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

[RetiredAt63]

@slackmax yup if you have used it in >1y you are super unlikely to ever use it. Just ditch it and enjoy the extra fridge space. Now, do the pantry?

We haven’t had any decluttering to do since we are still shy about bringing new things into the house but Ofpym has basically unpacked and organised his art studio in the garage. I still have 20% to go on the sewing room. I keep being distracted by the garden.

Hey, it's early summer there!  Sorting out the sewing room is for days when the weather is bad.  Garden for the win!

[mspym]

@RetiredAt63 i think you overestimate the “summer”-ness of the weather here! I am currently wearing a jersey and jeans😄 it was hosing down yesterday until 5pm!

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 i think you overestimate the “summer”-ness of the weather here! I am currently wearing a jersey and jeans😄 it was hosing down yesterday until 5pm!

Rain is a good reason to do indoor sorting.  And the damp makes everything feel colder. 

Let me dream of someone having late spring weather.   ;-)

I count 6 months from here.  We are late November almost December so you are our late May almost June.  Which is late spring almost summer.  But late May can be 25 or 20 highs and 20 or 15 lows.  What are you right now? You had rain.  We had snow. 

Hmm, dug out last May's weather in Ottawa, looks similar to what you are going through.

https://world-weather.info/forecast/canada/ottawa/may-2023/

[mspym]

@RetiredAt63 lows and highs range between 10-20C at the moment. We are apparently a month behind where the weather would normally be (rain patterns) and 2C hotter than average so yay climate change! 

Today’s task was helping my mum and sister clear out head-height weeds from between the garden beds and the fields so Mum can plant sweetcorn. I got paid in rhubarb.

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 lows and highs range between 10-20C at the moment. We are apparently a month behind where the weather would normally be (rain patterns) and 2C hotter than average so yay climate change! 

Today’s task was helping my mum and sister clear out head-height weeds from between the garden beds and the fields so Mum can plant sweetcorn. I got paid in rhubarb.

Our springs are always variable, but more so of late, so I can empathize.   Rhubarb is good pay.  Here home grown sweet corn is iffy because the masked bandits (raccoons) get it first.  What are your raccoon equivalents.

[mspym]

Here home grown sweet corn is iffy because the masked bandits (raccoons) get it first.  What are your raccoon equivalents.

Hmmm probably rats, stoats and possums (Au version) but they might be chased off by the farm's dogs and cats. [They are all very good at catching field mice]

Back to decluttering - today we are taking the old rotten posts off the wire fencing we found behind the garage and then placing the fencing so it can be used as tomato supports. This will clear up the garden and behind the garage a bit more. It may also be a day for clearing out more of the thorn bush branches, reducing the bramble-tangle a bit more.

In 'stopping things coming into the house' news: Ofpym has been suggesting we get a couple more Sistema containers for the kitchen and I am taking the stance that if we have run out of containers, that means we need to eat some of the contents to free them up instead of buying more.

[FrugalShrew]

In 'stopping things coming into the house' news: Ofpym has been suggesting we get a couple more Sistema containers for the kitchen and I am taking the stance that if we have run out of containers, that means we need to eat some of the contents to free them up instead of buying more.

Well done, mspym! :)

[tygertygertyger]

In 'stopping things coming into the house' news: Ofpym has been suggesting we get a couple more Sistema containers for the kitchen and I am taking the stance that if we have run out of containers, that means we need to eat some of the contents to free them up instead of buying more.

Well done, mspym! :)

Oh yes! My partner is suggesting that we increase the size of our bonus freezer, which I think is madness. I think we need to eat the food we have before buying more. Good luck!!

[Frugal Lizard]

I compiled a box of photos both loose and in a variety of frames into one single binder with clear sleeves. I mounted them on black card stock from my collection. I used up all the sleeves I had on hand but I needed to buy more.

I took the binder to my old Mum. Many of the photos were hers. She loved it. Unfortunately it hadn't occurred to me that I needed to label all the photos. She kept saying "that is a really handsome boy, I don't know who he is, but he is really good looking." It didn't matter who it was, my brothers or my nephews or even my son. But she recognized her graduation photo from 1960 immediately.

[LeftA]

After months of focused effort where I achieved significant process, I’m struggling to find my motivation to complete the last 2 spaces - my basement and my storage area. I have accomplished a lot by doing a mix of recycling, shredding and donating (charity and BN group). I’ve also thrown out a few things. And yet, it feels overwhelming and almost futile. Lately, when I go down to my basement it feels like I’m turning in circles. Either, I can’t focus on one thing (multiple categories and piles of items) and/or I struggle with the decisions that need to be made.

