Author Topic: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2  (Read 1253474 times)

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3500 on: March 23, 2020, 08:27:59 AM »
@slackmax my area is under a Shelter in Place order...trash pickup is considered essential and will continue throughout the lockdown period.

Also considered essential: haz mat drop off center.  The folks there were really good at keeping the 6' distance.  So I got rid of a gallon of paint.

Oneday,  the recycling folks did indeed come by today and picked up, so I got rid of another 10 pounds or so of  old paper statements, receipts, etc.  The recycling folks were not wearing masks. Interesting. They had gloves on, but they always do.

 OK, I'll bask in the accomplishment for a half a day, then look back into the tightly packed closet-o-clutter again, ha ha.   

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3501 on: March 23, 2020, 11:01:43 AM »
A large construction bag is getting fuller.  Right now my house is a complete disaster but it is going to get better.

BTW does removing 50 year old carpet and underlay count for decluttering?  What about if there are a bunch of cigarette buts in the corners? In both rooms? Disgusting.  I am sure the house smells better. 

mm1970

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3502 on: March 23, 2020, 02:32:18 PM »
We are also decluttering/ spring cleaning.  Were going to do that anyway.  In any event, there's no place to donate the stuff, so we need to stash it for awhile.  (Right now it's kid's clothing in good condition, books, toys). So far no trash.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3503 on: March 24, 2020, 01:13:45 AM »
We have been spurred into doing a pantry clean-up and re-org, with secondary supplies being moved to the basement shelves. Suddenly it's much easier to find things. Next step - the spice drawer!

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3504 on: March 24, 2020, 07:52:42 AM »
We are digging deep into the freezer.

Last night I made strawberry sauce for vanilla ice cream with frozen berries from probably 2018.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3505 on: March 25, 2020, 08:13:49 AM »
No one is accepting donations, but I'm considering this decluttering, given we've moved everything to our donation bin in in our house. When things are back up & running, we'll move them out of the house:

-Got rid of three bags we don't need
-Donating N95 masks we found (from the wildfires) to the local hospital. These will actually be picked up today

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3506 on: March 25, 2020, 10:17:50 AM »
Cooked some egg noodles from the Precambrian or Mesozoic epoch. Not bad. More space in cupboard now.

Edit to add:  Accidentally broke a wine glass recently. No sadness. More space in cupboard!
« Last Edit: March 25, 2020, 10:20:49 AM by slackmax »

NotJen

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3507 on: March 25, 2020, 10:41:13 AM »
I'm getting some interest from FB Marketplace again.  So far I have sold 6 items through no-interaction porch pickup (with $ bills quarantined).  Feels good to continue getting things out of the house.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3508 on: March 25, 2020, 02:01:40 PM »
Recently:

~Dropped a small box of misc items and a portable mini bar off at Goodwill a few Saturday's ago.
~Gave my sister a few magazines.  The subscriptions have been whittled down to very few.  Yay!
~Tossed a few more (clean) pairs of holey socks into the rag pile.
~Per my request, I received a wall mounted clothes air dryer for my birthday, and DH broke down my very old, wooden one to reuse in his various hobbies.  I am very proud of him!
~Dropping off the novelty buttons I never wore to a friend tonight after work.  Hope she can sell them at her store, or at the very least, given them to her teenage daughter.
~Going to re-gift several items to a neighbor's teenager next month for her birthday.  I won't use the unicorn slippers given to me last month for mine.  ;)
~Working on another stack of egg cartons to forward to someone.

 

lazycow

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3509 on: March 26, 2020, 12:02:37 AM »
Husband decluttered the little cupboard above the rangehood so he could store all his delicious home made tomato relish. So a bag of dead batteries will go to recycling, a leaky torch was binned and 2 more torches will be donated. We have a lot of torches, it seems!

