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

[middo]

We watched a "hoarders" show on TV on the weekend.  My wife was intrigued and horrified.  At the end, she told me she was going to clean out the "back room" where all of her papers and books are.  She has a habit of collecting books that are being disposed of.  We had a chat about how she was worried about losing "knowledge" and how the books and papers didn't really contain knowledge as she never looked at them.

Hoping to get back a fair bit of space in that room soon. 

We also had a chat about my habits with "things that might be useful" when repairing things around the house.  She now understands why I am more inclined to throw things out than I used to be.  That "may be useful" bit of wood that I uswed to keep I can buy a new piece easily if I ever do actually need it.  But tools, they are a bit of an issue still as throwing them out when I will use them later is a different matter from when I may use them later.

[mspym]

@middo any sort of hoarding show makes us start to clear things out. I think the prospect of moving countries in a few years will provide an even stronger motive - is this really worth shipping overseas?

[middo]

@middo any sort of hoarding show makes us start to clear things out. I think the prospect of moving countries in a few years will provide an even stronger motive - is this really worth shipping overseas?

I'm a little horrified at how much stuff we have now.  We moved to Melbourne 4 years ago with 2 loads of motorcycle luggage and one posted box of clothes.  Now we have a house full of stuff.  Most of it will be given away when we move back to WA.  But it is a lot of stuff.

[okisok]

DP and I cleaned out the garage today and filled up the garbage and recycling bins. Some of the trash was from the shed cleanout a few weeks ago when we filled up both bins, but still.
I got one box out for donation. One bag of hand-me-downs went to a relative and some borrowed items were taken back to the original owner.
Lots of kids stuff was sorted and some discarded.

I'll have to try showing DP some "Hoarders" episodes. Some of the reasons he gives for keeping items are exactly the reasoning hoarders give for holding onto so much trash.

[Fresh Bread]

I love watching Hoarders but unfortunately my spouse (who is the one that hangs on to stuff) can't stand it!

He's not a hoarder but, for example, t-shirts must be almost more holes than t-shirt before they can become cleaning rags. Yet he needs new ones to replace the daggy ones that can't really be worn outside the house. So he has a lot of t-shirts! However, he has just decided to give up a suit that is too big and he'll never wear again. He hired one for a recent event and that is a much better option than storing one and having to keep it clean / not musty. Suits take up a lot of space.

[slackmax]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now. 

 

[okisok]

Took a garbage bag full of bubble wrap and packing materials to work for the free table.

[Fresh Bread]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

[happy]

I've watched it quite a lot. No, they don't all make it. Obviously they like to film good news stories but some don't even make it though the initial cleanup. Aftercare and followup is offered and they say only those who take it up will have a chance at long term change.

Change of season is officially here with a polar blast of freezing wind. I've been pulling out winter clothing and rearranging. Found 2 4 items to donate and 2 coathangers to get rid of.

[slackmax]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

Of the shows I saw, about half of the cleanouts got canceled in the middle of things by the hoarder, who freaked out about losing her stuff, and threw everyone out.  The other half were happy endings, with the hoarder now happy, inside her now clean home. I think 75% of the hoarders on the show were women, by the way.   

The show spends a lot of time on the drama among family members of the hoarder.

I should know, but can't remember if the show ever revisited the cleaned up hoarder places a year later to check on things.

Often there was some local agency threatening to do something drastic if the place wasn't cleaned up by a certain deadline, but I don't think any hoarder ever had the drastic thing happen. Not sure.

[Sugaree]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

I haven't watched many episodes so I'm wondering - does anyone successfully clear up and stay clear? I mean you can't cure a mental illness in 3 days on the show but are there any good outcomes?

I watched it last night when my spouse was out and it put me in a very jittery anxious mood that was only cured by tidying up a bit. I'll watch it again to see what happens but he's thinks it's not good for me ;)

Of the shows I saw, about half of the cleanouts got canceled in the middle of things by the hoarder, who freaked out about losing her stuff, and threw everyone out.  The other half were happy endings, with the hoarder now happy, inside her now clean home. I think 75% of the hoarders on the show were women, by the way.   

The show spends a lot of time on the drama among family members of the hoarder.

I should know, but can't remember if the show ever revisited the cleaned up hoarder places a year later to check on things.

