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

[SimpleCycle]

I gave the bike away on Freecycle - the woman who received it had her bike stolen and it felt good to pay it forward.

I have a bike seat and three different sets of panniers for sale on FB Marketplace but haven't gotten any bites so I'll lower the prices and then I'll move on to Freecycle.  I also found two more travel pumps that I'll Freecycle.

I've kind of lost my decluttering mojo in the lead up to Christmas.  I am just trying to get all our holiday preparations finished.

[honeybbq]

I gave away some stuff on my FB buy nothing page. Some books from my kiddo, a rain coat she's outgrown, some old toys, and a doll house she didn't play with.

It's easier to pare down her stuff because I know she's outgrown X or doesn't play with Y anymore.

My own stuff, I need to pare down. Part of paring down my crap is admitting that I paid for or acquired something I didn't need. I need to get over it and just weed weed weed and donate/trash the stuff that needs to go.

[honeybbq]

I gave the bike away on Freecycle - the woman who received it had her bike stolen and it felt good to pay it forward.

Awesome!! Good karma to you.

[Mongoose]

I did it! Three huge boxes of outgrown kid clothes and toys have finally left the house and been donated!

Up next, the dreaded basement excavation (it would be a clean-up except things are piled so high it's fearfully cluttered).

Any ideas of what to do with outgrown baby seats? I don't think any donation centers can take them? We don't have freecycle or buynothing here (very rural)

[Bracken_Joy]

I did it! Three huge boxes of outgrown kid clothes and toys have finally left the house and been donated!

Up next, the dreaded basement excavation (it would be a clean-up except things are piled so high it's fearfully cluttered).

Any ideas of what to do with outgrown baby seats? I don't think any donation centers can take them? We don't have freecycle or buynothing here (very rural)

https://thewirecutter.com/blog/get-rid-used-car-seat/

Not a lot you can do with them if they aren't within a couple years of purchase.

[Mongoose]

Thanks!!! I hate to send them to the landfill and they are definitely expired (6-10 years old in fact). I think I'll hold them until Target offers recycling and then give away the 20% off coupons. That makes me smile!!!

[joonifloofeefloo]

I let myself drop off a very tiny bag of stuff at the thrift yesterday. Our place is very minimalist, little comes in, and at this stage I need to let myself drop off much smaller amounts rather than requiring myself to wait until I have a full box or something.

[oneday]

@Mongoose way to go!

@joonifloofeefloo I'm getting to that point.  Once I had just a small box and felt weird about dropping "just" that much off, so found a friend who had been procrastinating on a trip to the thrift.  We combined our stuff & went together!  Honestly, next time I will not hesitate though.  It just feels so good to have that stuff gone, like Mongoose did.


Four more work emails gone.  It took an exhausting hour, and it creates more work/projects/items to follow up which is why they are still there.  But now my oldest email is Oct 2017 instead of Aug 2017.

Also decluttered 4 1/2 boxes of work papers that belong to my department but were stashed in someone else's office.  3 to the storage room, 1 shred and the last half filed.  Felt good to clear that up, it had been a to-do for 2 years.  Fortunately, coworker-in-whose-office-they-were-stashed has a large office, and was kind & understanding about the whole thing. Whew!

[Sloeginfizz]

I listed about a dozen items of clothing on Poshmark, things that no longer fit me. Just curious, does eBay get better sales results? I’ve used Poshmark before because the process is so easy, but the sales are kind of slow this go round. I’ve got some great stuff listed too.

[Captain FIRE]

I lost two expensive items recently around our house, so I'm determinedly back in this group to purge out the unnecessary.  At least if I lose things after purging it'll be less to hunt through!

Woot!  I located one of the expensive items.  Now to see if I can return the replacement I bought.  I wasn't going crazy, I hadn't forgotten where I had put it, the cleaner* had moved it.

