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

[oneday]

For the first time in 20 years, I feel like one day I’ll have a home free of the burden of stuff (including other people’s stuff)! It only took just over 7 months of sustained effort, but I’ll take it! While it’s been a lot of physical effort and time, the biggest thing has been the mental work I’ve done to be able to let so much go!

This is beautiful :)


In other news, I may follow your advice. There was an issue with a BN person picking up the stool and now it is full of bad feelings. If it's not gone by the weekend, it *will* go to the thrift shop.

[LeftA]

Awe, thanks @MaybeBabyMustache and @oneday !

@oneday , no one needs bad feelings when giving away things!

Yesterday was a busy workday, but I still managed to get through a few additional spaces in my storage area, bringing the completed spaces to 18 out of 33.

Also, this morning I opened drawers of a dresser in my basement that I was sure needed purging and was pleasantly surprised to find, all but 2, had already been done! It’s a dresser with 8 small drawers, so was really happy that I don’t have much to do there. Many of the drawers were empty or almost empty which means I could put stuff I want to keep that are in boxes and get rid of them from my storage area!

[LeftA]

I had another good day.

In the basement, I cleared out 3 spaces - 1 was a monster and took a lot of effort. In the storage area, I went through 2 boxes; 1 large and 1 medium. I’ve listed >20 things on my BN group.

So, now I’m down to only 7 spaces in my basement. I’ve completed over 40 areas here, so I’m finally nearing the end!

In the storage area, I’ve done 21 areas with 12 more to go. However, I know that it’s going to end up being more than 12 as I continue to make my way through it…

[LaineyAZ]

LeftA,
Fantastic progress and it has to feel great just to see the clean empty spaces.     I'm wondering if you, or others here, ever watch those YouTube videos showing people cleaning out very messy or hoarder houses? 
I know for some it's too revolting but for others it's inspiring.   Whatever works ...

[Roadrunner53]

Years ago when my Mom was still alive, we would go to the thrift stores to poke around. I would see something nice and would show her and tell her I liked it. She would always tell me to buy it and put it in a corner! I told her Mom, I ran out of corners 20 years ago! Right now I have about 16 garbage bags of stuff I am donating to Vietnam Vets. They were supposed to pick up a few days ago but I cancelled them out due to the snow storm. 16 bags is nothing! I have so much stuff to hoe out!

[Sibley]

Bag of clothing and misc items ready to go to thrift store. Bag of stuff ready to go to animal shelter.

Also stopped being lazy and put some stuff where it belongs, rather than leaving it out.

There will be a decent amount of stuff leaving the house this week, going to my sister. Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litterbox? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

[RetiredAt63]

Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litter box? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

I have answers!  We haven't had single use plastic bags here for a while.

I used to use the single use dog poop bags for cleaning the litter box.  I bought the widest I could find, so the scoop fit in easily, no spills.  They don't hold much, so the litter box got cleaned every day.  Then they went in the garbage.

Here we can put it in the green waste.  So I put a green waste bag in a waste basket and clean into it.  Fold over the bag in between so it doesn't smell.  Put it in the green waste when it is half full (they get heavy and I don't trust the bag to be sturdy enough if it is full).  Works beautifully.

However, single use plastic bags are great for picking up all the winter dog poop when the snow starts to melt in the yard where the dog has been going all winter.  They are better than kitchen garbage bags because they have handles.

[SunnyDays]

Bag of clothing and misc items ready to go to thrift store. Bag of stuff ready to go to animal shelter.

Also stopped being lazy and put some stuff where it belongs, rather than leaving it out.

There will be a decent amount of stuff leaving the house this week, going to my sister. Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litterbox? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

I use either bread bags or empty zip top cat/dog food bags if they're not too big.  They seal in the smell for a few days and are wide at the top.  Plus, they're going to be thrown out anyway.

We can no longer access plastic garbage bags either and they went from being a scourge to being valued.  I think long and hard before I use up my remaining few.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Minimal progress, but a little here & there:
-Donated a bra that doesn't fit
-Gave away a passport cover on BN
-Tossed three containers of expired medicine (maybe my mom bought when she was here, years & years ago?). Recycled packaging.
-Donated a workout tank top. I don't like the cut/fabric, as it chafes when I run.