Anyone have advice to get me back on track?

Oh, I should mention what is down there is a mix of papers, books, outgrown children’s clothing (considerably whittled down) and miscellaneous sentimental items.

[PMG]

Can you find some ways to create deadlines?  Perhaps you want to go through some sentimental things before Christmas so you can show them to (or give them to) family members?  Is there a library book sale or a clothing drive somewhere that you could use as a reason to get thru those items?

Or just some good movies to watch while doing the work.

Or try “body doubling”. Enlist someone to help or share the space with you. Or put on a YouTube decluttering video.

Or just commit to ten minutes at a time. Or five minutes a day. Slow and steady.

[RetiredAt63]

Can you commit to doing one space/spot a day?  Like one foot of a shelf?

Or Dana K White's no-mess decluttering?  She has lots of blogs and the jumble multiple categories you are dealing with might work well with her method.

[Ladychips]

I'm a big fan of using a timer. It's amazing what one can accomplish in 10 minutes. And it doesn't matter what you do because the goal is to work for 10 minutes, not to complete a task.

[Fresh Bread]

Leave the sentimental items til absolute last (Marie Kondo's advice). They will trip you up. Start with the books and just do a few minutes like Ladychips suggests. I set a timer for 20-30 mins to tidy up my house and that's all I have to do.

[Frugal Lizard]

I filled another box with recycling. I have been learning to watercolour paint for 8 years. Over that time I have done many paintings. Paintings that I thought were fabulous when I did them. I am now soooooo much better. I tossed a 7cm pile of the stash of old work. I kept a 3cm pile. But if I don't look at them again in the next year, I will toss them too. Some of the small paintings that were not bad, I will turn into greeting cards.

[SunnyDays]

@LeftA, maybe you just need a break.  Sounds like you’ve reached Decision Fatigue and just plain fatigue.  Give those 2 areas no thought for a few months and just keep the gains you’ve already made.  Once you feel ready again, sort everything into categories first, then deal with each category according to Marie Kondo’s guidelines.

[oneday]

Or just some good movies to watch while doing the work.

Or podcasts, audiobooks or music.

[LeftA]

@LeftA, maybe you just need a break.  Sounds like you’ve reached Decision Fatigue and just plain fatigue.  Give those 2 areas no thought for a few months and just keep the gains you’ve already made.  Once you feel ready again, sort everything into categories first, then deal with each category according to Marie Kondo’s guidelines.

Ding ding ding! I think this is what I need to do. I’ve done so much! Appreciating the unbelievable progress I have made with sustained effort over several months is important. Taking a short break I think will do me good. I can then return refreshed with a new sense of motivation.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in with some advice - it’s much appreciated!

Meanwhile, I managed to post a small refrigerator on my local BN group and that’s being picked up this weekend. This will leave a nice open corner in my basement, so some progress indeed.

[Frugal Lizard]

I did a huge amount of decluttering today. I can't believe how good the house feels.

We are going to ask neighbours for some recycling bin space. I filled our giant bin. And still have enough old paper to fill another. Old work files, more bad art and reems of newspaper clippings my mom saved.

DH took a whole carload to the thrift store. Four boxes of China stuff. A bag of clothes.
I sorted out tons of photos and reduced two more boxes from my mom's house.  I got through half a bankers box of papers.

I need not ever buy a bin again. We have a growing collection of empty ones. I will stack them up and store them in the garage for the kids to use for moving. 

And the best part...all the old, really old dusty and musty cardboard boxes got filled with the donations and left at the thrift store.  I am sure my house smells cleaner with them gone.

[oneday]

For the first time in a long time, I got a significant amount out of the house. Haz mat and e-waste to the county site and household goods (4 boxes) to the thrift store. Feels good, even though I forgot one e-waste thing and still have some stuff to sell.

[LaineyAZ]

Interesting note:  I watch a YouTube channel of one of the extreme house cleaners.  He said 2 things he always finds a lot of in hoarded households:  empty plastic storage containers and household cleaning supplies. 

I know this is not a hoarding topic but it's interesting to see that those who are very messy/hoarder-ish are at least somewhat aware and buy containers and cleaning products - maybe as an aspirational goal?  But never actually use them.

[LeftA]

@Frugal Lizard, congratulations that is a lot!

@oneday, well done!

