Author Topic: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2  (Read 1456188 times)

Loretta

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7600 on: December 22, 2024, 02:11:23 PM »
I returned a bag to a friend who gave me a birthday cake in the bag.  Later today I’ll be using up some supplement and toiletry thingys. 

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7601 on: December 22, 2024, 07:13:02 PM »
Dropped off a couple of pocket-sized Buy Nothing items on my bike ride today.

cpa cat

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7602 on: December 22, 2024, 07:46:40 PM »
I posted my gently used childhood stuffed animals on Freecycle and ended up delivering them all to people the next day. Most of them went to people who wanted them as gifts for young kids. A few went to dogs. I felt good about my old “friends” finding new homes.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7603 on: December 22, 2024, 09:36:56 PM »
Looks like I need to kick decluttering into high gear, changes at work are forcing me to look at moving in the next few months, and I have one hell of a lot of decluttering to do.

I’ve listed a bunch of old equipment and household stuff I’m not using up for sale, and I’ve got a few boxes in the car for donation ready to go

So far I’ve given away an old boat on marketplace, and I’ve sold an old outboard motor and some other equipment and tools and some Pyrex bowls I wasn’t using. And I’ve added a coffee table and some other small stuff to the donation pile in the car

Got rid of a few more boxes of donation items, and I’ve sold a few other small things too

Got rid of a whole car load of stuff over the weekend, plus sold my snowblower today, and I’m already starting another pile of things to sell or donate

Got rid of another couple boxes of things, and I’m going to start organizing all the random hand tool I have laying around and make a pile of ones I don’t need

I got a pretty good load of tools off to auction the other day and they all sold, plus I donated a few more random household things and also sold a couple things through marketplace this weekend.  Starting to feel like I’m making serious progress, but lots of work still to go.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7604 on: December 22, 2024, 11:45:40 PM »
Tiny declutter: making a stuffie as a holiday gift and found my stash of safety eyes. The number of eyes and backing pieces didn't match. Tossed the excess backing pieces.

Also put away a couple spare buttons from a recent shirt purchase, as they go in the same container as the eyes.

Dining table was clear for a few hours today, as that was the staging area for holiday gifts for today's gathering, but it's now covered with the gifts given to me, extra wrappings, etc. Tomorrow's declutter.

obstinate

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7605 on: December 23, 2024, 07:45:34 AM »
I had two laptops (a Surface Pro and a gaming laptop, cause I'm a consumer sucka). Sold 'em both on eBay and bought a used computer for less than what I got for either one. Stash cash!

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7606 on: December 23, 2024, 09:02:53 AM »
Had teens try on all of the clothes & gear in their ski bag. One fleece was too small. Gave it away on Buy Nothing. Picked up & gone in under an hour.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7607 on: December 23, 2024, 11:46:17 AM »
Going through a number of different ingredients in my pantry  and tossing any item that is no longer labeled or fresh. In my defense,  a number of items were from a friend's pantry when she passed away.  I used up many things instead of them going to the garbage when her house was cleared out.

Loretta

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7608 on: December 24, 2024, 06:44:24 PM »
In the midst of doing laundry last night I turned all my hangers around to see what I’m actually wearing. 

rivendale

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7609 on: December 26, 2024, 01:06:19 PM »
A big box full of mason jars out of the house via Buy Nothing. Also I'm the porch is a pair of snow pants that were always too big for me. They were free to me and now will get some use my someone else.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7610 on: December 27, 2024, 06:10:37 PM »
Spent 2 hours in the basement moving stuff, condensing stuff, recycling a bit, tossing a bit. Found a vintage ice cream maker I might try to sell.

Also did some cleaning of basement items.

Spent about 15 minutes poring over memorabilia from college days before moving it to a safer spot. taking up less space.

Starting to get a nice patch of 'open clean floor' in the middle of the stash. Also widened the inbound pathway, now less stuff to sidle by.   

Fresh Bread

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7611 on: December 27, 2024, 07:14:05 PM »
Well done @slackmax !

I thought that I'd use the days between Xmas & New Year for a mammoth cleaning & decluttering event. I thought I could do one room a day, as I have 5. As usual I completely overestimated how much energy I have in a day though.  I'm really only good for about 3 hours of this sort of stuff and 3 of the rooms need much more than that.

