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

[chasingthegoodlife]

Several bags of baby stuff has left the house this week via our local Buy Nothing group.

Yesterday I took a lamp to the thrift store and offloaded a bunch of special recycling items like batteries and printer cartridges.

Next up I need to wash our bulky pram so I can donate it to a local charity. There is another bag of new/high quality baby items that will go with it.

Then I have a good sized pile to go through and work out whether to list on Buy Nothing, donate or recycle. Once that is done I have a few bags of textile recycling to take to the local transfer station.

We have some big changes/milestones coming financially in the next month and it’s giving me a strong urge to get my physical house in order too. Funny how that works.

[MoneyTree]

a little bittersweet, but got rid of our 20 year old car, as we got into an accident. Sold it on peddle.com and while I probably would have gotten more for it if we had done a private sale rather than through a service, it was easy and hassle free and I got rid of it within 2 days.

Since the car is gone, also got rid of lots of car related stuff that was in our garage, extra cabin air filters, window shades, bike rack, etc.

As we were cleaning up the garage, I took the opportunity to clear out some other stuff. Sold a big dyson canister vacuum on FB marketplace, lots of old kids clothes and shoes.

Still a long way to go, but already starting to feel some of that mental weight leave with all that stuff.

[Sibley]

Sibley, the credenza was sold from Mom's place. I can't sell the other furniture there yet, for reasons I don't want to get into.   

Fair. Just wanted to make sure you'd thought of potential options to help with logistics. It's not easy clearing a house even under the best of circumstances. When legal stuff or family dynamics get thrown into the mix, it can be a nightmare.

[slackmax]

Sibley, the credenza was sold from Mom's place. I can't sell the other furniture there yet, for reasons I don't want to get into.   

Fair. Just wanted to make sure you'd thought of potential options to help with logistics. It's not easy clearing a house even under the best of circumstances. When legal stuff or family dynamics get thrown into the mix, it can be a nightmare.

Not quite a nightmare, but 'timing issues' and being respectful of family members is going to be a necessary, in my mind,  objective which I estimate will add about $2,000 to expenses of clearing the place.       

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I've lost a bit of weight, and I needed to replace a few shirts. Made sure to pull out as many as were being added, and already gave them away on BN.

[slackmax]

Woke up this morning to empty recycling bins by the curb. Made me feel less burdened seeing them empty. I had loaded one of them up with about 20 pounds of old once-nostalgic computer programs from w*rk. It wasn't hard to toss them, for some reason. Probably because I now have other clutter (unavoidable stuff from Mom's place)  filling up my computer room, lol. 

At the flea market Sunday I sold a brass table stand for $15 and a rolling airplane luggage for $6. Both from Mom's. Both fairly big items, which is always good.   

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Helped the teens go through their school homework papers, and recycled everything.
-DS18 graduated last week, and they send the kids home with their "school file", which includes lots of personal information from registration, as well as all report cards, etc. I filed away the papers worth keeping, and shredded all of the personally identifying info required to register him way back 10+ years ago.
-Went through all receipts from the last 10 days or so, and 1) took pictures of them for Fetch 2) added everything to our budget tracker and 3) recycled them. It always feels good to get them out of my 3 tiered tray we use for holding papers that need additional attention.

[Sibley]

Slackmax, out of curiosity, how do you feel if you spend time in a very minimalist space? Is it vaguely uncomfortable?

[Fresh Bread]

At the weekend I was a bit overwhelmed by all the stuff in the garage from the non-profit that needed clearing. We'd been given a deadline of 6 days to clear it so we can take a gym set from a friend that is moving away.

So I wrote a list of tasks - 36 things - 6 a day. We've done 17 in two days, so that's good and if we needed to we could rearrange from here and fit everything in. Today I really need to list two large furniture pieces for sale. They are disassembled so should be easy enough.

[mspym]

Came back from the States with three pairs of shoes so I’ve identified three pairs that need to leave. Two have been thrown out, one is getting donated today.

[Fresh Bread]

Well I just listed one bit of shelving for free and a guy reckons he's coming in a hour. Will be quick & easy if he shows!

I only got 3 things ticked off my big list today including listing that because I wasn't feeling it. But progress has been made and DH was surprised at the space. Tomorrow he'll help clear the spot for the gym equipment and clean up the other bit of furniture so it can be listed. I didn't realise how dirty it was and I hate cleaning. I'd rather just scrap it but I can probably sell it for $100 so need to try for the non-profit.

