Author Topic: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!  (Read 1851403 times)

FrugalShrew

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1950 on: June 22, 2015, 02:11:59 PM »
Oh dear, I have LOTS of things that my parents are storing for me. Reminds me of one writer's confession on Apartment Therapy:

Quote
[W]hen I posted my own small space manifesto earlier this year, about how happy and peaceful my little 260 square foot apartment made me feel . . . I got an indignant phone call from my mother, who wanted to know if I had admitted to the Apartment Therapy community that the reason my small space was so uncluttered and zen-y was that half of my stuff was still at my parent's house.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/the-dirty-secret-of-small-space-living-219439.

Meanwhile, I creep forward with progress at my own apartment. Over the weekend, I donated a bag of clothes, a pair of shoes, a spatula, a skirt hanger, and a poster. Unfortunately, I have also been ordering new work clothes online, so it feels like a wash (though in a fairly responsible way -- trying to buy quality basics that fit well and will last a long time so I can simplify my closet).
« Last Edit: June 22, 2015, 04:13:04 PM by FrugalShrew »

DagobertDuck

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1951 on: June 22, 2015, 02:30:17 PM »
I'm very proud of myself here. There is nothing at my parents house that should be in mine.
Way to go!
There's lots of stuff at my parents house that doesn't fit in my current apartment, but even if I had a bigger house, I still wouldn't want it.

Better get rid of it now, or I'll have to sort it all out when my parents die or move to a nursing home.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1952 on: June 22, 2015, 02:44:45 PM »
My mom dropped all of my stuff off within a month of buying a house, before I really had a chance to breathe from unpacking the bulk of my stuff.  :(  I culled it down to one bin.

tmac

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1953 on: June 22, 2015, 03:07:56 PM »
My sister was notorious for moving out of my parents' house for a few months, moving back with all her new stuff, then moving out again but leaving much of the junk in the basement. She did it three times. When I left after college, I made sure to clear all my stuff out. My sister's stuff is still here. She moved out for the last time 25 years ago.

amandapdx

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1954 on: June 22, 2015, 03:24:21 PM »
When my husband and I bought our house, my parents actually hired a semi truck to come and take all the stuff I'd ever left there. plus a piano and some smaller furniture, plus all of this stuff my mom thought I would want. Something like 75 boxes plus furniture. I still have a bunch of those to go through. Since the attic storage is right next to my kids' room, I am having a hard time getting to it, though it's a goal for this year to clear out both the basement and the attic so we can start some house projects. Thanks, Mom and Dad! I am grateful, but they are packrats and have such a high volume of stuff! I grew up the same way but am ready for a change.

In the meantime, I have been working on going through all of the kids' stuff we've accumulated in the past 6 years since our first was born, and selling or donating it. This spring I made over $400 selling mostly kids' clothes at 3 different consignment sales. It's a few hours of work plus drop-off and pick-up, but these are not amazing clothes and I never would have been able to make any money on any of them through Craigslist. The toys I try on Craigslist first so I can get 100% of the sale instead of the 65% I get at the consignment sales. This cash ends up covering the costs of buying the larger clothes for my two boys, plus some toys or other things like new bike carriers, and babysitting for our rare nights out.

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1955 on: June 22, 2015, 06:34:04 PM »
I think things are clearing mentally for me with the de-cluttering.  I am beginning to see possibilities I did not see before and am revelling in the cleared areas.  I am still in love with seeing the floor we unearthed last September.  I have not completed the house but have an urge to revisit a few spots to get rid of some things I hung onto the first time around.

I just LOVE looking in my closet and seeing it so clear and clean and beautiful.  Lately I have been taking an hour here and there and rearranging things in drawers, etc.and that of course leads to more turfing out, and more beauty. 

I find that thinking of approaching an entire room or closet can be daunting but dealing with one area only seems do-able to me.  Also, having a friend here to help makes all the difference to how long I will stick with clearing out.  It helps to have someone cheering me on for getting rid of things.

Thus far no regrets, only joy.  That is, no regrets at having gotten rid of something, but plenty of regrets at seeing how I used to spend my money. 


theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1956 on: June 23, 2015, 04:42:04 AM »

Thus far no regrets, only joy.  That is, no regrets at having gotten rid of something, but plenty of regrets at seeing how I used to spend my money.

