Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!

[Nancy]

All good points about the craft supplies (sunk cost and gifting to friends for joy). You have all helped me tremendously! A very hearty thank you!

Rosy + advicist, you're making excellent progress. I'm inspired!

[riverffashion]

Another 3 shirts. One skirt, and one bra out . also one big beach bag that I do not like anymore out . was using to keep paints and brushes but transferred them to a shoebox stacked with other art and sewing supplies also in one shoebox each, easily accessible on shelf in closet .

[firelight]

When does decluttering end?

My closets contain only things I want to keep/spark joy for me and I've given away or cleared over a 1000 items in the past two months. Everything (except my husband's closet) is cleared of clutter. Items to be sold or gifted would be done soon (July 15 to be exact - that is my self imposed deadline to clear out the sell items) and I've started on the digital decluttering.

However, this morning I see that our mail shelf is again full (from past week) and I'm finding a shelf here, a bag there that I didn't catch the first time I decluttered. I'm also starting to take another look at all the stuff we still have.

But I'm starting to feel the fatigue too. I'm not sure when is a good time to stop and just let things be. I sometimes worry I still have too much and sometimes think I'm throwing something that my husband or kid might need. When do you stop decluttering?

[Cookie78]

When does decluttering end?

My closets contain only things I want to keep/spark joy for me and I've given away or cleared over a 1000 items in the past two months. Everything (except my husband's closet) is cleared of clutter. Items to be sold or gifted would be done soon (July 15 to be exact - that is my self imposed deadline to clear out the sell items) and I've started on the digital decluttering.

However, this morning I see that our mail shelf is again full (from past week) and I'm finding a shelf here, a bag there that I didn't catch the first time I decluttered. I'm also starting to take another look at all the stuff we still have.

But I'm starting to feel the fatigue too. I'm not sure when is a good time to stop and just let things be. I sometimes worry I still have too much and sometimes think I'm throwing something that my husband or kid might need. When do you stop decluttering?

Personally I'm going through everything in rounds. Round 1 is nearly over and I've started on round 2 in some rooms already. I expect I'll take decluttering off my to-do list after round 3, but I imagine by then I will have developed a habit and will naturally declutter here and there just to prevent the clutter from coming back. So I don't think it'll ever end, but it'll get easier and more natural over time.

[acorn]

Could someone give me a pep talk that it would be better to get rid of the stamping supplies at even a penny on the dollar I paid for them, then to keep them unused in my closet?

I am having a very hard time clearing them, because I know they cost so much money.  And maybe I'll use them against someday...

The expense was incurred when you purchased them, not when you get rid of them. Keeping them and never using them is as good as not having them at all.

Make plans to use them this weekend or get rid of them. The sooner they are gone, the sooner you'll stop having negative feelings about their cost every time you look at them.

The new blog post is quite apt - loss aversion, sunk cost fallacy. Just having them around is making you unhappy so sell or give them away. You've gotten all the use you can out of it, and if you need them someday, you can get them on Craigslist (but you probably won't need to). A couple of weeks from now you'll be wondering why it took you so long to get rid of them.

[riverffashion]

And a pair of fleece socks that make my feet sweat even in winter are out. The simple things hahaha.

[theadvicist]

I thought that when I saw the new post too, acorn!

This is long, get ready...

I caved and bought the Marie Kondo book with an amazon voucher I had. Loving it so far! I thought it would be all patronising and self-helpy, but no, she tells it straight. She uses real examples from her clients, and is sometimes quite scathing about them and their habits, I love it!

My favourite so far is her talking about a client who was stockpiling loo roll. The clients excuse was digestive issues. Marie says,

"But even if she used one roll a day, she had at least three months’ supply. I’m not sure she could have used up one roll a day even if she spent all day wiping her bottom, and by that time her bottom would have been rubbed raw. It made me wonder if I should be giving her skin cream rather than lessons in cleaning."

Made me LOL! Enjoying it very much so far, although I wasn't quite sure when to actually start? At one point she says 'let's get to it!' so I went and started on my wardrobe, but then ended up reading the rest of the chapter as it contains lot of tips. Now I'm not sure if I should stop reading to tackle my books, or read all the way through and then do it.

