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

[Weisass]

DP decided to organize the shed and garage this weekend. All on his own, no prompting or dropped hints. He bought a shelf and started purging the trash to make room for the shelf that would hold useful items. We completely filled the wheelie bins! Some books went to the little library but he mostly trashed/recycled items.

I'm so proud of him. He spent most of the day doing thoughtful decluttering and organizing. He was so happy to find some items he thought he lost and didn't get down on himself for the mess. I managed to be supportive without nagging or strongly suggesting. I was the runner who followed the Dana White advise to 'take it there now'. We didn't make 'trash' 'donate' 'keep' piles--if it was trash it went straight in the bin we pulled up to the door. If it was donate, it went to the car. If it was keep, it went straight to where he would look for that item. He was able to make decisions so much more quickly than when we started 5 years ago. He also was able to declutter so many items he had previously thought he'd keep. The books were huge--normally he never gets rid of them and 6 went out!

On Sunday evening, I took two boxes and a bag to family members, took useful/new items to the little 'help yourself' box, and a trunk full of donations. All of the holiday decorations boxes went into the attic and out of the garage floor. He is over the moon and so am I!

Happily, today was trash day so he can go purge some more! He really only stopped because we ran out of trash space.

This is awesome! My own spouse does better with cleaning up when they see momentum building. It’s a good feeling,

[mspym]

Woohoo @okisok that's brilliant stuff! I *love* the take it there now approach and find it super useful. A small amount gone for good is better than a big pile of 'got to get rid of'.

Today I came home from a walk and saw that my husband had put out all the beer bottles from his old brewing hobby for recycling. If someone takes them in the meantime, more power to them.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Got a bunch of BN stuff out of the house.
-Found a few more items to list on eBay

[okisok]

Woohoo @okisok that's brilliant stuff! I *love* the take it there now approach and find it super useful. A small amount gone for good is better than a big pile of 'got to get rid of'.

Today I came home from a walk and saw that my husband had put out all the beer bottles from his old brewing hobby for recycling. If someone takes them in the meantime, more power to them.

I've watched several of Dana's youtube videos and it's her take on no mess decluttering. If you get interrupted or lose momentum, you're always at a natural stopping point. There aren't piles for 'take upstairs' or 'donate' or huge piles of stuff you pulled out of a cabinet. The space always looks better than when you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPzjWyVwH0

Good on your hubby!

[RetiredAt63]

Woohoo @okisok that's brilliant stuff! I *love* the take it there now approach and find it super useful. A small amount gone for good is better than a big pile of 'got to get rid of'.

Today I came home from a walk and saw that my husband had put out all the beer bottles from his old brewing hobby for recycling. If someone takes them in the meantime, more power to them.

I've watched several of Dana's youtube videos and it's her take on no mess decluttering. If you get interrupted or lose momentum, you're always at a natural stopping point. There aren't piles for 'take upstairs' or 'donate' or huge piles of stuff you pulled out of a cabinet. The space always looks better than when you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPzjWyVwH0

Good on your hubby!

Dana is the best, and I've read and watched several over the years.

[Loretta]

I threw out some old bottles of eye drops that were living in my fridge’s butter compartment since 2017. 

[draco44]

I did a pantry clearing of second-tier preference foods, eating some myself instead of buying new stuff and giving away others on Buy Nothing. I found it especially works well taking snacks to in-person work days because then I have no alternative food on hand to eat, and thus responsible planning draco44 from the previous night wins the "what to eat" battle.

[fuzzy math]

Woohoo @okisok that's brilliant stuff! I *love* the take it there now approach and find it super useful. A small amount gone for good is better than a big pile of 'got to get rid of'.

Today I came home from a walk and saw that my husband had put out all the beer bottles from his old brewing hobby for recycling. If someone takes them in the meantime, more power to them.

I've watched several of Dana's youtube videos and it's her take on no mess decluttering. If you get interrupted or lose momentum, you're always at a natural stopping point. There aren't piles for 'take upstairs' or 'donate' or huge piles of stuff you pulled out of a cabinet. The space always looks better than when you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPzjWyVwH0

Good on your hubby!

