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

[Vashy]

Ongoing challenge: get rid of enough books that I don't have book piles on the floor. It's... progressing. Will be bringing another bag of them to the charity shop hopefully tomorrow.

[Minion458]

My house was SO cluttered in the past. A few years ago I decided to Thanos my things and get rid of half of my stuff. Clothes, books, keepsakes, stuff I'd accumulated over the years...pretty much everything was on the table except for things like furniture and tools. It was so freeing. I still need to be in a special mood to be able to sidestep my emotional attachment to things, but it got easier as I went along. By the end of the year I'd cleared out so much stuff. I kept asking myself things like
Do I need it?
Do I actually want it or am I keeping it because it has a memory attached?
Do I have a place for it?
If I didn't have this, would I want to buy it now?

It was hard throwing some things away, but I felt so much better after I did.

[Ysera]

My house was SO cluttered in the past. A few years ago I decided to Thanos my things and get rid of half of my stuff. Clothes, books, keepsakes, stuff I'd accumulated over the years...pretty much everything was on the table except for things like furniture and tools. It was so freeing. I still need to be in a special mood to be able to sidestep my emotional attachment to things, but it got easier as I went along. By the end of the year I'd cleared out so much stuff. I kept asking myself things like
Do I need it?
Do I actually want it or am I keeping it because it has a memory attached?
Do I have a place for it?
If I didn't have this, would I want to buy it now?

It was hard throwing some things away, but I felt so much better after I did.

Wow! I have been passively decluttering for years, but I love the idea of half. Half would be about right for my living space. *snaps fingers*

Kudos for your awesome, freeing progress. :)

[Frugal Lizard]

Wow...half!

Last night I found myself alone for the whole evening.  So I finished listening to a long audio book and to keep my hands occupied, I emptied the pantry, washed down the shelves and sorted the food. I wish we had chickens to clean up stale this and that. Three cupboards done. Four to go.
I needed an empty house with no one around judging my disorganized shopping or hoarding habits.  The next cupboards are not going to be as hard.

[FrugalShrew]

I went through a bin of papers that have been stacking up, recycled some and organized the rest. It doesn't look like much, but it sure felt good!

My house was SO cluttered in the past. A few years ago I decided to Thanos my things and get rid of half of my stuff. Clothes, books, keepsakes, stuff I'd accumulated over the years...pretty much everything was on the table except for things like furniture and tools. It was so freeing. I still need to be in a special mood to be able to sidestep my emotional attachment to things, but it got easier as I went along. By the end of the year I'd cleared out so much stuff. I kept asking myself things like
Do I need it?
Do I actually want it or am I keeping it because it has a memory attached?
Do I have a place for it?
If I didn't have this, would I want to buy it now?

It was hard throwing some things away, but I felt so much better after I did.

Wow! I have been passively decluttering for years, but I love the idea of half. Half would be about right for my living space. *snaps fingers*

Kudos for your awesome, freeing progress. :)

That is so impressive, @Minion458! And I appreciate your perspective about how even though it's hard in some cases, it's worth it.

[fuzzy math]

If I didn't have this, would I want to buy it now?

This is a next level decluttering question!!! Also difficult since I never want to buy anything :D

[Sibley]

I am unfortunately cluttering up my house extensively with cat toys. It's hard to walk, never mind vacuum. Got more mousie toys and a cat tree on the way to join the current mess. That's kittens for you.

However, I did drop off 2 bags of food and hygiene items to a pantry, and am returning 2 items to amazon. Also got the carpet repaired from where Arwen had destroyed it, so living room is almost back to normal. Just need to paint and install the toe molding.

[Loretta]

I noticed my decade-old IKEA bookshelf has a spit out a screw and one shelf is barely hanging together.  I cleaned off the books and will remove some of the assorted heavy supplies (paint, art stuff) I keep on the shelf in order to repair it next weekend.  I’m pretty proud of my forethought that I labeled the box of screws that we used on this shelf. 

[ixtap]

We each went through our clothes a bit as we were putting away the laundry and have a few things to take to Goodwill. Wonder where that is in our new town?

