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

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Have continued going through our stuff, and finding things to toss, recycle, donate, etc.

Progress so far:
-I sold a shirt on eBay.
-Old cloth napkins (that also served a long life as cleaning rags) finally tossed
-Gave away a lacrosse ball & a new nail filing tool
-Noticed we have a ton of red curry paste in a huge container, plus a tiny unopened one that's about to expire. Gave away the tiny container.
-Donated a queen size duvet, that was taking up a lot of room in a hall closet
-Not counting for my yearly total, as I just got them at a race (it was freezing on race day, and these were freebies handed out), but gave away hat & gloves.

187/500 items out of the house

[Fresh Bread]

@MaybeBabyMustache duvets do take up a lot of space, don't they. I have a single and a queen to get rid of, both too yucky to give away and my husband hates the thought of them going to landfill. So they take up precious space in our 60sqm apartment! I think they might quietly disappear one day.

[mspym]

Today my sister and I labeled 3 storage keepers worth of Mum's excess fabric for a crafting swap-meet. They'd gone through the shelves earlier this week and worked out what she was never going to sew up so now we got it out of her space.

I also took my great-grandmother's lovely drop-leaf table home for us to clean up and refinish so it'll be a piece of pride again in her house.

[Sibley]

@MaybeBabyMustache duvets do take up a lot of space, don't they. I have a single and a queen to get rid of, both too yucky to give away and my husband hates the thought of them going to landfill. So they take up precious space in our 60sqm apartment! I think they might quietly disappear one day.
[/quote

Depending on the type, the animal shelter might take them. Rules vary.

[Fresh Bread]

@MaybeBabyMustache duvets do take up a lot of space, don't they. I have a single and a queen to get rid of, both too yucky to give away and my husband hates the thought of them going to landfill. So they take up precious space in our 60sqm apartment! I think they might quietly disappear one day.
[/quote

Depending on the type, the animal shelter might take them. Rules vary.

No these are feather, so no go. Take too long to dry.

[crocheted_stache]

Another inch-thick stack of paper to shred is now all the way out of the house.

[Shinplaster]

-Tossed three containers of expired medicine (maybe my mom bought when she was here, years & years ago?). Recycled packaging.

Just a small PSA re: medications.  Please don't dispose of them in the garbage or down the toilet.    Too many meds end up in our waste water or soil, with undesired effects for all of us.    Most pharmacies (at least in Canada, anyway) will accept expired or no longer needed meds to be disposed of properly.   They keep it in a vault and cooperate with other pharmacies to do a mass incineration once or twice a year.   

I did a purge of our pantry last weekend.   I'm using an area not really designed for food storage, but it's what I've got in this house. The shelves are too deep, too much height between them, etc., so things tend to get lost at the back and stacked one on top of another.   Lots of things that were long past their best before dates that I had forgotten I even had.   I've got no issue with using some foods past their dates, but products with oil, shortening, that type of thing tend to taste awful if they are years past.   Our garbage bag will be heavy this week. 

I've decided to cut myself some slack about the waste after mentally beating myself up for a few days.  We moved into this house during the pandemic and I was trying to restock and have some sort of pantry again.  So many things were hard to find, or completely unavailable, so when I found them I kind of went a little overboard.  I am not going to do that again.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Good to know, @Shinplaster . We rarely have medication (luckily, knock on wood), but I can start collecting it until I find a place nearby that will accept it.

[crocheted_stache]

Tossed a bottle of barbecue sauce and some pre-mixed peanut butter and jelly, both partial and long overdue, even by my standards. I'm not sure where they came from; probably a former roommate or visitor. Cleaned out the bottom drawers and shelf of the fridge, all of which needed a scrub. I haven't scrubbed the entire fridge in a very long time. Instead, I'll pull one shelf or drawer, usually when it's mostly empty. It prevents marathon cleaning sessions, but it also means I get to the easy ones more often.

Cleaned out the top drawer in the bathroom and tossed a couple partial jars of lotion/cream that were old enough to be iffy, and in any case, I was not still using them. Vacuumed the fuzz out of the drawer, washed the little organizer boxes and my hairbrushes, and put back what I'm keeping.