128/500 items out of the house

[oneday]

Since November:

• haz mat
• e-waste
• household goods (4 boxes)
• papers and photos from the fridge
• excess bags & water bottles
• empty spice jars
• luggage trolly
• ex roomie's video games
• ex roomie's book case glass doors
• old textbook (sold!)
• heating pad
• area rug
• box for electronics I no longer own

New:

• stool of guilt & anger
• small suitcase
• box of miscellany: clothes, books, water bottles, etc

Time to start a new box?

[LeftA]

Thanks @LaineyAZ , it does feel good. But, even with getting rid of so much, we still have quite a bit. This is especially true in the basement and storage. However, the last few months I’ve started taking before and after pictures. It really makes the progress very apparent!

@Roadrunner53 , if 16 bags is nothing, good for you for letting go of such a large amount to start!

@Sibley , apart from the plastic bags why is so much being sent to your sister? Where I am, plastic bags are not being given out at stores any longer. But, you can still purchase smaller ones for garbages purposes. But, who wants to buy them when you used to be able to get them for free?!

@SunnyDays , I can relate. I also ration those plastic bags, lol.

@MaybeBabyMustache , every little bit contents. I might have to abandon the counting items. I was at about 215 items, but then I got rid of a lot of paper - shredded and recycled it. How do you count that?!

@oneday , lol at “stool of guilt & anger”.

AFM, I got 3 more things done in the basement yesterday. I gave away a wooden dollhouse, with its accompanying furniture and dolls. I went through a box of papers. And, finally I went through a box of miscellaneous items, mainly papers and small toys. The box had been housed in our family room for years and was recently moved to the basement. This leaves me with ONLY 5 spaces/areas to go in my entire ~1000 square foot basement!! If I break it down into categories of types of things it is: books, rugs and papers. The first two will take awhile because I need to drive to a donation place further away or put them out for large garbage collection which only starts again in April. The paper will be worked on again later today when my youngest wraps up their birthday party - it’s a sleepover and the kids are still sleeping! I’ll likely need a few separate sessions to get through this because of the volume and also my stamina for paper is poor.

In terms of storage, I’m really excited as I found someone to take the baby clothes and shoes! I’ve got a few boxes of these left (not much of any other age left, thankfully) so this will make room for things I actually want to keep in my storage area.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@LeftA - I don't actually count the paper, other than as something representative. For each file I went through & cleaned out, I assigned it a value of "1".

[Sibley]

@Sibley , apart from the plastic bags why is so much being sent to your sister? Where I am, plastic bags are not being given out at stores any longer. But, you can still purchase smaller ones for garbages purposes. But, who wants to buy them when you used to be able to get them for free?!

I'm going there anyway, so it makes sense to move stuff around as needed. This is stuff that would just be dropped off if she were local, but since she's not it gets stored up until someone is making the trip.

There's a large bag my mom got for the UK trip last year but otherwise has no need for which my sister can use, so I'm taking that. Everything except the bags will fit into that one bag, so it's not big stuff. Bottle of wine which I do actually like but which is bigger than I will ever drink, so I'm taking it for her to share (it was a gift). I'll be seeing a friend so taking gifts for her and her daughter. Couple random little things that I have which I don't need and sister can use. The bags of bags are by far the bulkiest item. In return, I'll be bringing back some cat stuff which her cat is not interested in, between my 2 and my parent's 2, someone will like it.

As for the litter box bag ideas - the bread I'm getting the bags are so thin and cheap I'm having to rebag the bread frequently, so they will not work for litter at all. And zip top cat food bags? Haven't seen that, so not an option. I could get the doggie bags but realistically I'd probably end up using more plastic than the actual grocery plastic bags. Don't have green waste pickup in my area. Realistically, if I had to switch I'd get a small trash can with a tight lid, put some sort of really thick trash bag in it and use that for a week at a time. Or, just forego the bag and have to wash the trash can out after dumping it straight into the big can outside.

Now, off to declutter some dirt in the house.

[Roadrunner53]

Bag of clothing and misc items ready to go to thrift store. Bag of stuff ready to go to animal shelter.

Also stopped being lazy and put some stuff where it belongs, rather than leaving it out.

There will be a decent amount of stuff leaving the house this week, going to my sister. Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litterbox? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

I use either bread bags or empty zip top cat/dog food bags if they're not too big.  They seal in the smell for a few days and are wide at the top.  Plus, they're going to be thrown out anyway.

We can no longer access plastic garbage bags either and they went from being a scourge to being valued.  I think long and hard before I use up my remaining few.

Where are you that you cannot access plastic garbage bags and why? What do you put your garbage in?

