will donate it once it's clean.
- A Spanish book that I dislike the format of can go
- 26 e-books deleted from my library because I don't want to finish them

[SunnyDays]

@SunnyDays My mum could do hers out of a book which I am a bit jealous of. I am somewhere in the warm family but intensity and clarity are TBD. I wish I was a winter because then it would be less problematic to find neutrals [i.e. white, black and navy are all very easy to find and all make me look like death.]

Decluttering
- I'm washing an Underarmour hoodie and will donate it once it's clean.
- A Spanish book that I dislike the format of can go
- 26 e-books deleted from my library because I don't want to finish them

It's easy to get lost in the weeds with colour theory.  You're half way there by identifying warm undertones, now you just have to determine if you're spring or fall, which really are quite different palettes.  But once you have the basic season, it's all irrelevant details after that.  Personal preference comes into play at that point.  Check out HungryWardrobe for a fairly easy breakdown of options.

[slackmax]

Sibley wrote :
I have too many suitcases. I need to pare down, but I can't yet. The giant silver one I promised to lend to a friend in July. Or June. This summer sometime. But after that I don't think I want to keep it.

Then I have the small red one. And the big blue one. The medium red one. There's a medium green one which is going to show up in my house this week. I don't know which, if any, will nest. But I do not need all these suitcases.

-----------------------------------------------

I am looking at my suitcase collection. 2 huge softcovers, 2 medium size hard shells, 2 of those boxy things on rollers. I only need one of each, probably. But I have already donated 4 suitcases before this, so  I choose to rest on my laurels.

Have you priced luggage at a store lately? $300 for one normal suitcase. Unbelievable. That what Kohl's was asking. I tried to sell some suitcases at the flea market. No one wants them, even for $1.  Something about buyer psychology, I guess.

I have about $1,000 worth of suitcases here, lol !  They're staying.

[SunnyDays]

@slackmax, why not try to sell your suitcases online?  If you don't need them, whatever you can get for them is better than them just sitting around taking up space, no?  It's possible that some won't sell due to airlines changing their permitted carry-on baggage sizes over the years.  Or, you could use them for storage instead of boxes.

[halftimer]

Another idea for extra suitcases in good condition - keep 1 or 2 for your emergency kit stuff. Keep them preloaded or at least close to what you would grab.

--
I have been on a big declutter kick recently too. We are planning to move locally by the end of the summer and so I'm reevaluating everything. Already cleared out about 5 boxes worth of things to donate in the last week, and 3 bins to recycle. I like to reuse things, so actually sending something to the garbage or the recycle bin, or even to a generic donation dropoff is tough for me (since I know 80% of donations do not sell and end up getting binned also).

Once I know the exact layout of our new place I might try to get rid of bigger items too. It's a good start so far, and I will keep picking away at it every day.

[mspym]

Another idea for extra suitcases in good condition - keep 1 or 2 for your emergency kit stuff. Keep them preloaded or at least close to what you would grab.

@halftimer that is a brilliant idea.

[stoaX]

Another idea for extra suitcases in good condition - keep 1 or 2 for your emergency kit stuff. Keep them preloaded or at least close to what you would grab.

--
I have been on a big declutter kick recently too. We are planning to move locally by the end of the summer and so I'm reevaluating everything. Already cleared out about 5 boxes worth of things to donate in the last week, and 3 bins to recycle. I like to reuse things, so actually sending something to the garbage or the recycle bin, or even to a generic donation dropoff is tough for me (since I know 80% of donations do not sell and end up getting binned also).

Once I know the exact layout of our new place I might try to get rid of bigger items too. It's a good start so far, and I will keep picking away at it every day.

My most motivated and effective decluttering efforts have always been associated with a move.

[slackmax]

@slackmax, why not try to sell your suitcases online?  If you don't need them, whatever you can get for them is better than them just sitting around taking up space, no?  It's possible that some won't sell due to airlines changing their permitted carry-on baggage sizes over the years.  Or, you could use them for storage instead of boxes.

Thanks for the storage idea, SD.  I hadn't thought of that.   

[happy]

@slackmax, why not try to sell your suitcases online?  If you don't need them, whatever you can get for them is better than them just sitting around taking up space, no?  It's possible that some won't sell due to airlines changing their permitted carry-on baggage sizes over the years.  Or, you could use them for storage instead of boxes.

Thanks for the storage idea, SD.  I hadn't thought of that.