Made a few inroads in the seemingly bottomless pile on my desk, too, enough to wipe down part of the surface.

Now, I just need to keep at it and pick another drawer or shelf the next day.

[crocheted_stache]

Not a lot removed from today's two kitchen drawers, but I did toss some expired "box tops for education." Are those even still a thing? I don't buy many of those products anymore, anyway. I used up a few crinkled paper napkins saved from takeout bags to wipe some of the crumbs and crud out of the emptied drawers. I reorganized the rest as I put it back. Mostly, the kitchen is pretty efficient already, because we use it a lot, but it's been awhile since I got all the way to the bottoms and the backs of drawers and shelves.

[LeftA]

Worked on the paper category in the basement, again. DH was supposed to go through these last 3 batches, but he is doing it too slowly for my liking. So, I helped it along by doing it one full folder - a small pile was recycled, a fairly large pile shredded and the rest was filed. The latter category was mostly receipt for taxes, mainly years 2016 and 2017. Two more sessions and I should FINALLY be done with paper!!! Excited because the amount of paper was just crazy.

[Loretta]

Decluttered some bed linens last week, my closet looks much less overstuffed. I’ll be using up more toiletries this workweek.  I also opened up the Magical Cat Cabinet and opened some catnip gifts my gatos received.  I have to dole out the toys! 

[slackmax]

'When I get the time' I'm going to look through the boxes in the basement and hope to find a few empty boxes I can jettison. Or put inside other boxes. Just no room left down there any more.  Everything is 'usable' unfortunately. But I have so many empty boxes, I probably can bring myself to recycle some.

Once I have some more room in the basement I can take some excess chairs from the living room down there.

Took a large book to the library a few days ago and donated it.



   

 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Not a lot removed from today's two kitchen drawers, but I did toss some expired "box tops for education." Are those even still a thing? I don't buy many of those products anymore, anyway. I used up a few crinkled paper napkins saved from takeout bags to wipe some of the crumbs and crud out of the emptied drawers. I reorganized the rest as I put it back. Mostly, the kitchen is pretty efficient already, because we use it a lot, but it's been awhile since I got all the way to the bottoms and the backs of drawers and shelves.

@crocheted_stache - there is now an app, where you upload your receipts. :-)

-Listed a few items on eBay
-Continued to make progress in our garage, and found a few things to give away on BN
-Shredded some checks that we'd deposited
-Used up pantry items that were expiring soon

[Sugaree]

My kid actually agreed to donate/throw out/otherwise dispose of 5 boxes and 3 bags of old toys.  It's usually like pulling teeth to get him to let go of anything.  Now I've got to get that stuff dropped off at the thrift store before he changes his mind....

[SunnyDays]

After a long pause, I'm back at it again.

Recent discards are:  7 books, a shower caddy, 4 plastic containers, 4 glass jars, 2 pairs of garden gloves, 2 bracelets, one top, 4 candleholders and a bag of tapers, a fire pot, a tennis racket and 3 tennis balls, 3 stepping stones, 2 straw hats, 2 plants, a bunch of unused paint stir sticks, a door mat, a broken clothes iron, a dog toy and a pair of socks.  None of which will be missed.  I'm realizing that my "click point" per Marie Kondo is much, much lower than I thought.  The more I get rid of, the more I want to get rid of.  I suspect I'm actually pretty minimalist underneath all the rationalizations for keeping things.

'When I get the time' I'm going to look through the boxes in the basement and hope to find a few empty boxes I can jettison. Or put inside other boxes. Just no room left down there any more.  Everything is 'usable' unfortunately. But I have so many empty boxes, I probably can bring myself to recycle some.

Once I have some more room in the basement I can take some excess chairs from the living room down there.   

I played this "shift it around and compact it" game for a long time, until I realized all that stuff was still just being stored and not actually used, or ever likely to be used.  It was all still there, just taking up less space.  Which meant that eventually, I would have to take it all out again and then get rid of it.  It was exhausting.  Now I just let it take up the space, because that way it's in sight and in the way, which motivates me to truly let it go and free up real space.  I've found this to be more efficient in the long run, and a lot less tiring.