This is exactly how I feel. Hopefully it will keep me from impulse purchases going forward.

One thing I'm struggling with is our medicine cabinet. I see bloggers with only 100 things, and I think, 'What about plasters (bandaids)'? What about all those things I have left over that were used once... but might be needed again. Cold and flu remedies I didn't finish. Cough mixture. Some magnesium sulfate used to remove a splinter. I don't have a cold right now. I rarely get splinters, but wow, when you've got one, it hurts. What does everyone else do about this stuff? Just accept it's useful and move on? Or get rid of it and allow the chemist to store it for you? It doesn't help that we are about a half hour from an all night chemist.


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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1957 on: June 23, 2015, 05:11:26 AM »
I keep my meds and bandages since they are useful. I got rid of duplicates, expired medicine, and things I wouldn't use even if their intended purpose arose. I'm not concerned with having  X amount of items in my house. I just want the things that I need to be accessible.  There is a spot for it, and it'll definitely spark joy to have a bandaid when I need it! I grew up in a house that didn't have these types of goods, and it was stressful to have to figure out how to work around not having a bandage. Also if you plan and buy ahead, you can get the items for cheaper than you may be able to get at the nearest store. Sorry for the long response! I've never given it much thought, but clearly have some ideas about it. Do what works for you and good luck!

starbuck

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1958 on: June 23, 2015, 07:20:32 AM »
The medicine cabinet is one area where I ignore the per unit costs and just get the absolute smallest amount I can. We both rarely take OTC meds, and it usually expires before it gets used up. Such a waste. We only have one size of bandaid, and just replace it (with the smallest box available) when it runs out. I usually need to buy cough drops once a year, but also drink a LOT of hot tea/hot water when I have a persistent cough to deal with it.

For splinters, we just use tweezers and/or sewing needle, if anything. (My spouse is a woodworker.)

We use the nail clippers to also trim our cats' nails - learned this one from our vet!

Squirrel away

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1959 on: June 23, 2015, 07:24:18 AM »
I keep a small box in the cupboard under the sink in the kitchen with bandages and things like that.

I have two more rubbish (garbage) size bags to donate. Where does it all come from? It seems like I decluttered so much stuff a few months ago.:P

I'm a red panda

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1960 on: June 23, 2015, 08:06:02 AM »
We both rarely take OTC meds, and it usually expires before it gets used up. Such a waste.

This is one area where it is fun to have a medicinal chemist in the house. Expired medication is rarely "bad", it just loses it's efficacy.  My husband has actually calculated half-life on some of it, and recalculated dosage based on the age of the medicine.

But that is even with buying the smallest size.  I need to be near death to take OTC meds.

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1961 on: June 23, 2015, 08:32:24 AM »
We both rarely take OTC meds, and it usually expires before it gets used up. Such a waste.

This is one area where it is fun to have a medicinal chemist in the house. Expired medication is rarely "bad", it just loses it's efficacy.  My husband has actually calculated half-life on some of it, and recalculated dosage based on the age of the medicine.

But that is even with buying the smallest size.  I need to be near death to take OTC meds.

Buying the smallest size is great advice! I must admit I ignore expiration dates. If I'm in a pickle I'll take old over none any day.

starbuck

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1962 on: June 23, 2015, 08:42:02 AM »
We both rarely take OTC meds, and it usually expires before it gets used up. Such a waste.

This is one area where it is fun to have a medicinal chemist in the house. Expired medication is rarely "bad", it just loses it's efficacy.  My husband has actually calculated half-life on some of it, and recalculated dosage based on the age of the medicine.

But that is even with buying the smallest size.  I need to be near death to take OTC meds.

Buying the smallest size is great advice! I must admit I ignore expiration dates. If I'm in a pickle I'll take old over none any day.

I usually ignore them too, as long as it's within reason. :)

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1963 on: June 23, 2015, 09:06:13 AM »
We both rarely take OTC meds, and it usually expires before it gets used up. Such a waste.

This is one area where it is fun to have a medicinal chemist in the house. Expired medication is rarely "bad", it just loses it's efficacy.  My husband has actually calculated half-life on some of it, and recalculated dosage based on the age of the medicine.

But that is even with buying the smallest size.  I need to be near death to take OTC meds.