I did another pass through of my clothes having read that chapter, and got rid of about 20 more things (even after all the weeding I've been doing). I used to store 3 bags of out of season stuff and I got it down to 1 by focussing not on whether I wear it, but whether it brings me joy. I was amazed how much stuff I wore because it was 'useful' (goes with anything, warm, easy outfit) rather than because it made me feel good.

I'm down to one small bag of out of season, and I would have hanging space for it all but my hanging area is 50/50 full length and half length, and I have way more dresses than tops so the full-length side is full, the other side has lots of capacity. Will incorporate a 70/30 split into my new bedroom design when the time comes.

I also liked how she says, you think I'm nutty don't you? Well, just try it anyway. So I did with the socks (folding, not balling up). I also rolled all my tights as described. I must say, I do like it! With tights especially it takes up a lot less space, and I could see at a glance that I was short on nude and needed to get some washing on. Much better than my usual tug of war trying to extract on pair from the tangle.

And her advice on hanging clothes so that they rise to the right, it sounds mad, but she said to draw a diagonal line in the air up to your right, and then one down to your right, and see how it makes you feel. I think I need to reverse my hanging order!

Also got bids on lots of things I listed on ebay earlier in the week, and have sold a book on amazon.  Thanks so much to everyone who recommended the book!

[ZiziPB]

My DD and I decluttered her room yesterday. It took us a good part of the day but her closet and her room never looked better. We have a huge pile of stuff for donation and a few items for consignment. We used the Konmarie method and it worked quite well.  She had a ton of clothes that she didn't like or outgrew so that's the majority of the pile. We'll probably need to do another sweep through her various miscellaneous items but she's made good progress there too considering she generally keeps a ton of stuff for sentimental reasons. 

I've been feeling so much better since I've started my decluttering and minimizing "mission" ;-). Clutter really stresses me out. 

[Astatine]

I threw out more photos yesterday. Yay! Now I'm just down to printed ones from the last 5 years. I should really just chuck them all, but I'm not quite at that stage. The only time I ever look at my photos is when I'm going through them to cull. D'oh!

Last weekend, I sorted our big pile of paperwork. We use the bottom drawer of a chest of drawers that sits next to the front door for mail that needs to be kept and filed. I ended up throwing out 2/3 of the papers (realised we really didn't need to keep vet receipts, for example) and DH tore them up and we chucked them into the compost. Normally we recycle paper, but neither of us are comfortable with putting stuff with personal identity/bank account details straight into the recycling bin. We did have a shredder but it died after a year. Don't want to replace it cos the next one is also likely to not last that long, and having to send stuff to landfill unnecessarily sickens me a bit these days.

tl;dr - filed some papers, threw out the rest.

[Melody]

I cleaned the house yesterday but it made me realise how much easier cleaning would be if I had less junk.
I also realised I have enough stationary to last a very long time so I might start taking some of it to work where at least I will use it (even though I can of course get it free from the stationary cupboard) as I really just want to see it used. 

[tofuchampion]

I started to type a post asking for opinions on whether to keep a certain set of items (workout clothes that are currently too small bc of pregnancy weight)... and in typing out my reasons for keeping them, realized they were dumb reasons. They'll go in the next donation bag!

[MsPeacock]

So... got the Kondo book from the library last week and am poking through it. So far, so good. I think I've always been a declutterer by nature for quite some time (plus i moved every 2-4 years for 15 years or so - which does reinforce a certain level of decluttering). I've been in the same house now for 7 years and I do feel that stuff is piling up. But some of it is like big furniture things - not just little cluttery things. Like my bedroom added a bookshelf and a wicker laundry basket things over the 7 years. And of course those furniture things are full of little cluttery things! So, today I have a plan in place for the laundry hamper to go (it was holding clean bedding), and some of the bedding to go too (naturally). Struggling with the books and bookshelves (there are many in the house).  Eyeing a chair in the living room that I loved the look of but don't find particularly comfortable and it rarely gets used. Thinking if I shred many of the papers I can ditch the file cabinet and at least one desk....

Anyone done the big stuff and not just the little piles of stuff?

[firelight]

Felt the result of all our decluttering - we had friends over this weekend and cleaning took just two hours (while before it would've taken atleast a day, putting things away and then cleaning everything and it would've resulted in a fight about who's stuff is lying all around the house). I'm loving it!