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3510 on: March 26, 2020, 11:46:05 AM »
Re-arranged cabinets this morning to allow for better visibility (the more we can eat down our pantry, the fewer trips to the market during this time of social distancing). Three nut mixes long-expired tossed (biting into a rancid nut mix is one experience I don't want to relive). Itemized one-off items (seminola flour!) to try and use up during this period of WFH.

We have a pile of books, both adult and child, for the Little Free Library at our park. The organization has posted guidelines for best practices in sharing here: https://littlefreelibrary.org/best-practices-at-little-free-libraries-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/ but as ours is in a park, we're just going to hold our items until the pandemic dies down and we feel comfortable sharing materials again.

We bought a giant box of #2 diapers, and a week later daycare requested #3s. Since we've had the kids a home, we're able to use up those #2s!

Slowly moving through our amassed art supplies & construction paper (keeping that toddler busy while we both try to WFH).

Not bringing anything new in (except groceries, cleaning supplies as necessary, and dog food).

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3511 on: March 26, 2020, 11:48:58 AM »
My 14 y.o. son's bedroom is my current office. When I'm in a listening (vs talking) call & my camera is off, have been decluttering. Found two team jerseys that need to be returned to the school (sports are cancelled) post shelter in place. Discovered a two small pair of shorts, and a tshirt he doesn't wear. Plus a long missing sock. All are returned to their rightful spot.

Raenia

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3512 on: March 29, 2020, 12:45:22 PM »
Spent a good hour and a half with DH going through boxes in the library/office.  Most of the stuff stayed, but we did trash a good amount of stuff, pulled some more to donate, and found homes for most of the remainder.  Two full boxes removed from the library and we know what's in the remaining boxes and where it is meant to go once we have the shelves built.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3513 on: April 02, 2020, 07:10:44 PM »
Both of the rummage sale (car boot sale) places I use are NOT OPENING this year until May at the earliest, due to this virus scenario. Arggghhh! I don't even know if the Salvation Army store is currently accepting anything.   Who'dathunk it, eh?   

I'm gonna have to content myself with finding stuff I can throw out, or put in the curbside recycling.           

meghan88

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3514 on: April 06, 2020, 03:38:50 PM »
I cleaned and organized all our closets yesterday.  I'd been meaning to do it since we moved here last July, when we threw things in just to get them out of way.  Next up:  kitchen cabinets.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3515 on: April 06, 2020, 06:00:33 PM »
I went through the linen closet and gathered a garbage bag of stuff.  Kids are being ruthless about the stuff they are moving back into their bedrooms. 
When we can donate this stuff - it is going to be huge.

slackmax

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3516 on: April 07, 2020, 08:07:45 AM »
Got about 10 pounds of old letters, cards, receipts, photos of  people I don't know,
work records, etc into the curbside recycling. Watched with satisfaction and relief as they took those worries away.     

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3517 on: April 07, 2020, 09:44:12 AM »
Went through a built in dresser in our bedroom, and got rid of a bunch of old orders & papers. Put them into the recycle pile & organized what was left that we need to keep

SunnyDays

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3518 on: April 07, 2020, 01:41:25 PM »
Both of the rummage sale (car boot sale) places I use are NOT OPENING this year until May at the earliest, due to this virus scenario. Arggghhh! I don't even know if the Salvation Army store is currently accepting anything.   Who'dathunk it, eh?   

I'm gonna have to content myself with finding stuff I can throw out, or put in the curbside recycling.           

Do you have clothing donation bins around your town?  If they aren’t full, you could still get rid of some clothes, since they’re not really worth selling anyway.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3519 on: April 08, 2020, 02:09:31 PM »
The family has been getting a bit bored, so we play a boardgame together a few times a week.
Last night I created a matching game, got all of the pieces out on the dining room, called them to grab a drink and come play.

I had the whole family matching socks.  Yep.  For over 30 minutes.