Today: A cheap old rug originally bought by an ex.  Yay for saying farewell to some emotional weight.  Planning to start in on a pile of paper after work tonight - I don't need to save *every* piece of artwork my kid creates at daycare.

Progress is slow, but I am hopeful if I keep at it, I'll move forward rather than backwards as I continue to accept used kid-related stuff from friends.  I'm slightly dreading the holiday gifts influx for my kid, which is also good motivation to keep plugging away at it when I can find the time. 

*Yes, yes, I know, not mustachian on the surface of it.  But a 1/x month cleaner is much cheaper than therapy or divorce, considering my husband refuses to clean ever.  Having a kid was my breaking point.

[Mountainbug]

Joining! I don’t post on the forum much but read quite frequently.

I saw this thread pop up a few weeks ago and have been mulling over what I can de clutter, as we are fairly streamlined due to moving on a regular basis. Listed a sewing machine (never really used) and my motor cross boots (already sold my bike) on fb marketplace and both sold easily. Will have to remember to de clutter every December as it seems people are really scouting for used gifts which makes me happy!

[Bracken_Joy]

Just went through my closet. Over half of "my" quilts will come with us on our trip, to be returned to my parents. (Family quilt collection ended up at my house when they moved and we bought- we're driving to their new place, and we've since sold and downsized, so we'll take the quilts back to them). This frees up some closet space too. All but one of the quilts not in rotation now fit in one bin. And if I swap which one if out, it would look nice on the back of the couch, come to think of it!

In the quilt sorting process, I also found a cotton sheet set that I'm *pretty* sure is our old Full size set (we now have a queen). I'll try this and check, and donate if it is the old set, along with our flannel full set. Otherwise, it's our queen size cotton set, in which case I'll move it to where I'll be able to find it come spring!

This all showed me, I definitely need to go through the office closet again. Dear husband helped organize most of it, and bless him, but it was a bit of a haphazard job. Hadn't realized that!

[oneday]

More work emails gone.  Can't remember the number, but my oldest is now Nov 2017 rather than Aug.  I may make it into 2018 before 2018 is over, but maybe not.  The month is quickly passing by.

[Need2Save]

I'm glad to have finally used 3 wine-bottle gift bags that I had for several years. On top of those, another 15 gift bags for coworkers that I had in our stash. No new gift wrap/bags/ribbons bought this year and I still have a ton to use up. I've carefully weeded out the ones that should be retired (tattered or torn or handle not attached).  Our family has no problem reusing gift bags several times in a row  if they are clean and still look good after their initial gifting. Only down-side is I just got 3 nice reusable gift bags from same coworkers to add back in. Net-net, I'm way ahead this year though.

In non-holiday progress, I'm looking out my window at the extra fridge and treadmill we've been meaning to get rid of for some time now and today the county will come pick them up for recycling! yay! I think of all the things I purged this year, these 2 are my favorite tasks completed.

We also recently donated two sleeping bags because hubby upgraded them, several unused blankets/quilts, and of course the never-ending clothing donations.

Right now I'm looking at a bracelet I was gifted from my boss that I will def. not wear. I can resell it for around $20 so into the Ebay pile it goes.

[Money Badger]

Love this thread!   We are downsizing and selling things so fast that our dog is getting nervous...   The tally for December so far is $415.   I even calculated the square footage tables and chair and other bits consumed and that’s 200 square feet x $154 per square for $30,800 saved.  Not bad!

[I'm a red panda]

Got $14 at once upon a child (they barely take anything), donated 6 large boxes of stuff to Goodwill, brought a trash bag of clothes to a friend for her church clothes closet, and gave away 2 muscle gels I can't use while pregnant but will expire before I'm not.

[MrsTuxedocat]

It's been a pretty good week for decluttering! I recycled two small notebooks and threw away four pens that no longer work. I gave away my pregnancy pillow, gosh they take up so much space. I also gave away my baby bath.

[oneday]

Got stuck on both work projects today, so turned back to 2017 emails.  Got them all done!  61 total in the last 4 days!  Feels good.  Maybe I can keep clearing out a month of 2018 emails for every month in 2019, to keep from getting further behind. 