Now we've decided to do this level of cleaning every week so we can enjoy our home even more. :)

Started on digital decluttering - can anyone recommend any books for how to go about it? I feel overwhelmed by that task.

[PMG]

I'm working on ripping my cd collection as I write. I'll be so glad when this project is done.

Sorted the past school years papers. Scanned what I need. Recycling a 3 inch thick pile.

Knotted a comforter that's been sitting around for months waiting to be quilted.  I generally despise knotted comforters but it was time... It is a gift and will soon be taking up space in someone else's home! ;)

[riverffashion]

So... got the Kondo book from the library last week and am poking through it. So far, so good. I think I've always been a declutterer by nature for quite some time (plus i moved every 2-4 years for 15 years or so - which does reinforce a certain level of decluttering). I've been in the same house now for 7 years and I do feel that stuff is piling up. But some of it is like big furniture things - not just little cluttery things. Like my bedroom added a bookshelf and a wicker laundry basket things over the 7 years. And of course those furniture things are full of little cluttery things! So, today I have a plan in place for the laundry hamper to go (it was holding clean bedding), and some of the bedding to go too (naturally). Struggling with the books and bookshelves (there are many in the house).  Eyeing a chair in the living room that I loved the look of but don't find particularly comfortable and it rarely gets used. Thinking if I shred many of the papers I can ditch the file cabinet and at least one desk....

Anyone done the big stuff and not just the little piles of stuff?

Well done.
Yes I hav and the spareness is lovely.
Keep up the good work
 

[Anatidae V]

So... got the Kondo book from the library last week and am poking through it. So far, so good. I think I've always been a declutterer by nature for quite some time (plus i moved every 2-4 years for 15 years or so - which does reinforce a certain level of decluttering). I've been in the same house now for 7 years and I do feel that stuff is piling up. But some of it is like big furniture things - not just little cluttery things. Like my bedroom added a bookshelf and a wicker laundry basket things over the 7 years. And of course those furniture things are full of little cluttery things! So, today I have a plan in place for the laundry hamper to go (it was holding clean bedding), and some of the bedding to go too (naturally). Struggling with the books and bookshelves (there are many in the house).  Eyeing a chair in the living room that I loved the look of but don't find particularly comfortable and it rarely gets used. Thinking if I shred many of the papers I can ditch the file cabinet and at least one desk....

Anyone done the big stuff and not just the little piles of stuff?

Well done.
Yes I hav and the spareness is lovely.
Keep up the good work

We cleared 4 small sets of curved glass corner shelves and sold 3. I've sold a large desk top I had and replaced it with one 2/3 the size. We're currently trying to work out which of our sets of shelves we need, and then sell the ones we don't like after we've been through the stuff they hold. Should get rid of at least 1 bookshelf. We have more drawers in our bedroom than I'd like, but they hold bedding as well as clothes and make everything work much better. Getting rid of the big stuff feels great and is a much more obvious change then the little pieces.

[Astatine]

I 'fessed to DH that I was feeling overwhelmed with his stuff and kept daydreaming of a near-empty house. He loves his stuff (mostly DVDs, CDs, books and comics) so we're kind of at an impasse. But he did get rid of a small box of DVDs that we will take to charity next week. No point selling stuff here - the secondhand market is oversaturated.

Anyway, I also moved my small pile of photos into our box of wedding memorabilia. I found the off-cut from my wedding dress (it was a blue dress, not white) and chucked it away immediately. I love that I married DH but my memories of getting married (the lead-up, the day itself and the honeymoon) are quite fraught and ambivalent. I was so very very sick but didn't realise it at the time (spent more than a week in hospital after we got back from our honeymoon), and so I don't actually like having many mementoes of that time. I'd rather just enjoy today and being married, rather than being all nostalgic about our wedding day. Anyway, I'm rambling.

[Squirrel away]

I 'fessed to DH that I was feeling overwhelmed with his stuff and kept daydreaming of a near-empty house. He loves his stuff (mostly DVDs, CDs, books and comics) so we're kind of at an impasse. But he did get rid of a small box of DVDs that we will take to charity next week. No point selling stuff here - the secondhand market is oversaturated.

