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

[slackmax]

Slackmax, my heart really hurts for you.  Is there anyone who can help?  Friends, family, hired person?  Please try for your own sanity...

There's just sooo much stuff.

I was watching an episode of 'Hoarders' a while ago, and the narrator said that the son of the hoarder was probably going to take a few years to declutter his mother's house. I thought 'how can that be?'.  But here I am taking years to declutter my girlfriend's hoard. It's true. It's such a boring grind, that's the thing.   
   

You are making it harder on yourself than it technically needs to be.  The hard part is not just physically getting rid of it.  That could be done in short order, but if you're trying to get as much money out of it as you can, then it will take a lot longer.  From reading your older posts, it seems like you have to go through a process of considering what an item is worth, making an attempt to get that amount for it, and only if you fail, letting it go for free.  Unless you really need the money, there is likely something else going on here.  Maybe an attachment to the stuff because it was your girlfriend's or an anxiety about seeing the house truly "empty.?"  And if it's about the money, how much money in total is it worth to you to go through this lengthy process?  (I also find it interesting that in one post you talk about having given up the battle with your girlfriend around her accumulation of stuff, and yet, now that you can get rid of it all, you seem to be in no hurry to do so.  Humans - we're so contradictory, huh?)

Here's something interesting:  Even though I carefully evaluate every item while decluttering the house, the 3 packed storage units my girlfriend was renting were another story. After she died, I took a TV and 4 folding chairs, and that was it. Her family wanted nothing to do with the storage units, and they actually thought I would just sell it all off. But it was all 'junk', maybe a few things worth something.  And I wasn't crazy enough to go through it all. I told the owner of the storage place he could have it all, and he agreed, with no charge to me. He wasn't going to allow me to hold a storage unit sale on the property, anyway, so that wasn't even a consideration.  So I saved untold hours of my time by just "letting all that stuff just go".     Yay for me, lol.     

Yes, that IS interesting.  What is preventing you from taking this same approach with the stuff in your house?  Do you feel that it is more yours, since it is in your house?  Or because you have easier access to it all, you can take the time to go through each item?  Are the items actually worth more than the "junk" in the storage units?  Maybe the solution is to move all the stuff into another storage unit, then let the owner have that too!

Anna, I love your description of the stuff in storage units. Spot on!

Now I remember some more details. I would have had to keep paying the $290 per month rent for the crap. Plus I had all the estate probate stuff to mess with, a huge amount of clerical tasks, and no time for the storage crap. My girlfriend left no will even though we were asking her to make one, and I agreed to help with  the probate work. 

So......... the stuff that's currently in my house isn't costing any rent, so it's less annoying than junk I would have to pay rent on (And no, I can't believe any sane person would pay to store crap month after month forever, but that's what hoarders do. Psychological problems).   

*** Maybe the solution is to move all the stuff into another storage unit, then let the owner have that too!  ***  Love it!  lol. 

Yes, I think the stuff she left in the house is more valuable than the stuff she stored in the units. I'm coming across some "collector items" here and there now. You would not believe what people collect and pay for :  example - a guy at my rummage sale place sells old blank receipt pads for some Texaco station from the 60's, for $4 a pad, and people buy them !!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am taking them seriously. And I have already attacked the big things. I even donated a large fake Christmas tree instead of waiting til Christmas to sell it, just to get rid of it because it was big. So I'm not a hopeless case,  lol.

[SunnyDays]

I've got a friend who is a storage unit broker. She regularly has to clean out units, and it's always absolute junk they're full of. OK, maaaaaaybe the tenants took out everything of worth before abandoning the unit. She sometimes has to go into units with the tenant's permission, to replace rodent traps or whatever else and it's still just all junk. Why people pay to keep acres and acres of absolute shit is beyond me. I've helped her clear out units and it's cardboard boxes of linen that could have gone to a thrift store years ago, paperwork no one cares about, cheap crappy furniture, old appliances etc. The units rented by commercial entities are even worse - advertising material from years ago, shop display systems they don't even use anymore and that aren't complete, hundreds of plastic coathangers, broken desks etc. Just worthless bullshit.