[Sibley]

slackmax - if it's easier for you to send boxes off to be used, put a social media post out about free boxes for moving. It's getting into spring, people are more likely to be moving in spring/summer than in winter.

You get space, they get moving boxes they need. Win-win.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Listed another item on eBay

Went through my office laptop bag & gym bag:
-Recycled some papers & other junk
-Tossed my shower flip flops (20+ years old now)
-Threw out some very old toiletries
-Added remaining toiletries to my travel stash
-Listed a few things on BN (hair bands, brush & dry shampoo, plus toiletries bag)
-Added towel back to our cleaning pile

Stored both bags out of the way, and in the proper place. It feels nice not to have them sitting on the floor of my closet anymore.

[LeftA]

@MaybeBabyMustache , you are on fire!

[crocheted_stache]

Not a lot removed from today's two kitchen drawers, but I did toss some expired "box tops for education." Are those even still a thing? I don't buy many of those products anymore, anyway. I used up a few crinkled paper napkins saved from takeout bags to wipe some of the crumbs and crud out of the emptied drawers. I reorganized the rest as I put it back. Mostly, the kitchen is pretty efficient already, because we use it a lot, but it's been awhile since I got all the way to the bottoms and the backs of drawers and shelves.

@crocheted_stache - there is now an app, where you upload your receipts. :-)

That's the point when I went from not participating much to just not participating. Thanks for the update.

slackmax - if it's easier for you to send boxes off to be used, put a social media post out about free boxes for moving. It's getting into spring, people are more likely to be moving in spring/summer than in winter.

You get space, they get moving boxes they need. Win-win.

The other way I have occasionally used boxes in such a way as to get rid of them is to load them up with stuff to donate.

Edit to add today's progress, which was mostly a couple of items, including one pretty old print magazine, removed and recycled out of the desk pile.

[Fresh Bread]

I took a few bits of crockery from the back of a kitchen cupboard to donate. Net result, none really, it's the stuff you never even saw unless you stooped to really look. Hopefully someone else gets some use out of the things.

[RetiredAt63]

I took a few bits of crockery from the back of a kitchen cupboard to donate. Net result, none really, it's the stuff you never even saw unless you stooped to really look. Hopefully someone else gets some use out of the things.

The next time you move, you will be glad there is less to pack.  And less decluttering in preparation for packing.

[Fresh Bread]

I took a few bits of crockery from the back of a kitchen cupboard to donate. Net result, none really, it's the stuff you never even saw unless you stooped to really look. Hopefully someone else gets some use out of the things.

The next time you move, you will be glad there is less to pack.  And less decluttering in preparation for packing.

Yes good point. I tried to remove more but DH said no!

[Sibley]

This isn't my problem, but I feel bad for my friend and some ideas of what to do with specific categories would be helpful. My friend's mother died last year, and she was a (clean) hoarder. They've been attacking the sheer mass of stuff and it is simply unending. My friend thinks they've gone through about 1/3 of the total.

So, they have boxes and trunks and tubs in the basement FULL of children's clothing. Everything that my friend ever wore, and plenty that she probably didn't wear, is all there. All of it. Birth to when she moved out in her 20s. Thus far, it hasn't been tackled because they don't know what to do with it. She was born in mid 1980s to give you a sense of fashion. Any ideas? All I can think is fabric recycling.

Similar category, but adult woman's clothing. Decades worth, and her mother was not fashionable.

There's also the doll room. Yes, a room. Full of dolls. Some of these are going to be your run of the mill dolls that little kid played with, but most of it are collectables. And of course, all the associated clothes, accessories, carriages, beds, etc. It is slightly creepy (very creepy if its dark). What do you do with all that stuff?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Sibley - have they priced out an estate service? Or, is there not enough "high value" items for an estate service to be interested?

[Sibley]

@Sibley - have they priced out an estate service? Or, is there not enough "high value" items for an estate service to be interested?

I don't think they want to do that. Her dad is not selling the house or moving, at least at this point. They're not mass decluttering the furniture, etc, just the multitude of stuff. Much of which is not valuable.