Dana is the best, and I've read and watched several over the years.

OMG this is life changing. I watched 3 videos and tried out the principles this morning. I love how its all about "do whatever levels you can right now" and that its done in a way that you're never making a mess...

[Prairie Gal]

When I put the Christmas stuff away I culled a bunch of items that didn't get used and put them in the donate box. I am also donating a ride on toy car that my grand children didn't play with this last visit. When the weather warms up again I will take this stuff to the thrift store.

[Frugal Lizard]

4 more boxes out of the house. One was straight up garbage. I am actually a tad embarrassed by my house keeping.

[mspym]

Very small victory- my friend stayed on her way back from Portugal and since she had flown from cold weather to Sydney at its humid finest I was pleased that a pair of loose linen pants I was going to donate were the perfect size and drapiness for her. She also took the bar of fancy scented soap that triggers my dermatitis. It felt like we both won.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

All of my BN items have now been picked up, which is always good. There is one frequent person in our group who is both voracious about being the first to reply & ask for almost anything, and she's flaky on pick up. She lives on my street, so could not be closer, but I often have to remind her to pick up.

I also listed an additional set of place mats. I picked them up, thinking we might want another option, but they are not a kind we will use. We need washable place mats.

[fuzzy math]

Tackled the linen closet and my bedside cedar chest. Got 4 grocery bags of random sheets, pillow cases and kitchen towels. Did my closet and got another 4 grocery bags of clothing. Also have an overflowing box of random items that I've found in bins and closets. They're all waiting to be packed up for when the free store opens on Thurs.

Organized my gift bags so all the Christmas ones are with the Christmas stuff instead of with the general wrapping supplies. I've been so annoyed with looking for a birthday bag and only ever finding holiday ones!

[NotJen]

3rd trunk full of items to the donation center - mostly things that didn't sell on Marketplace (I made $565 to offset my moving costs, so not bad).  OF COURSE, I forgot 3 things that were on the counter in the kitchen, so I might need to make yet another trip before I leave town.  And after I try to pack up my car tomorrow, who knows what kind of hard decisions I'll have to make!

[JAYSLOL]

All of my BN items have now been picked up, which is always good. There is one frequent person in our group who is both voracious about being the first to reply & ask for almost anything, and she's flaky on pick up. She lives on my street, so could not be closer, but I often have to remind her to pick up.

Probably a 90% chance this person is a hoarder, the other 10% chance being they resell stuff.  Can’t you list the free things as “first come, first served”?   FB buy and sell groups are great sometimes and a huge pain other times with some real mental cases with nothing better to do than cause trouble in groups and take advantage of others. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

All of my BN items have now been picked up, which is always good. There is one frequent person in our group who is both voracious about being the first to reply & ask for almost anything, and she's flaky on pick up. She lives on my street, so could not be closer, but I often have to remind her to pick up.

Probably a 90% chance this person is a hoarder, the other 10% chance being they resell stuff.  Can’t you list the free things as “first come, first served”?   FB buy and sell groups are great sometimes and a huge pain other times with some real mental cases with nothing better to do than cause trouble in groups and take advantage of others.

We live in a VHCOL area, so it's unusual for someone in our group to truly need things. I think she's a bit of a hoarder, and also someone who lives with a bunch of people of varying needs. I don't think they have a lot of money, and she rarely passes things on to the group (also unusual in our group). Most people give a lot away, even if they pick things up from others. She's my last resort. I only give to her if no one else wants it. I don't know enough about her own situation to be sure, and it's really not my business. I'd prefer it not go to the landfill, so if she says she can use it, I give it to her.

[okisok]

Woohoo @okisok that's brilliant stuff! I *love* the take it there now approach and find it super useful. A small amount gone for good is better than a big pile of 'got to get rid of'.

Today I came home from a walk and saw that my husband had put out all the beer bottles from his old brewing hobby for recycling. If someone takes them in the meantime, more power to them.