And they can't seem to build new storage units fast enough around here

An entire industry built on the fact that people can't part with useless, worthless garbage. It's not even stuff with sentimental value, as far as I can see. It's really just garbage.

It's the sunk cost fallacy, writ large.

Or, as most of us on this thread have discovered, actually dealing with your stuff takes time and physical and emotional energy.  Way easier to just put it out of sight, even if you have to pay for that privilege.

[Ladychips]

[quote
 So I'm not a hopeless case,  lol
[/quote]

@slackmax , I don't think you're hopeless.  I just think you are in a really crappy situation that has been crappy for so long you don't even realize how much it is weighing you down.  I'd like to see that weight gone so you can start living your best life, not weighed down by the past and another person's choices.

[Sugaree]

Made about $100 at consignment sale.  A lot of sellers were complaining about how they made so much less money this year than last.  I'm sitting over here happy because I got paid for stuff that was just going to the theft store anyway.

I purged my drawers and got rid of a bunch of stuff.  I finally came to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever be a size 2 again, and even if I do I'm entirely too old to wear those clothes again.  Aside from the boxes of stuff that's stored over at my parents house that I'm debating putting on poshmark, that takes care of decluttering all of our clothes.  I need to cut down the number of towels we have, or at least the number we keep in the bathroom, but we're making progress.

[Nederstash]

I vividly remember posting here that I was done decluttering... sigh, what a glorious time that was. I remember, clear as day, looking around my house and seeing a serene, clean space filled with only items I love. But life has a way of sneaking shit into your house, so here I am again. I feel a little agitated when I look around my house. Little piles of books stacked on top of a dresser because there's no more room. A gift I'm storing purely out of obligation. Various books in various states of finishing. My sock basket... none of my socks are folded in the Marie Kondo style and it just looks so messy. Dvd's, even though I recently upgraded to a laptop that doesn't support any discs. Heck, even bike keys from bikes that were stolen (yes, plural, sadly) and are unlikely to turn up again.
 
I'm also dealing with burn out. This means that I will have to budget my energy very carefully. My first instinct is to pull everything off the shelf and have a massive 5 day declutter fiesta, followed by a 5 day deep clean. Perfectionist at heart... I have to keep asking myself "what I can do in an hour?" without committing to anything bigger.
 
I guess I'll start with:
1. Collecting all my dvd's, photographing them and list them online (30 minutes?)
2. Take a basket and go around my house. If I immediately know it can go, it goes in the donation basket. Borrowed items also go in here, I'll sort the basket out later. (15 minutes)
3. Fold my damn socks (15 minutes)
4. Any time left: have a cuppa.

[Roadrunner53]

Nederstash, I feel your pain. I have taken a zillion trips to Goodwill and dropped off carloads of stuff. I have bagged up probably 75 bags to the Vietnam Vets. We have rented dumpsters (gigantic) 3 times and filled them up. We had 1800 got junk to haul some stuff away. The hub has cleaned out stuff in the garage and given stuff to a young guy who appreciates tools and other gizmo's. I gave a ton of professional culinary cookbooks to a local culinary school. We are only two people and have lived in our house over 40 years. We just kept bringing it in and never getting rid of stuff. I still have so much stuff it is ridiculous! I converted my hallway linen closet to a kitchen pantry. I have pots, pans, casseroles, small appliances and it is packed full. All kitchen cabinets are packed full. My bedroom closet is so full I can't fit a thin piece of paper between clothes. Drawers are full. It blows my mind that I have given away so much and still have too much stuff! I cleaned out my computer cabinet and got rid of a ton of stuff and it still is full of stuff. OMG! I think the clutter grows like mushrooms during the night!