I'm using a Pomodoro technique app to help with the motivation and it really works.

So far I have deep cleaned the bedroom, including the window and fly screen and sent some clothes to the bin & to a donations bag. That took about 3 hours, it's not a big room and I don't have a lot of clothes.

I've been through the pantry shelves and those around it and threw out some stevia powder that will never be used and put together a bag of clean jars for the local bulk foods Co-op.

If I can summon up some energy, next are the kitchen drawers, but it's mainly cleaning and rearranging to do. I love decluttering & organising but hate cleaning. I have a shallow drawer under the oven where 'sometimes things' get forgotten and don't get used so I want to put things we actually use a lot there and move the other things to where I can see them. If they still don't get used then I'll get rid of them.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7612 on: December 28, 2024, 10:22:14 AM »
Micro declutter: I was sent home with a festive tin containing some sweets on Christmas. This is cheating, but I washed it well, made some new sweets to go in it, and abandoned it at a potluck party I attended last night. More than 2/3 of the sweets were gone by the time we left, which is a better score than most of the stuff on the dessert table there.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7613 on: December 28, 2024, 11:04:26 AM »
crocheted_stache

FUNNY! Great idea!


Fresh Bread

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7614 on: December 31, 2024, 04:26:06 AM »
I took my donations to a thrift shop today and they were pleased it included hats as they were short on those. Also dropped off the clean jars. That's a lot of stuff removed from our small place!

I didn't get all my pre-new year cleaning and decluttering done in the six days, partly because I was invited last minute to a couple of daytime social things. I used to have a coaster that said a clean house is a sign of a wasted life, and so I'm happy with the amount I did do.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7615 on: December 31, 2024, 12:04:27 PM »
It has been too long! Last round was in August? But this marks a year, so maybe time to start a new list.

Since it's 12/31, I'll wrap up this list today and start anew in the new year.

Since November 2023:

  • 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 (more haz mat)
  • busted lampshade
  • wax paper (used up)
  • return unneeded things to Costco
  • box of household goods to thrift store
  • 3 bags of clothes
  • 2 books to LFL
  • skirt hangars
  • personal safety devices
  • 3 mystery items
  • grotty anti-fatigue mat
  • 1 book to BF (hope he does not try to give it back)
  • 2 skorts (having learned I am not a skort person
  • 1 pair of shoes
  • carry on luggage
  • plastic 3-drawer unit rescued from the dumpster but did not meet my needs
  • 3 hats & 2 scarves to the lady who hands them out to the needy
  • 5 puzzles missing 1 piece each

New:

tygertygertyger

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7616 on: January 02, 2025, 11:04:16 AM »
We just had a NYE party at our house. Fortunately/Unfortunately, it was one of those types of parties where every room was possibly going to be occupied, so we couldn't just shove all the excess stuff in any unused corner.

I've known (and vented) for some time that we have Too Much Stuff, and that we need to Get Rid of A Lot, but for the first time I seem to have internalized some great new lessons that folks hear have talked about.

1. Other people give me stuff so they don't have to make hard decisions... why am I keeping it???
      a. Examples: my mom buys items in bulk and gives me some ... ie a can of "heart of palm" pasta, or extra towels.
      b. My partner gives me his jeans that are wearing out for repair, and while I've mended several pairs, there's still a whole stack that he doesn't really need and I don't want to fix. But I have a drawer full of them "just in case" I need denim patches or because I've watched too many documentaries on textiles in the landfills.

2. The dreaded "potential" projects that I might do at some point in the future...


Anyway, posting here to make me accountable to follow through on ditching some of this extra stuff!!! First up is a spare heavy queen mattress that is difficult to store, but overnight guests always praise us for having a comfortable bed. But it takes up too much space 363 nights of the year, so we're gonna find it a new home. Wish us luck.