[mspym]

Oneday - I am impressed with your email perseverance. You can do it!

[SquirrelStache]

Got stuck on both work projects today, so turned back to 2017 emails.  Got them all done!  61 total in the last 4 days!  Feels good.  Maybe I can keep clearing out a month of 2018 emails for every month in 2019, to keep from getting further behind. 

Well done! My work emails auto-delete after a year which is both good and bad. I have to check them before they expire to make sure I'm not losing anything important (a lot of work I do occurs annually). Of course, if I just saved everything as I went along I wouldn't have to do that, but I never seem to get around to that :/

[plainjane]

A productive day yesterday (ETA: and still going)

Gifting
Pizza stone - promised to my sister for her family cottage
Blue candle - will give to my mom as part of the wrapping for edible presents (I don't have the right sized candle holder for it)
2 cookie cutters - part of the wrapping for edible presents going to my sisters
filing box - will be the packaging for my niece's present
wallet - added to my niece's gift

Donated/freecycled
Kitchenaid attachment for slicing vegetables
Cut glass platter
Pitcher & glasses
Bamboo steamer
Grilling tongs & flipper (we don't have a bbq)
Williams Sonoma cookie cutters in box (regiftable condition)
ETA: rug 1
ETA: tv
ETA: microwave
ETA: floor lamp 1
ETA: rug 2
ETA: cake stand
ETA: 3 pairs mens pants, 1 jacket, 3 button down mens collared shirts
ETA: floor lamp 2
ETA: coffee table

Dumped/recycled
glass bottles
neo citron sample (expired)
mouthwash (freebie)
plastic cutlery
emory boards
comic books (freebies)
sun screen (freebie, expired, ETA: put in the area for hazardous waste disposal)
eta: shirt with holes
eta: hair spray (in the area for hazardous waste disposal)
eta: purse
eta: warped cutting board
eta: scratched frying pan
eta: ill-fitting underwear
eta: suitcase
eta: duffel bag
eta: keyboard
eta: so many paper bags
eta: ripped towels, linens (why were we keeping them?)

[Raenia]

Couple small things today:
 - went through canning lids and recycled any with rust
 - recycled a few jars I'd been saving, but realized I have plenty and not enough space to store
 - added a purse to the donate box
 - went through my makeup bag and tossed anything old or colors I didn't like

[TomTX]

My neighbour is downsizing and clearing out her clutter and offering it to me.  I really like this person, but man, I am saying no, no, no.....until I accidentally cave.  I have started suggested different locations to donate things to.  So does it count if I stop clutter from entering my door?

Is it much out of your way to just accept it and drop it off at a donation center along with whatever you have decluttered yourself?

[Need2Save]

I made it a goal during the holiday season to unsubscribe from paper catalogues that we received between November and December. We are up to 22 now and counting. We've also been going paperless on all account statements that weren't already set up for that (a few stragglers we just never got around to doing because the account is so old it was before paperless was a thing).  Just trying to reduce all the unnecessary things that fill up our mailbox that go immediately into the recyclying bin.

We recently cancelled our WSJ subscription as well but it runs out this week. So I was hoarding a few weeks of papers.  I know that sounds like the opposite of decluttering by keeping them, but my hubby needs a couple newspapers to start up the charcoal grill chimney thing he uses so we stashed them where he keeps his coals.  I will miss getting the WSJ but I can live without it, too. He'll be using some on Tuesday when we smoke a roast for xmas! yum.

[Mongoose]

Today we are cleaning up the junk room. It was originally going to be a home office but has become a dumping ground/storage area. Shopping is a long way away so I do like to keep a backup of essentials (soap, detergents, tissues). But it has morphed into an electronics graveyard.

After that, I would like to tackle:
1. the basement
2. the pantry
3. the freezer

All could use a good clean-out or organization. I'm feeling energized after finally removing the 3 boxes of stuff earlier.

