Author Topic: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2  (Read 1249327 times)

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2550 on: June 05, 2019, 03:12:31 PM »
Anonymously donated a 'Captain Planet' board game to a retirement community, as well as  one wicker basket. Marching on.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2551 on: June 05, 2019, 07:02:46 PM »
Posted the sports bra and some sanitary products to Support the Girls this morning.

Spoke to my grandfather last night and he mentioned needing laundry bags as he accidentally damaged one of his wool jumpers in the washing machine.

I've somehow accumulated a dozen laundry bags, so I put three aside to give him.

And I'm palming a pair of calf guards/compression sleeves off on @marty998 (with his permission).

So six things out of the house this week.

mspym

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2552 on: June 05, 2019, 08:46:02 PM »
Slowly continuing to prune the book collection, both physical and digital. Two more books for the street library and out of my TBR pile!

marty998

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2553 on: June 06, 2019, 05:41:51 AM »
Posted the sports bra and some sanitary products to Support the Girls this morning.

Spoke to my grandfather last night and he mentioned needing laundry bags as he accidentally damaged one of his wool jumpers in the washing machine.

I've somehow accumulated a dozen laundry bags, so I put three aside to give him.

And I'm palming a pair of calf guards/compression sleeves off on @marty998 (with his permission).

So six things out of the house this week.

Thank you @mustachepungoeshere! Very helpful for marathon recovery!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2554 on: June 06, 2019, 09:57:19 AM »
Three more tank tops + one race shirt out of the house. Every time I get a workout shirt, I force myself to grab one I don't normally wear. If it's not a go, into the donation pile it is. Super helpful to just make progress on getting things out of the drawers.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2555 on: June 08, 2019, 07:39:37 AM »
Found a bag-o-papers on the living room floor pile of junk. Easy to jettison this stuff. Old receipts, church bulletins, etc. Saved some of the paper since it can be written on, for notes.

 Also was some toss-in-trash junk there too, which I happily tossed into the trash.

Will bring the full bag of old receipts, bulletins, etc to recycling and get that ahhhhh feeling when I dump the whole thing in!

Two fewer  pounds of paper clutter in the house.   

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2556 on: June 08, 2019, 07:51:38 AM »
As per our normal last day of school routine, I had the kids do the following:
-Empty their backpacks. Recycle all old papers, clean out garbage, & save all school supplies that can be reused next year
-Try on all of their shoes, donating anything still in good condition, tossing the rest. This helps us make a list for what we need, as we tend to buy shoes 2x year at the Nike outlet on vacation.
-Try on all of their clothes, putting anything they don't fit into/won't wear into the donation bin. I made a small pile of super nice stuff that I might be able to sell.

Freedomin5

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2557 on: June 08, 2019, 08:27:07 AM »
We are moving in a couple weeks, so this weekend we:

- Threw out over 10 bags of papers and trash
- Placed some old but still serviceable baby toys in a box beside the dumpster
- Threw out all old expired makeup
- Gave away a really nice brand new Starbucks thermos
- Threw out an old suitcase with broken wheels
- Threw out a steamer and some other kitchen appliances that we never use

By “throwing out”, I mean we placed them in a box/bag on the ground beside the dumpster. We made sure to place the items out on a sunny day when all the retired folks were sitting outside chatting and playing cards and mahjong. We made sure they could see us walk all these wonderful goodies to the dumpster. Then we left the apartment complex to run errands so that they could pick through the things in peace. We discovered that they don’t pick through anything. They just take everything. Even the old cardboard box holding all the stuff was gone. It was like we hadn’t placed anything outside at all.

Another box of nice, random stuff is going out tomorrow morning, as long as it’s not raining.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2558 on: June 08, 2019, 02:13:16 PM »
Put a dress (too short) & a pair of shorts (just ugh) into the donation bin. Slow but steady!