Loretta

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7617 on: January 02, 2025, 12:34:39 PM »
I went through and discarded a bunch of old and defunct insurance ID cards and other cards from my documents stash.  I’m also making good progress on my yarn supply 🧶

Ladychips

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7618 on: January 02, 2025, 02:07:58 PM »
My ~20 year old cousin is starting a new job next week and was looking for some casual work in the meantime.  I hired her to help me clean out a closet that was so stuffed to the gills, I couldn't put one more thing in there. It was causing me a great deal of unhappiness. I got rid of a third, moved a third to storage elsewhere, and put a third back in the closet.  It's so pretty, I've been to look at it several times today.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7619 on: January 02, 2025, 05:32:38 PM »
Good work, everyone! I set a goal of getting rid of 500 items in 2024, and finished the year with 736 items out of the house! Most were donated, and a few (less than 10%) were sold. It was fun to track & see how things played out over the year.

I've already gotten started for 2025:
-2 containers of Persian spices given to my neighbor as a NY gift. She does a lot of Persian cooking & expressed interest
-Sold a bookshelf for $45
-Gave away a package of NYE treats we received.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7620 on: January 03, 2025, 10:36:56 AM »
We just had a NYE party at our house. Fortunately/Unfortunately, it was one of those types of parties where every room was possibly going to be occupied, so we couldn't just shove all the excess stuff in any unused corner.

I've known (and vented) for some time that we have Too Much Stuff, and that we need to Get Rid of A Lot, but for the first time I seem to have internalized some great new lessons that folks hear have talked about.

1. Other people give me stuff so they don't have to make hard decisions... why am I keeping it???
      a. Examples: my mom buys items in bulk and gives me some ... ie a can of "heart of palm" pasta, or extra towels.
      b. My partner gives me his jeans that are wearing out for repair, and while I've mended several pairs, there's still a whole stack that he doesn't really need and I don't want to fix. But I have a drawer full of them "just in case" I need denim patches or because I've watched too many documentaries on textiles in the landfills.

2. The dreaded "potential" projects that I might do at some point in the future...


Anyway, posting here to make me accountable to follow through on ditching some of this extra stuff!!! First up is a spare heavy queen mattress that is difficult to store, but overnight guests always praise us for having a comfortable bed. But it takes up too much space 363 nights of the year, so we're gonna find it a new home. Wish us luck.

Surplus ingredients, you can usually find homes for on Buy Nothing or equivalent. Likewise, most of a bottle of shampoo that didn't work for you, that kind of thing. Be upfront if it's past a freshness date, open, etc., but even those can be used a surprising amount of the time. I once gave a rather stale can of chicken to someone for her dog.

Worn denim seems to always be in demand. Even if the original jeans are worn through at the seat or otherwise beyond repair, crafters will chop it up for quilts, rugs, and all kinds of things. You don't have to be the crafter, just offer to people who are.

Not everything will find a new home, but the no-guilt options are more extensive than you might think.

Good luck!

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7621 on: January 03, 2025, 07:11:47 PM »
It's super-specific, so I'm not going to name it, but the first item for the year is all the way out of the house and off to its new home as of this afternoon.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7622 on: January 03, 2025, 08:24:24 PM »
Looks like I need to kick decluttering into high gear, changes at work are forcing me to look at moving in the next few months, and I have one hell of a lot of decluttering to do.

I’ve listed a bunch of old equipment and household stuff I’m not using up for sale, and I’ve got a few boxes in the car for donation ready to go

So far I’ve given away an old boat on marketplace, and I’ve sold an old outboard motor and some other equipment and tools and some Pyrex bowls I wasn’t using. And I’ve added a coffee table and some other small stuff to the donation pile in the car

Got rid of a few more boxes of donation items, and I’ve sold a few other small things too

Got rid of a whole car load of stuff over the weekend, plus sold my snowblower today, and I’m already starting another pile of things to sell or donate

Got rid of another couple boxes of things, and I’m going to start organizing all the random hand tool I have laying around and make a pile of ones I don’t need

I got a pretty good load of tools off to auction the other day and they all sold, plus I donated a few more random household things and also sold a couple things through marketplace this weekend.  Starting to feel like I’m making serious progress, but lots of work still to go.

I dropped off a few things at the thrift store today, and I sold a mitre saw that I don’t need (I had two, keeping the bigger one).

Sandi_k

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7623 on: January 03, 2025, 09:59:54 PM »
We spent an hour in our office today, clearing out files, shredding docs, and re-homing various files belonging to The Moms, so we had space in our filing cabinet for our materials.