I need to get on the ball and start bagging up some junk and get rid of it. It is like a full time job!

[SunnyDays]

Week 12:

Worked on the bathroom this week, so mainly toiletries to report.
78. Inflatable bath pillow-who has time for baths, I'm too busy decluttering!  To be offered to relative.
79. Soap dish a previous roommate left behind - animal rescue garage sale.
80. Battery operated toothbrush.  Hate it.  Thrift store.
81. Huge bag of cotton balls - thrift store.
82. Like new suitcase most recent roommate left behind.  Tear to be sewn and given to animal rescue garage sale.
83. Bag of miscellaneous small toiletries - to be offered to relative.
84. Bag of packing peanuts - thrift store.

2 1/2 weeks to go!  I'm having to look harder to find things, but's it's still not really hard.  Goes to show how much useless stuff I had/have.  I only have one bedroom/storage room and the basement to finish, then I'm done.  Well, and the shed, but that will have to wait until spring, because I'll be running out of good weather soon.

Wow, Roadrunner 53, that's a lot of stuff!  40 years is a long time to accumulate things.  Has more stuff come in too?  It sounds stressful to live with all that.  Maybe you should try my method, but aim for 5 - 10 items a day?  You can't possibly be using it all?

[Nederstash]

Just took a box to fill with 'quick decision items'... and promptly got sucked into my supply closet. I purged, cleaned and organised that for an hour. I can never do things half way...

[Roadrunner53]

SunnyDays, I keep tossing out stuff. Yes, stuff does keep coming in but I try to get rid of something old when something new comes in. Doesn't always work. Last year got an 8 quart Instant Pot and it is pretty huge. I got rid of a pot or two so I could have a place to store the IP. I am going to get on the ball and start purging again. I have a bunch of bags downstairs already for Vietnam Vets but I like to have at least 10 giant garbage bags full before I call them. I think I have about 5 right now.

I should challenge myself to purging 5 things a day or more!

Anyone know what to do with old cell phones? Does anyone really want used flip phones and non smart phones?

[Sugaree]

Anyone know what to do with old cell phones? Does anyone really want used flip phones and non smart phones?

One of my brother's Eagle Scout projects was to collect old cell phones for a battered women's shelter.  They could program them so that they could be used for emergency calls.  I don't know if they can still use them or not, but that's a place to start.

[Bracken_Joy]

Anyone know what to do with old cell phones? Does anyone really want used flip phones and non smart phones?

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/recycle-your-old-phone-laptop-tv-and-batteries-everything-you-need-to-know/

Don't throw them away, whatever you do. Husband's job has him run across what happens when batteries start fires in trash compactors and sorting facilities. It isn't pretty, and it's just so unnecessary.

[slackmax]

Made about $100 at consignment sale.  A lot of sellers were complaining about how they made so much less money this year than last.  I'm sitting over here happy because I got paid for stuff that was just going to the theft store anyway.

I purged my drawers and got rid of a bunch of stuff.  I finally came to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever be a size 2 again, and even if I do I'm entirely too old to wear those clothes again. 

Sugaree,  What do you mean by consignment sale? Was it  several sellers at the same location, like a 'carboot sale'?    You must have unloaded some nice clothes to earn $100, lol.   

[horsepoor]

Anyone know what to do with old cell phones? Does anyone really want used flip phones and non smart phones?

BestBuy and probably some other electronics stores have drop boxes for that type of thing.  Some people do like flip phones because the battery lasts so much longer than a smart phone.

[dcheesi]

So the junk haulers have come and gone; it cost more than I would have hoped, but well worth it given my time constraints (and not having to carry all that junk down four floors of stairs!). Another delight: I cashed in my 10+ years worth of spare change (a literal suitcase full of cash lol), and it came out to enough to just about cover the cost of the junk haulers!