[oneday]

This isn't my problem, but I feel bad for my friend and some ideas of what to do with specific categories would be helpful. My friend's mother died last year, and she was a (clean) hoarder. They've been attacking the sheer mass of stuff and it is simply unending. My friend thinks they've gone through about 1/3 of the total.

So, they have boxes and trunks and tubs in the basement FULL of children's clothing. Everything that my friend ever wore, and plenty that she probably didn't wear, is all there. All of it. Birth to when she moved out in her 20s. Thus far, it hasn't been tackled because they don't know what to do with it. She was born in mid 1980s to give you a sense of fashion. Any ideas? All I can think is fabric recycling.

Similar category, but adult woman's clothing. Decades worth, and her mother was not fashionable.

There's also the doll room. Yes, a room. Full of dolls. Some of these are going to be your run of the mill dolls that little kid played with, but most of it are collectables. And of course, all the associated clothes, accessories, carriages, beds, etc. It is slightly creepy (very creepy if its dark). What do you do with all that stuff?

A "free" yard sale? Just put all the stuff out, but don't charge any money. Advertise exactly what is going out there, ie "unfashionable women's clothes and out of date children's clothes". Then fabric recycle anything left over.

[Turtle]

This isn't my problem, but I feel bad for my friend and some ideas of what to do with specific categories would be helpful. My friend's mother died last year, and she was a (clean) hoarder. They've been attacking the sheer mass of stuff and it is simply unending. My friend thinks they've gone through about 1/3 of the total.

So, they have boxes and trunks and tubs in the basement FULL of children's clothing. Everything that my friend ever wore, and plenty that she probably didn't wear, is all there. All of it. Birth to when she moved out in her 20s. Thus far, it hasn't been tackled because they don't know what to do with it. She was born in mid 1980s to give you a sense of fashion. Any ideas? All I can think is fabric recycling.

Similar category, but adult woman's clothing. Decades worth, and her mother was not fashionable.

There's also the doll room. Yes, a room. Full of dolls. Some of these are going to be your run of the mill dolls that little kid played with, but most of it are collectables. And of course, all the associated clothes, accessories, carriages, beds, etc. It is slightly creepy (very creepy if its dark). What do you do with all that stuff?

For the clothing, maybe contact local theaters/film schools, high school or community college etc, and see if they would want semi vintage clothing for period pieces?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Listed a bunch more on BN & eBay. So far, I've gotten rid of:
-A coffee mug that somehow came with my desk stuff (coworker brought me my stuff)
-2 organizer trays
-3 new school notebooks

I went through our school supply bin, realizing that DS18 will be at college next year, and DS17 hasn't used many of the supplies in forever. May as well pass them along to others who will use them.

Culled two pair of jeans, and have listed those on BN as well.

Total out of the house for the year = 225/500 - almost to the half way point!

[MayDay]

'When I get the time' I'm going to look through the boxes in the basement and hope to find a few empty boxes I can jettison. Or put inside other boxes. Just no room left down there any more.  Everything is 'usable' unfortunately. But I have so many empty boxes, I probably can bring myself to recycle some.

Once I have some more room in the basement I can take some excess chairs from the living room down there.

Took a large book to the library a few days ago and donated it.



   

 

Why do you feel compelled to keep it just because it is usable? You aren't actually using it, and you probably won't anytime soon if your entire basement is full of "usable" but not actually used things.

[mspym]

'When I get the time' I'm going to look through the boxes in the basement and hope to find a few empty boxes I can jettison. Or put inside other boxes. Just no room left down there any more.  Everything is 'usable' unfortunately. But I have so many empty boxes, I probably can bring myself to recycle some.

Once I have some more room in the basement I can take some excess chairs from the living room down there.

Took a large book to the library a few days ago and donated it.

Why do you feel compelled to keep it just because it is usable? You aren't actually using it, and you probably won't anytime soon if your entire basement is full of "usable" but not actually used things.

What if the excess chairs went to someone who could sit in them instead of the basement?

[slackmax]

Sibley,

My late hoarder girl friend had lots of clothes stuffed away. I was able to sell a couple items, at about $5 each, after a lot of hassle.  All the rest I have been gradually putting into plastic bags and donating to Salvation Army. They accept retro and vintage clothing, I think. 


