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

[midweststache]

1. Took a batch of books to our free library down the street.
2. Moved some of our youngest's small clothes to a box for my sister (she's due with her first in October). I'll hand that over when I see her next, along with some other baby items the littlest will have outgrown.
3. Somehow I've ended up with 3-4 large candles that are generally too pungent for us (I'm *super* particular about candles and cadle scents, not least of which is because the hubs doesn't like 'smelly' things; we generally ask for 1-2 locally made in a specific scent for Christmas, which last the year, but my MIL reads this as "CANDLES! ANY CANDLES!"). Instead of glaring at them every time I open our desk, I'm posting the burned-only-once candles on my parents group (for free--just take them) and I'm begrudgingly using a halfway-gone one up while we're sheltering in place.
4. Oldest is continuing to use up art supplies. We're planning a "gallery showing" with family this weekend via FaceTime. We'll dress up and eat some finger foods (including pizza rolls because my hubs is a 12 year old and I let him grocery shop unsupervised through this...)
5. Finally hung art that has been sitting on the floor for 5+ years (and through at least one move!)

[Frugal Lizard]

Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?

It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

[RetiredAt63]

Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?

It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

Tomatoes 5 years, peppers barely a year.

[Raenia]

Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?

It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

Tomatoes 5 years, peppers barely a year.

I just got decent germination from some 6 year old pole beans.  The bush beans were dead, though.

[okcisok]

With seeds, I like to do a germination test before I toss them. Put a few in a wet paper towel and wait to see if they sprout. Then you can determine if they're worth keeping.

[Car Jack]

With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets. 

[Plina]

With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.

It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.

[former player]

With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.

It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.

Our recycling centres are closed during lockdown.  They will be very busy when they re-open, I expect.

[middo]

With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.

Our recycling centres are closed during lockdown.  They will be very busy when they re-open, I expect.
It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.

We found a bag under a bed when we moved it to make up an office space for my wife.  The bag contained cooking equipment, plastics bowls and measuring cups and so on, that my daughter was given by her step-grandmother two Christmas' ago.  My daughter lives a long way interstate, and had travelled with only hand luggage for Christmas, so it stayed with us until she needed it.  I found it and posted it to her yesterday.  $15 for the postage, but it should make an interesting surprise for her when it turns up.  A very late Christmas present.

[Goldielocks]

@Goldielocks - Your family are good sports that you had them for 30 minutes.

There was lots of teasing, joking and throwing socks around.  And then the dog started to steal socks that fell to the floor.

Imagine an 8 person dining room table filled with unmatched socks 2-3 deep.
------------------
Funny thing is that everyone does their own laundry, separately.

What happens is that if someone is out of socks, they will steal some from another person's drawer.  After laundry comes out of the dryer, it is usually put on the counter unfolded so the next person can use the dryer, then it gets a bit mixed up between persons, and the socks get put into the wrong person's room when they take their things away to fold (or not fold).  Unclaimed single socks left behind (if not just tossed in a heap of clean laundry back into their room) will be put into a basket in the laundry room by me, after a week or two.   I try not to care about their laundry habits as long as they are clean.

Two of them have zero cares about wearing mismatched socks, or actively think that it looks good (!), and the third likes the matching sock look, but not enough to be bothered to match.  One person actively throws out single socks  as soon as a hole develops, without looking for a match to toss, too, because socks are usually bought in quantities greater than 1 pair. Apparently sleep overs are the originator of many missing socks.

[Freedomin5]

Disinfectant wipes from overseas are very popular. I posted and sold two unopened packages, making enough to cover the packages that I kept for myself. Also sold a bed railing that DD had outgrown.

[Frugal Lizard]

I keep finding things to put into the give away pile downstairs.  As soon as May rolls around, I will relocate the pile into neat boxes in the garage under a tarp until I can donate them.  Local charities were overwhelmed at Christmas with Marie Kondo de-cluttering.  When they re-open around here it is going to be double that - everyone I know is tidying right now.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

Still keeping this up. We've sold so many random things. (We've put 10x that in the donation, garbage or recycle piles.) Every day I try to organize or clean something. A few days a week I'm working outside, which needs significantly more help than the inside. We bought our house 3 years ago, and the previous owners had tons of high maintenance plants. We cancelled the yard service (weekly) & have been attempting to keep up on our own. Clearly, we've failed. I could spend daily quarantine time on the yard & never catch up. Similar to the house, we actually need a full yard reboot. We need to rip out the majority of the plants, put in zero maintenance drought resistant plants, & save ourselves a bunch of time.