There were only a couple of items that I had second thoughts about, but I know we don't have room for them in our new combined household. If anything, I wish I had donated those pieces directly, so I'd know they weren't going to waste (they say they donate items when possible, but...?).

[Sugaree]

Made about $100 at consignment sale.  A lot of sellers were complaining about how they made so much less money this year than last.  I'm sitting over here happy because I got paid for stuff that was just going to the theft store anyway.

I purged my drawers and got rid of a bunch of stuff.  I finally came to terms with the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever be a size 2 again, and even if I do I'm entirely too old to wear those clothes again. 

Sugaree,  What do you mean by consignment sale? Was it  several sellers at the same location, like a 'carboot sale'?    You must have unloaded some nice clothes to earn $100, lol.   

Yeah, pretty much.  Twice a year, a local church puts it on.  You sign up to be a consignor and you bring between 30 and 200 things that your kid has outgrown.  Clothes, toys, baby gear, etc.  I think that they had 250 consignor slots this year and a small waiting list in case some of the original sellers didn't get their minimum number of items in.  This one is fairly picky about what they will allow to be sold, i.e. they'll reject anything with stains.  There's another local sale that allows "play clothes."  For four and a half days people can come in and shop, with the first day being reserved for people who volunteered and/or brought things to sell and the last day being the half-price day.  Consignors get 70% of their sales (75% if they also volunteer).  It's a fundraiser for the church's youth group.

I sold about 60 items, so I averaged just over $1.50 per piece.  I had only taken 125 things in, so I sold about half of what I sent.  Most of what I sold/donated was probably bought a few years ago at the same sale, lol.  Some of it I did choose not to donate because I think that eventually I can sell them. These were mainly things like cloth diapers that it will take the right buyer and they can easily be put into the next sale. 

[MountainGal]

Recently:

Dropped off 2 boxes at Goodwill
Returned my sister's canvas tote to her full of recent magazines and 4 egg cartons for her co-worker
Took an empty toner cartridge to Office Depot for recycling
Mailed off 11 empty egg cartons to a chicken and duck owning friend

[FireHiker]

We have been in our much smaller home for three weeks now, and we got both cars in the (small) two car garage last weekend! I feel like I have been doing nothing but decluttering for the past few months, but it has been very worth it. My friend came over who has the same floor plan and commented that our place seemed so much bigger. I think we just have a lot less stuff everywhere. There is still a fair bit of progress to make, but we do have some empty cabinets here and there, and both cars fit in the garage!! I am definitely not DONE, but I feel like I can take a break here and there and actually spend some time on the weekend now doing something I enjoy instead of only focusing on unpacking/decluttering. Everyone is amazed at how we downsized (the first question is always "but what did you do with all your stuff?!"), but I think all that effort I had made all those years to declutter the stuff periodically made a big difference. I am so thankful we never "filled" the old house. We had all kinds of empty space in it, and that made all the difference in downsizing. I wish the downstairs was a little bit bigger, and we will probably re-do the kitchen because it is tiny and not efficiently designed, but there is amazingly enough closet space. :)

[Nederstash]

Today I decluttered my old laptop. I used Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) to destroy all data - to Department of Defense levels of data destruction. It's a free program - yay! - but takes some work to set it up properly and it completely wipes everything, even the operating system. So don't do this if you just want to reset your pc and want to use it afterwards. You'd need a boot disk to make it work again, so I think I'll put it online for tech-savvy people to pick up for a small price.

[Sibley]

About 2 years ago I bought a lawn edger at a yard sale. Beast of a machine. Gas powered. Had a clutch. I used it once. Couldn't remember how to start it.

Sold it for 3x what I bought it for. I will get a new (to me at least) edger, but smaller, hopefully electric. One that I actually remember how to turn on and am not terrified of using.