@LaineyAZ , that’s interesting about the hoarders. So, should I feel good? I don't have much by way of cleaning products and not too many plastic containers either. However, I do tend to keep lots of empty cardboard boxes just in case. I think it’s because I moved a lot up until I started living with DH. But, given we’ve moved only once since marrying almost two decades ago, maybe it’s okay to let more go!

So, I got rid of the fridge I mentioned in my last post. And, today I did over 1 hour of paper shredding. I think I underestimated how much time getting rid of all the paper we have is going to take! I estimated I’ve put in about 5 hours for perhaps about 40% of the paper we need to through. That doesn’t include another hour or two that DH has done. The only good thing about this category is that we don’t get much new paper anymore. Therefore, once it’s done, it done!

Someone mentioned books upthread. This is another big category! I’m starting by identifying some books I know we no longer want and taking them to a store that buys used books. What they don’t buy, I’ll donate. We currently have 4 large bookcases and 1 smaller one. They are not enough for all the books we own! I’d like to purge enough so that the books fit nicely within the confines of our existing bookcases. And yet, that is still likely keeping too much!

[oneday]

@LeftA thanks for the recognition!

Paper is a beast, but you are right. Once done, it is so much easier to keep in control these days.

[Josiecat22222]

so, it may not be the lowest cost option, but you can take paper to UPS where they weigh it and put it a locked box to be shredded at an industrial facility.  It may help to get it done for a nominal charge. 

[draco44]

so, it may not be the lowest cost option, but you can take paper to UPS where they weigh it and put it a locked box to be shredded at an industrial facility.  It may help to get it done for a nominal charge.

Re. shredding, I also suggest poking around your county or city website and seeing if they offer free community shredding services. My current town does this one Saturday a month. My last place I lived had quarterly events. I believe there is a limit per customer of maybe two bankers boxes per time. You drive to the local recycling facility and two staff people are manning this industrial machine that tears through whatever you've got in seconds. And they let you stand there after you hand your paper over so you can see it being shredded in real time. The hardest part is remembering which day of the month you need to go.

In other news, I found people who wanted my old standing mat, some spices I'll never use, and a bunch of magazines. Yay to gifting people things they want that I'll never use!

[LeftA]

Thanks for the recommendations re shredding. I already have a good quality shredder and the actual shredding is not that time consuming. It’s the actual going through the paper to decide what should be shredded, what can be recycled and what I need to keep, that takes the most time. Regardless, I can’t see paying for this service, since I could just put it in my works confidential shredding bin, if I really had to.

[MountainGal]

@LeftA, I am the same regarding my shredding/burning pile.  There's been a box to be burned in my home office for a few months now.  DH and I keep saying we're going to have a burn party some weekend, but that's about as far as it goes.

Recent successes:
-Gave my neighbor kiddos my very large stuffed purple dragon for their room.  Long story, but it was time to let it go.
-I'm compiling another bag of stuffed animals to give to first responders.
-What I call the "Cardio Cave" is coming along nicely.  The guest bed and mattresses were broken down and reused elsewhere on our property.  Three old pillows from the former guest bed were tossed.  Two newer ones were placed into a plastic bag to keep dust at bay and stored along with the comforter.  The floor lamp will go into my home office.  Eventually the side table will also go into my office, but first the treadmill still needs to be relocated.  DH and I each put a framed picture of the two of us reflecting health and happiness on display in the room.
-From the Cardio Cave closet, the never used air purifier given to me for free at a garage sale:  I'm going to ask DH to clean it up so we can use it in the cardio room or to the Goodwill box it goes.

[jeninco]

Still chugging along at my BIL's house, but I feel like I'm getting a bit more efficient.
- after 5 weeks or so of going up 2Xweek and doing a couple of loads of laundry each time (then sorting it into trash/goodwill/resale piles) I've ALMOST exposed the bedroom floor. Another visit or two and I can start on the dressers.
- Ditto, but I've now gotten rid of a significant fraction of the books (threw some out, put some aside for DH to look at, took quite a few to a used bookstore near me).
- drove back from his town to mine with a carload of stuff, and within three days everything had been properly disposed of.

[LeftA]

@jeninco , wow why so much clothing on the bedroom floor?

[jeninco]

@jeninco , wow why so much clothing on the bedroom floor?

1. He was a bit of a hoarder, and didn't like "housekeeping"
2. He was a late-stage diabetic with wounds on the soles of his feet for the last year or two of his life, and (we just found out) the dryer up there didn't work very well. So rather than standing around (against the advice of the wound-care doctor) and risk loosing a foot, I think he did the very minimum, which sometimes included just buying new shirts/socks/undies and tossing them on the piles.