We have a bag of printer cartridges that we plan to drop off tomorrow for recycling. A good use of time today.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7624 on: January 04, 2025, 06:39:37 PM »
-Required dS17 to clean up the papers from first semester & recycle anything he didn't need.
-Found an empty snapware food storage container that we won't use. (With our looming empty nester status, we have way less food on hand these days.)
-Cleaned up dS18's room, after he left for college. Found the normal recyling, papers, junk.
-Have someone *supposedly* coming tomorrow afternoon to pick up DS18's twin bed. We replaced it with a queen size a few weeks ago, and have been selling off the rest of his bedroom set that we no longer need.

I have more work to do, but it felt nice to get a start. I also need to go through our three tier paper work tray & do some recycling.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7625 on: January 04, 2025, 09:47:15 PM »
All the way gone today: a small assortment of plastic storage containers. Also, I found homes for a few more household things to go out tomorrow or Monday.

mspym

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7626 on: January 04, 2025, 10:13:04 PM »
Executive decision that will greatly simplify our life and kitchen - I am only keeping two types of jars - the large ones for sauces and pickles and the smaller Bonne Maman jars for jams and relishes. They take the same size lid, which makes things much easier, and everything else can be recycled.

I've also thrown out a ball of misc embroidery thread scraps instead of telling myself I should do something with them. It's been years, I haven't. I carried that job to another country and still didn't do it. Out it goes.

In sadder decluttering news, I broke one of our vintage Temuka coffee cups and now we have three and only two of them match.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7627 on: January 04, 2025, 10:32:31 PM »
In sadder decluttering news, I broke one of our vintage Temuka coffee cups and now we have three and only two of them match.

Not to minimize your feelings, but this is what I read: you have a pair of matching Temuka coffe cups, plus a bonus one.

tygertygertyger

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7628 on: January 05, 2025, 10:21:08 AM »
Two bags of stuff went off to Goodwill.

We have posted our spare mattress on three different platforms, but no takers so far. The used mattress posts are legion though... i've got at least one more platform to try.

Christmas clothes that didn't fit are being returned yesterday and today.

Adventine

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7629 on: January 05, 2025, 10:23:39 AM »
My husband and I have decided to start a New Year's Decluttering Day tradition - every year, we'll go through our stuff and get rid of everything that we haven't used in the past year. We're already pretty minimalist (we live in a 1 bedroom apartment that is furnished with the bare necessities), but we still managed to identify a large suitcase worth of clothes that had just been sitting in our closet, unused and unloved. We donated everything to a family member who could use the clothes. I feel so much lighter now that the stuff is gone.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7630 on: January 05, 2025, 03:25:11 PM »
Three more grocery bag-sized things, all the way out of the house and off to new homes today. I should list the next handful while I still have some light to take okay photos.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7631 on: January 05, 2025, 05:32:47 PM »
New year, new list:

Since Jan 2025:

  • 1 bag of ex-roomie's stuff
  • scrap MDF

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7632 on: January 05, 2025, 06:41:49 PM »
-Sold DS18's bed.
-Listed 10 items on BN. Have takers lined up for five so far.

Plan to list a few eBay items tomorrow.

Sibley

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7633 on: January 06, 2025, 12:43:46 PM »

Ordered some storage cube things which will be used in a closet. Should be able to dramatically improve storage efficiency in that closet, and might help in a different closet as well.

I finally put the storage cubes together and put everything back into the closets, better organized. In the process, a lot of items which were in the downstairs closet moved into the upstairs closet. As a result I have decreased the total space required to store everything by about half, its more organized and easier to access things. I also culled out several items that I don't need and have a bag of stuff to donate in the car, and a giant tub is going to be going away.

Giant tub was taken to the thrift store, with a bunch of stuff inside it which was also being disposed of. Some of that stuff was from parent's house though. And I found other stuff this weekend which needed to be in the giant tub to go away but was not, sigh.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7634 on: January 06, 2025, 01:01:40 PM »

Giant tub was taken to the thrift store, with a bunch of stuff inside it which was also being disposed of. Some of that stuff was from parent's house though. And I found other stuff this weekend which needed to be in the giant tub to go away but was not, sigh.