[SunnyDays]

Week 13 report:
85. 2 glass bowls - animal rescue garage sale.
86. Brick of an old (OLD!) cell phone.  Will try selling it, but not hopeful.
87. Hardcover book - garage sale.
88. Cracked desk floor mat - trying to salvage some but not having much luck cutting it.  Likely garbage.
89. Mostly empty old stamp book - will try to sell.
90. 2nd winter coat - to go to local church at Thanksgiving drive.
91. Brand new tablecloth and napkin set - garage sale.

Nearing the end and I’m getting rid of some things I don’t really want to but know I won’t miss once they’re gone, so not feeling too bad about it.  The only thing I really regret getting rid of in my two plus years of decluttering is a vintage clothes hamper.  Still kick myself over that one.  Nothing else has cost me any sleep.

[marty998]

I threw out the last 6 months of magazines I had accumulated. That was a heavy load to carry out the door.

Also got rid of an old jacket I hadn't used in years.

[mspym]

We took two old boy mattresses to the council pick up (free!) and I donated a bag of clothes in the same trip. We have a new pile of books to share with the neighbourhood street libraries.

[horsepoor]

And, the horse trailer is gone and the $$$ is in my account!  That frees up about an 8x18' area in the driveway.  I also gave the buyer some accessories I no longer need since I have a gooseneck trailer now.  Everyone was happy!

So I was going to build a simple shed in the driveway, but this weekend I kept glancing guiltily at my largely unused greenhouse, which has become a dumping ground for random yard things.  I got in there, cleaned and organized it, and moved in my set of horse jumps.  There is still plenty of space to store a stack of shavings, and those were basically the two things the shed was going to store.  I just need to add a hose hanger or two to store hoses for winter, but that's much cheaper than building an entire shed, obviously.  Also, I now get to do other things than build a shed on my week off next month!

Posted several horse blankets on FB yesterday and have someone interested in buying the entire lot, so that should declutter the basement significantly in the near future.

Also have a box of random things going to Goodwill today, and an ugly, bulky vest with my employer's logo is going to be deposited in the breakroom for someone to grab.

[slackmax]

Week 13 report:


Nearing the end and I’m getting rid of some things I don’t really want to but know I won’t miss once they’re gone, so not feeling too bad about it.  The only thing I really regret getting rid of in my two plus years of decluttering is a vintage clothes hamper.  Still kick myself over that one.  Nothing else has cost me any sleep.

I don't know if you are mourning the monetary loss or something else, SUnnyDays. 

Fancy Burberry scarf, new in package (but no price tag). It looked like a $19.95 item to me so I was happy to get $7 from the very appreciative customer at my rummage sale.  Looked it up on EBay later. Worth hundreds,  supposedly..............Gaaaaarghhhh....   

[Sibley]

Fancy Burberry scarf, new in package (but no price tag). It looked like a $19.95 item to me so I was happy to get $7 from the very appreciative customer at my rummage sale.  Looked it up on EBay later. Worth hundreds,  supposedly..............Gaaaaarghhhh....   

Please keep in mind that you have people like my mother, who is fully convinced that many items she has are quite valuable. Except that when you actually look at it, they're not.

Just because you're asking $$$ doesn't mean you'll get it.

[Shinplaster]

Fancy Burberry scarf, new in package (but no price tag). It looked like a $19.95 item to me so I was happy to get $7 from the very appreciative customer at my rummage sale.  Looked it up on EBay later. Worth hundreds,  supposedly..............Gaaaaarghhhh....   

Please keep in mind that you have people like my mother, who is fully convinced that many items she has are quite valuable. Except that when you actually look at it, they're not.

Just because you're asking $$$ doesn't mean you'll get it.

Yes.  Looking at asking prices on Ebay is not worth doing.  Look at sold prices.  Also how many of that item have sold recently.  Expectations and reality are rarely the same.

My Mom is about to go into a retirement home in 6 weeks.  We are going through the 'but it's worth a lot of money' conversations too.  No Mom, unfortunately it's not worth a lot of money.  No one wants your treasures or furniture, including the family.   