 Every sock I could find from every sofa, under furniture, hidey hole, drawer, laundry basket, gym bag was washed (if needed) and added to the the dining table pile.   My son has a habit of taking off his socks at random rooms, and the dog will steal them, and some get mixed up into another person's drawer or lost at sleepovers.  I went back for the "expansion pack" from the dryer. There were even quite a few single socks that were never ours to begin with. (!!)

Family did not like my calling it a new game that I had invented, though.

Threw out a giant grocery bag's worth of worn out and single socks today.   Haven't done that in three years, so much nicer to have everyone involved.

Plina

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3520 on: April 08, 2020, 02:38:54 PM »
The family has been getting a bit bored, so we play a boardgame together a few times a week.
Last night I created a matching game, got all of the pieces out on the dining room, called them to grab a drink and come play.

I had the whole family matching socks.  Yep.  For over 30 minutes.

 Every sock I could find from every sofa, under furniture, hidey hole, drawer, laundry basket, gym bag was washed (if needed) and added to the the dining table pile.   My son has a habit of taking off his socks at random rooms, and the dog will steal them, and some get mixed up into another person's drawer or lost at sleepovers.  I went back for the "expansion pack" from the dryer. There were even quite a few single socks that were never ours to begin with. (!!)

Family did not like my calling it a new game that I had invented, though.

Threw out a giant grocery bag's worth of worn out and single socks today.   Haven't done that in three years, so much nicer to have everyone involved.

It is kind of hard to imagine the amount of socks it can take a family over 30 minutes to sort out. I started to buy only black socks a couple of years ago so when one sock gets a hole I can pair it with another single one.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3521 on: April 08, 2020, 02:43:05 PM »
@Goldielocks - Your family are good sports that you had them for 30 minutes.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3522 on: April 08, 2020, 02:49:03 PM »
@Goldielocks - Your family are good sports that you had them for 30 minutes.

Goldilocks is a good sport for putting up with everyone's unmatched socks for so long.

It sounds like everyone should be doing their own laundry and being responsible for their own socks.  Think of the free time Goldielocks would have !

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3523 on: April 08, 2020, 03:03:52 PM »
My kids have stopped wearing matching socks.  It's a trend in the neighbourhood.  Saves a lot of time

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3524 on: April 08, 2020, 08:50:41 PM »
The family has been getting a bit bored, so we play a boardgame together a few times a week.
Last night I created a matching game, got all of the pieces out on the dining room, called them to grab a drink and come play.

I had the whole family matching socks.  Yep.  For over 30 minutes.

 Every sock I could find from every sofa, under furniture, hidey hole, drawer, laundry basket, gym bag was washed (if needed) and added to the the dining table pile.   My son has a habit of taking off his socks at random rooms, and the dog will steal them, and some get mixed up into another person's drawer or lost at sleepovers.  I went back for the "expansion pack" from the dryer. There were even quite a few single socks that were never ours to begin with. (!!)

Family did not like my calling it a new game that I had invented, though.

Threw out a giant grocery bag's worth of worn out and single socks today.   Haven't done that in three years, so much nicer to have everyone involved.

I have a feeling the sock matching game may become part of your family lore - coming up at thanksgiving and other holidays as a “remember when...”

FireLane

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3525 on: April 09, 2020, 10:56:31 AM »
I should have found this thread earlier! I made a new year's resolution to purge all the old junk in my attic, and I'm finally getting around to it this week.

I have boxes and boxes full of old books. Powell's has a book buyback program, so I got a barcode scanner app on my phone, captured the ISBNs and uploaded them to the Powell's website. They wanted about ten of them. They e-mailed me a prepaid shipping label, plus I get a few bucks in store credit. I'll ship those later this week.

Of the fifty or sixty books they didn't want, some were out-of-date college textbooks or paperbacks that are too old and battered to resell. I filled up a big box with those and carried it out to the recycling bin today. The books that are in good condition and that someone might want, I'll donate to the library or thrift store.

I have at least one or two more rounds of book purging to go. Next, I have to tackle all our boxes of baby stuff.