Buying the smallest size is great advice! I must admit I ignore expiration dates. If I'm in a pickle I'll take old over none any day.

I usually ignore them too, as long as it's within reason. :)

I used to use old meds, but my doctor friends freaked out so I've tossed them, particularly prescriptions.  I'm more lax about Tylenol/Ibuprofen, etc.  Apparently I should have sold my Percocet (for wisdom teeth removal) on craigslist though, for a tidy sum...

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1964 on: June 24, 2015, 04:51:12 PM »
I donated a whole bunch of first aid stuff to a charity last fall.  I need to look at the sell by dates on the remaining pills and tinctures.

I seem to be in a holding zone with a bunch of stuff due to go out the door but it just sits there.  I do not recommend this.  It takes all the immediate joy out of the act of tossing out.  How do you all motivate yourselves at a time like this?

firelight

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1965 on: June 24, 2015, 05:20:33 PM »
Wintersun, I hear ya! I have a whole bunch sitting in sight in the guest room all waiting to be sold off or shipped off. I have set a deadline for myself, if I don't sell that item by that time, I'm going to take the loss and donate it. The deadline is in two weeks. I console myself saying everyday I'm closer to a clean home one way or the other.

Practical Magic

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1966 on: June 24, 2015, 06:12:38 PM »
I too feel your pain, wintersun. With eBay items, I box them up and stack them neatly in the guest room. During my huge paper-scanning project, the living room had boxes of files containing 30 years of documents. I put the ones still needing to be sorted/scanned on one side of the room and covered the pile with a cheerful '50s tablecloth as a disguise. It helped me feel less overwhelmed and pressured.

With donation or clothing consignment items that I have to wait for a few days or week to drop off, I put them in the garage so I don't have to see them in the house. And lastly, the clothing I want to consign but which has to wait for fall or winter, I hang in the guest room closet. Little by little I am feeling unburdened.

Squirrel away

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1967 on: June 25, 2015, 01:51:33 AM »
My donation bags are getting collected today. I get a real high from decluttering.:P

I reorganised my large chest of drawers and was thinking about getting some cheap drawer dividers to neaten it up.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1968 on: June 25, 2015, 02:10:59 AM »
Well after putting in a huge effort for a few months, the BF and I have been slack with decluttering lately. Time to step it up a notch again. We're moving in six weeks and I don't want to move anything I'm not keeping long-term.

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1969 on: June 25, 2015, 02:11:21 AM »
I donated a whole bunch of first aid stuff to a charity last fall.  I need to look at the sell by dates on the remaining pills and tinctures.

I seem to be in a holding zone with a bunch of stuff due to go out the door but it just sits there.  I do not recommend this.  It takes all the immediate joy out of the act of tossing out.  How do you all motivate yourselves at a time like this?

I was putting them straight into the boot of my car, but I don't recommend this for the following reason:

I had loads of bags in my boot. DH borrowed my car and said he'd drop everything off as he was passing a charity shop that was open (my problem is that they are always closed when I am passing!). Great!

Fast forward two days, and I'm thinking, where's that bag of stuff I was taking to my friends house? Oh yeah, you guessed it. It had been on the passenger seat, but I put it in the boot just so it wasn't visible when I parked up somewhere.

I could keep track of which bag was which. Husband had no way of knowing one bag of junk was 'different'. Ultimately it didn't matter - it was stuff I was getting rid of I thought she could use. Luckily I had forgotten to put a DVD I had borrowed from her in there. Phew. But be careful using your car as a holding zone!

4alpacas

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1970 on: June 25, 2015, 09:22:14 AM »
When I was slowly decluttering, I would fill a box, which would sit in my guest bedroom. 

After I switched to the KonMari method, I deal with donating the items immediately.  I go through everything (keep, toss, donate), put away the items I'm going to keep, and then drive to the Salvation Army (closest place to donate) with all of the stuff.  I don't have a chance to change my mind, and I don't feel the stress of having to deal with finishing the project.  I set aside at least 4 hours for each of the categories (on komono now) on a weekend morning. 

I'm a red panda

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1971 on: June 25, 2015, 10:14:31 AM »
Well after putting in a huge effort for a few months, the BF and I have been slack with decluttering lately. Time to step it up a notch again. We're moving in six weeks and I don't want to move anything I'm not keeping long-term.