I was about to declutter 3 large suitcases a few weeks ago, then realised if I were packing up stuff to store they'd be a great solution. These days they come with wheels so easy to move. My mother always had old suitcases full of stuff stored under her bed.

[Freedomin5]

Decluttered for three hours and got rid of six large bags of trash and several cardboard boxes.

[Fresh Bread]

I volunteered to clear out the storage units for a not-for-profit. My spare room and garage are now full of stuff to store, sell, give away and sort through. And the storage unit isn't even empty yet. I've got to hurry up and list a few things of my own in the garage to make space for more boxes.

[mspym]

We are now moving country in 11 weeks not months so this is now my number 2 priority (#1 is getting a mover)

[SunnyDays]

Another small bag going away - some brand new non-absorbent cleaning cloths, a picture, 3 plastic plant pots, 2 bunches of fabric I'll never use and some foam chips.  More of that stuff that seems to make no difference in the look/feel of the house, lol.

[Loretta]

I listed 2 groupings of health and beauty Stuff on BN this afternoon and donated a packet of antiseptic wipes to a day shelter. 

I threw away a suspicious ice cream sandwich from the feeezer that had gone crumbly.  I also ate some free chips with my leftover sandwich.  Yummy. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've really slowed down with decluttering lately, so I set an easy goal in June of decluttering 10 items. Easily did that in one go (gave stuff away on Buy Nothing). I hit the jackpot yesterday. My 16 y.o. son is a clutter bug, and is visiting my parents this week. I trashed so many items, and have two giant bags ready for Buy Nothing today. I need to do another pass on his room, and then I can actually "clean" it. First, I'm just getting rid of enough junk that I can figure out what should be going where.

My 17 y.o. isn't exactly tidy, but he just doesn't have enough stuff to really make much of a mess. The 16 y.o is an entirely different story.

[slackmax]

Since the curbside recycling collection comes tomorrow, I'm going to force myself to spend a half hour (yes, I will time it) to look though my paper 'resources' for stuff to give them. 

[mspym]

Hitting the pantry eat-down project: used the last of the dried chickpeas to make a curry, which also used up on of the curry blends and then both jars immediately went into the recycling. We also went through the house making a list of what we wanted shipped from each room which spurred us to take a lots of prints we loved out of frames we disliked and now there are three bins outside full of things that people can take from. And somehow I found another six books that can be donated, from shelves I do a pass through every month.

[RetiredAt63]

Hitting the pantry eat-down project: used the last of the dried chickpeas to make a curry, which also used up on of the curry blends and then both jars immediately went into the recycling. We also went through the house making a list of what we wanted shipped from each room which spurred us to take a lots of prints we loved out of frames we disliked and now there are three bins outside full of things that people can take from. And somehow I found another six books that can be donated, from shelves I do a pass through every month.

There is nothing like an expensive move to make us evaluate what is truly worth keeping.

[LaineyAZ]

I've really slowed down with decluttering lately, so I set an easy goal in June of decluttering 10 items. Easily did that in one go (gave stuff away on Buy Nothing). I hit the jackpot yesterday. My 16 y.o. son is a clutter bug, and is visiting my parents this week. I trashed so many items, and have two giant bags ready for Buy Nothing today. I need to do another pass on his room, and then I can actually "clean" it. First, I'm just getting rid of enough junk that I can figure out what should be going where.

My 17 y.o. isn't exactly tidy, but he just doesn't have enough stuff to really make much of a mess. The 16 y.o is an entirely different story.

This would make me nervous to remove items from a teenager's room without them being there. Is this actual trash, or worn-out clothes or shoes, or ?  If they've already given the okay to discard things like games they've already outgrown, etc. then it should work out fine, but I sure would hate for them to be surprised if something's missing that they wanted to keep.

[FrugalShrew]

Dropped off 2 paper bags full and a storage bin to the donation center on Saturday. 1 bag had shoes--I've been making the transition to minimalist shoes and slowly phasing out my old shoes. Goodbye pinchy-toed shoes! (I used to think my shoes were pretty good in terms of having a wide toe box, but it turns out there was a whole other level of roomy-toed shoes out there. The daily shoes have been long gone, but I've been a little slower getting rid of special use shoes.)

[mspym]

Four books put into street libraries, and three boxes of Free Stuff put out. So far, flippers, a sangria set, a scooter, two lamps and a couple of art books have been taken.