[I'm a red panda]

Cleaned the fridge today.
Got rid of a homemade chutney gift that was questionably made (it was not fridgerated when it was given to us in a canning jars, but appears to have just been stored in the jar vs. canned).
Got rid of a jar of pickle juice.
Combined two jars of pickles and got rid of one jar.
Took 1/2 cup of jalepenos and put in smaller container and got rid of the 4 cup jar.

Also, just cleaned. That fridge was gross

[Cassie]

I decluttered my expired spices. Then I looked in a tall kitchen cabinet and it was full of baking ingredients for when my mom came to visit. She has been dead 9 years. That also means I moved that stuff 6 years ago. Ugh!

[mspym]

Six more books out of the house and into the free libraries.
In visual decluttering, today we have been clearing off the various horizontal surfaces of the detritus that has slowly accumulated. It looks So Much Better!

[Roadrunner53]

Earlier this year I got rid of about 20 cookbooks and now I have bought 3 in the last few months. I have to find at least 3 to get rid of. They are slowly creeping back into the house!

[innkeeper77]

I started a gauntlet, realized this thread existed, and wasn't able to delete my own thread.... So I'll double post here instead I guess!

I've decided that until there is no clutter left, in 2019 I will list online, or meet to sell, at least one item per day on average. If every item sells, that will be fifteen "items" per month. I posted six items over the end of last week and the weekend (An old laptop, some RC plane hobby stuff I got cheaply on carigslist a while back...) and sold four of the six already, "making" $240 back already.

This morning I posted five more "items" - all radio control related, and with a staggering total price of fifty whole dollars... but decluttering is the main point! I will be listing at least fifteen items in January!

[I'm a red panda]

Earlier this year I got rid of about 20 cookbooks and now I have bought 3 in the last few months. I have to find at least 3 to get rid of. They are slowly creeping back into the house!

Sounds like you need the gazingus pins thread!

[mspym]

Another 6 books out into the world.

[Sibley]

Decluttered the task list a bit, as well as a can of paint: painted the utility room. As a bonus, managed to not bite my sister's head off due to having something to keep me occupied.

[horsepoor]

Locked out of my office for the government shutdown, so it's time for an annual decluttering.  I started on the shop today and threw out lots of stuff, mulched around a tree with some seed mat rolls that have been kicking around for ages.

I don't think there's much to declutter inside, but I'm sure I can find a few things.

[Poundwise]

I'm sitting in a pile of mementos and children's artwork that I emptied out of a closet that I need for other things.  I ought to get rid of at least half of this stuff but I'm frozen.  Will try again tomorrow. Or maybe I should get rid of an equal volume of items that are less precious. Argh.

[Roadrunner53]

Poundwise I can understand how getting rid of precious memories is difficult. I have no children so I can't compare it to my life. However, I had a job for 18 years and it was the best job I ever had and I was very respected. I had accumulated a lot of books and files that were reference materials, not anything confidential. When I left work, I put all the books and files and whatever memento's in to a rolling suitcase and brought it home. It sat in my garage, unopened, for probably 14 years. One day we were cleaning out the garage of junk and clutter and I spied the suitcase. I finally opened it up and realized that nothing inside was anything I'd ever use again and threw about 99% of it away and I filled it up with other good stuff to donate to charity. With your stuff, you could lay it out on a bed and take pictures of it, then put it in a suitcase. Store it all away for a while. Do something special with those pictures and eventually, you will be able to free yourself of these items. My friend had a box of her son's shirts from his many years of playing sports. Each one had a name of the team and the player's number. She recently sent these shirts to a place that cuts the shirts into large squares and makes them into quilts. She is giving it to him soon as a present. I think he will be a bit shocked when he sees it.

[PMG]

I'm sitting in a pile of mementos and children's artwork that I emptied out of a closet that I need for other things.  I ought to get rid of at least half of this stuff but I'm frozen.  Will try again tomorrow. Or maybe I should get rid of an equal volume of items that are less precious. Argh.