I've found moving is a great time to declutter. If you aren't paying to move it by weight, I actually prefer to move everything and then declutter when I get there.  Anything that doesn't find a new home within 1 month of move in gets donated.  Has worked for me the past 4 moves :)

MsGuided

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1972 on: June 25, 2015, 11:48:33 AM »
Working on letting go of lots of crap. Unfortunately I feel an urge to sell or find a use for things b/c I feel terrible about the money and resources wasted. Have sold quite a bit on Craigslist over last few months and have also donated a ton, but still have a long way to go. Getting more accustomed to just donating and not thinking about how to sell. I have often put things aside to sell and they sit there for ages. Just get it out, allow it to be used by someone and move on.

Have a big black bag full of clothes. Have thought about trying to consign about 1/3 of them b/c they are high quality, but after reading a bunch of posts here, decided I'll drive it to the donation station TODAY and not even peek in the bag.

Like several of you have written, I never regret donating once it's gone. The pain is always in the decision to let go.

Sibley

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1973 on: June 25, 2015, 12:28:55 PM »
We use the nail clippers to also trim our cats' nails - learned this one from our vet!

That would work with one cat, but not the other. Older cat, and her claws have become talons. I need to get dog sized clippers for her actually.

Anatidae V

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1974 on: June 25, 2015, 06:21:49 PM »
I'm actually trying to get in the habit of picking things to sell rather than just donating. Got someone coming around today to pick up a glass desk for half of what I paid for it, but now I can pick up a smaller desk that won't leave my partner scared of it shattering.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1975 on: June 25, 2015, 07:27:21 PM »
Well after putting in a huge effort for a few months, the BF and I have been slack with decluttering lately. Time to step it up a notch again. We're moving in six weeks and I don't want to move anything I'm not keeping long-term.

I've found moving is a great time to declutter. If you aren't paying to move it by weight, I actually prefer to move everything and then declutter when I get there.  Anything that doesn't find a new home within 1 month of move in gets donated.  Has worked for me the past 4 moves :)

I've still got six weeks before I move, so I'll still try to get as much done beforehand as possible, but I'll keep that technique in mind for a second push of decluttering after the move :-)

I'm actually trying to get in the habit of picking things to sell rather than just donating. Got someone coming around today to pick up a glass desk for half of what I paid for it, but now I can pick up a smaller desk that won't leave my partner scared of it shattering.

I'm going to try to sell a few things too, particularly things that are easy to ship but could sell for a bit (hello, leather handbags that I bought and have basically never used because they're not in my colour scheme). I've always dismissed it as too hard but I'm thinking of at least dipping my toe in the water, maybe listing one or two things at a time on ebay.

firelight

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1976 on: June 25, 2015, 08:03:52 PM »
Not sure if it's where I live or the stuff I sell, I've found that rare or one off items sell better in ebay while others are a wash after including fees. For example, I recently sold a smart watch locally for $120. EBay would've netted me less after fees. So do your diligence before putting it on ebay.

riverffashion

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1977 on: June 25, 2015, 11:38:39 PM »
Another shirt and book out.

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1978 on: June 26, 2015, 01:55:00 AM »
Went into the bathroom and challenged myself to throw away just one thing. This is after many decluttering sessions in there, so I thought it would be hard. Opened a drawer and threw out four things immediately! It is blowing my mind how things that a few months ago I thought were untouchable now seem kind of useless to me.

I've also finished three dresses this week (two just needed hemming) and one t-shirt which had been cut out and waiting (in the designated drawer!) for a while. Ordered one piece of fabric, but plan to make it up immediately (don't I always?). Doing much better now I'm only buying stuff I totally love (and allowing myself to buy all of it) because I am much less tempted buy stuff because it's cheap. The fabric stash is definitely reducing.

Anje

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1979 on: June 26, 2015, 01:57:20 AM »
I've now told her this is my Dad's stuff, not mine.
I know all abouth that. Just with my parent it's my Mom. Old childrens schoolbooks and clothes and toys? I will not touch them because it upsets her so much to toss out even the most simple of things. The things do no harm where they are, so I consentrate on newer items.