[Ysera]

Hubby and I donated our old ice hockey gear that we haven't used in >15 years. Both of us had been hanging on to it "just in case" we ever wanted to start playing again, but in reality, that would be very unlikely anymore for a variety of reasons. The gear went to a good cause and left me feeling happy and lighter. Also, if we did somehow ever get into that again, we can buy new gear, which is apparently way nicer these days than the clunky old stuff we donned so very many moons ago. 🤭

Two giant bags of stuff gone!

[okisok]

DP went through his closet and got 1.5 bags of items out. I can toss in the last few items I accidentally left out of the bag last time I donated to fill up the half bag. I'll add the xmas tree stand I no longer need to the pile and get it donated.
Took the other bag of clothes to a family member.
One bag of canned goods and assorted items to the little giving box in the next neighborhood over.
Finally got the last box of dog food unloaded from the most recent shipment and got the box in the recycling.
Fridge is cleaned out and the last of the holiday leftovers will be consumed before they go bad.

[Frugal Lizard]

started going through the seed bins, man there were a lot of empty seed packets.  Was I saving them to know what to re-order?  I need to get 3 seed bins plus a shelf of drying seeds consolidated into one or two seed bins so that I can see everything.
This is going to be tricky as my system of labeling is dodgy at best.  Going to have to run some germination tests to verify what the seeds are exactly.

[SunnyDays]

started going through the seed bins, man there were a lot of empty seed packets.  Was I saving them to know what to re-order?  I need to get 3 seed bins plus a shelf of drying seeds consolidated into one or two seed bins so that I can see everything.
This is going to be tricky as my system of labeling is dodgy at best.  Going to have to run some germination tests to verify what the seeds are exactly.

Most seeds are pretty recognizable, no?  Or do you have some obscure veggies?  There's probably a seed recognition app you can use, like there is for birds, bugs etc.

[Frugal Lizard]

started going through the seed bins, man there were a lot of empty seed packets.  Was I saving them to know what to re-order?  I need to get 3 seed bins plus a shelf of drying seeds consolidated into one or two seed bins so that I can see everything.
This is going to be tricky as my system of labeling is dodgy at best.  Going to have to run some germination tests to verify what the seeds are exactly.

Most seeds are pretty recognizable, no?  Or do you have some obscure veggies?  There's probably a seed recognition app you can use, like there is for birds, bugs etc.

most are pretty recognizable.  But bok choi, kale varieties, arugula, cabbage and radish are nearly identical.  Since I collected the seeds from my garden, there is a lot of variation in the arugula and kale from the same group of plants.  Since they all germinate quickly, I will plant a flat (and label them well) and sort it all out.  I thought I was planting a healthy bed of kale for the fall, but got bok choi mostly.  A lot of bok choi.  Food pantry was happy to receive it.  Same problem with leeks and scallions.  But I am not going to be donating those seeds to the seed library.

I have to get a better system for marking plants in the garden so that I can actually read the label when they are all dried up brown pods.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We tried out some dressers that didn't work. I was thinking we may change our mind, so I've been storing them in my closet. We didn't change our minds, so I listed them on FB marketplace, and have 20+ offers. Clearly, wrong price, but I have someone coming by to pay & pick them up. Getting them out of the closet will be a big win, as they take up quite a bit of space.

[okisok]

Took the donations to the drop off today only two days after I put the bag in the car.

Broke a cheap tool so into the trash it went. I have a better one but was using the crappy one...ahem...incorrectly.

Got a newer (but still used) phone as my old one won't be supported soon. I sold the old one and it went into the mail the day after the new one arrived. The case went into the trash. I even shipped the old phone out in the new phone box, so one-in-one-out all around.

Packed all summer clothes away and unpacked the winter ones. The decluttering went so well during the summer that there wasn't anything that didn't get worn. Now to finish going through the winter items and see if any of them can go.

[Fresh Bread]

Every year I try to do a declutter in late December to be ready for the New Year. It's inspired by a Japanese tradition of doing a deep clean at that time but I never get around to the cleaning! I'm trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff but I'm having no luck. I guess people are spending mainly on gifts but will drop the prices and see what happens.