[Sibley]

Bag of clothing and misc items ready to go to thrift store. Bag of stuff ready to go to animal shelter.

Also stopped being lazy and put some stuff where it belongs, rather than leaving it out.

There will be a decent amount of stuff leaving the house this week, going to my sister. Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litterbox? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

I use either bread bags or empty zip top cat/dog food bags if they're not too big.  They seal in the smell for a few days and are wide at the top.  Plus, they're going to be thrown out anyway.

We can no longer access plastic garbage bags either and they went from being a scourge to being valued.  I think long and hard before I use up my remaining few.

Where are you that you cannot access plastic garbage bags and why? What do you put your garbage in?

Pretty sure SunnyDays is referring to the single use plastic grocery bags, not the kitchen trash bags you buy at the store.

[SunnyDays]

Bag of clothing and misc items ready to go to thrift store. Bag of stuff ready to go to animal shelter.

Also stopped being lazy and put some stuff where it belongs, rather than leaving it out.

There will be a decent amount of stuff leaving the house this week, going to my sister. Including, amusingly enough, multiple bags of plastic grocery bags. Where she lives, single use plastic bags aren't a thing anymore except what else are you supposed to use to clean the litterbox? (That is a real question if you have an answer. I have never figured it out.) So plastic grocery bags from the midwest are going to the east coast.

I use either bread bags or empty zip top cat/dog food bags if they're not too big.  They seal in the smell for a few days and are wide at the top.  Plus, they're going to be thrown out anyway.

We can no longer access plastic garbage bags either and they went from being a scourge to being valued.  I think long and hard before I use up my remaining few.

Where are you that you cannot access plastic garbage bags and why? What do you put your garbage in?

Pretty sure SunnyDays is referring to the single use plastic grocery bags, not the kitchen trash bags you buy at the store.

Yes, exactly.  Canada banned them last year, along with plastic straws.  We can still buy kitchen trash bags, but they have no handles, so not as useful.

[Roadrunner53]

I am in Connecticut, USA and the stores no longer bag groceries in plastic bags either. They passed the law a few years ago. Not all states have passed the law yet.

[Sibley]

Yes, exactly.  Canada banned them last year, along with plastic straws.  We can still buy kitchen trash bags, but they have no handles, so not as useful.

And speaking of unintended consequences, what about the elderly or disabled who CAN'T drink from a cup and need a straw to drink safely? What are they supposed to do? Die of dehydration or aspiration?

I completely understand the problems created by single use plastics. But those single use plastics also solved problems, and sometimes very serious problems. It's not as easy as "ban single use plastic because BAD". If you want to ban the single use plastics, you also need to come up with solutions for all the problems that are suddenly going to pop up again.

[Roadrunner53]

Yes, exactly.  Canada banned them last year, along with plastic straws.  We can still buy kitchen trash bags, but they have no handles, so not as useful.

And speaking of unintended consequences, what about the elderly or disabled who CAN'T drink from a cup and need a straw to drink safely? What are they supposed to do? Die of dehydration or aspiration?

I completely understand the problems created by single use plastics. But those single use plastics also solved problems, and sometimes very serious problems. It's not as easy as "ban single use plastic because BAD". If you want to ban the single use plastics, you also need to come up with solutions for all the problems that are suddenly going to pop up again.

I do agree on the straws but there is a solution if someone has this issue. On Amazon they sell a travel straw that is collapsible and could hang on a keyring. It also comes with a tiny brush to clean it. If anyone needs this information this is the name of the item on Amazon: Reusable Metal Straws Collapsible Stainless Steel Straws with Cleaning Brush and Storage Case Portable Collapsible Straws with a Case for Travel Home Metal Straws Drinking

There are a variety of other stainless steel straws on Amazon and other websites. I personally bought some glass straws years back but don't recommend them. Glass is fragile. I wish I had not bought them.

In the scheme of things, straws don't seem to be the boogie man. There are tons of plastic items that are much larger and have a larger footprint in the landfills.

[SunnyDays]

Plastic straws have been replaced with paper ones.  They work fine for a single drink but not beyond that.  Th problem is that unless it's put into recycling, it just ends up in a bought plastic kitchen trash bag, where it still doesn't decompose.  Metal straws are sold a lot of places too.

[Sandi_k]

We bought rubber straws a couple of years ago at our local BevMo. We toss them in the dishwasher, and cut them in half for shorter cocktail glasses.