Anyhow, typing the previous message reminded me that I'd put a "free" box out by the nearest big street. I went out there, grabbed everything that was left (mostly out-of-date simmering sauces), opened all the jars, poured the contents onto my compost pile, and added the jars and lids to our recycling. NOW everything is dealt with from the last trip up there!

[Loretta]

I donated 2 shopping bags to Value Village and acquired a fleecy jacket 1/4 zip pullover and 2 cardigans for $27.99 using my 20% off coupon for donating.  I then passed on the 20% coupon to the customer behind me for her to use also.  Thrifting is no longer cheap.  Nearly everything picked up was double digits and that is crazy for used stuff. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

1) Upgraded a few shirts to replace very faded old & worn out versions. Immediately took old ones out of my closet to use for rags.
2) Similarly, upgraded 15+ year old underwear, and already got those out of my drawer. Sometimes when I upgrade, I hold on to the items I'm replacing for a few months, before I realize I don't need to be doing this. I'm trying to get much better about this habit & make it automatic when I replace something quite needed.
3) DS16 received a rain jacket for Christmas, as he'd outgrown his previous one. Gave away the outgrown (but high quality, good condition) one on BN.

[Frugal Lizard]

My roll continued:
Front hall closet, Linen cupboard, Jam cupboard, DS's side of the bathroom vanity. All sorted, tidied and surplus has been purged.
My brother mentioned his son was asking for a clarinet for Christmas. Well, I can help you there. (I bought DS a used school band grade clarinet 10 years ago. DD also used it for three years) He is taking all the clarinet books and reeds as well.

Recycling and landfill bins are nearly full again. The front hall is filling with bags and boxes for donations.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

My wife and I took 3 reusable shopping bags of old books to Half Price Books yesterday and got a cool $21.79 for them 😎

Some of the books we were holding onto were ridiculous. We still had some college text books we never bothered selling back at the end of the semester. They've been following us around for 20 years.

Getting rid of those books let us de-clutter some shelves that were full and get them reorganized.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Along the same lines as my post above, DS16 needed new ski pants (a Christmas gift), so his old ones are now on BN, with several interested folks. Teen clothes are super hard to find, and I love posting things & making other parents lives easier. Plus, trying to stick to my one in, one out policy.

[SunnyDays]

I donated 2 shopping bags to Value Village and acquired a fleecy jacket 1/4 zip pullover and 2 cardigans for $27.99 using my 20% off coupon for donating.  I then passed on the 20% coupon to the customer behind me for her to use also.  Thrifting is no longer cheap.  Nearly everything picked up was double digits and that is crazy for used stuff. 

I’ve pretty much stopped shopping at Value Village because of their ridiculously high prices.  Sometimes they charge as much or more than the item would cost new.
Do you have a MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) thrift store near you?  Their prices are very low.  Most clothing items are $4 CAD and housewares are practically free.  My local store has huge volumes donated and high turnover of stuff, so I find something almost every time I go, to the point that I’ve cut down my visits because I just don’t need that much stuff.  Tuesday mornings are the best time where I live because they’re closed Sundays and also Mondays to sort stuff, so the Saturday donations are available Tuesday AMs.

[slackmax]

My wife and I took 3 reusable shopping bags of old books to Half Price Books yesterday and got a cool $21.79 for them 😎

Some of the books we were holding onto were ridiculous. We still had some college text books we never bothered selling back at the end of the semester. They've been following us around for 20 years.

Getting rid of those books let us de-clutter some shelves that were full and get them reorganized.

May I ask what category of books got bought? Mystery? Cookbooks? Travel? 

Thanks 

[Monocle Money Mouth]

My wife and I took 3 reusable shopping bags of old books to Half Price Books yesterday and got a cool $21.79 for them 😎

Some of the books we were holding onto were ridiculous. We still had some college text books we never bothered selling back at the end of the semester. They've been following us around for 20 years.

Getting rid of those books let us de-clutter some shelves that were full and get them reorganized.

May I ask what category of books got bought? Mystery? Cookbooks? Travel? 

Thanks

No problem. There were some comic book trade paperbacks, biographies, history books, song books, music books, reference books, and I think my wife had some novels in there too. They also bought an old jigsaw puzzle.

We successfully turned several hundred dollars into tens of dollars. We're more careful about the books we actually buy now.

[Poundwise]

We successfully turned several hundred dollars into tens of dollars. We're more careful about the books we actually buy now.