I've watched several of Dana's youtube videos and it's her take on no mess decluttering. If you get interrupted or lose momentum, you're always at a natural stopping point. There aren't piles for 'take upstairs' or 'donate' or huge piles of stuff you pulled out of a cabinet. The space always looks better than when you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgPzjWyVwH0

Good on your hubby!

Dana is the best, and I've read and watched several over the years.

OMG this is life changing. I watched 3 videos and tried out the principles this morning. I love how its all about "do whatever levels you can right now" and that its done in a way that you're never making a mess...

I'm so glad you found her channel! It really is the MOST helpful decluttering method, especially if you tend to get daunted or interrupted. Even if you only spend a few minutes, the space always looks better than it did when you started!

[okisok]

Threw away expensive makeup Youtube convinced me to buy. It wasn't one whit better than my drugstore stuff that is 1/8th of the price. Trashed the cosmetic and the regrets.

Finally got the holiday items up in the attic. I was having a mental block about getting it done. I sat myself down to think it out, figured out what was wrong, worked through it, and put the stuff away. I gave myself permission to NOT put it away, but my goal was to figure out why I didn't want to. Both goals accomplished. (Full disclosure--I wrapped the tree and put it away still decorated. I love the way it turned out this year and I don't enjoy the process as much as the finished product. We'll see how that goes for next year.)

Since I did get rid of some holiday items earlier, I had one empty bin I was able to repurpose in my reorganized office. Now to cull the items in the bin until I can close the lid...

Yet another clothing item mended. One in progress, one more to go.

[Sibley]

Some tupperware containers that are not mine but ended up in my cupboard returned.

Trying to decide about the cases of wet food that I have in the utility room. Originally purchased for Elrond and Arwen who were senior kitties, I now have kittens. I already donated the specifically senior food to the animal shelter but had kept the general adult food. The kittens will be on kitten food for the next 7 months, and even once they switch to adult food there's no guarantee they'll like this food. Its a lot of food - probably 5-6 cases consolidated. I could give some of it to my parents, but they have a lot already and their cat I don't think likes many of the flavors.

[Frugal Lizard]

I worked on the cold cellar for a bit.  Hoping to finish organizing it over the next week so that I can plan my gardening to match food preservation to match our food consumption.

[fuzzy math]

I'm so glad you found her channel! It really is the MOST helpful decluttering method, especially if you tend to get daunted or interrupted. Even if you only spend a few minutes, the space always looks better than it did when you started!

When I find random items strewn about the house, I've started asking myself where I'd go to look for the item first. And I think about all the time wasted if I had to look for the item and it wasn't in that spot. So its super motivating even from a casual clean up the house to take the item back to its home immediately rather than pile it up with a bunch of other things that are all in the process of being relocated. I feel like I'm saving my future sanity every time I do it!

[Prairie Gal]

All of my BN items have now been picked up, which is always good. There is one frequent person in our group who is both voracious about being the first to reply & ask for almost anything, and she's flaky on pick up. She lives on my street, so could not be closer, but I often have to remind her to pick up.

I also listed an additional set of place mats. I picked them up, thinking we might want another option, but they are not a kind we will use. We need washable place mats.

I find that things I am giving away for free often don't get picked up. Super annoying. A lady recently posted on a FB group that she was in need of cereal. I happened to have a box of corn flakes that wasn't opened that I offered to her. You guessed it, she didn't pick them up. She was added to my shit list and I won't be giving anything to her again.

[slackmax]

Wow, lots of decluttering posts! Way to go, guys!

My recent accomplishments:  dragged a box out from under a chair, opened it, saw it was full of blank Christmas cards, and moved the whole box upstairs to an already cluttered room. Nice empty space under the chair now.   

Found some old paper tax records with ssn everywhere. About 50 pages. Burned them up in the charcoal grill. Only took 5 minutes. Not too much smoke.     

[GardenBaker]

I went through and removed my listings from eBay that have not sold and put those in a large trash bag. I ended up filling the trash bag up and dropped it off at the donation bin. Yay for it not riding around in my car for 6 months :)

Also, threw away a pair of holey jeans.