I know this is a thread about getting rid of things, but if you care about these items so much then don’t force it.  Don’t beat yourself up over it and feel guilty and like all the minimalist police will gang up on you. Enjoy the items. Even if you’re enjoying them just knowing they are there packed away and you look through them once a year. 

Your compromise with getting rid of something of similar size with less sentimental value sounds reasonable.  What is motivating you?  Storage for something specific?  Or just a general need to have less?  Thinking about why you’re getting rid of things might help you decide if it’s worth it?

——

I’ve been on this train of getting rid of things, reducing, living in small spaces and there are many ways that it fits my values and goals, but I guess for a while I got caught up in less for the sake of having less and now I’m trying to find balance.

In the spirit of this thread, I don’t have much left to donate to the thrift shop, but I am intentionally working my way through some fabric and craft supplies.  I brought some along on holiday travels so I wouldn’t be tempted to buy and I spent my morning piecing together and embroidering a pot holder.  Trying to use things up and make do with what I already have. 

[oneday]

Poundwise I can understand how getting rid of precious memories is difficult. I have no children so I can't compare it to my life. However, I had a job for 18 years and it was the best job I ever had and I was very respected. I had accumulated a lot of books and files that were reference materials, not anything confidential. When I left work, I put all the books and files and whatever memento's in to a rolling suitcase and brought it home. It sat in my garage, unopened, for probably 14 years. One day we were cleaning out the garage of junk and clutter and I spied the suitcase. I finally opened it up and realized that nothing inside was anything I'd ever use again and threw about 99% of it away and I filled it up with other good stuff to donate to charity. With your stuff, you could lay it out on a bed and take pictures of it, then put it in a suitcase. Store it all away for a while. Do something special with those pictures and eventually, you will be able to free yourself of these items. My friend had a box of her son's shirts from his many years of playing sports. Each one had a name of the team and the player's number. She recently sent these shirts to a place that cuts the shirts into large squares and makes them into quilts. She is giving it to him soon as a present. I think he will be a bit shocked when he sees it.

I gotta agree with the bold part of Roadrunner's post.  Sometime I've found it takes multiple rounds of reviewing items, deciding some (or none) can go, store away remainder, until I'm happy with what I've kept.  These rounds would be spaced out over time...months or years.

[Need2Save]

A productive morning. I added to the donation pile a few holiday-wear items that clearly I did not choose again this year, so I don't need them like a sparkly sweater, a few evening clutch bags and two dresses that I wore a few years ago to holiday parties but will not wear again. I have two suitable black dresses if I ever decide to go to the office holiday party in the next three years (trying to avoid that though). Also identified a few picture frames that have been unused and in drawers for several years. A number of expired things in the medicine cabinet. and I'm donating another 4 or 5 towels to the animal shelter.  I have some time off this week so taking advantage of it while I'm home. I do feel bad that the hubby just dropped off two boxes of stuff to donate and I'm already starting a new pile. He may be annoyed that I couldn't go through those things just a few days earlier.  Oh well.

[Tris Prior]

I went through my closet and culled some old T-shirts and other clothing that doesn't fit properly or isn't in great shape. I discovered that a college my city has a dropoff for clothing that isn't suitable to be donated; it gets used as rags in the college's various labs. So that makes me feel really good; some of this stuff is stretched out and pilled and holey so I couldn't in good conscience take it to the charity shop.

Going to take another pass through this weekend, I think. I'm sure there's more I could ditch.

Wondering whether I should hold onto clothing that I don't wear, but would need should I ever be in another job that has a dress code other than "relevant bits covered and no NSFW language on T-shirts". Mostly dress pants, and a couple pairs of work-appropriate shoes. My industry has frequent layoffs so it's not unthinkable that I won't be here for that long. My thinking is to hold onto a few pairs of pants since I have a hard time finding pants that fit, but maybe dump the shoes? I don't want to have to rebuy shoes if I have to go on job interviews, though. Maybe keep 1 pair?