[Sibley]

I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

Still keeping this up. We've sold so many random things. (We've put 10x that in the donation, garbage or recycle piles.) Every day I try to organize or clean something. A few days a week I'm working outside, which needs significantly more help than the inside. We bought our house 3 years ago, and the previous owners had tons of high maintenance plants. We cancelled the yard service (weekly) & have been attempting to keep up on our own. Clearly, we've failed. I could spend daily quarantine time on the yard & never catch up. Similar to the house, we actually need a full yard reboot. We need to rip out the majority of the plants, put in zero maintenance drought resistant plants, & save ourselves a bunch of time.

Just be aware that nothing is zero maintenance. You can get low maintenance, but no matter what you get there will be some work needed. Recommend that you talk to a local nursery, a good one will be able to help you choose low maintenance plants appropriate for your area.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Sibley - we are looking for something that can easily be handled by a 2x/year yard service (or, us getting out there for a day once a quarter or whatever.) But yes, fair enough. Nothing is truly zero maintenance!

[RetiredAt63]

@Sibley - we are looking for something that can easily be handled by a 2x/year yard service (or, us getting out there for a day once a quarter or whatever.) But yes, fair enough. Nothing is truly zero maintenance!

Weeds?  Weeds take more than 2x/year care. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@RetiredAt63 - as you can gather, we're not super picky about the state of the yard and want the lowest maintenance possible. Understood that weeds grow year round ;-)

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 - as you can gather, we're not super picky about the state of the yard and want the lowest maintenance possible. Understood that weeds grow year round ;-)

That is what winter is for - to give gardeners a break from weeding.  But seriously, unless you live in a desert there will be weeds.  Uh, do you live in a desert?  That would make things much easier.   ;-)

[former player]

@RetiredAt63 - as you can gather, we're not super picky about the state of the yard and want the lowest maintenance possible. Understood that weeds grow year round ;-)

You may never have to weed again if you hoe.  Sharpen your hoe like a knife, keep it sharp like a knife, and anytime anything green shows up that you don't like the look of cut it off with your hoe.  No bending, no pulling.  Just walking around the garden every few days with a hoe in your hand and scraping over any patches of bare earth where weeds can appear.  Before cocktail hour is ideal.

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 - as you can gather, we're not super picky about the state of the yard and want the lowest maintenance possible. Understood that weeds grow year round ;-)

You may never have to weed again if you hoe.  Sharpen your hoe like a knife, keep it sharp like a knife, and anytime anything green shows up that you don't like the look of cut it off with your hoe.  No bending, no pulling.  Just walking around the garden every few days with a hoe in your hand and scraping over any patches of bare earth where weeds can appear.  Before cocktail hour is ideal.

When I answered above I was including hoeing in with other kinds of weeding.  But you are totally right, hoeing does an amazing job, except close to the stems of desired plants.  It is still doing something though.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@RetiredAt63 - as you can gather, we're not super picky about the state of the yard and want the lowest maintenance possible. Understood that weeds grow year round ;-)

You may never have to weed again if you hoe.  Sharpen your hoe like a knife, keep it sharp like a knife, and anytime anything green shows up that you don't like the look of cut it off with your hoe.  No bending, no pulling.  Just walking around the garden every few days with a hoe in your hand and scraping over any patches of bare earth where weeds can appear.  Before cocktail hour is ideal.

When I answered above I was including hoeing in with other kinds of weeding.  But you are totally right, hoeing does an amazing job, except close to the stems of desired plants.  It is still doing something though.

No desert, but in a drought area. Many of our neighbors have replaced (most) of their front yards with rockery & things like shrubs. I believe there's actually a financial incentive in doing this, thanks to the drought.

We have fruits & veggies in pots, and love taking care of that. Weeding just feels like such a waste of time. (Can you tell how I feel about yard work that doesn't yield food? ;-)) I'll definitely look into hoeing!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Weeding aside, I went through & organized all of my jewelry, tossed non matching earrings, etc.

[okcisok]

Got my new eyeglasses in the mail, and promptly used the packaging to ship the old pair off to charity. I checked their website, and they aren't accepting donations. So the package is labeled and ready to go in the mail as soon as they are again. Two items in and two items out...eventually!

[LinneaH]

Sorted out three pair of kids shoes that were too small. One pair is obvious trash, one is give away on local buy nothing, one pair I am unsure of. White sneakers, not perfecly white, but I think they are ok function wise. It's kids shoes so maybe ok.
One pair of kids snow pants, they will need to go to trash. (I hate throwing away warm clothing, as we have cold winters and I know there are kids that may not have perfectly warm clothing. However, these have small holes on a couple of spots so I can't give them away (my kids had them as extras at pre-school and they were perfectly warm for that).