My husband is a pack rat too, he did clear out some stuff but he still has 7 large boxes of vinyl records and he still keeps all his CDs even though he doesn't even listen to them. *Sigh*

ETA I suppose I should be grateful that he doesn't have his comic collection here as he is keeping it at his Mum's house.

[lbdance]

Well.. having an unexpected house guest come to stay this week (don't know for how long yet - although it is likely to be intermittent) meant I did a bit of a declutter in the spare room this weekend. The room was mostly tidy, but the drawers / wardrobe / under the bed are storage places for items I want to keep, but don't know where to put them. Some items are the use once a year type - and cannot easily be replaced, so they stay. Some items are more of a sentimental nature. I go through this room about once a year, and each time find more stuff to get rid of. I mostly feel good now, there have been a few things come out of the room that need to be re-homed. Some toys from my childhood, are to go to nieces / nephews or be sold. I have slowly come to the realisation that there is no point in keeping them under the bed, when they were designed to be played with! There are some items which I still need to figure out a better home for. I would love it if my guest bedroom only had items for guests in it, but with limited other storage in the house that is not possible.

[riverffashion]

I am now engaged to longtime boyfriend ( 6yrs ) & we do not live together , but did a while back for two years.. Anyway, we will begin to look for a place , sml apt or similar. My things are very minimal by now, but his are not so much . he has tons of clothes, hats, shoes, etc.  Also tons of clutter type random things that serve no purpose really besides adorning every surface of his place.  Ha! Opposites attract sometimes. Most likely he'll donate a few things, but keep the bulk and I won't give him a hard time . His furniture is rather minimal tho so that's a plus.  I foresee my few possessions will dwindle further as I always do a major sweep if everything every time I move :) . for me is good fun and a great additional motivator.

[acorn]

Emptied out a huge dresser and got rid of it. So much more space in the room now. Getting rid of furniture (esp drawers and such) feels really satisfying! I find that the lack of storage space really helps in decluttering/accumulating things - after all I have no place to put it now.

Also sold an old spare bike yesterday. July's looking good!

[mc6]

After giving it a couple weeks on Freecycle with no bites, I took my old broken Canon printer to the trash room this morning.  I feel glad to have that nonfunctioning monstrosity out of my living room. 

[Mrs.LC]

A good friend informed me that she is having a garage sale in a few weeks and that I'm welcome to bring stuff over. Yeah! I'm sure there is something stashed in this house that I can get rid of. We had a huge sale in May but there is always more.

[Meadow Lark]

Mrs LC, I like your blog!
Today I admitted I needed to give away a shirt that looked great on the hanger and horrible on me.  Even though the tags were still on it.  I had a whole fight about it.

[Squirrel away]

I got rid of a few more things yesterday. I am sending my old mobile phone and charger for recycling. I don't know why I was holding onto it for so long.

I threw away a blanket for my cat which she had ruined.

A couple items of makeup binned, the mascara had dried up.

I am waiting for my new drawer dividers to arrive and I want everything non clothes related to fit in three of the drawers so I may have to move some stuff around and see if there is anything else that can be purged.:)

ETA I just moved some paperwork from the drawer to the box files and threw away some advertising flyers. Threw away some old costume jewellery as I doubt it would sell at a charity shop.

[theadvicist]

Anyone done the big stuff and not just the little piles of stuff?

MsPeacock, I hadn't intended to get rid of any big stuff, but I found that getting rid of the little stuff freed me to get rid of the big stuff.

The first item of furniture to go was a chest of drawers, which (of course) was given to me as a hand me down. It held napkins, placemats etc. When I cleared out some drawers of kitchen gadgets I never used I decided to put the dining items in there, so the drawers were obsolete. Moving them out gave me space to move other stuff around and freed up much needed circulating space near our dining table.

Then just on Friday night I cleared out another chest of drawers in the bathroom. I've mentioned my toiletries struggle before, but after finishing Marie Kondo I just tackled it head on. I haven't bought and toiletries for months, and pretty much never intend to again (I make all my own creams and lotions and get given enough bubble bath / shower gel etc to see me through).

So knowing I was bringing no more in I felt better about throwing out stuff I was never going to use. I had a few duplicates I know I will get to, they went into a small cosmetics bag on a shelf. I moved the first aid and medicines out of the bathroom into another drawer which had been cleared out thanks to Marie.

Getting rid of that chest of drawers opened up the bathroom immensely.