Therefore: this week brought 2 coats and 7 comic books from my parents house. 1 coat will be donated, another is a long winter coat I asumed I had tossed out and missed for 3 years. Will meet new use this winter and I will be blissfully warm. The comics will be read and then donated. Also dug out a handmade garment that will be offered to a relative. If she doesn't want it I will donate. Next week I will digg out my old textbooks from uni (no sentiment attached to those, luckily) and toss them all.

SisterX

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1980 on: June 26, 2015, 02:10:31 AM »
Re: stuff left at parents' houses

We did our big move to the Lower 48, and are now temporarily back with my parents until we get jobs and housing organized.  My in-laws helped us, but gave us a few extra boxes of things my husband had left at their house.  Thankfully, his mom and I had him go through all the other boxes, 99% of which he didn't want anymore.  One of the kept boxes is filled with old trading cards that my husband is going to try to sell.  Might not be worth much individually, but in bulk (it's an old paper box) we might get a few bucks?

We did also give them back a few boxes, though, because my MIL seemed to think that our child should have all of my husband's old baby items.  Why?!  Baby quilts with his name on them?  She got tons of quilts and baby blankets made just for her, thanks.  So many that we donated a bunch to a charity.  So we came to grips with the fact that we might hurt her by giving back the mementos and just did it.  If she doesn't want to keep them, she can deal with them.  I hope we finally got the message across that our place is not a dumping ground for her excess.  (They're trying to downsize.)  I'm going to be much firmer in the future about saying no if she tries to bring any of their old stuff to us "because I thought you might like it."

Now, since we're with my parents, we're in my old bedroom, which is still filled with crap which I left, and crap which my family moved in there because they didn't know where else to put it.  One of the first things I did was go around and box up the things we don't want or need, which is pretty much everything except the books.  (I'm re-reading some of the books now, and these were the ones which survived many purges before I moved away, so definitely keepers.  Well worn and read.)  Wow, did I leave a lot of junk here, mostly things which were given to me as a child which I never liked, but kept anyway out of "obligation".  I still need to go through the closet.

At least the dresser was empty.  Trying to fit myself and my spouse into my old bedroom is actually harder than I expected.  Having BabyX next door is also tricky because of stuff my parents have.  The closet in there is stuffed, the dresser is full of my moved-out sibling's clothes, etc.  Thankfully toddler clothes are small and we don't have tons in each size, so the current size all fits tidily into the drawers of the desk in there.

Will need to take the stuff I cleared out of my room (or rather, into boxes, still in my room) to the charity shops, and hope soon to start helping my parents to declutter their stuff.  (Don't worry, they're honestly thrilled to have the help.)  In fact, I already facilitated getting one desk out of the house by finding someone who was happy to take it.  Not much, but it's a start.

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1981 on: June 26, 2015, 02:33:03 AM »
I know I've mentioned the blog A Slob Comes Clean before, but I really like it. She has a funny video series on how to deal with relatives giving you their old sh*t that you don't want:

Here's a link to the first post in the series (the other ones are also linked in that post): http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2014/11/clutter-avoidance-conversations-the-ill-see-what-i-can-use-approach/

Or you can see them all on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4ylB6f-VoxpT8LXGB4WvdwhS8Ir__sz1

She plays different characters, and I bet you'll recognise a few.

I really like some of her ideas, and I've tried it and they work! That said, I really feel for people dealing with relatives piling on the guilt because you don't want to store stuff that they don't want to store either.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1982 on: June 26, 2015, 07:32:16 AM »
Re: stuff left at parents' houses

We did our big move to the Lower 48, and are now temporarily back with my parents until we get jobs and housing organized.

Didn't realize you were moving away from Alaska.  I always liked your Alaska stories because I lived there a few years as a kid (dad was Coast Guard).  What brings you down to the lower 48?

Melody

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1983 on: June 26, 2015, 07:51:20 PM »
I'm going to try to sell a few things too, particularly things that are easy to ship but could sell for a bit (hello, leather handbags that I bought and have basically never used because they're not in my colour scheme). I've always dismissed it as too hard but I'm thinking of at least dipping my toe in the water, maybe listing one or two things at a time on ebay.