I haven't made a lot of progress with the books, but I'm doing well with everything else. I've consolidated several boxes of old papers and photos, and sorted through some boxes of old clothes. I threw out some that had stains or holes and made a collection of others to give away.

There's a swap meet in my neighborhood next week and I'm hoping I can give away a lot of these, especially the kids' clothes that my son has outgrown. Whatever doesn't get taken, I'll drop off at the thrift store.

Well, obviously the swap meet was canceled because of COVID-19, so I have some boxes stuffed with old clothes that still need a new home.

But other than that, I've been making progress. Thanks to working from home, I've had more time to tackle the attic cleanout. I've done a pretty thorough reorganization of my books and made a box of the ones to sell, trade or give away. I've also gone through most of my old financial records and recycled the ones I no longer have any reason to hold onto.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3526 on: April 09, 2020, 11:28:12 AM »
I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3527 on: April 09, 2020, 11:59:42 PM »
The family has been getting a bit bored, so we play a boardgame together a few times a week.
Last night I created a matching game, got all of the pieces out on the dining room, called them to grab a drink and come play.

I had the whole family matching socks.  Yep.  For over 30 minutes.

 Every sock I could find from every sofa, under furniture, hidey hole, drawer, laundry basket, gym bag was washed (if needed) and added to the the dining table pile.   My son has a habit of taking off his socks at random rooms, and the dog will steal them, and some get mixed up into another person's drawer or lost at sleepovers.  I went back for the "expansion pack" from the dryer. There were even quite a few single socks that were never ours to begin with. (!!)

Family did not like my calling it a new game that I had invented, though.

Threw out a giant grocery bag's worth of worn out and single socks today.   Haven't done that in three years, so much nicer to have everyone involved.

*Love* this family bonding!  Might even be a family story for years to come.  Or you could institute an annual game day!

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3528 on: April 10, 2020, 04:39:59 PM »
We are a family of de-cluttering machines for little blitzes throughout the day.  I pronounced that I wanted the living room free of all the stuff for Easter.  A pile is accumulating in the basement and garage, but order is returning to the living room - and the front hall and the dining room.

It is so nice to start to get my house back.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3529 on: April 10, 2020, 06:02:24 PM »
The family has been getting a bit bored, so we play a boardgame together a few times a week.
Last night I created a matching game, got all of the pieces out on the dining room, called them to grab a drink and come play.

I had the whole family matching socks.  Yep.  For over 30 minutes.

 Every sock I could find from every sofa, under furniture, hidey hole, drawer, laundry basket, gym bag was washed (if needed) and added to the the dining table pile.   My son has a habit of taking off his socks at random rooms, and the dog will steal them, and some get mixed up into another person's drawer or lost at sleepovers.  I went back for the "expansion pack" from the dryer. There were even quite a few single socks that were never ours to begin with. (!!)

Family did not like my calling it a new game that I had invented, though.

Threw out a giant grocery bag's worth of worn out and single socks today.   Haven't done that in three years, so much nicer to have everyone involved.

I'm totally stealing this!

What is it with these socks in random rooms? Every! DAY!

okisok

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3530 on: April 11, 2020, 06:24:11 PM »
Used up some art supplies and put the scraps in the recycling.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3531 on: April 13, 2020, 05:52:15 PM »
I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

Keeping this up. Went through my coat closet, and found two items to list. Sold another two items over the past few weeks, including a Christmas ornament?!

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3532 on: April 14, 2020, 06:07:58 AM »
Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?

LinneaH

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3533 on: April 14, 2020, 06:25:34 AM »
Today I gave away the smallest item ever, a small envelope with flower seeds that I will never use, to a friend. I didn't buy, I received it as an unwanted gift.

We have been cleaning up after the flooding in the basement, and during Easter we made some extra effort. I looked through my books, found one to let go, and the ones I am sure I will keep, I put in a small box. Then I put about 10 that I may not want to bring if I move on a bookshelf next to my bed, so I can look through them and decide.