I really don't like trashing "still-usable" kids stuff but it needs to look nice, otherwise I can't give it away. I will trash it as fabric recycling though, and hopre it doesn't end up as landfill.

This quarantine... - everyone is sorting out and decluttering stuff I think. And charities are not open for donations so it is difficult to get rid of stuff. I am trying to get the give-away stuff out of the house though. Need to put up a few give-away ads tonight or tomorrow.

[PMG]

If you clearly show and talk about the holes in the pants or the dirt on the shoes I think that’s ok to give away. If no one wants it in a couple days then you know to recycle. But especially with children’s clothing, it shows wear quickly.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Organized a drawer in our kitchen. Found three items to donate, a few items to sell & cleaned everything else.

[MountainGal]

To the Goodwill box:  A small, wire wine rack and tabletop movie theater style popcorn machine, both bought second hand.

[Jim Fiction]

Tackled clothing today to kick off spring cleaning/de-cluttering season. DW's car is now filled to the gills with bags to go to goodwill. I strongly considered keeping a bunch of clothes that no longer fit, but that I still liked. I thought I could use them as motivation to shed some pounds. But to be honest I've tried that previously and it hasn't worked, so I decided to cut bait and try something different.

Plus, I realized that I had way too much anyways and several items hadn't been worn in years so it was time to go. When I do shed the weight, I can be more thoughtful about my clothing purchases and maintain a smaller, better curated wardrobe.

[PMG]

We’re not doing any major purging, but I’m doing quite a bit of sewing and making using up supplies. I’ve been able to empty and consolidate a couple boxes. Tonight I got several shipments ready to mail, gifts and items sold. Very satisfying.

I’m still working full time from home so no extra time on my hands but this mental exercise of limiting in person shopping has sparked my creative energy and motivated me to recreate things. What we have can be what we need.

[diapasoun]

Got rid of a bra on Buy Nothing.

[chaskavitch]

Got rid of a bra on Buy Nothing.

That's impressive, lol, good job!

[diapasoun]

It's very new but was too small (it had the wrong tag sewn into it, UGH, so when I tried on a bra of the same type and the right size I grabbed a bunch more and didn't try them all on... my bad). So hopefully it will now do its thing for someone else!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Still doing the daily task of one chore I normally wouldn't do (typically an organization, decluttering chore) & listing one item a day on eBay. We've gotten a ton of junk out of the house, made huge stacks for donation (when open again) & recycling/shredding.

I continue my battle against the yard, which is its own "clutter". We have ivy everywhere, and in our neighborhood, giant ivy patches hide rats. So, it must go. It also spreads & kills other plants.

[Freedomin5]

Got rid of a child bike seat and a bag of clothes. Next project is to clean up DD’s toys.

[Frugal Lizard]

I have been working on the garden/garage clutter.  Garage loft is looking better.  If it is broken - it needs to be gone.  Garden is looking better. Our grey bin (landfill) is filled to the brim and there is a bag in the garage for next collection.  The recycling bin keeps getting filled - and by filled - tetris packed.  Nothing goes in there without being flattened. 

We continue to empty the freezer with creative meal combinations.  This lockdown has forced this on us and it is a good thing. Some things are delicious, others, such as freezer burnt kale, is less good.  I tend to put things in a container in the freezer to throw out much later than just except that I will never eat this ever at the moment.

I did a big run through the fridge this morning.  The chili oil I made last fall and used a couple of times before Christmas was a disgusting mess.  I have learned that I don't make that much salad dressing so I don't need 9 cups of flavoured vinegar.  It will probably be better to just make 5 cups in one cup jars and freeze them so that I only have a one cup container open in the fridge at a time.  I can always use some of the pickle juice in a pinch.

The pantry still contains a lot of really old food so I am trying to be creative in using it up or just accepting that those really old candied chesnuts that came in food basket three Christmases ago are just a scary thing that no one in this household is brave enough to open.  (except to empty into the compost bin, grey bin the plastic wrapping and blue bin the oversized cardboard box that failed to make us wanna eat those things three Christmases ago)

I am working on using up my seeds - so I am sharing them with friends.  This is making people very happy.  I am also starting a lot of them early either in the greenhouse or in my basement under grow lights. 

[RetiredAt63]

I am working on using up my seeds - so I am sharing them with friends.  This is making people very happy.  I am also starting a lot of them early either in the greenhouse or in my basement under grow lights.

Like me!  So many seeds.  I need to share them too.

[Frugal Lizard]

I am working on using up my seeds - so I am sharing them with friends.  This is making people very happy.  I am also starting a lot of them early either in the greenhouse or in my basement under grow lights.

Like me!  So many seeds.  I need to share them too.

Excellent.  I hope you get a good germination rate.  A couple of the slicers were really hit and miss. 