[Shinplaster]

Dropped off a big bag for donation yesterday.  So glad to get that out of the house!

[NotJen]

Next goal - 20 more items by the end of the month either listed for sale or out of the house.

I procrastinated, but got it done: today I donated 12 items, trashed 7 items, and listed 1 item for sale.

One item I donated was a big cardboard cutting board (for sewing).  I'm not sure why I didn't get rid of it sooner!  I intend to keep my sewing machine for small projects, but I haven't cut a pattern in a million years.  Probably would have been something worth trying to sell for a few dollars back when I was doing FB Marketplace, but not worth it now.

[halftimer]

I finally swapped 2 dressers that I was thinking about for a long time. The one I had clothes in had such deep drawers that items got lost, even with trays/containers to separate items. The other has hobby supplies and storage in a spare room. They were similarly sized, but with the shallower drawers I had to remove a half dozen clothing items to make it work well - all into the donate/sell box. The other dresser got the hobby supplies with lots of room to spare so I was able to organize those materials better and both will be much easier to use now.

[mspym]

In a preventative maintenance moment, Ofpym was sending me links to a five-string bass that was unexpectedly $1100 off and then we talked through it and he worked out that the buy urge was entirely because of the sale and that he'd rather upgrade his upright bass.

[oneday]

Used a tiny little scrap of bubble wrap for an outgoing package.

I have not completely unpacked since my last move in February. However, what is still packed is taking up a large number of partially empty boxes. The pile of unpacked, empty boxes is smaller. So I've been holding off on passing along the empty boxes and packing material that is not being used now.

However, after today I think I will hold on to a small/reasonable amount of packing material and boxes, since I have the space. It's nice to be have a supply of packing materials at my fingertips.

[Sibley]

My (nice) neighbor got a wood burning stove to help offset heating costs. He uses cardboard to help start the fire. I've been getting a LOT of packages between new kitten and Christmas, so I've been saving that cardboard to give to him. Finally passed it off to him today so giant pile is out of the house.

I finished painting the upstairs bathroom, so as my reward I got a storage cabinet. It arrived, and I got that setup. In the process was able to get rid of all the temporary containers that had been holding everything (for the past 5 years). Some of it went into the above mentioned cardboard pile, and the plastic set of drawers is going to get cleaned and given to my dad to see if he wants it.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Finally got all of our dressers moved around, and now have the large dresser that no one wants/doesn't properly fit in any of our rooms listed on FB marketplace. Fingers crossed we can get it out of our entryway soon!

As part of the dresser swap, I went through my 16 y.o.'s clothes, & found a bunch of stuff to give away & couple of things to sell. Those are next on the list.

[Prairie Gal]

Gave away two large cardboard boxes to someone that is moving. Saved me a trip to the recycling depot.

I decided to try to sell some books on Marketplace. If they don't sell I will just donate them. I am reading more now that I am retired, and usually buy used for $5. If I can sell them for $5, my reading will essentially be free. I am not a good library person. It takes me a while to read a book, then I forget to renew and get a fine. One time I lost a set of DVD's and had to pay for them. I think that is the last time I borrowed anything from the library.

[oneday]

One decluttering win: tossed out some leftover pieces of an AC that I got rid of weeks ago.

Setup for future decluttering wins: using scrap wood, leveled a cabinet. Soon I will finish unpacking and fill up this cabinet, probably will come up with some things to pass on to their next owners

[LaineyAZ]

Found some linens in the closet that I'll be donating.  (does anyone really use pillow shams??)

[Frugal Lizard]

one winter coat and one pair of snow pants no longer in the hall closet!

[GardenBaker]

Sold a pair of shoes on Ebay. Listed some seasonal pillows for sale and a cooler that I'm no longer using.
Donated a dinnerware set.

[Serendip]

A friend mentioned that she wants to put together a 'tickle trunk' for her child (Canadians will remember it from Mr. Dressup). She is a minimalist so doesn't own random things for her son to dress up in.. I'm gathering up a few things to donate to her (and a coworker was giving away a caterer's coat so I grabbed it for them as well).

https://sagomini.com/article/imagination-station-an-ode-to-the-tickle-trunk/

My SO was going to a xmas party with a regift theme so I donated a Royal Tenenbaums dvd :)

[slackmax]

Went through my flea market inventory and culled 2 plastic grocery bags worth of knickknacks and sundries, will donate them.   Recycled 2 empty cardboard boxes and some old advertising fliers.   