[rivendale]

DP decided to organize the shed and garage this weekend. All on his own, no prompting or dropped hints. He bought a shelf and started purging the trash to make room for the shelf that would hold useful items. We completely filled the wheelie bins! Some books went to the little library but he mostly trashed/recycled items.

I'm so proud of him. He spent most of the day doing thoughtful decluttering and organizing. He was so happy to find some items he thought he lost and didn't get down on himself for the mess. I managed to be supportive without nagging or strongly suggesting. I was the runner who followed the Dana White advise to 'take it there now'. We didn't make 'trash' 'donate' 'keep' piles--if it was trash it went straight in the bin we pulled up to the door. If it was donate, it went to the car. If it was keep, it went straight to where he would look for that item. He was able to make decisions so much more quickly than when we started 5 years ago. He also was able to declutter so many items he had previously thought he'd keep. The books were huge--normally he never gets rid of them and 6 went out!

On Sunday evening, I took two boxes and a bag to family members, took useful/new items to the little 'help yourself' box, and a trunk full of donations. All of the holiday decorations boxes went into the attic and out of the garage floor. He is over the moon and so am I!

Happily, today was trash day so he can go purge some more! He really only stopped because we ran out of trash space.

That's a huge victory!

[Sibley]

Wow, lots of decluttering posts! Way to go, guys!

My recent accomplishments:  dragged a box out from under a chair, opened it, saw it was full of blank Christmas cards, and moved the whole box upstairs to an already cluttered room. Nice empty space under the chair now.   

Found some old paper tax records with ssn everywhere. About 50 pages. Burned them up in the charcoal grill. Only took 5 minutes. Not too much smoke.   

Will you sell the Christmas cards?

[Loretta]

I threw away a holey blouse this evening.  It was pre owned when I got it, with a hole in the shoulder.  I wore it about 6 times.

[slackmax]

Wow, lots of decluttering posts! Way to go, guys!

My recent accomplishments:  dragged a box out from under a chair, opened it, saw it was full of blank Christmas cards, and moved the whole box upstairs to an already cluttered room. Nice empty space under the chair now.   

Found some old paper tax records with ssn everywhere. About 50 pages. Burned them up in the charcoal grill. Only took 5 minutes. Not too much smoke.   

Will you sell the Christmas cards?

Actually, I was planning to just keep them and gradually use them up. I did send out six Christmas cards this year. 

[Fresh Bread]

Organised a free bulky rubbish collection and got rid of some rotten chairs and other stuff that was hanging in our garden. The chairs were on a to-do list to refurbish for years and it's such a relief that they are gone. Also dropped off a bunch of difficult recycling (stuff that needs to be dropped in a special location). Another relief!

I've dropped the price on some stuff I'm selling. Fingers crossed.

[GardenBaker]

Threw away some old bed linens my DH absolutely hated and sold a pair of pants online.

[Josiecat22222]

I gifted 7 items on local buy nothing group!

[oneday]

Finally let go of my stash of moving boxes and packing material!

[slackmax]

Finally let go of my stash of moving boxes and packing material!

Brave of you, Oneday!  I still have plenty of empty boxes in my basement, lol.

My recent decluttering : Selected 2 more big technical manuals from work days, and put them out for recycling.

Identified some areas around the house that can be gone through once again, to find items that I can part with now that I could not easily part with the last  time I went through them.    Attrition, lol. 

 

[FrugalShrew]

Finally let go of my stash of moving boxes and packing material!

Brave of you, Oneday!  I still have plenty of empty boxes in my basement, lol.

I agree this is brave. The boxes give me a feeling of security that if I get notice that I need to leave, I can start packing right away. (It doesn't help that last time I moved, even buying moving boxes it was rather a pain to gather them because the stores didn't have many of the size I needed). Haha, you can see why I need this decluttering thread for motivation. Anyway, great job, @oneday!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I feel like I'm all decluttered, and things look good. However, I saw someone in this thread mentioned getting rid of owners manuals, and I think we have several drawers full of them. Thanks for the inspiration - I will add that to the do list.