[slackmax]

Spent a half hour going through a clutter zone I had already been through a few years ago, and found a lot of stuff I am OK with recycling now, and recycled it. 

[nessness]

I'm taking advantage of my kids being in  day camp this week tackle some decluttering. Gave away 3 swimsuits, a dozen or so books, and a game that my kids had outgrown on my Buy Nothing group. Gave 3 of my own books to the Little Free Library, and added a few things to my donation bag. Plus shredded and recycled a ton of paper. I only got like halfway through the paper clutter before getting mentally worn out, but I'll try to get through the rest of it tomorrow.

I'm listening to an audiobook on minimalism, which is motivating, though the author is a bit too extreme for me - he complains that his 250 square foot apartment is too big, and he owns only a single hand towel for drying his body, hands, and dishes 😬

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@nessness - there's minimalism, and then there's just making your own life unnecessarily difficult.

I sold a lego set on eBay today, so that's one more item out of the house.

I'm already over my goal of 500 items out of the house for the year! I'm at 520. Woohoo!

[oneday]

I'm listening to an audiobook on minimalism, which is motivating, though the author is a bit too extreme for me - he complains that his 250 square foot apartment is too big, and he owns only a single hand towel for drying his body, hands, and dishes 😬

That seems unsanitary. I've always been told to have different towels in the kitchen for hands and dishes, for sanitation reasons. He may be taking this too far.

[Frugal Lizard]

I'm listening to an audiobook on minimalism, which is motivating, though the author is a bit too extreme for me - he complains that his 250 square foot apartment is too big, and he owns only a single hand towel for drying his body, hands, and dishes 😬

That seems unsanitary. I've always been told to have different towels in the kitchen for hands and dishes, for sanitation reasons. He may be taking this too far.

exactly. I cringed. I change the hand towel in the kitchen daily, always take a new towel for drying dishes and the bathroom hand towel every 3-4 days depending on how many people are in the house. I will never be minimalist in towels. Cause ew.

[nessness]

I'm listening to an audiobook on minimalism, which is motivating, though the author is a bit too extreme for me - he complains that his 250 square foot apartment is too big, and he owns only a single hand towel for drying his body, hands, and dishes 😬

That seems unsanitary. I've always been told to have different towels in the kitchen for hands and dishes, for sanitation reasons. He may be taking this too far.

exactly. I cringed. I change the hand towel in the kitchen daily, always take a new towel for drying dishes and the bathroom hand towel every 3-4 days depending on how many people are in the house. I will never be minimalist in towels. Cause ew.

I started googling book reviews this morning to see if other people were as horrified as I was by this part, and found one person arguing that it's a mistranslation of the Japanese - the Japanese says he only has one type of towel but it's unclear how many he has. I don't speak Japanese, so I'll take them at their word and rest a little easier lol.

If anyone's wondering, the book is Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki.

[rivendale]

I have some lego I'm looking to unload as well. Got a quote from Bricks and Minifigs (a chain store here in the US, but the guy said I should try selling on my own for more $. Any tips? They are complete sets.

@nessness - there's minimalism, and then there's just making your own life unnecessarily difficult.

I sold a lego set on eBay today, so that's one more item out of the house.

I'm already over my goal of 500 items out of the house for the year! I'm at 520. Woohoo!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@rivendale - the set I was selling was unopened, so my process was pretty simple. Uploaded photos, described sealed box (there was a small mark, as well as a pricing sticker) & that was pretty much it. I don't have experience selling open sets.

[LeftA]

I haven’t post here in awhile, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on purging and organizing :)

Since last posting, I’ve:

1. Gotten rid of the following on my local BN group: Bead kit, 2 tubes of toothpaste, a long wall mirror, a bunch of unwanted fragrances and creams

2. Dropped off about 30 things to a donation bin - mix of clothes, phone cases, random small toys, etc.

3. Had bulk item collection and really took advantage this month. Got rid of a couch that had torn but through ingenuity I kept an extra 5 years, a desk (posted on BN, but not wanted), old gardening hoses, misc construction materials, and the list goes on.

4. Reorganized the top drawer in my bathroom. I only got rid of my makeup organizer in favor of a better system, but it made a big difference.

5. Re-organized top of my vanity table and side drawers - got rid of kid’s art project that  I had displayed for years. Kids weren’t attached to it.