The clollectable dolls will probably sell, but of course one has to spend time and effort  selling them.

[slackmax]

 

'When I get the time' I'm going to look through the boxes in the basement and hope to find a few empty boxes I can jettison. Or put inside other boxes. Just no room left down there any more.  Everything is 'usable' unfortunately. But I have so many empty boxes, I probably can bring myself to recycle some.

Once I have some more room in the basement I can take some excess chairs from the living room down there.   

I played this "shift it around and compact it" game for a long time, until I realized all that stuff was still just being stored and not actually used, or ever likely to be used.  It was all still there, just taking up less space.  Which meant that eventually, I would have to take it all out again and then get rid of it.  It was exhausting.  Now I just let it take up the space, because that way it's in sight and in the way, which motivates me to truly let it go and free up real space.  I've found this to be more efficient in the long run, and a lot less tiring.

I can relate to this.  If I can see it, I don't have to remember where I put it.  I actually have started a 'curating' file on my computer in which I list where in the house various items are, so I can actually find them if I want to make use of them.

I actually do find uses for a lot of the stuff I have, so I keep the rarely used items anyway. Every so often I actually cull some things, like boxes, or bags, and still have plenty left over, but a bit less clutter.         

[LeftA]

Speaking of boxes…with all my purging I’ve been left with a decent number of empty boxes. Since I also have empty plastic totes and quite a few high quality moving boxes broken down and piled neatly, I can get rid of the rest. As I’m still purging and organizing the storage area, I wasn’t in a rush to get rid of these boxes. But, someone in my BN group posted asking for some now as she is moving. As Sibley mentioned upthread it’s a win-win!

[Sibley]

Sibley,

My late hoarder girl friend had lots of clothes stuffed away. I was able to sell a couple items, at about $5 each, after a lot of hassle.  All the rest I have been gradually putting into plastic bags and donating to Salvation Army. They accept retro and vintage clothing, I think. 


The clollectable dolls will probably sell, but of course one has to spend time and effort  selling them.

Yeah, I don't think they want to deal with hassle. And to my knowledge, money is not a problem. I think I'll float a service which will do the dolls at least. They're still consolidating all of the doll stuff into the doll room though, but once that is done they might be quite relieved if someone just takes it all away and deals with it.

I knew her mom had issues, it was obvious. I didn't realize it was quite that bad. And I'm one of the very few outside the family who have been in the basement so I also was well aware that the woman was a hoarder. I was flabbergasted to hear that every single item my friend wore as a kid was still in the house - and had been moved 2+ times as well. They have entire boxes of just socks.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Sibley - given how much clothing there is, I'd definitely research textile/clothing recycling in their area. Feels like that would be a huge help.

[slackmax]

Since November:

• haz mat
• e-waste
• household goods (4 boxes)
• papers and photos from the fridge
• excess bags & water bottles
• empty spice jars
• luggage trolly
• ex roomie's video games
• ex roomie's book case glass doors
• old textbook (sold!)
• heating pad
• area rug
• box for electronics I no longer own
• stool of guilt & anger
• small suitcase
• box of miscellany: clothes, books, water bottles, etc

New:

• ex roomie's side table

This was the largest remaining items of ex roomie that I agreed to sell. Yay! Now there is room for the Craigslist dining table that has been on my patio for a few weeks. It needs a good de-spidering first.

Remaining ex roomie items:
more video games (next to be listed)
3 boxes sewing patterns (shipped most valuable patterns to ER to sell herself)
fleece (listed but probably needs price adjustment)*
flannel*

FSM give me strength...


*each an Ikea bag full

How on earth did you sell an old textbook? What subject? Where and how did you sell it, If I may ask?   And, congratulations, by the way.

I have been forcing myself to donate or recycle my old textbooks gradually, over the years.  I advertised them on Craigslist and Facebook, for $2 each. Not a nibble. 

What is the secret ? Ebay ?

[Sibley]

Re the textbook - depending on the subject, it might still be applicable. I'm thinking things like history, literature, etc, though even with those it's not a given. Possibly computer programming IF people are still using that specific language/tech. Obviously, pretty niche, so give it a shot for a short while but don't get hung up on "this will sell", because the odds are slim. Science, accounting, etc would be outdated and those should just be recycled with no stress or guilt needed.