Much better than a paper straw.

[Fresh Bread]

Cleared up the garage & yard at the weekend. Two bikes to a charity, bunch of metal and cardboard to recycling. Still another couple of days worth of sorting to do but the floor is clear.

[LaineyAZ]

Started a pantry clean-out and found tea from 2012 - yikes.   I'd been thinking that tea doesn't really expire but I imagine this stuff might taste like dust. 
Also found an extra electric kettle that I'm donating to our local senior center.  And a neighbor who recently had a grandchild is going to get some baby toys that my grandchildren have outgrown. 

[BlueHouse]

@mspym- that sounds like a lovely day for both you and your mom!!

I empathize with the need to help a parent clear out the cupboards.  Every time I visit my Dad, I cannot believe that he still has the beach towels my sister and I picked out 40 years ago.  Every surface is littered with junk.  Not dirty, thankfully, just an accumulation of shit he and his wife buy on Amazon that occupies every horizontal surface.  UGH.

I sympathize about the junk.

I still have the beach towel I bought in Hawaii in 2002.  Not quite as old as your Dad's.  It is still in good shape, and has memories, not heading for the donation pile anytime soon.   ;-)

2 books your Dad might find useful, if he is inclined to actually read them.

Let it go, by Peter Walsh (yes, from Clean Sweep).
The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning.  My favourite.

oh my goodness on the towels.  I still have towels I inherited from my grandmother.  She's been dead for 37 years.  I use them for the dog now but they're still in decent shape.

[LeftA]

@BlueHouse ,your post had me calculating how long ago my own grandmothers passed away. 40 years for one and 33 for the other! It seems unbelievable to me that it was already so long ago.

Since last posting a few days ago, I’ve been working on my storage area and more specifically, children's clothing.

Yesterday I gave away 3 smaller boxes of older children’s clothing - mainly ages 6-8, with the odd item for 10 year's old. I now have one tote for ages 6-14 and a small box. I think I may cull once more, but these are all my absolute favourite things I’m not ready to let go of yet. I also have the space to keep them.

But, the really big progress was on baby clothes, that is, from newborn to 3T. I wasn’t ready to let it go initially and then when I finally was, I kept missing the opportunity - the child in question had outgrown these sizes. The stars have finally aligned! After several hours of organizing, the person is supposed to pick up today. I have a very large box, 2 medium sizes boxes and a big reusable bag of clothes ready. I’d say it’s several hundred pieces of clothing!! And, yesterday was probably another 75-100 pieces.

My rough estimates (excluding paper) is 600 items gone from my house in 2024.

[LeftA]

It’s been quiet here…

Since last posting I went through 3 boxes of paper from my storage area. I recycled a lot, shredded a tiny bit and got it down to less than 1 box full! These are papers from all my previous jobs and 22 years of schooling. For a sentimental person I think that’s pretty darn good!

From my basement, I got rid of some beauty products that I won in a raffle that I’m never going to use. So, my count is 615 items gone in 2024. (I decided not to count paper at all, though will include books in my count).

I now have 5 areas to go in my basement and 10 in my storage area. In total, I’ve done 205 areas throughout my house since starting last June. The end is in sight!

[crocheted_stache]

Earlier this week: took a <1" stack of paper to the office where there's a shred bin. I have a shredder at home, but it's awfully slow and tedious for any quantity.

Today wasn't much for decluttering, but I got the stove top clean after what I'm pretty sure is the last of the canning for the season and put a bunch of stuff away so it's not cluttering up the counter. A couple of overdue fruit ended the day in the compost, and the counters are clean, at least.

If it counts, we pruned one of our fruit trees.

And I think I may have talked DH into helping do shorter, more frequent cleaning and decluttering sessions. They'll last until we get busy, tired, or distracted, which is likely not long, knowing us, but maybe we'll make a dent first.

[LeftA]

@crocheted_stache , you got to do whatever works for you!

Since last posting a couple of days ago I did the following:
-Went through a plastic bag full of papers DH had put aside for shredding. TG I did because there were some papers in there that are important! I also Shredded a lot and recycled a ton of papers. This took about 2.5 hours - it was a lot of paper!
- Drove to the used bookstore - it’s a 25 minute drive and not convenient. But, I had another errand to run that was 2/3rds of the way there making it less wasteful. I only brought about 15 books because they are quite selective. (Though it seems this is more of a recent development because the place looked very disorganized and full of old, dilapidated books!). They took all but 2 and I made a whole 14 bucks, but my goal was to decluttering so I guess it was okay.
-Organized some of my gift boxes and Xmas decorations - I had recently purged and organized it but made some tweaks.