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I went through a bunch of stuff leftover from failed Buy Nothing pickups, or items that just never went, & have someone coming for the entire bunch. Maybe 20 items in total. Hurrah! Out of the hall closet, where I keep pending BN stuff.

I still have two groups of items posted, so I'm hoping to get rid of another 10 or so items tomorrow.

[mspym]

DNFed a book and returned it to the street library. Finally remembered to take two old wiped phones for recycling.

[happy]

5 boxes of stuff and a small bag of clothes piled up awaiting me to get sufficient motivation to take them to donation points. A pile of non-donatable stuff is slowly growing, destined for council clean up.

I decided to embrace a decluttering lifestyle nearly 20 years ago. I feel like I am fairly good at not buying/bringing stuff in, but I'm still at it. I think stuff breeds in the night.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@happy - I've been really heavily decluttering for 9 years, and still work at it. On one side, I have kids, and they grow, their interests change, etc. So, that makes sense, but I can't blame it entirely on them. I'd say about 60% of what i declutter is theirs.

[happy]

@happy - I've been really heavily decluttering for 9 years, and still work at it. On one side, I have kids, and they grow, their interests change, etc. So, that makes sense, but I can't blame it entirely on them. I'd say about 60% of what i declutter is theirs.

MBM I absolutely agree with you. Every phase in a child's life seems to need decluttering when they move onto the next. Fortunately I'm not overly sentimental about keeping things like their first whatever.

[Loretta]

I wore a pair of stained leggings for the last time today then disposed of them.  Tomorrow I'll wear a t-shirt from my alma mater for the last time.  It was a low-quality freebie.

[Shinplaster]

I am not a good library person. It takes me a while to read a book, then I forget to renew and get a fine. One time I lost a set of DVD's and had to pay for them. I think that is the last time I borrowed anything from the library.

Do you have access to digital books at your library?   I prefer real (paper) books, but have found that digital is a great option for the problem of forgetting to return or renew in time.   The books just go 'poof' when your time is up.    : )    Since we moved to new town, it's been more convenient for me to get books online rather than to physically go into the library.

Also most Canadian libraries offer access to Kanopy too - movies, documentaries, series, etc.  All free.

[Ladychips]

I am not a good library person. It takes me a while to read a book, then I forget to renew and get a fine. One time I lost a set of DVD's and had to pay for them. I think that is the last time I borrowed anything from the library.

Do you have access to digital books at your library?   I prefer real (paper) books, but have found that digital is a great option for the problem of forgetting to return or renew in time.   The books just go 'poof' when your time is up.    : )    Since we moved to new town, it's been more convenient for me to get books online rather than to physically go into the library.

Also most Canadian libraries offer access to Kanopy too - movies, documentaries, series, etc.  All free.

And at my library online books are good for 2 weeks. If I can't finish by then, I can turn off my wifi...they can't take it away from you if they can't get to it!!

[Sibley]

I am not a good library person. It takes me a while to read a book, then I forget to renew and get a fine. One time I lost a set of DVD's and had to pay for them. I think that is the last time I borrowed anything from the library.

Do you have access to digital books at your library?   I prefer real (paper) books, but have found that digital is a great option for the problem of forgetting to return or renew in time.   The books just go 'poof' when your time is up.    : )    Since we moved to new town, it's been more convenient for me to get books online rather than to physically go into the library.

Also most Canadian libraries offer access to Kanopy too - movies, documentaries, series, etc.  All free.

And at my library online books are good for 2 weeks. If I can't finish by then, I can turn off my wifi...they can't take it away from you if they can't get to it!!

Please don't do that. The library likely only has a set number of digital copies that they're allowed to loan out. If you're sitting on one, its the same as if you're sitting on the physical book.

Either don't borrow books, remember to renew the book, pay the fines, or figure out how to finish the book within the allotted timeframe.