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2559 on: June 09, 2019, 04:33:46 AM »
Trying to get rid of an old baby stroller. Reseller says he will give me $10 for it and he will sell it for $20. But he hasn't seen it yet. I was in his area yesterday, so I stopped by, got stroller out. He wasn't there, try again tomorrow.

I then spent 20 minutes figuring out how to collapse the stroller so I could get it back in the car. Pull, twist, stretch, pry, right, left, up, down. Unbelievable. I was lifting it up to just shove it back in uncollapsed and suddenly something shifted into the right configuration, and I got it to collapse.

It's probably too dirty for the reseller to be interested, anyway. I tried to clean it up.

I'll be so happy when I get rid of it.  Had it on Craigslist for $5, I think. No interest.     


TomTX

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2560 on: June 09, 2019, 09:10:41 AM »
Should have just left the stroller at the reseller's door and texted/emailed that they can pay you $10 if they like it.

You're wasting a lot of time and effort on $5 worth of stroller.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2561 on: June 09, 2019, 05:00:44 PM »
Should have just left the stroller at the reseller's door and texted/emailed that they can pay you $10 if they like it.

You're wasting a lot of time and effort on $5 worth of stroller.

That just makes too much sense, TomTx. 

I'm a red panda

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2562 on: June 09, 2019, 06:05:30 PM »
Should have just left the stroller at the reseller's door and texted/emailed that they can pay you $10 if they like it.

You're wasting a lot of time and effort on $5 worth of stroller.

A lot of time when I sell stuff on Craigslist I tell people to just put money under the door mat. It's rarely worth my time to meet up with them. If they want to steal the thing, at least it's gone

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2563 on: June 09, 2019, 09:46:22 PM »
Should have just left the stroller at the reseller's door and texted/emailed that they can pay you $10 if they like it.

You're wasting a lot of time and effort on $5 worth of stroller.

A lot of time when I sell stuff on Craigslist I tell people to just put money under the door mat. It's rarely worth my time to meet up with them. If they want to steal the thing, at least it's gone

A friend of mine has the same approach. Anything under $40, she leaves it on her front verandah and asks them to leave the cash. If they leave the cash, it's a perk. If not, she still got rid of a thing.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2564 on: June 09, 2019, 09:52:25 PM »
Visited my parents on the weekend and decluttered my room there. (I have a bad habit of dumping old hoodies and ancient jeans there to dag around in till they wear out completely. The problem is, I've been doing that for 10 years and have yet to actually get to the next stage and throw anything out.)

Tossed an old pair of shoes, put a few things in a donation bag, and threw out some actual rubbish.

Noodle

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2565 on: June 09, 2019, 09:55:35 PM »
Over the Memorial Day weekend I had Marie Kondo'd my sweaters and shoes. Weeded out a ton (gone to Goodwill) but what was really helpful was arranging what I kept by color. It's amazing how much faster it is to find things, and how much more motivated I am to put things away when they have a specific spot (as opposed to somewhere in the sweater keeper). It worked so well I got motivated to alphabetize my spice drawer, and although I didn't toss much there, it's shocking how much easier it is to find things.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2566 on: June 10, 2019, 06:26:07 AM »
Over the Memorial Day weekend I had Marie Kondo'd my sweaters and shoes. Weeded out a ton (gone to Goodwill) but what was really helpful was arranging what I kept by color. It's amazing how much faster it is to find things, and how much more motivated I am to put things away when they have a specific spot (as opposed to somewhere in the sweater keeper). It worked so well I got motivated to alphabetize my spice drawer, and although I didn't toss much there, it's shocking how much easier it is to find things.

I find that the organization matters so much. I have my closet clothes (work sweaters, tops, etc) hung by color & sleeve length. I also have drawers that i use for workout clothes, because color is pretty much irrelevant. Instead, I have: tank tops, short sleeve, long sleeved all rolled separately. At a glance, I can quickly grab the first available in whichever type I need. I also have two types of sports bras: those good enough for running, & those not quite supportive enough. Same with workout pants: those that don't slip during running, and those that are good for running. I stack in separate piles in my drawer, so I just grab the first one on top from the pile I need. It has made getting ready to work out infinitely easier.