Overall, I’m running out of easy things to get done - the majority of the last ~12-15 spaces in my house are about giving away things that are more sentimental and going through the last of the paper. Apart from a small pile, the paper is now all organized and constrained in 2 filing cabinets. I could probably cull more of it but not sure I want to invest the time right now. It might be time to take a short break again.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We were out of town last week, so no progress was made. My husband forgot his ski pants & jacket. Luckily, DS18 had an extra jacket, so he wore that. But, he had to buy ski pants. He found an inexpensive pair ($35), and when we got home, I listed them on BN. He now has a check list for his ski stuff, and would really prefer not to wear cheapy ski pants, when he has a nice pair already. That said, the person we are giving them to is just trying out skiing, so it's a perfect option for a beginner.

I've also sold a few things lately:
-A Soda Stream
-Two pair of shoes

133/500 items out of the house

[crocheted_stache]

Sifted through some of the accumulation on my desk and came up with another handful of stuff to shred/toss. It's slow going. It mostly only looks better compared to how it was before. Most of what remains needs attention beyond just sorting and filing, and the mail is going to come and the next meeting is going to happen.

[crocheted_stache]

Two smallish items that were already selected for decluttering left my porch this morning with different free group participants, one of whom I think came by bike.  One pair of too-well-loved headphones made it all the way to an e-waste collection bin after sitting around in a "should go out someday" spot for much too long. (The sound was gone in one ear and cutting out in the other, and there was too much glued/snapped-together plastic to be possible to fix.)

I now have Buy Nothing takers lined up for the next three to five grocery-bag-sized items, depending on what I count as an item.

[Dutch Comfort]

Had some spare time last week and cleaned out several items:
- 2 big bags of clothes went to charity
- 1 set of 20-year old bedding went to recycling (even charity did not want this)
- sorted out Lego sets to store for DS
- 3 bags of trash went out of the attic
- several items were picked up from the curb by members of the local BN group

I CAN WALK TO MY DESK AGAIN (instead of almost having to climb to it)!

[oneday]

Congrats, @Dutch Comfort that's a great accomplishment!

[crocheted_stache]

One tiny victory here: polished off the remaining 3/4 of a thing of so-so dishwasher detergent given to me by a friend who no longer has a dishwasher, and recycled the empty container. I'll never buy this brand, but better to use it up for its intended purpose than cart it off to hazardous waste. We're now working through a second partial thing of a different dishwasher detergent from the same friend. The second detergent is not our usual choice either, but at least it's decent and it fits under the sink.

[Loretta]

After redying them Repeatedly I decided my 2 oldest Amazon Basics undershirts could no longer be worn in good conscience.  Also a pair of too tight socks that were irritating. 

[Bartie Musa]

Bartie Musa - There is truly something to be said for a clean and clutter less environment. Excellent job! I've been cleaning house a little here and there but definitely have more than necessary.

[LeftA]

It’s been a few days since I last posted.

Have been focusing mainly on paper in the basement. Went through an entire drawer of a filing cabinet and organized important paper. Shredded what wasn’t needed and returned some papers to their rightful owners (no idea why I had other peoples papers!). Also went through another pile of random papers. DH went through some papers too, which I then shredded, recycled or filed. After countless hours of going through paper (always underestimating what is left!), I think we are finally getting close to the end. Right now we have a small box and 2 accordion folders (one with a handle and the other open) left and I think that is it! We likely have some papers in our filing cabinet that we could get rid of, but I’m only going through that as needed (i. e., if what I file newly requires more space than currently available).

Meanwhile, in my storage area, I got rid of 2 boxes; gave back my sibling a box of his clothing and my mom a box of her greeting cards.

[Sibley]

Some unwanted de-cluttering here. The cat wanted to play yesterday, while I wanted to sleep in on a Saturday morning. My bedside table lamp was the victim. I'm not sure exactly how she did it, but I was woken up at 7:30 by the massive crash of a crystal lamp shattering into a million pieces on the floor. I then spent a good chunk of the day cleaning the room to get all the glass. Of course, I actually used that lamp and not having it is somewhat problematic, so I will be replacing it.

I did pull out a sweater that I decided I don't want. I'd gotten one as a test, didn't like it but never got rid of it.