The book to let go ended up in another small box, with two over-the-door hangers made of fabric 8the ones w/many small compartments/pockets. They are very practical but I don't use them and they are ugly colours in my opinion. So why do I keep them??? :-)

There is a chance that we will move during 2nd half of 2020 (DH probably wants a divorce but he also is not communicating). I am looking at my things with this in mind "do I want to bring it to my new home when I move?". I will move from a house to an apartment, so it will be a different type of living, and of course, much smaller. I really don't want to leave the house for other reasons, but I do feel absolutely ok about the downsizing. I will probably go for good location, and well enough space for my kids, but not too expensive, meaning I will have little space for myself and my things, but I see that as a fun challenge. I know I will be able to keep things in order much better (DH is a packrat but absolutely refuses to admit this, he is in for a rude awakening).

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3534 on: April 14, 2020, 08:00:59 AM »
Good for you, Linnea, for having a positive attitude.  I think that will go a long way in what may be a big transition for you.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3535 on: April 14, 2020, 08:18:30 AM »
1. Took a batch of books to our free library down the street.
2. Moved some of our youngest's small clothes to a box for my sister (she's due with her first in October). I'll hand that over when I see her next, along with some other baby items the littlest will have outgrown.
3. Somehow I've ended up with 3-4 large candles that are generally too pungent for us (I'm *super* particular about candles and cadle scents, not least of which is because the hubs doesn't like 'smelly' things; we generally ask for 1-2 locally made in a specific scent for Christmas, which last the year, but my MIL reads this as "CANDLES! ANY CANDLES!"). Instead of glaring at them every time I open our desk, I'm posting the burned-only-once candles on my parents group (for free--just take them) and I'm begrudgingly using a halfway-gone one up while we're sheltering in place.
4. Oldest is continuing to use up art supplies. We're planning a "gallery showing" with family this weekend via FaceTime. We'll dress up and eat some finger foods (including pizza rolls because my hubs is a 12 year old and I let him grocery shop unsupervised through this...)
5. Finally hung art that has been sitting on the floor for 5+ years (and through at least one move!)

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3536 on: April 14, 2020, 01:31:01 PM »
Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?
It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3537 on: April 14, 2020, 07:26:08 PM »
Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?
It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

Tomatoes 5 years, peppers barely a year.

Raenia

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3538 on: April 15, 2020, 06:09:48 AM »
Decluttered seed packets today.  About 10 I won't use will go to the office tomorrow, used up all the seed in about 5 more and tossed a couple that were too old to have good viability.

About how old are seeds when they are no longer viable?
It really varies by type.  And how they are stored.  I don't bother saving onion seeds from a previous year, while peas are quite long lasting in my experience.

Tomatoes 5 years, peppers barely a year.

I just got decent germination from some 6 year old pole beans.  The bush beans were dead, though.

okisok

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3539 on: April 15, 2020, 05:09:21 PM »
With seeds, I like to do a germination test before I toss them. Put a few in a wet paper towel and wait to see if they sprout. Then you can determine if they're worth keeping.


Car Jack

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3540 on: April 16, 2020, 12:43:08 PM »
With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets. 

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3541 on: April 16, 2020, 01:05:54 PM »
With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.

It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.

former player

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3542 on: April 16, 2020, 01:12:37 PM »
With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.