Good mental health victory: I abandoned I Love Hue 2 at 60% complete. I have solved ~1250 screens and there was another 800 or so to go to “finish” it. I calculated that if I did 11 puzzles a day from now till when we left I could FINISH IT but that would be weird and joyless and completionist of me. So I wiped the aged iPad I was playing this on and now that can be recycled. (Too old for any updates or most apps now). Also I got rid of my scales - or at least have put them out for someone else to pick up, which is where I originally got them from.

[halftimer]

Our moving plans have moved up, from a planned mid-August move to getting the keys today! We have already cleared out many bags of clothes and garbage and books. Another drop off scheduled today, then we will start the transition. It's a local move and we have a big overlap with both places (not ideal, but it was hard to say no to 2 months free rent) so we will take 5 or 10 boxes over per week, if we feel like it, and if we are already headed to that neighbourhood. This got the quote from the movers down by 25% so it will be well worth it. It wouldn't take long to move everything, but our current place has so many stairs that the big pieces become very tricky. We decided after we moved in (with the help of energetic friends) that we would get movers whenever we moved out in future, and not risk injuring anyone.

[Sibley]

This not a good thing, but I threw out 3/4 of a gallon of milk, the half full sour cream, and all the frozen veggies. Lost power for 12ish hours last weekend. :( Luckily I didn't have much in the fridge or freezer to start with, and I was able to take some things to my parent's house stash in their fridge/freezer. They had limited space so I prioritized the more expensive items. Did not lose any of the meat at least.

[middo]

We have to empty out the old farm house in a weeks or two's time to rent it out.  It hasn't really been viable to rent it until recently.  There is a lot of stuff to dispose of and I am tossing up whether to get a skip in or take stuff to the tip myself.  The tip is free, but is 40kms from the property.  A skip would be quicker.  I am leaning towards prioritising my time and getting the skip, as we will have other things to do, such as install a kitchen in the week we have available.

[mspym]

Yeah @middo! get the skip!

[Loretta]

I listed 2 groupings of health and beauty Stuff on BN this afternoon and donated a packet of antiseptic wipes to a day shelter. 

Unfortunately the BNer never made it to my doorstep this week to take my Stuff.  The thrift store is going to receive it tomorrow.  . 

 I am on a mission to use up some yarn this weekend as I just ordered more. 

[mspym]

Just put a big bookcase in the Jazz to take to our friend’s place along with some plants. Most of the things we put out on the street were taken - including two wicker baskets - so some more things went out this morning.

[tygertygertyger]

Finally sold our old window a/c unit. And we sold a play kitchen that we’d garbage-picked thinking we knew kids who would want one. Turned out they were just growing out of that phase, oh well. It needed a small amount of work, and that was completed and we scored some cash for it too. Now for the rest of the garage…

[middo]

Yeah @middo! get the skip!

We are thinking this will be the better option.  Time will be more important to us than cost in this exercise.

[mspym]

Yeah @middo! get the skip!

We are thinking this will be the better option.  Time will be more important to us than cost in this exercise.

Is it an option to hire two dudes and a trailer to take stuff to the tip for you? We did that in NZ and it was worth every penny.

[fuzzy math]

Well I've been in the opposite phase lately... we purchased a home in another state. Hubby moved the kids and pets out here and he has to make a trip back to the old home to get it emptied and ready to sell. This home came largely furnished, but we've been buying all the basics (trash cans, place mats, sheets and mattress pads, tons of food, cleaning supplies, any cookware that didn't fit in our personal vehicle on its trip over, etc)

The home was stocked for a 2 person family who lived here. We have 5 people. There are 6 bowls, 6 plates, 6 coffee mugs etc. Its been really liberating to not have enough at times. The sink and counters can't get piled high with dirty dishes. When we run out of things to eat off of, its naturally time to do the dishes. This has been super helpful for my teens who would otherwise use 2 bowls and a plate for one meal then fail to notice that the kitchen is filthy. Its also making me question my attachment to almost all of our remaining items in the old home. I like the coffee mugs etc. So I'm slowly making a list of things to get purged back at the old home, and wondering how many of an item we really do need.

[RetiredAt63]

Well I've been in the opposite phase lately... we purchased a home in another state. Hubby moved the kids and pets out here and he has to make a trip back to the old home to get it emptied and ready to sell. This home came largely furnished, but we've been buying all the basics (trash cans, place mats, sheets and mattress pads, tons of food, cleaning supplies, any cookware that didn't fit in our personal vehicle on its trip over, etc)

The home was stocked for a 2 person family who lived here. We have 5 people. There are 6 bowls, 6 plates, 6 coffee mugs etc. Its been really liberating to not have enough at times. The sink and counters can't get piled high with dirty dishes. When we run out of things to eat off of, its naturally time to do the dishes. This has been super helpful for my teens who would otherwise use 2 bowls and a plate for one meal then fail to notice that the kitchen is filthy. Its also making me question my attachment to almost all of our remaining items in the old home. I like the coffee mugs etc. So I'm slowly making a list of things to get purged back at the old home, and wondering how many of an item we really do need.