[RetiredAt63]

I am working on using up my seeds - so I am sharing them with friends.  This is making people very happy.  I am also starting a lot of them early either in the greenhouse or in my basement under grow lights.

Like me!  So many seeds.  I need to share them too.

Excellent.  I hope you get a good germination rate.  A couple of the slicers were really hit and miss.

I'll do my standard "seeds in damp paper towel in the oven" germination. I don't like wasting pot space on seeds that won't come up or come up much later than the others.  You gave me so many different varieties I won't have space for them all, so it will be only the strongest plant for each variety I do grow.

[KBecks]

Need to post to follow this thread. I am finding my MMM forum experience to be kind of blah and I need to start to make some things happen in life and this is the perfect conversation to find some motivation and hustle in.

Today I matched some socks. This is my least favorite chore of all time. I have a big bag of unmatched boys' socks (I have three sons). I worked through most of them, bagged up the unmatched to go live in the laundry room and that's about it.

Meanwhile I have several enormous paper monsters that NEED slaying. And I must conquer them once and for all, they have lived in the house for a very long time.

[shadowmoss]

Solidarity.  I'm shredding house and car insurance paperwork from 2007 as I go through old folders.  No longer have that house, car, or insurance company.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Found an old pair of jeans that I'll never wear again (junior size 6 - I wish) & listed them on eBay. My daily "decluttering" chore continues to be outside, getting rid of ivy.

Our house is is reasonably decluttered shape. Or, I always think that, right before I discover another cupboard or area that needs another round.

[diapasoun]

Oh man, if digging up vines counts as decluttering, I am all over my decluttering right now. Freaking morning glory.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@diapasoun - I officially give you permission to include yard decluttering. ;-) With all of my authority as another internet stranger.

[RetiredAt63]

@diapasoun - I officially give you permission to include yard decluttering. ;-) With all of my authority as another internet stranger.

Weeding is definitely decluttering.  We may joke about hangers and socks multiplying while our backs are turned, but the weeds really do!

[mspym]

We continue to work through our ridiculous condiment shelf in the fridge, working out new ways to use up 8 different types of chili pastes and sauces.

[okcisok]

Yard decluttering counts! As does attic, garage, basement, and workplace decluttering. (Says an internet stranger)

I finally put the outgrown booster seat on the curb. I'd been debating donating versus selling, and finally just put it out there. Someone might need it and we definitely don't with two teenagers and a tween.

I finally gave up on a puzzle that wasn't bringing me joy and boxed it up to return to the friend I borrowed it from. Our library is opening back up on a curbside basis, so I'll finally return all my books. Fines were waived during the lockdown so I've held onto them.

Need to investigate if local charities are accepting donations so that I can get rid of the bag in the closet.

[Sibley]

Well, if yard decluttering counts, then I am taking credit for the 2 full trash bins of weeds over the past couple weeks. And these are the big residential bins, 95 gallon capacity.

[lazycow]

The house and sheds are almost completely decluttered and organised, but I have repurposed a 4 drawer white wire shelving unit (destined for the op shop) for my harvested fruit storage. It is perfect as I can put all my apples, quinces and other autumn fruit from my garden and the air will circulate through the holes in the baskets. It is ugly as sin but no one is going to be visiting us to see it in the foreseeable future!

[horsepoor]

Got rid of a child bike seat and a bag of clothes. Next project is to clean up DD’s toys.

Read the first part of that sentence and thought you'd gone really hard-core on the decluttering!

Here, I'm working on the out-of-doors.  Like everyone else, things aren't really leaving the property right now, but I am going through them.  Pulled my horse jumps out of the greenhouse today and will take them to the stable tomorrow.  My curmudgeonly side doesn't want to share them with people who will probably abuse them, but they aren't doing any good sitting in the back yard, so I will be more generous and share with my fellow equestrians.  This lead to general clean-up of the greenhouse, moving some things around and decluttering.  The next step is to figure out what to do with the riding mower that the small engine place couldn't seem to figure out how to fix.  Clearly, if it doesn't run it needs to get out of the shop where it's taking up space.  Now to broach the subject with DH.

[LinneaH]

Starting painting of walls and ceiling in the basement on Tuesday (redecorating after a water damage). Need to move some smaller furniture into the laundry room, therefore I need to clear that out to have as much floor space available as possible.
Some items need to be put away properly, other items need to leave the house for good (thrash or give away). I have sorted out a lot already, just need to put them in two piles in paper bags and boxes and label properly, then put them in the garage.

Ooh, this means I have to sort out the garage a bit as well... It's not too bad, just need a bit of straightening.

I'll go start now and report back later today.