No one wants our stuff either, so I am ruthlessly giving it away, one carload at a time.   If someone can flip a few things and make some money, good for them.  I am deliberately including things I DO know could sell for some money.   I imagine someone finding the thing, and lighting up with excitement at their luck.   

[SunnyDays]

Week 13 report:


Nearing the end and I’m getting rid of some things I don’t really want to but know I won’t miss once they’re gone, so not feeling too bad about it.  The only thing I really regret getting rid of in my two plus years of decluttering is a vintage clothes hamper.  Still kick myself over that one.  Nothing else has cost me any sleep.

I don't know if you are mourning the monetary loss or something else, SUnnyDays

Definitely not the monetary loss.  It was just a very pretty hamper - likely hand painted and uncommon.  I miss it still.

[slackmax]

Broke down some empty boxes in the basement, some huge, some normal size, and put them out on curb for recycling. Gone!

[Roadrunner53]

Does anyone know how the state tax situation works on ebay? Does the seller collect the sales tax money and submit it to the State they live in or does ebay do it and the seller has nothing to do? I used to sell on ebay and my state says an occasional seller (not running a business) is not required to register for sales tax. I want to sell on ebay again but am kind of nervous/wondering what a seller is supposed to do now. I am so confused!

[GermanStache]

Over the summer I participated in 4 car boot sales (Fleamarket in Germany) and sold quite some stuff. However I only made around 200 EUR altogether which is not bad but if you figure in 4 sundays spent there instead of enjoying my only day off it is not worth it. It has encouraged me to NOT BRING MORE STUFF IN. Also I will post some more on ebay and donate the rest.

[mspym]

Three more books out of the house. It's funny because it's council clean up today and we have nothing to put out for collection.

[Car Jack]

It's little, but it's something.  Filled 2 paper grocery bags with plastic toys from our big upstairs room and brought them to the plastics bin at the recycling center along with all the cardboard we had accumulated.  Little bites out of the mess.....

[diapasoun]

We just finished a large move -- six people leaving a 3000 square foot Victorian that was originally populated by students and was full of leftover furniture and other things not actually owned by any of us.

We got rid of something like 20+ pieces of furniture through the curbside economy.

I did something like five or six separate Goodwill runs.

We took two 10' U-haul loads (relatively but not entirely full each time) to the dump.

We have recycled and thrown away I don't know how many bags of things.

IT IS DONE.

I can go back to my regularly scheduled "took a book to donate" and "used up some old aloe gel" ways.

[Frugal Lizard]

@diapasoun  wow.  Impressive

[zygote]

Cleaned out my toiletries and wiped down their storage area. Ended up getting rid of 5-10 half empty bottles of things that are really old and/or I didn't like using. I felt guilty about the waste, but there's no point in them sitting there getting older while I procrastinate using them up because they didn't really work for me. It feels great, and now it's easier to get to the stuff I actually like. Plus, the products I threw away taught me about what not to buy in the future.

[diapasoun]

@Frugal Lizard It was a great workout, at least. ;)

[shadesofgreen]

Sunday had a friend help me out.

2 bags of trash into the dumpster.

1 full back seat to donation. I have 2 large open areas in my living room and second bedroom.

It gives me a nice motivative bump to start working on my kitchen. Hopefully this week.

[mspym]

In the end we found 5 things to put out for the council, once of which - a letterpress box- has now been claimed by a stranger. I also put another 3 books in a street library. There are still more waiting to be taken to the next one with room in it.

[horsepoor]

Does anyone know how the state tax situation works on ebay? Does the seller collect the sales tax money and submit it to the State they live in or does ebay do it and the seller has nothing to do? I used to sell on ebay and my state says an occasional seller (not running a business) is not required to register for sales tax. I want to sell on ebay again but am kind of nervous/wondering what a seller is supposed to do now. I am so confused!