Often there was some local agency threatening to do something drastic if the place wasn't cleaned up by a certain deadline, but I don't think any hoarder ever had the drastic thing happen. Not sure.

https://screenrant.com/hoarders-where-are-they-now/

[LaineyAZ]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

slackmax, on a related note, I'm always curious in an economic forecasting perspective on how things like flea markets are doing.  Are you seeing fewer buyers overall, or less money being spent?
I'm asking because in the last Great Recession I had a relative who was a vendor at Nascar, baseball, and other sporting events.  He was the first to notice that attendees were spending a lot less.  I've come to consider that one of the early warning signs of an impending recession.

[ixtap]

I have finally joined the buy nothing group. Boy, are they responsive, without any of the spammy issues of craigslist.

[SunnyDays]

I've watched quite a few Hoarders shows.  There were a few that did lose their houses, either because it was so decrepit once it was cleaned out that it was unliveable, or because it wasn't worth the money to fix it up.  On one episode, the new buyers helped the woman clean it up, fixed it for her and either sold it or rented it back to her (I forget which).  That's an amazing thing to do.

All of the people are offered aftercare to deal with the issues that got them there in the first place, but some don't follow up.  There's a fair number who backslide into old ways even with therapy.  It's interesting that for the people that do succeed, their entire manner changes - they present as much more normal in terms of attention span, communication abilities, etc.

The common denominator in the hoarders is some sort of loss (divorce, death) that triggered the behaviour, although some had been that way since childhood.  I find the show fascinating.

[Poundwise]

The common denominator in the hoarders is some sort of loss (divorce, death) that triggered the behaviour, although some had been that way since childhood.  I find the show fascinating.

I'm curious to see how they lived before the trigger. I'm a high-throughput kind of person who does a lot of crafts and DIY, and am often acquiring items for myself, my family, and the house. I do most of the acquisition and disposal for the family. On occasion the disposal gets blocked for a few months and I shudder to think of what would happen if I were incapacitated! I'd like to think I would stop acquiring things (I've definitely slowed) but over the course of a year it could get ugly fast.

In other news, I finally cleaned a couple of large, expensive toys.  I put them up for sale on FB but if they don't sell fast, I'll send them to the tag sale. Still have several tubs of toys that need processing... I'm not sure if I can get this done in time for this year's sale.

[ixtap]

The common denominator in the hoarders is some sort of loss (divorce, death) that triggered the behaviour, although some had been that way since childhood.  I find the show fascinating.

I'm curious to see how they lived before the trigger. I'm a high-throughput kind of person who does a lot of crafts and DIY, and am often acquiring items for myself, my family, and the house. I do most of the acquisition and disposal for the family. On occasion the disposal gets blocked for a few months and I shudder to think of what would happen if I were incapacitated! I'd like to think I would stop acquiring things (I've definitely slowed) but over the course of a year it could get ugly fast.

In other news, I finally cleaned a couple of large, expensive toys.  I put them up for sale on FB but if they don't sell fast, I'll send them to the tag sale. Still have several tubs of toys that need processing... I'm not sure if I can get this done in time for this year's sale.

A lot of them show pictures over the years. A surprising number were picture perfect overly neat household's until a trigger event, but plenty went from always kind of cluttered to hoarded.

We had a roommate that was at best borderline. She had anything that could reasonably considered her space stuffed to the gills. But what was really scary was how obsessed she was with this stuff. Not only could we not touch it, even to clean under it, but she totally flipped out when we asked her to move some of the stuff so that a window could be fixed. Our desire to fix a window was ludicrous next to her right to have her stuff in that particular spot. Uh, structure over stuff, baby, the structure is protecting your stuff, after all. Her room was pretty dirty when she moved out, and it turned out her toilet had a slow leak that wasn't flooding but did stain the floor. I hope her new boyfriend is able to get her some help before she settles into one place long enough to bring it down over her head.

[slackmax]

My former girl friend, who lived with me, was a hoarder.

I used to watch Hoarders, but I think I have seen every variation of plot already, ha ha.

Today I donated a small bag-o-clutter from stuff that used to sell at the flea market, but for some reason no one wants now.

slackmax, on a related note, I'm always curious in an economic forecasting perspective on how things like flea markets are doing.  Are you seeing fewer buyers overall, or less money being spent?
I'm asking because in the last Great Recession I had a relative who was a vendor at Nascar, baseball, and other sporting events.  He was the first to notice that attendees were spending a lot less.  I've come to consider that one of the early warning signs of an impending recession.