Moving is a real eye-opener.  I didn't think I had a cluttered/stuffed house, but when I moved to an apartment, even after leaving all the house and yard maintenance equipment for the new owners, I had soooo much stuff to get rid of.

[mspym]

We now have volunteers for our remaining two large bookshelves, which we will remove closer to the time. Good that they have homes. Also more kitchen things have been taken from the donation pile outside.

Today I am thinking of pulling out all my clothes and seeing if there is anything more that should be donated.

[middo]

Yeah @middo! get the skip!

We are thinking this will be the better option.  Time will be more important to us than cost in this exercise.

Is it an option to hire two dudes and a trailer to take stuff to the tip for you? We did that in NZ and it was worth every penny.

I hadn't thought about that kind of option.  It probably isn't worth it, as most of the stuff will need to be checked by us anyway to make sure we are keeping the important stuff, and only throwing replaceable items.  There is still around 18 years of "stuff" and if you have ever lived on a farm, you would know that things don't get thrown out as much as put in the shed.

[oneday]

I am on a mission to use up some yarn this weekend as I just ordered more.

Oh, I forgot that yarn counts!

Used up 2 giant balls of yarn donated to me. They are now 2 hats and 2 scarves waiting to go to the person who collects those for distribution in the winter.

Another 2 normal-sized balls of yarn left the house as a completed scarf and a partial ball of yarn. That scarf goes to a different winter-distribution charity and the yarn went to a friend who wanted to try that type of novelty yarn.

Also returned the computer & computer bag to the relative who loaned me their old machine while mine was down. Found my two missing transit cards in the computer bag, score!

[Linea_Norway]

I am going to move in August or September, so we are going to throw away as much clutter as we can from now.

Today, I threw away a bunch of milk cartons that I had saved for growing plants in. I also threw away a bunch of plastic pots and trays that I had saved from empty food containers to grow seedlings in. As these were for for free, I can again save up new ones.

This year I grew a lot of alpine strawberries. I planted out a bunch at our cabin and I still have 40 plants left. I put them on a local Facebook group to sell for 1 euro per plant. I hope that helps.

I sold one tent. I thought I had it for sale for quite a while, but the ad was waiting for something. I finished the ad today and sold it immediately.

More posts will follow.

[slackmax]

Reorganizing paper documents on the floor of the computer room. Boxes, bags, file folders, stacks, etc. Took someone's advice here, and used some suitcases as storage areas.

Filled one medium sized suitcase completely with used but reusable manila  folders. The full suitcase must weight about 30 pounds! Folders are heavy. Thinking of taking out the 'worst' 50% of the folders and just recycling them, since I will never be able to use them all, and the donation places will just recycle them, since they have been written on already.

Identified some paper docs that could be recycled during the reorg, and did so already.

[mspym]

@slackmax recycle those manila folders! just do it! they will just be silverfish bait.

I booked movers yesterday and woke up at 4.32 this morning so I could think about what else we aren't taking and when we should donate/trash things. The boys skateboards went into the Take Me pile this morning and I expect they will go soon.

[rivendale]

Saturday number two of cleaning out the garage went well. A decorative mirror got taken by someone from the curb. The other items had no takers over the weekend so off they will go to donations. A sizable amount of scrap project wood is gone. That part was harder---"we could use this" syndrome. We only kept the larger and nice pieces of birch ply.

[Linea_Norway]

Yesterday I sold 5 small strawberry plants and the lady asked if I sold more. I found 2 small squash plants that I sold her.

The is also someone interested in adopting my big Yucca palm. And more strawberry plants.

[Linea_Norway]

Today I sold my Yucca palm and 10 alpine strawberry plants.

[draco44]

At a party I hosted yesterday that was maker space-themed, I set up a small "free corner" and two of my friends took various items from it that I wanted to declutter.

[mspym]

Yesterday I got to hear two small boys discover the skateboard we had put out in the donation bin

“Billy, BILLY! It’s a FREE SKATEBOARD!”
“What???”
….rumble of wheels down to the park

It made me feel good all day.