[NotJen]

Please don't do that. The library likely only has a set number of digital copies that they're allowed to loan out. If you're sitting on one, its the same as if you're sitting on the physical book.

This isn’t true at my library.  After 2 weeks, my book is auto-returned in the library system and is available to the next person.  I can continue to read the book on my e-reader with a few caveats: no Wi-Fi connection (which I never actually turn on), I can’t switch books, and I can’t let the reader shut itself off - otherwise it realizes it’s expired and blocks accesss.

In fact, I often return my books right after I download them so that the next person gets it even sooner.



And to bring this back to decluttering, I am also trying to get rid of physical books - I have a bunch from my library store from many years ago, and my goal is to get through maybe 3 of them this month and donate them right away.  I keep postponing my digital holds that come up until I’ve gotten some more books out of the house.

[okisok]

A couple of shirts out of winter storage and right into the donate bag.

I've been opening holiday cards and immediately putting them on the mantel and the envelopes into the recycling, do not stop at the kitchen island, do not pile on the coffee table.

Speaking of library books, our library no longer charges fines. Your checkout automatically renews until someone else requests it, then you get an email asking to please return it.

[JAYSLOL]

Took an entire car load of stuff to my local auction house today, glad to have it gone and even better I’ll get a cheque for some amount when it sells in a couple weeks

[Loretta]

I deleted a bunch of old duplicative photos from my comms devices and then un-liked some Facebook pages that I'm no longer nearby to support.  I also boldly chose to delete my Amz browsing history and to turn it off for future use. 

[slackmax]

A couple of shirts out of winter storage and right into the donate bag.

I've been opening holiday cards and immediately putting them on the mantel and the envelopes into the recycling, do not stop at the kitchen island, do not pile on the coffee table.

Speaking of library books, our library no longer charges fines. Your checkout automatically renews until someone else requests it, then you get an email asking to please return it.

I used up 4 more of my Christmas card stash today (just about unlimited cards, lol). 

Interesting about your library not having fines. My library dropped the fine for late DVDs from $1.00 per day to 20 cents per day, which surprised me.

My guess is that they want to people to be very not afraid to check things out, since the lib gets tax $$$ partly based on how much stuff gets checked out. Just a guess.

[happy]

Yesterday I decluttered/reorganised 3 shelves of my pantry. I've been meaning to do it for a while...I'm pleased with the result:  it improves the work flow quite a lot. And a small bag of clothing was donated.

[okisok]

Speaking of library books, our library no longer charges fines. Your checkout automatically renews until someone else requests it, then you get an email asking to please return it.

I used up 4 more of my Christmas card stash today (just about unlimited cards, lol). 

Interesting about your library not having fines. My library dropped the fine for late DVDs from $1.00 per day to 20 cents per day, which surprised me.

My guess is that they want to people to be very not afraid to check things out, since the lib gets tax $$$ partly based on how much stuff gets checked out. Just a guess.

In 2021, the library system got a grant to cover fines for a year while they did a study about fines v. no fines. There was a huge jump in checkouts and people accessing library items in that year. They decided that since fines were less than 1% of the operating budget and created barriers to access, they did away with them. There are still fines for certain items like DVDs, etc. And if they request the book back and you don't return it for a set amount of time, you still get the price of the book charged to your account and will need to cover it or replace the book.

In decluttering, I cleaned out under my kitchen sink. I put a small flowerpot into the donate bag and reorganized the cleaners.

[NotJen]

I also requested a t-shirt recycling "kit" from Marine Layer for 3 t-shirts that didn't seem re-sell-able.

I finally got my kit, and sent off 5 t-shirts for recycling yesterday.

And to bring this back to decluttering, I am also trying to get rid of physical books - I have a bunch from my library store from many years ago, and my goal is to get through maybe 3 of them this month and donate them right away.

1 book read and in the donation pile.

[Josiecat23503]

@NotJen - I just looked up Marine Layer! I hadn't heard of it and I definitely have some T shirts to donate!! Thank you!

[oneday]

Finally went through a backlog of mail and papers. A handful went into recycling, another into the shred folder. Some need to be kept until action is completed, and they are serving as a tangible to do list.  But the pile is smaller!