Raenia

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2567 on: June 10, 2019, 07:03:18 AM »
Finally parted with my old prom gown - I know, it's ridiculous to have kept it this long, but it's a gorgeous dress, still fits me perfectly (probably looks better on me now than when I was in high school, honestly) and I kept trying to convince myself that I could use it someday - costume party, evening gown, etc.  But it's not the right style for an evening gown, and I can't hold onto it just on the off chance I come up with a costume to use it.  Still a little sad about it, though.

jengod

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2568 on: June 10, 2019, 11:43:28 AM »
As per our normal last day of school routine, I had the kids do the following:
-Empty their backpacks. Recycle all old papers, clean out garbage, & save all school supplies that can be reused next year
-Try on all of their shoes, donating anything still in good condition, tossing the rest. This helps us make a list for what we need, as we tend to buy shoes 2x year at the Nike outlet on vacation.
-Try on all of their clothes, putting anything they don't fit into/won't wear into the donation bin. I made a small pile of super nice stuff that I might be able to sell.

Great idea!

jengod

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2569 on: June 10, 2019, 11:44:41 AM »
Should have just left the stroller at the reseller's door and texted/emailed that they can pay you $10 if they like it.

You're wasting a lot of time and effort on $5 worth of stroller.

A lot of time when I sell stuff on Craigslist I tell people to just put money under the door mat. It's rarely worth my time to meet up with them. If they want to steal the thing, at least it's gone

Haha we used to do the same thing except we used the mailbox for the cash drop.

FireHiker

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2570 on: June 10, 2019, 12:01:26 PM »
Finally parted with my old prom gown - I know, it's ridiculous to have kept it this long, but it's a gorgeous dress, still fits me perfectly (probably looks better on me now than when I was in high school, honestly) and I kept trying to convince myself that I could use it someday - costume party, evening gown, etc.  But it's not the right style for an evening gown, and I can't hold onto it just on the off chance I come up with a costume to use it.  Still a little sad about it, though.

I still have my old prom gown...I was just looking at it the other day, as my oldest (son) went to his prom a week ago. Maybe I'll get rid of it someday, but not quite yet. I certainly could NOT fit in it right now though.

This weekend was a wash for us. We did more acquiring than normal, and unplanned at that. We replaced some outdoor furniture after I sat on a chaise lounge and it broke...it was a cheap wicker-like material and it was living on borrowed time. We went to Ikea and bought two new chaise lounges and matching chairs, as our chairs were also cheap and disintegrating. Confession time: I didn't even look second-hand; my oldest graduates Thursday and we have all kinds of social hosting coming up at our clown-house with pool... We have the money (not too bad at $129 for a solid wood chaise lounge, even if we did have to do some assembly) and took the expedient route this time around. We did re-use our cushions though as they are still in decent shape. The old furniture is not usable so my husband is in the process of dismantling it so it can be thrown out/recycled as appropriate. He already cut down the boxes from the new furniture and put them in the recycling instead of stashing them in the garage, which is progress for him!

On the upside, we did a very thorough cleanout of the fridge last night and I took a stab at the pantry also. I am determined to do a better job of eating what we have and not having things get "lost" in either one. My middle son (who's 9) started cleaning out his closet this weekend and I'm going to work with him soon to go through his stuff and help him declutter. He is not a keeper of stuff, but things accumulate anyway, so it will be much easier than my daughter who wants to keep EVERYTHING.

On an unrelated note, my 2008 Honda Civic has been having A/C issues and of course it's starting to get hot. My husband ordered relays online ($12) and it seems to be working today! Not a de-cluttering event, but I'm so happy to have (hopefully) fixed it so cheaply.

I just need to get through this week with my oldest's high school graduation and get past all the school year end festivities and then I look forward to having time this summer to really tackle the house, one drawer/cabinet at a time.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2571 on: June 10, 2019, 07:47:24 PM »
Having decluttered (used up or donated) most of the airline toiletries, I moved a few nice things (hand creams, etc) into the bedside table in the spare room for guests.