I'll trade you those tens of dollars for some magic beans!

[mspym]

We successfully turned several hundred dollars into tens of dollars. We're more careful about the books we actually buy now.

That was me and manga. Thousands of dollars spent, recouped a couple of hundred reselling.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

We successfully turned several hundred dollars into tens of dollars. We're more careful about the books we actually buy now.

I'll trade you those tens of dollars for some magic beans!

Magic beans you say? 🤔

[Monocle Money Mouth]

We successfully turned several hundred dollars into tens of dollars. We're more careful about the books we actually buy now.

That was me and manga. Thousands of dollars spent, recouped a couple of hundred reselling.

I had a similar experience with selling my comic book collection composed mostly of early 90's comics. A few had some actual value but most were worth less than the cover price. I had 3 short boxes full of comics and got $150 out of them. I probably spent over $1,000 getting them back when I was a kid.

[slackmax]

Sent out four Christmas cards, which I found in my big box-o-cards. But used the last Christmas card. So went into the basement where I thought I had seen a box labeled 'cards'.

20 minutes later, found out 90% of the boxes there were empty, which is good news, I guess. Didn't find anything labeled 'cards'.

Found a big moving box with old work manuals and administrative papers, and clerical sundries, so I took it out completely. Nice open space there now.

Recycled half the contents, and the box itself, relocated the rest of the stuff to a  sell or recycle or donate pile for future.

Also found a lot of jars I forgot I had, and moved them up to the kitchen for my girl friend to use. Plus, found a box of 3 new hubcaps for my car (forgot I had them) and entered them into my 'house inventory' file. 

[midweststache]

We had "Christmas #1" (our immediate family, since we travel for the holidays) on Sunday. That meant setting out the kiddos' (very small) Christmas Saturday night. While we did that, DH and I just packed up all the gifts we'd be taking on our travels and did a DEEP dive into all our bags/wrapping/etc. Made a pretty good dent and feel much more comfortable with the amount that we have on hand. Also finished off one of our Christmas card packs from... three (?) years ago. 

Went through kids' stuff in the playroom, since one of their gifts was a "grown up" toy box (the kind of thing that will age with them for linens, etc.) and now we've got a pile of outgrown toys to give away! (We didn't make any progress on stuffies, since KIDDO 1 had an absolute meltdown about getting rid of any. We've put a pin in it for now - it's not worth the fight/trauma for them.)

This is not explicitly about getting rid of clutter, but a win nonetheless: Monday is garbage/recycling day for us. For this past week we filled ONE (and only one!) 13 gallon garbage bag. (I don't know how much recycling we had, since I didn't take it out, but likely not much more.)

[Frugal Lizard]

Large paper guillotine went directly from my friend's house to SIL's work place.

Every time I open my linen closet - I feel happy. So neat, so organized!

[slackmax]

Adding some functionality to my computer setup. Needed 2 additional cables. Just so happened to have them in my stash-o-tech-stuff. Found a use for some of it. Woohoo !

[Sibley]

I can open my freezer without things falling out! Backstory: I had a decently stocked freezer, then I had surgery and my mom and sister decided I needed food, but then I ate less than usual. Perfect storm for an overflowing freezer. For a bit every time I opened it a bag of bread would fall out. This is no longer happening.

[Poundwise]

After posting them unsuccessfully for sale, I donated two kid-size instruments that have been cluttering up my closets, to the music department of my kids' school.  Yay!

Unfortunately, package after package have been arriving for Christmas. My bedroom is filled with brown boxes.  We are a family that is top heavy on older, childless relatives with few children of gift receiving age. It may sound ungrateful, but I wish the boxes would stop coming.  Plus, I have to wrap them all too.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Sibley - that's a big win! My freezer goes through phases like that.

I gave away four items on BN:
-3 pantry items we wouldn't use before the expiration date (or potentially ever)
-A new running shirt that I received as a freebie when ordering running shoes. Doesn't fit properly.

On a semi related note, I found out that I had about $50 of lost property via the state. Took the time to go through my filing cabinets to find the documentation I needed, uploaded everything to the site, and bonus, recycled some old papers I found while doing the project.

[Josiecat22222]

does finally giving away all the gifts we've been accumulating all year long count as purging???

We don't "holiday shop" as much as we identify items for people in our lives all year, store them in the closet or attic and then in December wrap them and distribute them.  So this month we get a sizeable egress of stuff.  There's nothing like the excesses of the holiday season to make me want to get rid of EVERYTHING.