I find it useful to keep a "running" tub at all times for this very reason. Way to go on your decluttering. I think you should count parent stuff because if not now, then it'll be your decluttering later!

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7635 on: January 06, 2025, 01:15:25 PM »
I have a running box of stuff to leave the house. Old boots and shoes that don't fit have found their way into the box.

Our recycle bin has been going out bi-weekly full.

A couple of books out to the little library.

Our Christmas decorations fit back into the three bins plus outdoor lights and tree stand. <----one less bin and two large shopping bags.

Some old clothes cut up to rags.

A number of rags into the landfill.

Many cans of old paint are out in the garage for proper disposable at the waste station next weekend.

And the biggest win: DH has been de-cluttering his office. I don't think a single item left his work from home space since March 2020. He "solved" his clutter problem by going back to work at the office. Fast forward to this holiday break and he had to do a little de-clutter. The space under the stairs are now a total nightmare, but his desk is now a pleasant space.

My office is wonderful. The area I start seeds in is not ready for seed starting yet. That is my goal for this week!

Some neighbours came by to see our new HVAC system and asked: "where is all your storage stuff?" It is lovely when someone thinks you have a relatively uncluttered house.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7636 on: January 06, 2025, 01:30:28 PM »

Giant tub was taken to the thrift store, with a bunch of stuff inside it which was also being disposed of. Some of that stuff was from parent's house though. And I found other stuff this weekend which needed to be in the giant tub to go away but was not, sigh.

I find it useful to keep a "running" tub at all times for this very reason. Way to go on your decluttering. I think you should count parent stuff because if not now, then it'll be your decluttering later!

Sigh, yes. I'm the local child. But it means I can dump a lot of the paperwork on my sister.

I do need to pull out the stuff which was missed and put it in the go-away pile location.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7637 on: January 06, 2025, 01:35:49 PM »
Good Going, Sibley, with the donating and also the consolidation!  I am doing some consolidation lately myself.

I'm going to take credit today, though, for decluttering my vintage portable ceramic electric heater, of the dust dam that had taken years to form deep inside the hidden recesses of the thing.  It tool me 2 hours, most of which I spent in figuring out if the dust dam was dust, or some kind of filter, or what. Internet not very helpful. The 'dust dam' was partially blocking the flow of air over the heat fins.

Finally poked around enough to figure out it was just years of packed on dust, and got all sorts of tools out to get the matted dust crud out safely. (Vacuum cleaner, lungs to blow, hair drier to blow, thin wire handle from Chinese take-out box to hook onto crud mat. The unit is currently warming my feet, all nice and clean, and efficient  once again, lol.    More fun than 'regular' decluttering.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7638 on: January 06, 2025, 05:03:21 PM »
-Listed a bag of random things on BN
-Sold a pair of shoes on eBay. Packaged & ready to go out the door with tomorrow's mail.
-7/10 BN items from yesterday are now picked up & gone.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7639 on: January 06, 2025, 05:19:57 PM »
Nice going, Sibley. Using Dana K. White's "donatable donation box" concept.

Slackmax, I find that sort of thing so satisfying.


Since Jan 2025:
  • 1 bag of ex-roomie's stuff
  • scrap MDF

New:
  • nearly expired Covid tests
  • knee scooter
« Last Edit: January 06, 2025, 05:21:30 PM by oneday »

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7640 on: January 07, 2025, 01:05:32 AM »
One headband out of the house today, bringing the total to 7 things for the year. The next few are lined up and listed.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2025, 11:33:44 PM by crocheted_stache »

SunnyDays

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7641 on: January 07, 2025, 03:50:46 PM »
I've been steadily picking away at stuff in both my own house and my dad's.  He's now in a care home and I'm now in charge of his house, although he still legally owns it.  My tentative plan is to keep it and update the basement suite and rent that out while reserving the upstairs for myself to have a base in Big City for now and possibly to move there in future.  In the meantime, lots of projects need to be done there, so I'm removing what I will no longer need/want to keep there.  Some is coming to my house, some to the thrift store and some I've just given away. 