Most of the little decluttering jobs are done now (apart from the ongoing maintenance), with one big job left: to donate a very heavy timber hutch and move an antique timber desk from the garage back into the house.

The hutch doesn't get used, takes up space and looks out of place where it is.

The desk has been damaged while in storage, and I want to move it back into the house before it gets damaged further.

I just need a van and more muscle than I possess...

Noodle

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2572 on: June 11, 2019, 10:25:29 AM »
Over the Memorial Day weekend I had Marie Kondo'd my sweaters and shoes. Weeded out a ton (gone to Goodwill) but what was really helpful was arranging what I kept by color. It's amazing how much faster it is to find things, and how much more motivated I am to put things away when they have a specific spot (as opposed to somewhere in the sweater keeper). It worked so well I got motivated to alphabetize my spice drawer, and although I didn't toss much there, it's shocking how much easier it is to find things.

I find that the organization matters so much. I have my closet clothes (work sweaters, tops, etc) hung by color & sleeve length. I also have drawers that i use for workout clothes, because color is pretty much irrelevant. Instead, I have: tank tops, short sleeve, long sleeved all rolled separately. At a glance, I can quickly grab the first available in whichever type I need. I also have two types of sports bras: those good enough for running, & those not quite supportive enough. Same with workout pants: those that don't slip during running, and those that are good for running. I stack in separate piles in my drawer, so I just grab the first one on top from the pile I need. It has made getting ready to work out infinitely easier.

It really surprised me how much of a difference it made to have a specific spot for each thing that it goes back into. I am fairly organized already (I think our closets are pretty similar!) but this took it up a notch!

I have been disposing of some things entirely but also trying to use things that had been stashed away. I got two greeting cards into the mail that had been tucked in a drawer and wore two pairs of cute shoes (on separate days :) ) that had been lurking in a dark corner, only to discover they had aged past the point of wearability...enjoyed one last time of wearing them and then sent them to their reward.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2573 on: June 12, 2019, 08:03:55 AM »
Awesome, @Noodle

As part of my sabbatical, I committed to decluttering our entire house. We've moved twice in the last 5+ years, so both of those were a great exercise in getting rid of stuff. However, things still build up. Yesterday I went through one of our hall closets, took everything out, organized what was left, cleaned the dust bunnies on the floor, and found three things to donate. Added two items to the "sell" pile. I'm currently holding on selling anything, as we're going to be out of town for a few weeks. So, I'm instead generating a big "sell" list for our return.

For today, I have another hall closet & perhaps my *shivers* filing cabinet on the to do list. Otherwise, maybe the fridge & freezer. Which isn't really as much about decluttering as cleaning, organizing & ensuring I know what's available.

The hot weather over the past few days has meant more time for inside chores vs all of my yard work projects.

Shinplaster

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2574 on: June 12, 2019, 11:58:57 AM »
Two more big bags of stuff my son decided he no longer wanted us to keep off to Goodwill.  Also a bunch of odds and ends we don't need.  Lots of vases, kitchen utensils we have multiples of, etc.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2575 on: June 12, 2019, 12:24:49 PM »
Threw out 3 vases of dried roses. Represent a rose from every bouquet I've been given in over 20 years. But I don't need them.

I kept one rose from when my son was stillborn, it hangs on a bulletin board, but the rest are gone.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2576 on: June 12, 2019, 04:48:49 PM »
I'm a red panda - that sounds hard. It's great you found a way to honor your son as well.

I moved on to a bathroom drawer clean out today. I did one side (four drawers, two shelves) & got rid of a bunch of stuff. Some to donate, some to trash, some to better reorganize. I also cleaned everything thoroughly. More to come, because our house has a ton of nooks & crannies!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2577 on: June 13, 2019, 12:48:43 PM »
Finished one bathroom clean out. Got rid of expired medicine, a variety of junk we don't need, and consolidated extra products. Need to move on to the second bathroom or the hall closet next. The fun continues!