[slackmax]

Sorry to hear about the lamp, Sibley.

Today I will spend a half hour, minimum, going through old nostalgia paperwork from my w*rk days. Will no doubt find some that I can recycle. 

[Weisass]

Offloaded a mattress (via craigslist for free) and a beanbag (for youth group at church) this week, slowly clearing the way for our oldest boy to get their own room later this year for their birthday.

[midweststache]

Offloaded a mattress (via craigslist for free) and a beanbag (for youth group at church) this week, slowly clearing the way for our oldest boy to get their own room later this year for their birthday.

We also gave away a twin mattress (for free!) through our BN group yesterday. (Still trying to find takers for the box springs and actual bed... sigh. We may just have a Goodwill trip in our future soon.)

[crocheted_stache]

Tossed the pair of sunglasses that broke in half the other day. They were nothing special, and I don't expect to be able to fix them.

Last half-dozen or so Buy Nothing items went all the way out.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Gave away a curling iron cover & a gallon container of hand sanitizer.

Went through my closet today & found ten shirts to get rid of. Have someone coming this week to pick them up via BN.

145/500 items out of the house

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Now that I'm funemployed, I've realized I don't need as many business casual clothes. I went through my closet again. Found four sweaters to give away.

I also went through the pantry & tossed some expired food. Gave away one can of white peaches that we will never use.

Gave away the last liter of expired hand sanitizer. No idea how we ended up with so many during COVID.

I also gathered up my running belt items, and have that listed on BN.

149/500 items out of the house

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've been on a real tear, with my free time. Woohoo!

Organized the garage shelves
-Broke down & recycled five ice packs
-Listed four boxes of masks on BN
-Listed three boxes of gloves on BN

Yard related:
-Filled the yard waste bin with weeds
-Filled my smaller bin with ivy I cut down off our fence. The ivy is an ongoing problem

-Wiped down my freezer
-Made a list of things to sell on eBay or FB market place
-Cleaned out my "hair products" drawer, and found a few packages of rubber bands I don't need. Gave those away on BN.

[crocheted_stache]

Took two large-ish boxes left over from a recent acquisition over to a BN member and neighbor who needs to pack up her kitchen in advance of a remodel. Got to talk to that neighbor about home improvement projects.

I also made the rounds on my bike and picked up and dropped off a few other items, all consumables, as it happened.

[Sibley]

-Filled my smaller bin with ivy I cut down off our fence. The ivy is an ongoing problem

My parent's house and yard were taken over by ivy. We pulled it out. Got what roots we could, but we knew were missing roots and just needed to remove the bulk. Then the next year, we were able to tackle what grew back. Better job of pulling/digging roots + pouring boiling water on the roots every couple weeks eventually took care of the rest. No chemicals used.

[oneday]

Since November:

• haz mat
• e-waste
• household goods (4 boxes)
• papers and photos from the fridge
• excess bags & water bottles
• empty spice jars
• luggage trolly
• ex roomie's video games
• ex roomie's book case glass doors
• old textbook (sold!)
• heating pad
• area rug
• box for electronics I no longer own
• stool of guilt & anger
• small suitcase
• box of miscellany: clothes, books, water bottles, etc

New:

• ex roomie's side table

This was the largest remaining items of ex roomie that I agreed to sell. Yay! Now there is room for the Craigslist dining table that has been on my patio for a few weeks. It needs a good de-spidering first.

Remaining ex roomie items:
more video games (next to be listed)
3 boxes sewing patterns (shipped most valuable patterns to ER to sell herself)
fleece (listed but probably needs price adjustment)*
flannel*

FSM give me strength...


*each an Ikea bag full

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Filled my smaller bin with ivy I cut down off our fence. The ivy is an ongoing problem

My parent's house and yard were taken over by ivy. We pulled it out. Got what roots we could, but we knew were missing roots and just needed to remove the bulk. Then the next year, we were able to tackle what grew back. Better job of pulling/digging roots + pouring boiling water on the roots every couple weeks eventually took care of the rest. No chemicals used.

The ivy on our property originates from our neighbors side, and they seem very disinterested in trying to get rid of it, unfortunately.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

BN folks picked up much of the stuff from my last post. I also found a taker for my running belt + water bottles that go with it, and a pair of new flip flops that I received as a gift.

I went through my closet & found a work tshirt & hoodie for the donation pile.

176/200 items out of the house