LaineyAZ, in the last 4 years in which I have been selling, each year has been about the same. This year the same as last. So nothing new on the flea market scene, at least from here in Pa.

There was a 'golden age' of flea markets that ended 10 years ago. Don't know how long it lasted, but they say you could sell the same stuff for a lot more money back then.  But now apparently the flea markets are flooded with excess 'stuff' that retiring Boomer downsizers are unloading.

The 'bag-o-clutter' that no one wants :  that's just a cyclical thing I have noticed about the flea market. One year everyone wants ointments or picture frames, or  perfume,  next year nobody wants ointments, picture frames, or perfumes. 
Unpredictable.

If I held onto my 'bag-o-clutter' another year, maybe the customers would then be craving that stuff, but I just want to get rid of it, so I donated it, lol.
 

[slackmax]

The common denominator in the hoarders is some sort of loss (divorce, death) that triggered the behaviour, although some had been that way since childhood.  I find the show fascinating.

I'm curious to see how they lived before the trigger. I'm a high-throughput kind of person who does a lot of crafts and DIY, and am often acquiring items for myself, my family, and the house. I do most of the acquisition and disposal for the family. On occasion the disposal gets blocked for a few months and I shudder to think of what would happen if I were incapacitated! I'd like to think I would stop acquiring things (I've definitely slowed) but over the course of a year it could get ugly fast.
 ----

My hoarder girl friend considered herself the family archivist (brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews).    She was a crafter, in that she made her own greeting cards and sent everyone a birthday card, christening card, get well card, and so on.   She had lots of paper documents related to her family, but also lots of paper stuff from work, and from any events she attended, even junk mail offers. Plus endless knick knacks. Her saving grace was that her hoard was very neat and tidy, ha ha.

She told me that she had a traumatic event in her childhood and that her hoarding  was a  'coping mechanism'.

Poundwise, you don't sound like a real hoarder, don't worry !

[Prairie Gal]

Thank you all for your well wishes on the move.

The mobile home park that I moved into is a bit fancypants, and they have a million rules (well, 10 pages at least) that help keep it that way. One of them is that you can't have garage sales, except on one designated day per year, which is next Saturday. I got rid of most of my excess "stuff" before the move, but I am planning to put out for free:

- a garden statue that the previous owners left behind
- a box of hangers
- some unwanted curtains that the previous owners left behind
- a moving blanket
- a couple of toys that my grandchildren didn't really play with

I'm going to look around and see what else I can find. There's not as much storage here as I had at the house so I have to be brutal and pare it down even more.

[ixtap]

The bed and the couch are gone. We have been using a boat mattress as a guest bed for a while now, so that will just be the last thing to go back to the boat. DH flip flops between insisting we could move aboard next weekend and freaking out when I get rid of anything...

[okisok]

The spigot on my sun tea jug broke two weeks ago. It's been sitting on the kitchen counter while I try to figure out how to fix the broken plastic piece.

Then I watched an episode of Hoarders where the woman insisted on keeping every broken item because it could be fixed. I looked at the sun tea jug that was originally from Target and I bought from a thrift store years ago for a few bucks. I don't use it for sun tea so it's basically a pitcher to serve drinks from. I have another pitcher. It went to the recycling bin.

I have one magazine subscription and I make it a point to finish one issue before the next month's comes in the mail. When the new one came, I took the old one to the little library. No stacks of magazines or paper clutter here!

I'm off to make another pass through the house to see if there's anything I can get out.

[slackmax]

There is (or was) a glass jar with a sprig of vine growing out of it on the divider between my kitchen and living room. It was looking old and tired, so I made of point of some day getting rid of it.

Finally did it yesterday. Threw the vine on the lawn, for fertilizer, cleaned out the glass jar, and recycled it.

Rearranged the other stuff on the divider. More space, less clutter.

[okisok]

Got a new water bottle at work so pulled a water bottle out of the cabinet to put on the free table at work. Also found a vase and an insulated bag in that cabinet that went to the donate bag.

[happy]

Found a pair of trousers that fell down because the elastic and stretch had gone: out they go. Also an insulated bag that I've been humming and ha-ing about getting rid of...now its gone mouldy, so out it goes too.

[mspym]

Rifled through two cookbooks that had recently joined my bookshelves, confirmed I am not realistically going to make recipes from either, so now they are on the pile for donation.