I just got this email from eBay.  It sounds like they will be taking care of it so the seller doesn't need to do anything.

As you may be aware, 11 new states have adopted Internet Sales Tax policies as of October 1, bringing the total to 34 states that now require the collection of sales tax. As the impact of this tax law becomes more apparent, PayPal and eBay are making changes that will make Internet Sales Tax collection less complex for buyers and for you.

Starting in November 2019, the way taxable transactions are processed and how taxes are collected for remittance will change, as follows:
In states where eBay is required to collect Internet Sales Tax from buyers, order totals sent for processing will reflect the gross order amount inclusive of tax.
Once settled, the tax amount will be automatically deducted for remittance to the applicable taxing authority.
A record of the sales tax portion of the order will be available on the Seller Hub Order details page and through our Download order report.
Please note the applicable tax will continue to be paid by the buyer and you do not need to take any action.

We understand that the holiday selling season is nearly upon us and we are working to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Learn more about Internet Sales Tax in the eBay Seller Center. If you have questions about how Internet Sales Tax may affect you, we recommend consulting with your tax advisor, or our partners Avalara and TaxJar.

[Roadrunner53]

Thanks horsepoor, that is very helpful! I printed it out for my reference!

[oneday]

@diapasoun , that is epic, wow!

[slackmax]

Over the summer I participated in 4 car boot sales (Fleamarket in Germany) and sold quite some stuff. However I only made around 200 EUR altogether which is not bad but if you figure in 4 sundays spent there instead of enjoying my only day off it is not worth it. It has encouraged me to NOT BRING MORE STUFF IN. Also I will post some more on ebay and donate the rest.

Yes, that's a pretty good sales revenue for a carboot sale, GermanSTache.

I tried out a new carboot location recently. It had many more customers looking at my stuff than the other place, but I ended up getting the usual amount of profit for the day ($20).  But these guys bought different items so maybe I'll toggle between the 2 carboot locations and gradually sell all my stuff that way.

It's barely worth it monetarily for me to do the carboot thing, but it gets me out of the house, and it's fun, lol!       

 

[Sugaree]

I had my son pick out about which half of his playsets (I should own stock in Imaginext) he wanted to keep and which half needed to "go into storage."  He now has plenty of room to play in the awesome (if I do say so myself...because I designed it) playroom.


I've decided that even after purging my kitchen cabinets, that I still have too many spoons/spatulas/etc.  I keep them in a cookie jar next to the stove.  I think I'm going to find a second, similarly shaped container and spend a month or two where I only put the ones I actually use in the new container.  After that, the contents of the old container can be donated somewhere since those are the things that I don't regularly use. 

[GermanStache]

I am "moving" my home working space to another room. While I was making space in the cupboard there I found myself trying to consolidate all my greeting cards and blank cards into one container. Now.... I am thinking why I have all these cards in the first place? I need maybe one card each year..... it would be much easier to just buy one when i need one instead of keeping the shitload of cards... however there are some nice ones in there.

Why does this have to be so difficult?

[zygote]

Well, I have just encountered a huge decluttering fail. I borrowed a skirt over the summer from someone I do a hobby with, and it's now time to give it back. I cannot find this skirt anywhere!!! I got it drycleaned right after I used it in July, and I'm pretty sure I put it in a bag ready to return to her. But there is no bag to be found. It's not anywhere else I could conceivably put it, either. Not in my closet, not in my storage room, not in my hobby corner, not at the drycleaners. I'm really worried it accidentally got added to some goodwill bags I dropped off back in August. I turned my apartment totally upside down looking for it last night, and I don't know where else it could be.

I feel awful. If it were just a skirt of mine, I wouldn't care so much. But I can't believe I was so careless to accidentally declutter someone else's belonging. I will of course offer to buy her a replacement skirt and/or give equivalent cash, but I am so ashamed I lost something entrusted to me in the first place. How irresponsible.