[Sibley]

@Sibley - given how much clothing there is, I'd definitely research textile/clothing recycling in their area. Feels like that would be a huge help.

I looked into it, and the places that they are currently sending stuff to (Goodwill, AmVets, etc) do pass things on to the textile recycling places. It's really a matter of the logistics of getting it out of the house and to the place. However, overwhelming the drop off place is a real concern.

I also floated the idea of an estate sale company, and her dad has turned that down flat at this point. He doesn't want it in the house. Sending stuff elsewhere for consignment is ok though, and they have done some of that. Lot of issues with the lack of demand for stuff though. A lot is ending up in the landfill, sooner or later.

[PMG]

Regarding textbooks, I made pocket money in 2015-2019 buying textbooks at thrift (or picking up free ones at library free tables) and selling them back to a variety of library resellers. I could have made more selling myself but that was too much hassle. Around 2019 it became really really hard to find a textbook that was resellable at all and I stopped looking. That said, maybe you might be able to get a few dollars for and old literature book but it’s doubtful. Most classes are using online textbooks or require texts that come with a single use access code to online material. I am sure someone has an odd exception, but at this point it’s safe to assume that textbooks aren’t worth anything.

[Raenia]

With textbooks, it really depends how old the book is. If you just took the course last year/semester, there's a good chance the current class will be using the same version of the text, so there will be a market for resale. If it's a few years old, though, it may be worthless. Many textbooks put out new versions every few years, even when there aren't substantive changes, that make the old one useless for students. For instance, a math text changing the practice problems, so that classes that assign these problems as homework would need the current version.

If your textbook is more than a year or two old, you will have a much harder time selling it, even without any online components or access codes.

[slackmax]

Re the textbook - depending on the subject, it might still be applicable. I'm thinking things like history, literature, etc, though even with those it's not a given. Possibly computer programming IF people are still using that specific language/tech. Obviously, pretty niche, so give it a shot for a short while but don't get hung up on "this will sell", because the odds are slim. Science, accounting, etc would be outdated and those should just be recycled with no stress or guilt needed.

Yeah, that's the thing, it's a niche market. Hard to get that niche fish to see the bait, let alone bite, lol.

A success story : I sold a 1980's AT&T computer with its hard drive removed, for $100. Sold the keyboard that came with it (working) for $50.  I felt like I hit the lottery! 

I confess it's my guilty little pleasure to waste time on this stuff, lol.

[LeftA]

I have way too many textbooks. I just keep them for now since I got rid of other books and they fit in my bookcases. I guess when I even downsize, I’ll need to recycle them.

Today I did an impromptu clean up of my youngest child’s closet. I spent about 30 minutes and it is so much better! The child is just so messy and I was getting annoyed with nagging to no avail. I had done a pretty big purge only a few months ago, so there isn’t that much to donate now. It’s mainly bags that needed to be recycled (we already have too many paper bags), packaging that needed to be recycled or reusable bags that belong elsewhere.

[oneday]

The text was a still-shrink-wrapped lab manual for last fall's human A&P class. So it is only old in the sense that it's been hanging around my house for 6 months.

I paid $32 on ebay and sold it also on ebay, net proceeds were about $15. Publication year was 2017 and there are at least 1 or 2 new editions. So I did get lucky to sell it, but financially it's not lucky.

My recent experience at the community college is the professors work pretty hard to keep text costs down for the students. I have an older edition of one of this semester's books (used for $15! 2020 edition) and even if the questions at the end of the chapter have changed (they have), the professor is posting the questions online, so I can use that rather than my book's outdated questions. This class is Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and I don't think the material changes much year to year the same way human anatomy & physiology isn't changing.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Someone on my BN offered to take everything i posted today. More power to them, but it was 14 items, and she picks up A LOT of stuff from folks. Sometimes it makes me worry she might be a bit of a hoarder. But, not my problem, I suppose.