My big goal for the rest of the year is to get my TBR under 100 books. Why is that one so hard for me?

[Fresh Bread]

My big goal for the rest of the year is to get my TBR under 100 books. Why is that one so hard for me?

An unread book might be the only category of thing where you don't really know what it is, so that makes it hard to declutter. The FOMO is extra strong.

[Fresh Bread]

I cleared a table today*. Because I got rid of something this week, I could rearrange the cupboard and store some stuff that didn't have a home.

*Almost. I just need to buy some little hooks so I can put up a string of outside lights that I bought 2 years ago.

[LaineyAZ]

Took some items to the consignment shop today:
- a small custom bench
- 3 pieces of jewelry including real silver earrings
- 2 lightweight pants, never worn
- summer floppy hat

Their policy is that everything has to sell within 90 days or it's returned to you or you relinquish it to them.  (30 days for furniture)  They price the items and you get a percentage of the sale price - a smaller percentage for cash or a larger percentage for store credit.  No recourse for missing or damaged items so you're really giving them full control.  You call periodically to check on status, they don't contact you. 

Overall it will be a relatively small amount which I'll take in store credit, but it was good to continue the decluttering and make a few dollars at the same time.

[Prairie Gal]

Turns out that my niece is moving soon, so that is giving me extra motivation to unpack the rest of the boxes so that I can give them to her.

Found a few more small items to give away in next week's garage sale. A battery charger, a garbage can, some blankets, etc. Even after paring down dramatically to move stuff is coming out of the woodwork.

[okisok]

The bag of packing materials I took to the Free spot at work got taken. Now that I know the spot works, I'll look for more items that can go to a new home.

Tossed a shirt in the trash that's been on my sewing table. I thought I could refashion it but forgot that the reason I took it out of rotation was dozens of tiny holes. Looks like a fabric flaw, not a cool boho design. :/

Contemplating a vase. It's pretty but rather large for the arrangements I might make. Also contemplating the treadmill. My job has a gorgeous gym that is 24/7 access so I really don't need it anymore. I'll have a think on it.

I was making good progress with reducing the amount of junk mail I get. Then I bought a house and got a new job (yay!) but now I'm on home and industry-related mailing lists (boo!). I've got lots of work to do to get back to zero. I got two of the exact same retirement benefits info catalogs in the mail today, two separate envelopes, both addressed the same. Sheesh.

[okisok]

Cleaned out the car today. Tossed a small bag of trash and returned my old transportation badge to their office.

Threw away expired pet vaccination paperwork since the updated came in. Opened the dog food shipment and broke down the packaging into recycling and trash.

Got two new items in the mail and one doesn't work. It went right back into the packaging and into my work bag to be mailed out tomorrow.

[Fresh Bread]

We have a TerraCycle program here where you can send in medicine blister packs and various plastic tubes like toothpaste for recycling to a shop I like, and they give you store credit. The thing is, the tubes have to be spotless, so today I cut open *a lot* of toothpaste tubes and washed them out. I don't know how long we've been collecting them. Once they are dry I can post the box off. It's smelling very minty here now.

[MoneyTree]

I have quite a few paper books and would like to make the transition to primarily digital or audiobooks. There will always be some physical books, but I've managed to reduce it to one bookshelf. I've been slowly selling off the books, even the ones that I might want to re-read some day. I've given myself permission to buy a digital replacement for any books I've sold if I ever want to re-read them.

[mspym]

Four more books out to the free libraries.

[okisok]

Planted two gifted packets of seeds, very haphazardly. But they were free and now the seeds are in the ground and might grow. Packaging recycled and trashed.

Tossed four clothing items in the trash. They weren't that old but poorly made and it's not worth the constant readjusting.
I'm repeating the Minimal Mom's mantra that I deserve clothes that fit.

[Prairie Gal]

I found someone on FB that was looking for paint, so hopefully six partial cans of paint will be leaving the house today. This was paint that the previous owners left, and I am not using the same colour scheme.