So far, several bags of various items, too numerous and inconsequential to itemize, have left the house.  I'm currently in the process of tackling the basement, where things have gone to die for many years.  Mostly I have just organized and cleaned, so I have a better idea of what's there and will do another pass to actually get rid of stuff later.  Most things are now on shelves behind doors, like with like, instead of spread all over.  I've got a couple of more days to go before finishing this phase.  It seems I have a box obsession.  Many of them will be going too.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7642 on: January 07, 2025, 07:00:06 PM »
-Listed five items on eBay yesterday & today, and one already sold. Packaged & ready to be walked to the mail box tomorrow.
-Anything with no BN interest will be added to the Goodwill donation bin
-I have a stack of items ready for an eWaste event coming up.

I also noticed that my Rite Aid accepts pills (for disposal) & I have a few I've been wanting to drop off. Need to get that done.

And, in a "before it becomes clutter", found my extra pair of ski base leggings, and promptly returned the Costco package of replacement leggings when it arrived. Avoid future decluttering & saves money.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7643 on: January 08, 2025, 12:08:59 AM »
Nothing was physically removed today, but I got another few things posted and a couple more claimed and confirmed.

oneday

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7644 on: January 08, 2025, 11:11:10 AM »
Since Jan 2025:
  • 1 bag of ex-roomie's stuff
  • scrap MDF
  • nearly expired Covid tests
  • knee scooter

New:
  • 1 box of ex-roomie's stuff

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7645 on: January 08, 2025, 11:37:09 AM »
Sorting through all the saved seeds. Trying to balance my hoarding tendencies with the realities of my garden space, seed viability and generosity - the gift of seeds for our local seed library. A shopping basket full of seed packets. And the best part? Most of the seeds are leaving in a takeaway container, prescription bottle (label removed) or a repurposed jar.

Our compost bin is getting a good boost of brown organics as I shell saved beans and peas and radish and kale and arugula. (4 buckets out of the house) And slowly the seed starting area is readying for this year. Two shelves are now visible.

I am going to plant a lot of the older seeds in my stash in an area of my garden that isn't great. I will amend heavily, mulch pathways is wood chips and densely sow using old seeds as cover crops. Hopefully they grow and I can donate some excess produce and allow much to go to seed and save a bunch to maintain a robust stash (and donate a lot to the seed library for 2026)

JAYSLOL

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7646 on: January 08, 2025, 09:57:22 PM »
Looks like I need to kick decluttering into high gear, changes at work are forcing me to look at moving in the next few months, and I have one hell of a lot of decluttering to do.

I’ve listed a bunch of old equipment and household stuff I’m not using up for sale, and I’ve got a few boxes in the car for donation ready to go

So far I’ve given away an old boat on marketplace, and I’ve sold an old outboard motor and some other equipment and tools and some Pyrex bowls I wasn’t using. And I’ve added a coffee table and some other small stuff to the donation pile in the car

Got rid of a few more boxes of donation items, and I’ve sold a few other small things too

Got rid of a whole car load of stuff over the weekend, plus sold my snowblower today, and I’m already starting another pile of things to sell or donate

Got rid of another couple boxes of things, and I’m going to start organizing all the random hand tool I have laying around and make a pile of ones I don’t need

I got a pretty good load of tools off to auction the other day and they all sold, plus I donated a few more random household things and also sold a couple things through marketplace this weekend.  Starting to feel like I’m making serious progress, but lots of work still to go.

I dropped off a few things at the thrift store today, and I sold a mitre saw that I don’t need (I had two, keeping the bigger one).

The other day I took some more stuff to my local auction house for them to sell and picked up the check for the last load I dropped off, one car load of stuff lighter, one check for $550 richer. Still have more to clear out, we take possession of the new place in a week, and am looking forward to a fresh and less cluttered space.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7647 on: January 08, 2025, 11:01:54 PM »
Nothing was physically removed today, but I got another few things posted and a couple more claimed and confirmed.

Four more things gone, total of 11 for the year.

Freedomin5

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7648 on: January 09, 2025, 12:26:38 AM »
DD's school asking for donations of jackets and blankets for a homeless shelter. We donated two big bags of blankets.

Loretta

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #7649 on: January 09, 2025, 05:41:19 PM »
I returned 3-4 smallish things to Amazon earlier.  I also requested refunds on 2 Safeway items that were bad/stale. 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!