So if you've done the little things you'll likely have excess storage capacity and be able to get rid of some bigger items.

[Melody]

Tossed a cardigan out which had faded badly in the sun (after only 2 days on the line in winter - WTF???) and a merino long sleeve t-shirt that a moth had had a feast on. Neither need to be replaced, I have plenty more cardis and merinos so that's two less items in my home.
Bought new winter work shoes today but left them under my desk at work (oops) as soon as I have them home and waterproofed the current pair is going in the bin. I didn't feel any purchase guilt as I knew they were replacing a pair that had well and truly done their time. Next planned purchase is a pair of summer work shoes to replace the two crappy/beat up pairs I currently have in my closet. The aim is to have two good quality and stylish pairs of shoes for work and be done with it.

[Mrs.LC]

Mrs LC, I like your blog!
Today I admitted I needed to give away a shirt that looked great on the hanger and horrible on me.  Even though the tags were still on it.  I had a whole fight about it.

Thanks. Glad you liked it! The blog is just getting started so come back for more and bring your friends!

[theadvicist]

Mrs LC, I like your blog!
Today I admitted I needed to give away a shirt that looked great on the hanger and horrible on me.  Even though the tags were still on it.  I had a whole fight about it.

Thanks. Glad you liked it! The blog is just getting started so come back for more and bring your friends!

I checked it as well and liked it as well!

[MsPeacock]

Finished Knodo's book this weekend. I have folded most of the drawers in my dresser as she recommends - why have I never heard of this before??? It is such an improvement to be able to see everything.

Started on weeding down my books - which is a major hurdle for me. I didn't take them all off the shelf as she recommends (that I will probably save for round 2), but took shelves and shelves out for donation. And now thinking back to some I left behind - those will go too.

YAY!

[kander]

Great, MsPeacock. I've also read the book and I'm very enthusiastic about it!

Didn't start with the clothes, because I did that a few weeks ago, so I started with the books. I've cut or book collection in half :)

[Sibley]

Sunday morning I was in the basement, and finally got around to opening the box and putting the furnace filters in the utility room. Looked at it, thought that I really needed to clean it out, closed the door and went back upstairs.

An hour later roomie and I were frantically removing everything from the utility room because the ejector pump failed and was flooding the basement. Thank god, it's laundry water and not toilet water!

Most of the clutter is paint cans. Some were there when we moved in. 2 gallons of a color that had been tried and rejected by a previous occupant and 9 pint cans of test colors from the living room got put on the free stuff section of Craigslist. One person coming tonight for the gallons, and someone hopefully coming tomorrow for the rest. If they flake out then I'll just put the ad back up.

Need to figure out which can of brown is the right color and use it for some touchups, then dispose of the other can. Also need to go through the rest and figure out what's actually on the walls, then get rid of the rest. Plus, I think the huge container of spackle has dried out and can get tossed. Already tossed the cardboard boxes that got wet.

Looking forward to getting the pump fixed so we can wash everything that got used for mopping up. Still working on the cleanup in the basement, but mostly trying to dry everything asap.

[acorn]

Sunday morning I was in the basement, and finally got around to opening the box and putting the furnace filters in the utility room. Looked at it, thought that I really needed to clean it out, closed the door and went back upstairs.

An hour later roomie and I were frantically removing everything from the utility room because the ejector pump failed and was flooding the basement. Thank god, it's laundry water and not toilet water!

Most of the clutter is paint cans. Some were there when we moved in. 2 gallons of a color that had been tried and rejected by a previous occupant and 9 pint cans of test colors from the living room got put on the free stuff section of Craigslist. One person coming tonight for the gallons, and someone hopefully coming tomorrow for the rest. If they flake out then I'll just put the ad back up.

Need to figure out which can of brown is the right color and use it for some touchups, then dispose of the other can. Also need to go through the rest and figure out what's actually on the walls, then get rid of the rest. Plus, I think the huge container of spackle has dried out and can get tossed. Already tossed the cardboard boxes that got wet.

Looking forward to getting the pump fixed so we can wash everything that got used for mopping up. Still working on the cleanup in the basement, but mostly trying to dry everything asap.

ouch! that sounds like a big mess, hope the pump gets fixed asap and you'll get a sparkling clean and decluttered basement!