[Poundwise]

I donated half of my mother's furniture to a local organization that helps resettle refugees.  It was a little painful for me to decide to donate this high-end furniture (including a sofabed that was only a year old), but truly nobody in the family had room for it. 

But now, I am happy to think how happy the refugees will be this month. As an added bonus, the movers helped me move the two pieces of furniture that I am taking into my own car... they weren't large but surely I would have busted my back trying to hump them in myself!

We were also able to donate a lot of medical equipment (wheelchair, walkers, rails, crutches) to NuDay Syria. That felt really effective, especially in light of the recent earthquake in Idlib... the items will be en route very soon and thus will arrive sooner than earthquake-inspired donations.

[Poundwise]

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now. I have gotten rid of SO much in the past week, and yet my car is full of stuff from my mother and I will have to make room in my house. Or something.  The low hanging fruit is gone and now it gets hard.

[mspym]

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now. I have gotten rid of SO much in the past week, and yet my car is full of stuff from my mother and I will have to make room in my house. Or something.  The low hanging fruit is gone and now it gets hard.

Is there a friend who can help you with going through your mother's stuff and the decisions?

[fuzzy math]

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now. I have gotten rid of SO much in the past week, and yet my car is full of stuff from my mother and I will have to make room in my house. Or something.  The low hanging fruit is gone and now it gets hard.

You did a great job with the low hanging fruit!!! If you need to take a day or a week or a month to breathe before digging in to the next phase, allow yourself that space.

[fuzzy math]

I am still riding high off my post Dana K White knowledge!

I took a whole van full of items to the free store on Saturday. Some of it may have been mentioned before. I only took 3 items in return, and one of them didn't suit my kid's tastes, so it went right back into the free store pile.

-Since then I've ordered a new dish rack mat (a tiny flat item that covers the sink) and got rid of my larger bulky dish rack where old items just lingered forever. This new thing forces us to put away clean items.
-Made a mail box out of a sterlite tub, a laminated paper sheet and a couple metal rings. All mail (which normally gets strewn about) goes in here.
- Have been using my label maker to label bins so we know exactly whats where.
- After rearranging the sewing stuff, I found some iron on patches and patched up the thighs of my favorite jeans that would have otherwise gone in the trash this week. So far so good!
- Got the guts to list an item on ebay. I haven't sold anything since about 2005. Sold a vintage band t shirt for $200!!! Got it shipped today.
- Have been labeling large storage tubs in the garage with duct tape and a sharpie. We're going to be organized for the first time ever, its shocking.
- Tomorrow a secret donation of legos is going to one of the kid's schools.

[oneday]

Finally let go of my stash of moving boxes and packing material!

Brave of you, Oneday!  I still have plenty of empty boxes in my basement, lol.

I agree this is brave. The boxes give me a feeling of security that if I get notice that I need to leave, I can start packing right away. (It doesn't help that last time I moved, even buying moving boxes it was rather a pain to gather them because the stores didn't have many of the size I needed). Haha, you can see why I need this decluttering thread for motivation. Anyway, great job, oneday!

Thanks @slackmax and @FrugalShrew . TBH it feels less brave and more overdue. It's been a year since I moved. And I am an avowed member of the Craigslist Is For Boxes club :)

@Poundwise how lovely that some refugees will get some nice things for their landing place rather than cruddy cast offs.

[Sibley]

I feel like I'm all decluttered, and things look good. However, I saw someone in this thread mentioned getting rid of owners manuals, and I think we have several drawers full of them. Thanks for the inspiration - I will add that to the do list.

I keep owner's manuals for things that I still have. It gets gone through every year or so when I clean up my file box (often around tax time), so anything I didn't clean up when I got rid of the thing gets cleared out then.

[mspym]

Small but significant declutter- I threw out all the old 3M hooks that our rental house actively rejects and which we won't need in The House That We Own because - heck! we can knock as many holes in the walls or attach a picture rail as we want in that place. I'm also starting to recycle storage jars as they get emptied.