Gave away a ton of stuff, and she picked up items that other people bailed on:
-School supplies
-Toiletries
-Desk organizers
-Seedling planter
-Lacrosse ball
-British coins
-Candy

Anyway, 255/500 items out of the house (122 in March alone!)

[slackmax]

The text was a still-shrink-wrapped lab manual for last fall's human A&P class. So it is only old in the sense that it's been hanging around my house for 6 months.

I paid $32 on ebay and sold it also on ebay, net proceeds were about $15. Publication year was 2017 and there are at least 1 or 2 new editions. So I did get lucky to sell it, but financially it's not lucky.

My recent experience at the community college is the professors work pretty hard to keep text costs down for the students. I have an older edition of one of this semester's books (used for $15! 2020 edition) and even if the questions at the end of the chapter have changed (they have), the professor is posting the questions online, so I can use that rather than my book's outdated questions. This class is Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and I don't think the material changes much year to year the same way human anatomy & physiology isn't changing.

That's refreshing to hear that your professor was helping the students avoid wasting their money on the overpriced textbook cartel.    :)

[RetiredAt63]

The text was a still-shrink-wrapped lab manual for last fall's human A&P class. So it is only old in the sense that it's been hanging around my house for 6 months.

I paid $32 on ebay and sold it also on ebay, net proceeds were about $15. Publication year was 2017 and there are at least 1 or 2 new editions. So I did get lucky to sell it, but financially it's not lucky.

My recent experience at the community college is the professors work pretty hard to keep text costs down for the students. I have an older edition of one of this semester's books (used for $15! 2020 edition) and even if the questions at the end of the chapter have changed (they have), the professor is posting the questions online, so I can use that rather than my book's outdated questions. This class is Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and I don't think the material changes much year to year the same way human anatomy & physiology isn't changing.

That's refreshing to hear that your professor was helping the students avoid wasting their money on the overpriced textbook cartel.    :)

I don't think it is all that rare.  I know I did it, and a lot of my colleagues did it, back when I taught Community College.  Of course then textbooks were just starting to have online add-ons.

[LeftA]

@RetiredAt63 , I’m also in Canada. What I paid for textbooks in the 1990s and 2000s was obscene. Think hundreds of dollars based on inflation adjustments!! I had to work days at my minimum wage student job to pay for them! That is why, even though they are outdated, it pains me to just throw them away (by recycling).

[oneday]

The text was a still-shrink-wrapped lab manual for last fall's human A&P class. So it is only old in the sense that it's been hanging around my house for 6 months.

I paid $32 on ebay and sold it also on ebay, net proceeds were about $15. Publication year was 2017 and there are at least 1 or 2 new editions. So I did get lucky to sell it, but financially it's not lucky.

My recent experience at the community college is the professors work pretty hard to keep text costs down for the students. I have an older edition of one of this semester's books (used for $15! 2020 edition) and even if the questions at the end of the chapter have changed (they have), the professor is posting the questions online, so I can use that rather than my book's outdated questions. This class is Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and I don't think the material changes much year to year the same way human anatomy & physiology isn't changing.

That's refreshing to hear that your professor was helping the students avoid wasting their money on the overpriced textbook cartel.    :)

I don't think it is all that rare.  I know I did it, and a lot of my colleagues did it, back when I taught Community College.  Of course then textbooks were just starting to have online add-ons.

So far only two professors, but both have not only chosen widely available and inexpensive resources (vs self published), but have engaged in extensive discussion in the early class sessions in how to get the materials to everyone in the most efficient manner, with an eye to both low cost and quick turnaround. This is enthusiastically participated in by the students, as you can imagine.

@RetiredAt63 , I’m also in Canada. What I paid for textbooks in the 1990s and 2000s was obscene. Think hundreds of dollars based on inflation adjustments!! I had to work days at my minimum wage student job to pay for them! That is why, even though they are outdated, it pains me to just throw them away (by recycling).

Those books were your chrysalis and now your are a beautiful educated butterfly. Discard the chrysalis and do not let it weigh you down any longer. You need to fly free!

[LeftA]

Aww @oneday , what a beautiful sentiment! Yes, education opened so many doors for me and I’m really grateful for the opportunity. Both my parents were denied access to education - my mom for being female and my dad was too poor.