6. Past on 2 dresses, a skirt and a pair of sneakers to my sister.

[Sandi_k]

We headed into town yesterday at 12:45 to run some errands; on the way down our street, we realized there was a community day for hazardous waste, electronics, etc. Dh was bummed - he's had a pile o' stuff in the basement for months that he's wanted to get rid of.

I encouraged him to pull a U turn, and we got back to the garage, where we loaded up chemicals, multiple shop light ballasts, fluorescent tubes, and batteries. Since DH had them stashed in a specific section of the basement, we were able to load it up within 10 minutes, and then rushed back to the school parking lot, afraid that they would be wrapping things up at 1 pm. Happily, they hadn't shut down the entrance, and we were able to offload the car.

So within 20 minutes, we cleared our some stuff that has been handing around for MONTHS. Very satisfying. ;)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Well done, @LeftA  and Sandi_K! Nice save with the hazardous drop off.

I went on a big search for DS18's bike lock, which led to cleaning up more stuff from his room. Found a boba gift card (already now used) & some garbage.

[Fresh Bread]

At the weekend we set up our new to us gym equipment in the garage. I haven't finished getting rid of everything for the NFP but more pressing things have come up so decluttering has to wait a month. Everything is stashed neatly though so it's ok.

Because our friend was coming with the equipment and we risked him seeing what slobs we are, I had to do a rapid tidy and clean of the garage and inside. It didn't take long -That's the gift at the end of the process! 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Fresh Bread - agreed, that's one of the huge advantages of not having a cluttered house. It's so much easier to keep clean & maintain.

[mspym]

Yesterday I went to my sister’s to pick up my dehydrator that had been delivered there and while we had some tea, I helped her go through her pantry and declutter various jars that she was no longer using, found a mysterious box that turned out to be completely full of junk and could all be thrown out, and took away a book that she didn’t want on her shelves anymore but which I will drop off at the op shop today.

We had also changed a pair of curtains over on the weekend and now have a big box with four pairs  of curtains in it to donate. That was a real procrastination job but now there’s so much more space in that closet.

[oneday]

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
• ex roomie's side table
• huge bag of yarn and needles
• return unneeded things to Ikea
• 4 batteries
• busted lampshade
• wax paper
• return unneeded things to Costco
• box of household goods to thrift store
• 3 bags of clothes

New:

• 2 books to LFL
• skirt hangars
• personal safety devices

I no longer need the personal safety devices, yay!

After the clothes purge, I have too many hangars. Snowball decluttering.

Productive weekend: I got 2 lots of ex-roomie's stuff listed and 6 of my own items listed. Hoping to be able to add more to the list here soon.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Yesterday I went to my sister’s to pick up my dehydrator that had been delivered there and while we had some tea, I helped her go through her pantry and declutter various jars that she was no longer using, found a mysterious box that turned out to be completely full of junk and could all be thrown out, and took away a book that she didn’t want on her shelves anymore but which I will drop off at the op shop today.

We had also changed a pair of curtains over on the weekend and now have a big box with four pairs  of curtains in it to donate. That was a real procrastination job but now there’s so much more space in that closet.

Whenever I go to my sister's house, I declutter. She's okay with it, but usually sets me loose in an area: jewelry, toiletries, clothes, etc. And, gives me parameters, like I come up with a first pass, & then she gets final yes or no on anything I come up with. She's a little afraid, as DS18 is going to college near her, so I'll be at her house at least 4x more per year than normal. :-)

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Sold a bunch of reffing equipment, and made $35. More importantly, junk out of the house.

[Sibley]

I've been feeling stressed and cramped. Side effect of needing to clean and put things away. So I did. 2 bags and a box of stuff in the car for thrift store, and there's another bag by the front door ready to go out. Also put various things away, so I'm feeling better. Still have more to clean up, but it's a start.

Also have a 2 inch stack of paper to go in the recycling/shred at work.

[slackmax]

My sister and I were recently decluttering Mom's place. For me, my sister was a huge help. I had her go through all the jewelry and MAKE THE DECISIONS about what to keep, donate, or throw away.

Also had her go through all the clothing, select what to throw out or donate.

A huge help. She doesn't agonize over these small decisions like I do. Also, importantly, I had no problem accepting her decisions. A huge stress reliever.

Moral of the story. A helper bee can be a huge help simply because of the helper bee's personality.