I'm a red panda

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2578 on: June 13, 2019, 01:52:18 PM »
Threw out a bunch of underwear I don't like. And a big pile of Christmas cards.

I need to empty closets, but the baby just isn't up for it...
Maybe he will let me put him down next month, but maternity leave is flying by and I'm trapped under him for most of the day.

FireHiker

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2579 on: June 14, 2019, 10:54:37 AM »
I need to empty closets, but the baby just isn't up for it...
Maybe he will let me put him down next month, but maternity leave is flying by and I'm trapped under him for most of the day.

Oh gosh, I remember those days! I found that the only way I could do anything sometimes was with a Moby wrap. Total lifesaver when you have a baby that doesn't want to be set down at all. Enjoy the time though; my oldest graduated from high school yesterday. There is a lot of truth to the saying "the days are long and the years are short."

Haven't gotten rid of anything since my last post, but we did prevent adding to clutter yesterday (well, months ago really I suppose). Like I mentioned, my oldest graduated from high school yesterday. He chose to rent all of the graduation stuff and didn't even want to buy a tassel because he is not a keeper of stuff. So, hopefully HE won't ever have to post in a thread like this!

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2580 on: June 15, 2019, 03:27:10 AM »
Tidied my pantry and consolidated a couple of sauce bottles, threw out a worn-out pair of pants, and sold a dress on eBay.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2581 on: June 15, 2019, 05:46:37 AM »
Finally got rid of the bulky awkward space-consuming baby stroller. Goodwill didn't want it. I tried to plop it down in their back door drop off area, but a watchful guard popped out and said 'we don't take those!'

Was able to unload it at the Salvation Army. Their website implied they took baby stuff. Placed it in an outdoor shed at the SA. Big sign saying 'you are on camera'. OK, fine. But no guard to stop me.   

 

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2582 on: June 16, 2019, 12:39:38 AM »
I had serviettes left over from a party (from years ago - I no longer buy single-use products like this).

They were sitting in a drawer not being used, so I cut them into quarters to use in place of tissues and paper towel.

Once they're used up, they won't be replaced.

letsdoit

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2583 on: June 17, 2019, 08:01:31 AM »
one of our rooms has almost no furniture in it now
so relaxing

FireHiker

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2584 on: June 17, 2019, 11:08:38 AM »
I had a pretty productive weekend on this front, although my house is overwhelming and there's still so much progress to make.

This weekend I:
-cleaned out most of 2 medicine cabinets and purged old/expired medications and makeup
-tackled part of the laundry room, cleaning out old stuff from when we cloth-diapered our kids. I really don't think we still need old diaper sprayer parts when our youngest is 7.5!
-reorganized our food storage drawers and removed some older items that aren't usable anymore. I did a pretty thorough purge in this area a year ago and didn't actually find any mismatched/missing lids or anything, just streamlined a little more and tidied up.
-put daughter's old dance stuff in the donate bin
-pulled 2 pairs of my shoes to donate...my shoes are almost fully decluttered now

We went to an open house this weekend over where my daughter's best friend lives. Our current house is a giant clown house, 5 bedrooms+loft, 4 baths, 3 car garage, pool. 3690 square feet. We toured a 3 bedroom+loft, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage townhome with a small fenced patio/yard. 1628 square feet. Although we don't think the timing will work on this particular unit, we are definitely inspired to continue downsizing our stuff so we'll be ready to move smaller when the timing IS right. We are leaning towards 1800-2000 square feet being our target; we want a little bit bigger of a kitchen and living space than the place we saw last weekend. Our oldest goes to college in August which will leave us as a family of four with a 7 and 9 year old still at home. We do have a dog so we want to keep at least a larger fenced patio or small yard. There are a few communities in our current neighborhood that will work, but we aren't quite ready to sell yet. We are working on decluttering/tackling small maintenance projects so that we'll be ready to jump when it's time.