[Roadrunner53]

Well, I have just encountered a huge decluttering fail. I borrowed a skirt over the summer from someone I do a hobby with, and it's now time to give it back. I cannot find this skirt anywhere!!! I got it drycleaned right after I used it in July, and I'm pretty sure I put it in a bag ready to return to her. But there is no bag to be found. It's not anywhere else I could conceivably put it, either. Not in my closet, not in my storage room, not in my hobby corner, not at the drycleaners. I'm really worried it accidentally got added to some goodwill bags I dropped off back in August. I turned my apartment totally upside down looking for it last night, and I don't know where else it could be.

I feel awful. If it were just a skirt of mine, I wouldn't care so much. But I can't believe I was so careless to accidentally declutter someone else's belonging. I will of course offer to buy her a replacement skirt and/or give equivalent cash, but I am so ashamed I lost something entrusted to me in the first place. How irresponsible.

zygote, don't beat yourself up but since you have borrowed this skirt and kept it so long, it is about time to admit you have misplaced it and figure out what the person wants to do. Maybe they want a gift card to a store or cash. Or maybe they don't care and will say forget it. I filled a prescription, brought it home and it mysteriously disappeared. It is only my husband and myself in the house with two dogs. I searched high and low and my husband even went thru a bag of garbage to try to see if it got thrown out by mistake. I never found it and every so often I think it will mysteriously reappear when I least expect it. It wasn't a drug like opioids but a high blood pressure prescription. It still drives me crazy because I am not disorganized typically! I had no visitors or repair people in my house either. Where are those damn pills! LOL! I have misplaced other things by putting them 'away'. Just so happens I forgot where I stored them and drove myself nuts looking for them. I have always found the things over time but the pills are a complete mystery.

[horsepoor]

@zygote and @Roadrunner53  I have a gold, diamond and Ruby necklace somewhere in this house.  It is literally the only nice.piece of jewelry I've ever bought for myself (vintage).  I put it on a safe place while we went to Peru in 2015 and never saw it again.  I'm convinced there is a black hole some thing just get swallowed up by.

[former player]

@zygote and @Roadrunner53  I have a gold, diamond and Ruby necklace somewhere in this house.  It is literally the only nice.piece of jewelry I've ever bought for myself (vintage).  I put it on a safe place while we went to Peru in 2015 and never saw it again.  I'm convinced there is a black hole some thing just get swallowed up by.

A gold bracelet I inherited went missing for a couple of years: it had fallen behind the drawer in my bedside table, inside the carcass.  It was only a serious deep clean of the bedroom that discovered it.  I should probably clean more thoroughly more often.

[Tyson]

A gold bracelet I inherited went missing for a couple of years: it had fallen behind the drawer in my bedside table, inside the carcass.  It was only a serious deep clean of the bedroom that discovered it.  I should probably clean more thoroughly more often.

That type of thing used to happen to me a lot.  But now it doesn't.  Here's what I have noticed about being fairly minimal nowadays.  I have so little stuff (including furniture), that it's just as easy to do a deep clean as it is to do a light clean. 

Now that you mention this, it makes me realize that all my cleanings have become deep cleanings.  It's so much easier to get behind/under things if you only have a few things to move around. 

[former player]

A gold bracelet I inherited went missing for a couple of years: it had fallen behind the drawer in my bedside table, inside the carcass.  It was only a serious deep clean of the bedroom that discovered it.  I should probably clean more thoroughly more often.

That type of thing used to happen to me a lot.  But now it doesn't.  Here's what I have noticed about being fairly minimal nowadays.  I have so little stuff (including furniture), that it's just as easy to do a deep clean as it is to do a light clean. 

Now that you mention this, it makes me realize that all my cleanings have become deep cleanings.  It's so much easier to get behind/under things if you only have a few things to move around.

I've noticed the same thing myself.  Sadly the only two pieces of furniture in my bedroom are the bed and the bedside cabinet.