[Zaga]

DH and I spent some quality time in the basement over the weekend throwing crap out. 

A few months ago we got a pretty large dumpster and gutted the basement.  In this process a ton of crap got thrown away, which was way awesome.  However, this weekend showed both of us that there is still a lot down there that has to go.  We only had the dumpster for a week, and we filled it right to the brim with everything from some concrete walls and ceiling tiles to old things of DH's gram that we just didn't want around any longer.

Still found some old expired food.  Still scraping tiles off the floor.  Still going through boxes we ignored in the demolition purge.  It's coming along.  Trash goes out tonight, I'm hoping for at least 4 bags of trash and to fill the recycle bin at least halfway (we have one of the huge 55+ gallon ones).

[Mrs.LC]

Mrs LC, I like your blog!
Today I admitted I needed to give away a shirt that looked great on the hanger and horrible on me.  Even though the tags were still on it.  I had a whole fight about it.

Thanks. Glad you liked it! The blog is just getting started so come back for more and bring your friends!

I checked it as well and liked it as well!

Thanks for the support!

[Nancy]

I finally decluttered the kitchen gadgets! Woot! I'm excited. I knew it wouldn't be hard to get rid of things, but was nervous about the volume. Turns out, we don't have that much stuff, just limited space. I didn't declutter food since I am strongly against food waste (sorry Kondo, on this we part ways), but I'm committed to eating down my dried goods once again.

We are inching closer and closer to the hobby supplies. I'm actually excited to get to them and get rid of them!

 

[Melody]

Task for the weekend: get the book from the library and do some focused decluttering. I also want to learn the folding tricks as I wear a lot of t-shirts and tank tops and have yet to figure out a way to keep the draw clean. 

[Melody]

I finally decluttered the kitchen gadgets! Woot! I'm excited. I knew it wouldn't be hard to get rid of things, but was nervous about the volume. Turns out, we don't have that much stuff, just limited space. I didn't declutter food since I am strongly against food waste (sorry Kondo, on this we part ways), but I'm committed to eating down my dried goods once again.

We are inching closer and closer to the hobby supplies. I'm actually excited to get to them and get rid of them!

In terms of food decluttering could you take the unwanted/unhealthy items (unopened stuff like cans etc) and put them in one of those donation boxes out the front of the supermarket. We always have them at Christmas but they also appear at other times of the year like homeless week (yes its a thing) and the like. Another alternative is to given the unwanted food to family/friends/neighbours. I gave my mum a bunch of flavoured tea I didn't like... The tea will get used and I don't have to drink it. Win win! I have also gotten rid of food by leaving it in the kitchen at work (stuff like weird powdered iced tea mix) co workers happily consumed it.

[Nancy]

Excellent point, Melody! If I left food at work it would get devoured. I'll go through my food with that in mind. Thanks!

[happy]

I made a foray into DD's room and even though I hardly touched the surface we ended up with a large bag of rubbish which half filled the garbage bin, and 4 bags/boxes of  stuff went to the family store.  And another two to go.  This is huge since DD is usually very protective of her treasures.

I honestly don't know how I ended up with a house with so much stuff in it.

[norabird]

Brought some stuff for clothing re-sale yesterday (though I did use store credit to get a skirt at one of them oops...), and a bag of books to re-sell today with a bag for donation hopefully going out tomorrow. Growing the twice, clothing swap, and fall trade piles. I feel like most of my 'de-cluttering' is mostly just trying to turn things I'm not using into small cash infusions, so not very Marie Kondo maybe, but I realized I might be able to move my cookbooks onto my regular bookshelf from their space above the stove. Not sure what else would go where they are now but kitchen space always is useful. Costco buying really takes up room!

[Sibley]

Sunday morning I was in the basement, and finally got around to opening the box and putting the furnace filters in the utility room. Looked at it, thought that I really needed to clean it out, closed the door and went back upstairs.

An hour later roomie and I were frantically removing everything from the utility room because the ejector pump failed and was flooding the basement. Thank god, it's laundry water and not toilet water!

Most of the clutter is paint cans. Some were there when we moved in. 2 gallons of a color that had been tried and rejected by a previous occupant and 9 pint cans of test colors from the living room got put on the free stuff section of Craigslist. One person coming tonight for the gallons, and someone hopefully coming tomorrow for the rest. If they flake out then I'll just put the ad back up.