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2585 on: June 18, 2019, 12:54:28 AM »
I had a pretty productive weekend on this front, although my house is overwhelming and there's still so much progress to make.

This weekend I:
-cleaned out most of 2 medicine cabinets and purged old/expired medications and makeup
-tackled part of the laundry room, cleaning out old stuff from when we cloth-diapered our kids. I really don't think we still need old diaper sprayer parts when our youngest is 7.5!
-reorganized our food storage drawers and removed some older items that aren't usable anymore. I did a pretty thorough purge in this area a year ago and didn't actually find any mismatched/missing lids or anything, just streamlined a little more and tidied up.
-put daughter's old dance stuff in the donate bin
-pulled 2 pairs of my shoes to donate...my shoes are almost fully decluttered now

We went to an open house this weekend over where my daughter's best friend lives. Our current house is a giant clown house, 5 bedrooms+loft, 4 baths, 3 car garage, pool. 3690 square feet. We toured a 3 bedroom+loft, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage townhome with a small fenced patio/yard. 1628 square feet. Although we don't think the timing will work on this particular unit, we are definitely inspired to continue downsizing our stuff so we'll be ready to move smaller when the timing IS right. We are leaning towards 1800-2000 square feet being our target; we want a little bit bigger of a kitchen and living space than the place we saw last weekend. Our oldest goes to college in August which will leave us as a family of four with a 7 and 9 year old still at home. We do have a dog so we want to keep at least a larger fenced patio or small yard. There are a few communities in our current neighborhood that will work, but we aren't quite ready to sell yet. We are working on decluttering/tackling small maintenance projects so that we'll be ready to jump when it's time.

I'm really excited for you, @FireHiker! Keep us updated.

FireHiker

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2586 on: June 18, 2019, 11:48:18 AM »
I'm excited, too, @mustachepungoeshere ! It may still be a couple years until we make a downsize jump, but we're working towards it. If we stay where we are and work another 11 years we'll be firmly in the Boglehead sort of category with our retirement number, but I don't want to work another 11 years and keep cleaning and maintaining this giant house. We could definitely retire now if we move to a LCOL area and substantially reduce our future travel plans, but we aren't quite ready to commit to lean-FIRE. Hopefully I can stay active here cleaning out the clutter so we'll be ready to move when we make the when/where decision.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2587 on: June 18, 2019, 01:16:07 PM »
Returned 4 small gifts today. Things I just don't need. Glad they are not in my house anymore.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2588 on: June 18, 2019, 01:35:26 PM »
It's satisfying to read these updates :)

We did our full winter for summer switch/ clean-out of the front closet, including bikes for skis.

In the process we cleaned out about 6 toques (beanies), some shoes I bought but never wore, a bunch of odds & ends, found some new boots and roof-racks to sell and took a whole bag of fabric to the thrift store.


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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2589 on: June 19, 2019, 02:48:44 PM »
Haven’t heard the term serviettes used for a longtime!  In Canada, we used to call them that, but now the American word “napkin” has taken over.  Many years ago, my parents were in the US and asked for one at a restaurant, and the waitress had no idea what they were talking about.  A while later she came back and asked “What did you call it?”
No one ever says “chesterfield” any more either.  Guess I’m officially old.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2590 on: June 19, 2019, 03:54:54 PM »
Haven’t heard the term serviettes used for a longtime!  In Canada, we used to call them that, but now the American word “napkin” has taken over.  Many years ago, my parents were in the US and asked for one at a restaurant, and the waitress had no idea what they were talking about.  A while later she came back and asked “What did you call it?”
No one ever says “chesterfield” any more either.  Guess I’m officially old.

Serviettes - no one uses cloth any more, except at nice restaurants.  I still have my napkin ring from when I was a child - does anyone even remember why we had them?  Besides me, that is.

I was never too clear on the difference between a chesterfield and a couch and a sofa.  Still 3 words that mean roughly the same thing, as far as I can tell.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2591 on: June 19, 2019, 05:00:39 PM »
I have napkin rings. We always put our cloth napkins out in them when we set the table as kids. I don't "set the table" now though. I've never used them.