[Roadrunner53]

This is a little bit different about getting rid of stuff. We get a newspaper every day and one day a week a small separate newpaper is inserted into it. It is more like a local paper with local news. Well, on top of that, there is a delivery guy in a car that wings that same small local paper onto our driveway once a week. Previously, we put our garbage cans at the end of the driveway but we changed it to another location so we don't walk down there much anymore. Plus, Mr. Roadrunner would just toss it in the garbage can every week. Now, it is a big annoyance! If we don't pick it up it gets soaking wet if it rains. It is a free paper available to everyone. I do not want it and have called the newspaper six weeks in a row and the paper keeps coming. They tell me they put in a special report every week when I call but the paper keeps coming. I feel like I am in a Twilight Zone episode of the paper that returns from hell each week! I have even talked to 'managers' at the newspaper. Each one reassuring me it will be fixed and stopped! In the olden days when you had a paper delivered, someone could call the delivery person and tell them to stop delivery! Not this paper! They have to file 'reports' after reports after reports that must go unread. OMG, I am going nuts trying to stop this insanity! On top of this, we have seen our other neighbors pick up the paper and toss it directly into their garbage cans. It makes me wonder how many people even read this paper! Such a waste of money delivering these unwanted papers.

[former player]

Sent three unwanted pictures to auction several weeks ago, and they sold yesterday for a total of £505.  Am now feeling very smug for making that much money out of things I didn't want in the house any more.

[Prairie Gal]

Put a bunch of stuff out on the driveway for free this morning, including a heavy concrete garden statue that the previous owners left behind. I thought it was kind of rude that they left it without checking to see if I wanted it. I had to get my neighbour to move it with a dolly because it was so heavy. Anyway, it's gone now. Along with some other odds & ends.

[slackmax]

Made myself go through the flea market to-sell stuff for a half hour. Felt so productive after the half hour that I went on another half hour. Tossed some stuff, recycled some stuff, rearranged some, and put some in the donate area, found some jewelry I ought to get appraised by a jeweler.. That's enough for today, ha ha.     Oh, and I finally found that other waterproof shoe that vanished a month ago!   

[Loretta]

I added some Stuff to the box I am sending to ThredUp, including a dress I wore to an ill-fated job interview.

I recycled some boxes this morning that had been sitting in my living room for a week. 

[okisok]

This is a little bit different about getting rid of stuff. We get a newspaper every day and one day a week a small separate newpaper is inserted into it. It is more like a local paper with local news. Well, on top of that, there is a delivery guy in a car that wings that same small local paper onto our driveway once a week. Previously, we put our garbage cans at the end of the driveway but we changed it to another location so we don't walk down there much anymore. Plus, Mr. Roadrunner would just toss it in the garbage can every week. Now, it is a big annoyance! If we don't pick it up it gets soaking wet if it rains. It is a free paper available to everyone. I do not want it and have called the newspaper six weeks in a row and the paper keeps coming. They tell me they put in a special report every week when I call but the paper keeps coming. I feel like I am in a Twilight Zone episode of the paper that returns from hell each week! I have even talked to 'managers' at the newspaper. Each one reassuring me it will be fixed and stopped! In the olden days when you had a paper delivered, someone could call the delivery person and tell them to stop delivery! Not this paper! They have to file 'reports' after reports after reports that must go unread. OMG, I am going nuts trying to stop this insanity! On top of this, we have seen our other neighbors pick up the paper and toss it directly into their garbage cans. It makes me wonder how many people even read this paper! Such a waste of money delivering these unwanted papers.

We have the same darn problem in my city! They also put the little weekly 'paper' in a plastic bag. They are all over the sidewalks, in the sewer drains, in ditches, etc. Wet, pulpy, moldy messes every time it rains.  I try to pick up when I walk the dog and wing them directly into the trash if they're wet, recycling if they're dry. They are basically just advertising, with some recipes and coupons thrown in. Perhaps if we contacted the businesses and say we will NEVER shop there while they are contributing to so much waste?

[SunnyDays]

This is a little bit different about getting rid of stuff. We get a newspaper every day and one day a week a small separate newpaper is inserted into it. It is more like a local paper with local news. Well, on top of that, there is a delivery guy in a car that wings that same small local paper onto our driveway once a week. Previously, we put our garbage cans at the end of the driveway but we changed it to another location so we don't walk down there much anymore. Plus, Mr. Roadrunner would just toss it in the garbage can every week. Now, it is a big annoyance! If we don't pick it up it gets soaking wet if it rains. It is a free paper available to everyone. I do not want it and have called the newspaper six weeks in a row and the paper keeps coming. They tell me they put in a special report every week when I call but the paper keeps coming. I feel like I am in a Twilight Zone episode of the paper that returns from hell each week! I have even talked to 'managers' at the newspaper. Each one reassuring me it will be fixed and stopped! In the olden days when you had a paper delivered, someone could call the delivery person and tell them to stop delivery! Not this paper! They have to file 'reports' after reports after reports that must go unread. OMG, I am going nuts trying to stop this insanity! On top of this, we have seen our other neighbors pick up the paper and toss it directly into their garbage cans. It makes me wonder how many people even read this paper! Such a waste of money delivering these unwanted papers.