Need to figure out which can of brown is the right color and use it for some touchups, then dispose of the other can. Also need to go through the rest and figure out what's actually on the walls, then get rid of the rest. Plus, I think the huge container of spackle has dried out and can get tossed. Already tossed the cardboard boxes that got wet.

Looking forward to getting the pump fixed so we can wash everything that got used for mopping up. Still working on the cleanup in the basement, but mostly trying to dry everything asap.

ouch! that sounds like a big mess, hope the pump gets fixed asap and you'll get a sparkling clean and decluttered basement!

All fixed now! Basement is just about back to normal - still have ventilation going to help with the drying process, but we think it's about 95% dry.

Got rid of 2 gallons of paint. The rest of the paint colors that aren't currently on the walls are in the garage, going to check them to see if they're still good (I suspect at least one isn't), and then put them up on Craigslist. The ones that are on the walls can stay.

[jrubin]

For me it's been an ongoing struggle - both the DH and the two kiddos are more on the hoarder side - and while I'm not a hoarder, I have a lot of my own stuff that is pretty disorganized. I've been working on reducing the amount of "stuff" little by little - selling it on the FB tag-sale sites. No shipping like ebay and where our house is - not much ability for a tagsale. In the past month, I've managed to sell almost $300 worth of things, and probably about $1000 in the last 9 months or so. All of the proceeds going to our Early Retirement :)  Finally the Hubs and Kids are seeing the benefits and have started to randomly bring me things to post/sell for them. I've cleared/donated 3 bags of clothes from my closet (not even a dent - but not ready to MK it yet), and 3 bags of clothes from the kids closets. It's pretty overwhelming for me - we REALLY have a LOT of stuff - seriously UGH!! But getting there. The MMM mindset and this forum have really helped me to see where I'd like to be in comparison to where I am. I literally haven't even been to the mall since October 2014, which is HUGE for me - no mindless shopping and adding to the 'stuff'. It's a long road - and I really appreciate everyone on this forum that reminds me I'm not alone, I'm making progress, and there are lifetime rewards in sight. So thank you all!

[alleykat]

I am beginning to declutter again.  I had to take a break from it as I have done a major declutter within the last year or so. I have taken out some storage containers and am ready to go through them. I just don't know what to do with my collectibles.  They aren't worth much, I checked on ebay and most are not selling at all.  I am not ready to take that hit but I don't want them either.  What a dilemma.

[Sibley]

I am beginning to declutter again.  I had to take a break from it as I have done a major declutter within the last year or so. I have taken out some storage containers and am ready to go through them. I just don't know what to do with my collectibles.  They aren't worth much, I checked on ebay and most are not selling at all.  I am not ready to take that hit but I don't want them either.  What a dilemma.

What type of collectibles?

[riverffashion]

A bag of clothing out today to neighbors - a dress, pants, several shirts, a skirt, a couple handkerchiefs. And a book .

[riverffashion]

Also went thru a small stack of papers in my dressers top drawer . always mange to collect ...
Also, go thru my car to order things every week or so ( recycle expired coupons and trash out from door etc. Tidy up items in trunk & donate any items hav gathered there ) .

[DagobertDuck]

I just don't know what to do with my collectibles.

I don't want them

You do know what to do ;-)

[jrubin]

I have some collectibles too, like Lladro statues that were gifted to me. Not really moving from what I've seen on eBay, not sure how to sell any other way :(

[Melody]

Excellent point, Melody! If I left food at work it would get devoured. I'll go through my food with that in mind. Thanks!

Happy to help. I am very good at giving things away but not so much to charity where I am sometimes doubtful if the stuff gets used/appreciated and don't have the personal connection to get a warm fuzzy from it. I have never felt the need to de clutter a suit jacket which is too big for me (and I have two more black suit jackets) but as soon as I saw an unemployed friend needed one I was very enthusiastic about decluttering it. So I usually focus on finding more appreciative homes for things which helps me de clutter. I suppose because I then don't feel "omg I wasted how much on this" but I go "yay... I am making someone happy... Warm fuzzy feelings!!!" I am super good about old towels to the cat haven though... Excuse to visit cute kitties and always appreciated.