I had been the ONLY family member with the task of cleaning the place out until she flew up to help.   I let her know how much easier it was with her there.     

[Sibley]

My sister and I were recently decluttering Mom's place. For me, my sister was a huge help. I had her go through all the jewelry and MAKE THE DECISIONS about what to keep, donate, or throw away.

Also had her go through all the clothing, select what to throw out or donate.

A huge help. She doesn't agonize over these small decisions like I do. Also, importantly, I had no problem accepting her decisions. A huge stress reliever.

Moral of the story. A helper bee can be a huge help simply because of the helper bee's personality.

I had been the ONLY family member with the task of cleaning the place out until she flew up to help.   I let her know how much easier it was with her there.     

Help is awesome, especially when its helpful help. Since she's not local, any chance she can assist with decision making remotely? Do a video call, send pictures, etc?

[mspym]

Yay for your sister @slackmax - that must have been a relief to have help and really good help at that.

Yesterday, I turned up at my mum’s and found she had started on clearing out some old newspapers so I helped her and we got an entire bag of paper ready for recycling. She kept two pages of sudoku and two recipes out of that entire pile so I’m very proud of her. I also cleared out a tote bag of books for donation - she was okay with me taking the John Grisham and James Patterson books and I squirrelled away two more of her shame-y diet/wellness books. If she doesn’t see them, she doesn’t remember them and the lady is 76 and should be able to enjoy a biscuit without thinking she’s going to give herself cancer.

[crocheted_stache]

Listed a couple small things on Buy Nothing and found them homes. I try to avoid freebies and promotional items unless I'm very sure I can use them, but a few things slipped in lately, anyway. These ones ended up on the kitten table, and that's prime real estate that it will be good to have cleared. I'm glad someone else can use them.

[slackmax]

Donated one big thing (rocking chair) and moved another big thing (boom box) into flea market staging area. Moved cheerful painting of flowers  into the spot where boom box used to be, 

[nessness]

I haven't made as much progress as I'd hoped the last couple weeks, but I'm trying to at least declutter a few things each day. Sunday and Monday I organized my closet and got rid of some clothes and a couple pairs of shoes. Today I filled a donation bag with a teddy bear, doll, doll clothes, and a tablecloth.

[mspym]

I took another grocery bag of books to the op shop and also opted to not have the bag back - we use them for customers. I’m saving up some more summery items for later donation but should clean and donate the winter boots now while they are more likely to be needed. A job for Friday.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Went through my closet again, and got rid of 10 items. Also gave away a pair of mens shorts that randomly showed up at our house, but didn't belong to either DH or the teens, a hoodie DS18 has never worn, & a swim shirt I picked up on BN several years ago, but have never used.

[Sibley]

Went through my closet again, and got rid of 10 items. Also gave away a pair of mens shorts that randomly showed up at our house, but didn't belong to either DH or the teens, a hoodie DS18 has never worn, & a swim shirt I picked up on BN several years ago, but have never used.

I am laughing that you have mysterious clothing just appearing in your house.

[MountainGal]

-Purged periodicals and a few magazines (received a free subscription) dating back to March 2023.

-Four old journals will be burned this weekend.

-Stack one of 4 old pictures/greeting cards received/misc. reviewed and distributed into Toss, Save for Family, Save for Me piles.

-Started compiling and photographing groups of items to sell online.

[Loretta]

I listed a couple things on Craigslist for cash and if I get no hits in 10 days, I'll go to Freecycle and see how that works out.  My place is feeling pretty hot and visually overwhelming right now. 

[crocheted_stache]

No net decluttering, but I remembered to drop off a previously requested Buy Nothing item when picking one up this afternoon. The item I picked up will make a good gift for somebody I know and will see around Thanksgiving, so after what should be a minor repair, I'll put it with the luggage I'll take on the Thanksgiving trip and make a note in my calendar.

[crocheted_stache]

Found a home for a decorative plate that fell off the wall and broke. Don't ask me why I didn't just toss it. Somebody is apparently looking for material for a mosaic, so they're coming by tomorrow.

[Sibley]

Found a home for a decorative plate that fell off the wall and broke. Don't ask me why I didn't just toss it. Somebody is apparently looking for material for a mosaic, so they're coming by tomorrow.

Yeah, no. I'm asking that question. Why didn't you just toss it? Because unless you knew at the time that someone was looking for mosaic material there was no reason to keep that broken plate.