You will get so sick of visiting the post office repeatedly. Better to do it all at once. Make a very clear "pay within 48 hours or I will re-list" warning on your listings and set your promised ship time to 72 hours. This way you should be able to catch everyone in a single post office trip. List everything in one day. It will be annoying, but over with and your total time investment per item will drop drastically.
Although, TBH, I find since Aus Post and Ebay have both put their fees up it's not worth the hassle unless the item will net you at least $20 (You can clear $10 on a low shipping weight item that sells for $20). If it's going to sell for less than $10 you will loose money and if it's going to sell for less than $20 it's probably not worth the hassle, of listing it, communicating with buyers, packaging etc.) And last time I ebayed many of my items fetched far less than normal. Like gumtree, the market is now over saturated with sellers.

riverffashion

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1984 on: June 26, 2015, 09:43:32 PM »
Just gave 3 shirts to a roommate .

Nancy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1985 on: June 27, 2015, 05:07:31 AM »
I'm through household  stationary. I had no idea I had that many notebooks. I have some fancy watches that were gifted to us over our lives that are definitely in the going out pile, but they are languishing in my to be listed for sale pile. First items that resulted in procrastination.

Rosy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1986 on: June 27, 2015, 09:13:38 AM »
Time to tackle the closet from hell!

It may take me 2-3 days to finish, but reading these posts has given me the incentive to just dig in. Thanks guys, I'll post on my progress.

 

mc6

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1987 on: June 27, 2015, 05:36:53 PM »
I returned 2 half-functional items to Amazon today, that I had purchased specifically for my trip last week.  Shit that doesn't work right drives me crazy! 

firelight

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1988 on: June 28, 2015, 09:32:33 AM »
Sold a shoe stand, Xbox 360 (and associated games), Nexus 9 and a few more things this week. Also have a ton of interest on the others I have on eBay. Woot! Loads more gone by end of next week :)

Tick-Tock

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1989 on: June 28, 2015, 10:05:54 AM »
Culled three boxes of old documents and keepsakes into one box.  One box worth was recycled, and one will be shredded.

Also have been donating books to the library (a dozen or fifteen every time I visit) and at the gym, where they have a leave-a-book, take-a-book area.  I've been leaving books and only ended up taking one so far. 


mc6

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1990 on: June 28, 2015, 04:47:37 PM »
Recently I donated, into a Lion's Club box at the library, a pair of old prescription sunglasses and a pair of glasses I wore during a particularly depressing period.  In good karmic fashion, a manager at the glasses shop down the street actually tightened up the fit of my newer internet-purchased Rx sunglasses for FREE.  My ears and nose were grateful not to have those sunglasses pushing on them all day driving through the sunny states on my recent travels. 

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1991 on: June 28, 2015, 06:26:45 PM »
I'm going to try to sell a few things too, particularly things that are easy to ship but could sell for a bit (hello, leather handbags that I bought and have basically never used because they're not in my colour scheme). I've always dismissed it as too hard but I'm thinking of at least dipping my toe in the water, maybe listing one or two things at a time on ebay.

You will get so sick of visiting the post office repeatedly. Better to do it all at once. Make a very clear "pay within 48 hours or I will re-list" warning on your listings and set your promised ship time to 72 hours. This way you should be able to catch everyone in a single post office trip. List everything in one day. It will be annoying, but over with and your total time investment per item will drop drastically.
Although, TBH, I find since Aus Post and Ebay have both put their fees up it's not worth the hassle unless the item will net you at least $20 (You can clear $10 on a low shipping weight item that sells for $20). If it's going to sell for less than $10 you will loose money and if it's going to sell for less than $20 it's probably not worth the hassle, of listing it, communicating with buyers, packaging etc.) And last time I ebayed many of my items fetched far less than normal. Like gumtree, the market is now over saturated with sellers.

Thanks Melody, I'll use those tips! Though given my low energy I'm definitely only going to start with two or three items, that way if I find I've bitten off more than I can chew there's not a mountain of things to package and post all at once.

PMG

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1992 on: June 28, 2015, 07:17:41 PM »
Cleaned out the fridge.  It was long overdue. Yuk.

Sorted quilt batting and have some to toss. Some to give away. And some to use.

Finished scanning the last of my scrapbooks and photos.

Working on ripping my cd collection.

Eating (or tossing) all the odd food in the cupboards.

:).