I continue to be frustrated by trying to sell things online and either getting zero interest, or getting repeated no-shows. I am in awe of you all who not only manage to sell things, but actually get people to show up at your home to look at things. This even happens on Freecycle and my local Buy Nothing Facebook group. I think I'm about done trying, honestly.

[Roadrunner53]

I went through my closet and culled some old T-shirts and other clothing that doesn't fit properly or isn't in great shape. I discovered that a college my city has a dropoff for clothing that isn't suitable to be donated; it gets used as rags in the college's various labs. So that makes me feel really good; some of this stuff is stretched out and pilled and holey so I couldn't in good conscience take it to the charity shop.

Going to take another pass through this weekend, I think. I'm sure there's more I could ditch.

Wondering whether I should hold onto clothing that I don't wear, but would need should I ever be in another job that has a dress code other than "relevant bits covered and no NSFW language on T-shirts". Mostly dress pants, and a couple pairs of work-appropriate shoes. My industry has frequent layoffs so it's not unthinkable that I won't be here for that long. My thinking is to hold onto a few pairs of pants since I have a hard time finding pants that fit, but maybe dump the shoes? I don't want to have to rebuy shoes if I have to go on job interviews, though. Maybe keep 1 pair?

I continue to be frustrated by trying to sell things online and either getting zero interest, or getting repeated no-shows. I am in awe of you all who not only manage to sell things, but actually get people to show up at your home to look at things. This even happens on Freecycle and my local Buy Nothing Facebook group. I think I'm about done trying, honestly.

I worked in a factory years and years ago and we had oily equipment that was always leaking around the machines. We had to keep them clean. Our cheap boss would break down and buy bundles of rags from somewhere and they were dumped in a barrel. We would just yank out whatever was in there to mop up the messes. Quite often we were beyond amused when we'd pull out a pair of gigantic men's bloomers out of the barrel. Didn't take much to amuse us in a boring factory! LOL!

[Poundwise]

@Roadrunner53 , @oneday , @PMG, thank you all for your thoughtful advice! I'm trying to clear out space so one of my children can finally have a room of his own.  Right now there's about 4 cubic yards of mementos that I didn't want to process at this time.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed but I guess what I can do is pick one end of the pile and work on it for an hour. And while I'm working, I'll try to think of other stuff that might be easier to get rid of, both emotionally and in terms of the amount of time it would take to make the decision (for instance if I could find a big quilt to get rid of, it would take 10 seconds to say thumbs up or thumbs down, rather than having to go through the same volume of papers).

[Roadrunner53]

@Roadrunner53 , @oneday , @PMG, thank you all for your thoughtful advice! I'm trying to clear out space so one of my children can finally have a room of his own.  Right now there's about 4 cubic yards of mementos that I didn't want to process at this time.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed but I guess what I can do is pick one end of the pile and work on it for an hour. And while I'm working, I'll try to think of other stuff that might be easier to get rid of, both emotionally and in terms of the amount of time it would take to make the decision (for instance if I could find a big quilt to get rid of, it would take 10 seconds to say thumbs up or thumbs down, rather than having to go through the same volume of papers).

Here is a great idea: http://www.creativegreenliving.com/2014/04/de-clutter-challenge-kids-artwork.html?m=1

[horsepoor]

About five years ago, the pull-out part of our kitchen faucet started malfunctioning (can't remember exactly what).  We liked the faucet, so I bought the same, although slightly updated, model, and ended up just putting the new pull-out piece on the old faucet.  This morning, I finally got around to installing the new faucet!  Old one is gone, and no boxed faucet sitting under the sink.

I was also able to consolidate a couple bulk sized bottles of hand soap and get rid of one.  I'm not sure how we ended up with so much hand soap, but we still have more than a gallon in reserve.