Also, go throw out all the other broken plates, ie, items that are broken and should be discarded that you haven't yet.

[crocheted_stache]

Found a home for a decorative plate that fell off the wall and broke. Don't ask me why I didn't just toss it. Somebody is apparently looking for material for a mosaic, so they're coming by tomorrow.

Yeah, no. I'm asking that question. Why didn't you just toss it? Because unless you knew at the time that someone was looking for mosaic material there was no reason to keep that broken plate.

Also, go throw out all the other broken plates, ie, items that are broken and should be discarded that you haven't yet.

There's another broken, colorful ceramic thing in the bag with the broken plate.

Not a lot of good reasons. I maybe didn't toss it right away because I happened to be there when it launched off the wall for no apparent reason, and DH, who wasn't, couldn't even picture what object I was describing. After that, I'd been meaning to take a picture of it to use to help identify the replacement, something I'll probably do with help from my mom and/or Buy Nothing members, none of whom would otherwise know what this plate looked like. (I took a photo before setting it out this morning.) Also, there are a lot of other things in my life that have needed attention more immediately than that broken plate (travel, work, volunteer projects, home renovations), and by that point, it just wasn't in the way or posing a hazard that brought it to the top of the list.

My vacuum cleaner that isn't working quite right (and resisted my latest effort to fix it) actually made it to a repair place today, and I did just-plain-toss a little pocket mirror that didn't survive its last plane trip.

I can mostly take care of this kind of stuff, certainly better than others in my immediate family, but the willpower and attention to deal with it tends to go in phases. Also, I have a much easier time getting rid of things when they're going somewhere useful. Weird? Yes. Okay? Also yes.

[Sandi_k]

I'm spending the weekend with my mom and sister at mom's place. When I was here last, I was frustrated by the master closet; stuffed full of shoes and clothes that mom has not worn in 20+ years. Business suits, high heeled shoes, velour track suits, and eleventy-jillion pairs of black pants.

So I set her up in her bedroom chair, and started pulling things out, trying to sort through the obviously old styles and wrong sizes. I didn't want to spend hours on it, but we worked for about 45 minutes, and I culled three large yeaf bags full of things to donate.

I then sorted and hung the keepers up so that the closet made a bit more sense; stacked and matched shoes; folded and clustered the summer pants, holiday sweaters, and jeans/slacks.

Much better! We'll do another pass when I'm back in August.

The three bags are already in the back of mom's car, so she can drop them off at Goodwill on Thursday; her hairdresser's salon is three doors up from Goodwill.

[Loretta]

I successfully dropped off 2 bags of clothing houseware and accessories to a thrift shop then bought 2 pairs of shorts and 4 dresses for $44 using a digital coupon…. A couple of the dresses have weird issues (I didn’t realize one is an off the shoulder style) but I’m going to try to fix them with a seam ripper and some new thread. 

[Frugal Lizard]

DH finished drywalling and painting our closet. I am finally able to hang everything in on place and go through it all for a third time. Yesterday I tried on shoes and all but 2 are no longer wearable by these 50-something feet. Adios another box for someone else to dance in.

[JAYSLOL]

I’m making a big push this weekend to get rid of stuff, and hopefully make a little money along the way. So far I’ve sold some old microphones and audio gear for $160, and a bocce set for $30, and loaded two boxes of donation stuff in the car so far to drop off. 

[JAYSLOL]

I’m making a big push this weekend to get rid of stuff, and hopefully make a little money along the way. So far I’ve sold some old microphones and audio gear for $160, and a bocce set for $30, and loaded two boxes of donation stuff in the car so far to drop off.

Also just sold a plastic kids slide from a play house for $40

[LeftA]

Got a lot done this weekend!

1. Helped ODC clean out their room. Lots went to recycling and a few things to donation. Also helped with organizing their closet. The room and closet both look SO much better.

2. Went through all the cabinets in my laundry room. I did it about a year ago, so during this second pass I was much more ruthless. I also organized the contents more logically. I even have a few empty shelves now. They are the highest ones and am perfectly happy keeping them empty, since they are difficult to access anyway.

3. I did under my kitchen sink. There wasn’t much to purge, but I got a few storage bins and lined it with a fresh liner, making it look clean and tidy.

I’ve already given away some items from these 3 areas to someone in my BN group and also have a box of donations ready to go. I’m loosely counting and believe I’ve now surpassed 700 items gone from my house this year!