We have the same darn problem in my city! They also put the little weekly 'paper' in a plastic bag. They are all over the sidewalks, in the sewer drains, in ditches, etc. Wet, pulpy, moldy messes every time it rains.  I try to pick up when I walk the dog and wing them directly into the trash if they're wet, recycling if they're dry. They are basically just advertising, with some recipes and coupons thrown in. Perhaps if we contacted the businesses and say we will NEVER shop there while they are contributing to so much waste?

Same issue where I live.  Luckily, it only took one phone call to get myself off the receive list, but I always know when the regular deliverer is on vacation, because I get the package for 2 weeks, then it stops again.  But even worse, it's the same outfit that does the recycling, so they just create work for themselves.  Maybe that's the point ....

[Prairie Gal]

When I moved in here there were two large mirrors in the bathroom, and no medicine cabinet. Today a handyman came and installed two oval medicine cabinets for me. I got him to put one of the mirrors on the back of a closet door, and he took the other one home to use, along with the cardboard boxes and packing materials. Nice to have that job done, and everything disposed of.

[SunnyDays]

Got rid of a ton of stuff today, donated to a church that was having a drive for the Ukrainian refugees.  A bunch of kitchen items I had no use for, some clothes, and a couple of patio tables.  I also wanted to donate a bed and entertainment unit, but they have no pick-up and it was short notice, so couldn't arrange delivery.  I'll continue to work on getting rid of those.  The house is feeling airier.

[okisok]

I'm watching a Hoarders marathon and getting rid of stuff!

Completely cleared out the mending/alterations pile. Some items went to the donate and one holy sweater got trashed. Five items were repaired and returned to the dresser. All the ironing is finished and hung up.

Tossed a few kitchen towels that were stained and ragged.

Currently eyeing a set of chairs and the treadmill.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Donated a bunch of school supplies to a non-profit summer camp, serving low incomes students. Now that our kids are in high school, certain supplies won't be needed anymore. Plus, we had seven rulers, new in wrappers. Why? no clue, but they are now out of my house!

[MoneyTree]

Had an old MacBook Air from 2015 that I had gotten from work. (They let me buy it outright at a hefty discount when I was due for an upgrade). DW used it happily as her primary computer for a few years, but the battery degraded over time for a while and didn't hold a charge very long.

I tried to repurpose it as a "always plugged in" computer for a few months. Even considered replacing the battery, but ultimately just decided to sell it off.

Sold it off to one of those 3rd part electronics resellers. Didn't get too much for it, but now it is out of my house, and they can worry about replacing the battery and finding a good new home for it. Still was a rock solid machine, other than the battery.

[Josiecat22222]

@MoneyTree - I also have a dead MacBook Air, purchased around the same time.  I have thought about selling it to a 3rd party like you did, but always worry about a security risk...like if they can hack into my hard drive and get passwords, etc.  I openly admit I'm not the most computer savvy person, but how did you handle this?  I have had mine sitting on my shelf for the better part of six months trying to decide how to dispose of it.  I'd appreciate your insights.

[MoneyTree]

@MoneyTree - I also have a dead MacBook Air, purchased around the same time.  I have thought about selling it to a 3rd party like you did, but always worry about a security risk...like if they can hack into my hard drive and get passwords, etc.  I openly admit I'm not the most computer savvy person, but how did you handle this?  I have had mine sitting on my shelf for the better part of six months trying to decide how to dispose of it.  I'd appreciate your insights.

I think it depends on what you mean by "dead". if you can turn it on and sign in, you should be able to wipe it of any of your personal data by using the disk utility to erase the hard drive. that is what I did before selling.

If you cant even turn it on, then i'm not sure what you would be able to do. I'm sure there are services that can help you wipe your data, but that would probably cost you, and you'd also have to trust them that they've done it properly.