[Need2Save]

Sending my sister some bits and pieces she can use for her back-splash tile job that were leftover from my last project. Yay!
Convinced hubby to go head and release three huge ugly 'awards' he got from work over the years. He would have done it eventually, but why wait? Added a few more towels and blankets and clothes to the donation pile along with a few random things around the house. Threw out several old makeup bits that I didn't notice the last time I sorted through that drawer. Recyled a bunch of random bits that were leftover from when we had an Xbox 360 (which we don't now).  Not sure why they were not discarded at the time.  Threw out one sentimental xmas decoration that had started to get damp rot from being in the basement. It belonged to my deceased father but it was time to let it go.

[Sibley]

My paint stash is getting positively small! Used up and took another 3 gallons of primer and paint to the garage to dry before tossing them. I plan to paint the walls in the bedroom, which will use another gallon. The to do list is also shrinking as a result.

More on topic, added 2 bags of Christmas stuff to the go away box, a purse my mom gave me as she doesn't like it, and some other odds and ends. Christmas has still thrown up all over my house, but I like the lights on the (fake) tree, so will leave it alone a while longer. When I take it down, will be doing a bit more culling of ornaments.

On a more serious note, I now have a compelling reason to limit the stuff on the floor - my kitty went blind (getting old sucks). So to help her get around, rearranging is being kept to a minimum, and trying to remove stuff from the floor. There's a big cat bed that used to get a lot of use, and for whatever reason is getting much less use. I may try moving it and see if a different location puts it back in rotation, otherwise will probably donate it to the local shelter.

[Bracken_Joy]

"Tidying Up" with Marie Kondo is available on netflix, for those among us who want some inspiration!

[Tris Prior]

"Tidying Up" with Marie Kondo is available on netflix, for those among us who want some inspiration!

You know, Boyfriend and I checked out a couple episodes of this last night. I.... am not sure about this show? The tone seems a little bit self-flagellating. Not on Marie's part, she is fine and I like how she is nonjudgmental. But, like, the first one we watched was the family of 4 who'd moved to an apartment in LA and nobody except the mom ever knew where everything was. It hurt my heart to hear her talking about how she felt responsible for the clutter and disarray, how she was doing a poor job at making her kids feel calm and at home, and essentially felt like a bad mom. When, she's got an able-bodied husband and kids who are of ages where they could be helping, but instead the one kid said something like "I'll basically spam mom with texts until she tells me where {thing I can't find} is." I wanted to yell at the TV, "this is not all your fault! Your family is taking advantage of you!" I actually didn't make it through that entire episode.

Then we watched the one with the young gay couple where the one guy was like, "I need to show my parents through my apartment that I am an adult so that they take my relationship more seriously." That also hurt my heart because I wonder if that would be an issue with his parents if he were straight? Their apartment wasn't even that bad! I don't know, I felt like the tone of the show was, people tidying up in order to manage others' feelings. I would've liked to have seen someone tidy up for themselves. But, I only saw the 2 episodes. Maybe the others aren't like that.

Has anyone else watched it? What do you all think?

I do like the "sparks joy" concept but I told Boyfriend that if I followed that, I would not own any winter clothing! I hate sweaters and boots and coats and gloves..... but, living in Chicago, they are needs so I can't just toss everything. I guess the best I can hope for is, only keep stuff that fits and is warm enough and doesn't, like, have holes in it? I really do hate it all, though. I haven't read her book; maybe she addresses that there.

I spent some time this weekend tossing stuff in our basement, and bagging some up for donations. One bagful of stuff went to the "free" table we have at my work. I was holding on to a lot of stuff for the annual neighborhood yard sale in June, but we live in a 2-flat and our new neighbor is a major pain in the ass, and the more I thought about it I thought, "I do not want to have to deal with negotiating yard sale logistics with this individual." It was actually freeing to just get rid of it, though part of me thinks, "I maybe could've made a few bucks on that...."