Paper napkins are not allowed in my house.

happy

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2592 on: June 19, 2019, 05:12:02 PM »
I'm waiting for a charity van to come and hopefully pick up an entire carport of old furniture. "Hopefully", because these days they only want good stuff they can sell, and I'm not sure whether they will say some of the stuff is a scruffy. Its all solid and works just fine, and I would use it except that I already have more than enough furniture: however charities no longer provide free hand-me downs for people who are down on their luck.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2593 on: June 19, 2019, 05:37:08 PM »
Napkins are cloth, serviettes are paper. Napkin rings were to hide the previous day's stains and allow for reuse of a napkin instead of having a fresh one everyday. [Of course, we now just use teatowels for everything so no napkin rings needed.]

Two more books out of the house.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2594 on: June 19, 2019, 06:13:15 PM »
Serviettes are paper?  To me serviettes are the really nice, fairly large, often linen, napkins, while napkins are usually smaller and cotton (probably polyester these days).  Funny how words change meaning as geographic area changes.

happy

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2595 on: June 19, 2019, 08:06:07 PM »
I'm waiting for a charity van to come and hopefully pick up an entire carport of old furniture. "Hopefully", because these days they only want good stuff they can sell, and I'm not sure whether they will say some of the stuff is a scruffy. Its all solid and works just fine, and I would use it except that I already have more than enough furniture: however charities no longer provide free hand-me downs for people who are down on their luck.

Grrrr... they wouldn't bring the truck down the drive even to come get it. So that was a waste of time.  >:(       >:(

mspym

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2596 on: June 19, 2019, 08:11:08 PM »
Serviettes are paper?  To me serviettes are the really nice, fairly large, often linen, napkins, while napkins are usually smaller and cotton (probably polyester these days).  Funny how words change meaning as geographic area changes.
That is funny - to me napkins are the nice cloth things, serviettes are for holding under a party pie or wrapped around a sausage in some white bread bought outside a garden centre or sportsfield :D


mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2597 on: June 19, 2019, 11:37:57 PM »
Haven’t heard the term serviettes used for a longtime!  In Canada, we used to call them that, but now the American word “napkin” has taken over.  Many years ago, my parents were in the US and asked for one at a restaurant, and the waitress had no idea what they were talking about.  A while later she came back and asked “What did you call it?”
No one ever says “chesterfield” any more either.  Guess I’m officially old.

Serviettes - no one uses cloth any more, except at nice restaurants.  I still have my napkin ring from when I was a child - does anyone even remember why we had them?  Besides me, that is.

I was never too clear on the difference between a chesterfield and a couch and a sofa.  Still 3 words that mean roughly the same thing, as far as I can tell.

Australian. They're still called serviettes here.

former player

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2598 on: June 20, 2019, 02:39:37 AM »
According to Wikipedia "napkin" is U and "serviette" is non-U -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U_and_non-U_English

A Chesterfield is a specific type of sofa with the arms the same height as the back.  And sofa is U but couch and settee are not.

Dear dog, us English, right?

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #2599 on: June 20, 2019, 05:08:09 AM »
I'm waiting for a charity van to come and hopefully pick up an entire carport of old furniture. "Hopefully", because these days they only want good stuff they can sell, and I'm not sure whether they will say some of the stuff is a scruffy. Its all solid and works just fine, and I would use it except that I already have more than enough furniture: however charities no longer provide free hand-me downs for people who are down on their luck.

Grrrr... they wouldn't bring the truck down the drive even to come get it. So that was a waste of time.  >:(       >:(

That's annoying.  The thrift store here will take almost anything, but they have people on staff who are good at spotting the good stuff.  Most of it gets sent to an antique shop in big, semi-local city.  It's good for their mission, I suppose (I have some issues with the way this particular one does business), but there are very, very rarely any treasures to be found.