The procrastination job is actually recycling the electronics - the depot is literally around the corner but is only open on the weekends, when it inevitably slips my mind.

[Weisass]

Two old rain barrels on the curb through buy nothing today. Happy to see them going to someone else who will use them more reliably than I.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Found a new water bottle & stainless steel tumbler in the kitchen. Origins unknown. They are clearly branded gifts from work, so I've listed them on Buy Nothing. The stainless steel tumbler is particularly nice, but all of us already have them, and I'm not interested in storing more.

[oneday]

The procrastination job is actually recycling the electronics - the depot is literally around the corner but is only open on the weekends, when it inevitably slips my mind.

This reminds me of my last missed opportunity for haz mat drop off. The depot is a few block away from the office, literally on my route to/from the office. Super convenient. But I go to the office so rarely that I don't remember this until I drive by, thinking, "I could have recycled the batteries!" And so I have a bunch of dead batteries at home. le sigh

[okisok]

Cut up two fabric face masks. Tossed the fabric and used the elastic ear loops as hair ties.

[Poundwise]

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed now. I have gotten rid of SO much in the past week, and yet my car is full of stuff from my mother and I will have to make room in my house. Or something.  The low hanging fruit is gone and now it gets hard.

Is there a friend who can help you with going through your mother's stuff and the decisions?

Possibly; my spouse is being pretty supportive now and may be able to help. Today I posted a couple of pieces of my old slightly-broken furniture on Craigslist (replacing with mom's items that are in better shape, even though they don't match my furniture) and am hopeful I can get rid of some of it by the end of the week. Then I will be only half a minivan or so over par.

You did a great job with the low hanging fruit!!! If you need to take a day or a week or a month to breathe before digging in to the next phase, allow yourself that space.

Thank you!  I'm impatient to restore order to my home, which is only just recovering from the stuff I took in three years ago from my mother's first downsizing. I need peace in my home, and having piles of things around is distressing to me. I have complicated feelings about it all.

[fuzzy math]

- Found some white Corelle bakeware we don't like and put in the donate pile. It gets utensil markings in it, I prefer clear Pyrex baking stuff.
- Organized the paper recycling and put it in the garage (it has to be taken to another town we shop in)
- Donated some sandals I'd bought at a thrift store
- Grabbed 4 items from the free store, all 4 are going back to the free store due to fit / sizing issues
- Realized we like our under cabinet mount paper towel dispenser (came with the house) and would never want to use the counter top paper towel holder that's in the garage. Into the donate pile
- Organized the games on the top shelf of the closet. Found a game that's really suited for younger kids and its being donated
- Organized our hanging produce basket (that's just a hanging junk drawer). Put all the seed packets with the others, put all DS's scouts pins in a baggie in his dresser.
- Removed the child latches from DS's dresser and tossed them.
- Threw away some garbage in the garage
- FOUND (!!!) DD's pants that have been missing for ages, they were in DS's dresser. DD is going to be angry with him!
- New packages of shoelaces went into the sewing bin
- Donated some hand weights that were getting a bit rusty. We have too many hand weights still.
- DH didn't clean a growler jug that I've been telling him to clean for weeks so its going to the glass recycling today

[Sibley]

Well, I guess I'm cleaning the utility room tomorrow. Mom volunteered dad to help me move the washer/dryer (have to clean underneath them), and then I volunteered her to come play with the kittens while we worked. Which means, I need to get all the crap put away in there.

So, pulled all the cans of adult cat food out of the pantry. Opened and stacked all 5 cases of kitten food (that was on the counter in the utility room) in the pantry, which will last probably about a month and half. Some of the adult cat food is going to my parents, the rest will go to the shelter. This is probably 5 cases consolidated, and it's all in the utility room right now.

Also have some laundry going, so I can get that out of the way as well. Various other stuff needs to be put away. Big boombox I think is going back to the goodwill, I got it for working on the house projects, used it, but have a smaller radio now that is easier to move around. Will scrounge around the rest of the house so I can drop off everything at once. I know I've got an old purse I wanted to donate somewhere.