[I'm a red panda]

One of my favorite Youtube channels (Clutterbug- though she is more about organizing than minimizing) is doing #hugyourhome.
Room 1 was bedroom.
The challenge was: 15 things from the closet, 10 things from the dresser, and 10 more things to go.

I got 18 things from the closet, 22 things from the dresser (two of the 'thing' include a gigantic pile of socks and underwear, so way more than that), and 12 more things to go.

Best part- it's already at Goodwill. Except the socks and underwear, they were open, but unworn- and a friend took them after posting on Buy Nothing Project, and the expired diabetes testing supplies were trashed (feel bad I didn't give them away 2 years ago before they expired- test strips cost a fortune!)

My closet is pretty pared down (for me), my dresser is still overflowing, but getting better.  It's mostly overflowing with DH's stuff, not mine- but still something to work with him on.

And the bedroom looks way better.

[Bracken_Joy]

"Tidying Up" with Marie Kondo is available on netflix, for those among us who want some inspiration!

You know, Boyfriend and I checked out a couple episodes of this last night. I.... am not sure about this show? The tone seems a little bit self-flagellating. Not on Marie's part, she is fine and I like how she is nonjudgmental. But, like, the first one we watched was the family of 4 who'd moved to an apartment in LA and nobody except the mom ever knew where everything was. It hurt my heart to hear her talking about how she felt responsible for the clutter and disarray, how she was doing a poor job at making her kids feel calm and at home, and essentially felt like a bad mom. When, she's got an able-bodied husband and kids who are of ages where they could be helping, but instead the one kid said something like "I'll basically spam mom with texts until she tells me where {thing I can't find} is." I wanted to yell at the TV, "this is not all your fault! Your family is taking advantage of you!" I actually didn't make it through that entire episode.

Then we watched the one with the young gay couple where the one guy was like, "I need to show my parents through my apartment that I am an adult so that they take my relationship more seriously." That also hurt my heart because I wonder if that would be an issue with his parents if he were straight? Their apartment wasn't even that bad! I don't know, I felt like the tone of the show was, people tidying up in order to manage others' feelings. I would've liked to have seen someone tidy up for themselves. But, I only saw the 2 episodes. Maybe the others aren't like that.

Has anyone else watched it? What do you all think?

I do like the "sparks joy" concept but I told Boyfriend that if I followed that, I would not own any winter clothing! I hate sweaters and boots and coats and gloves..... but, living in Chicago, they are needs so I can't just toss everything. I guess the best I can hope for is, only keep stuff that fits and is warm enough and doesn't, like, have holes in it? I really do hate it all, though. I haven't read her book; maybe she addresses that there.

I spent some time this weekend tossing stuff in our basement, and bagging some up for donations. One bagful of stuff went to the "free" table we have at my work. I was holding on to a lot of stuff for the annual neighborhood yard sale in June, but we live in a 2-flat and our new neighbor is a major pain in the ass, and the more I thought about it I thought, "I do not want to have to deal with negotiating yard sale logistics with this individual." It was actually freeing to just get rid of it, though part of me thinks, "I maybe could've made a few bucks on that...."

Hmmmm, interesting. I've only watched 1 thus far, a straight couple with two young kids. I definitely was bothered by certain aspects- their relationship was very condescending, while Marie/the narrator/whatever talked about all the warmth and love in the home. That was odd to me. But I also have a *very* calm and (as described by a friend once) "annoyingly respectful" relationship with my husband. So I have a hard time knowing what is "normal" to other people. I struggle with many shows like this in general (Gail Vaz Oxlade, trying to remember others) simply because SO many of the families have issues that extend way beyond the "issue at hand", and the debt/clutter/whatever is just the symptom of deeper dysfunction. But I think it's possible to have debt or clutter concerns without it being symptomatic of a deep familial rift, and so I do worry shows like this can be problematic. I dunno, not expressing my thoughts particularly well, just to say you raise good points and I'll be curious to see what others think, and what I think as I watch more.