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1993 on: June 29, 2015, 02:35:05 AM »
So I didn't get any decluttering done this weekend, but we did visit friends, which really reaffirmed my commitment to this! Their house was just so full of stuff. Stacks of mail so old and tall they had fallen over. Something on every single flat surface. Kitchen appliances which were clearly never used taking up the small amount of counter space, making preparing any food very difficult. A huge table squished up against a wall and so covered in junk I couldn't even sit at it to eat!

I just wanted to say, Argh, why are you even keeping this?! and start throwing stuff out. But I was very good and just played the perfect houseguest. But life is so much harder than it has to be with all that stuff. You have to move something around every time you want to do anything. I honestly couldn't bear it, it was so hard to move about, to find anything. Even making a cup of coffee with no counter space and everything so jumbled up was traumatic.(I'm trying not to sound judgemental and failing, I realise).

Came home to my still too cluttered but with 1/3 the stuff in it house, which is much smaller than their place, and breathed a sigh of relief at all the space.

riverffashion

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1994 on: June 29, 2015, 08:44:49 AM »
So I didn't get any decluttering done this weekend, but we did visit friends, which really reaffirmed my commitment to this! Their house was just so full of stuff. Stacks of mail so old and tall they had fallen over. Something on every single flat surface. Kitchen appliances which were clearly never used taking up the small amount of counter space, making preparing any food very difficult. A huge table squished up against a wall and so covered in junk I couldn't even sit at it to eat!

I just wanted to say, Argh, why are you even keeping this?! and start throwing stuff out. But I was very good and just played the perfect houseguest. But life is so much harder than it has to be with all that stuff. You have to move something around every time you want to do anything. I honestly couldn't bear it, it was so hard to move about, to find anything. Even making a cup of coffee with no counter space and everything so jumbled up was traumatic.(I'm trying not to sound judgemental and failing, I realise).

Came home to my still too cluttered but with 1/3 the stuff in it house, which is much smaller than their place, and breathed a sigh of relief at all the space.
I totally understand your sentiment! I feel this way walking into most people's homes, and some businesses. I think to myself - they never wear those hiddeous green funky frame glasses adorning the bookshelf: toss. That stack of fashion magazines mixed with their books ( when they'd already mentioned they still receive mags that they toss because came for former roommate )- toss. Laundry all over furniture, so many clothes it won't fit in the closets, so many dishes they are all crammed into every inch of the cupboards.... Argh.

N

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1995 on: June 29, 2015, 09:32:45 PM »
this weekend I listed 13 board/card games on my local fb virtual garage sale groups. I sold all of them. I first tried them at 3 or 4$ each, but got no bites. After a few days, I edited them and made them all 2$, (except one really nice one I got 10$ for). Made 33$

and now my board game shelves are really tidy, and stocked with games we really do play.

Anatidae V

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1996 on: June 29, 2015, 10:21:08 PM »
this weekend I listed 13 board/card games on my local fb virtual garage sale groups. I sold all of them. I first tried them at 3 or 4$ each, but got no bites. After a few days, I edited them and made them all 2$, (except one really nice one I got 10$ for). Made 33$

and now my board game shelves are really tidy, and stocked with games we really do play.

We need to go through our board games. I'd love to buy some games that we enjoy, but I feel like I can't because we already have 2 shelves full - we just don't like playing any of those games! I wonder how SO will feel about it when I bring it up...

Nancy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1997 on: June 30, 2015, 06:58:53 AM »
I think Kondo says that if we focus on other people's inability to be tidy, it's because we have some things we need to tidy up ourselves (or something to that effect).

I'm working on the kitchen declutter tonight. I'm a bit nervous and a lot excited since this is an area where we seem to have a lot o' stuff and we definitely do not have a lot o' room.

theadvicist

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1998 on: June 30, 2015, 08:32:01 AM »
I think Kondo says that if we focus on other people's inability to be tidy, it's because we have some things we need to tidy up ourselves (or something to that effect).


Oh totally. It really brought home to me how much more stuff I want to get rid of.

Just did my desk drawers (which, as I keep saying, I've done before!). Got rid of loads more, and have really seen my efforts of using stuff up (primarily snacks, ha ha) and NOT REPLACING them.

So much more room, and a place for everything. Tomorrow... I'll attack the bedroom again.

relena

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #1999 on: June 30, 2015, 10:14:57 AM »
i sold a big box of books on craigslist yesterday! listing an old multi function printer that we never use today!