It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.
Our recycling centres are closed during lockdown.  They will be very busy when they re-open, I expect.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2020, 06:48:11 PM by former player »

middo

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3543 on: April 16, 2020, 04:56:56 PM »
With the stay at home orders from my work, I've moved into my old home office that had pretty much become a storage area for junk.  I did a cursory cleaning to be able to set up, take conference calls and Webex's and print stuff out.  Every time I leave, I quickly find something to throw in the paper recycle bag or into the trash.  OMG the crayons!  We must have single handedly paid out dividends to Crayola investors Paperwork from flex spending accounts from 1997?  No, I don't think I need those anymore.  Anyone want a case of 3 1/2 inch floppies?  I've got 2.  Repair manual for first generation Dodge Neon?  Uh.....  Lots and lots of tiny plastic toys (my youngest is 19).  Matchbox/hot wheel cars by the pound.  I'll have to ask my wife before tossing old records her dad gave her.  We haven't had a turntable in at least 15 years and I gave all my albums to a guy at work whose brother makes a living going to flea markets.
Our recycling centres are closed during lockdown.  They will be very busy when they re-open, I expect.
It is interesting to see how much decluttering the pandemic have resulted in. Two of my colleagues have mentioned doing decluttering. The older of them said that he was surprised of all the junk that they had in their home and the stuff that they found. The recycling centers are getting a lot more carloads of stuff these days.

We found a bag under a bed when we moved it to make up an office space for my wife.  The bag contained cooking equipment, plastics bowls and measuring cups and so on, that my daughter was given by her step-grandmother two Christmas' ago.  My daughter lives a long way interstate, and had travelled with only hand luggage for Christmas, so it stayed with us until she needed it.  I found it and posted it to her yesterday.  $15 for the postage, but it should make an interesting surprise for her when it turns up.  A very late Christmas present.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3544 on: April 17, 2020, 01:22:06 PM »
@Goldielocks - Your family are good sports that you had them for 30 minutes.
There was lots of teasing, joking and throwing socks around.  And then the dog started to steal socks that fell to the floor.

Imagine an 8 person dining room table filled with unmatched socks 2-3 deep.
------------------
Funny thing is that everyone does their own laundry, separately.

What happens is that if someone is out of socks, they will steal some from another person's drawer.  After laundry comes out of the dryer, it is usually put on the counter unfolded so the next person can use the dryer, then it gets a bit mixed up between persons, and the socks get put into the wrong person's room when they take their things away to fold (or not fold).  Unclaimed single socks left behind (if not just tossed in a heap of clean laundry back into their room) will be put into a basket in the laundry room by me, after a week or two.   I try not to care about their laundry habits as long as they are clean.

Two of them have zero cares about wearing mismatched socks, or actively think that it looks good (!), and the third likes the matching sock look, but not enough to be bothered to match.  One person actively throws out single socks  as soon as a hole develops, without looking for a match to toss, too, because socks are usually bought in quantities greater than 1 pair. Apparently sleep overs are the originator of many missing socks.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2020, 01:32:37 PM by Goldielocks »

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3545 on: April 20, 2020, 04:27:49 AM »
Disinfectant wipes from overseas are very popular. I posted and sold two unopened packages, making enough to cover the packages that I kept for myself. Also sold a bed railing that DD had outgrown.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3546 on: April 20, 2020, 06:11:18 AM »
I keep finding things to put into the give away pile downstairs.  As soon as May rolls around, I will relocate the pile into neat boxes in the garage under a tarp until I can donate them.  Local charities were overwhelmed at Christmas with Marie Kondo de-cluttering.  When they re-open around here it is going to be double that - everyone I know is tidying right now.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3547 on: April 20, 2020, 08:12:02 AM »
I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

Still keeping this up. We've sold so many random things. (We've put 10x that in the donation, garbage or recycle piles.) Every day I try to organize or clean something. A few days a week I'm working outside, which needs significantly more help than the inside. We bought our house 3 years ago, and the previous owners had tons of high maintenance plants. We cancelled the yard service (weekly) & have been attempting to keep up on our own. Clearly, we've failed. I could spend daily quarantine time on the yard & never catch up. Similar to the house, we actually need a full yard reboot. We need to rip out the majority of the plants, put in zero maintenance drought resistant plants, & save ourselves a bunch of time.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3548 on: April 20, 2020, 08:35:29 AM »
I've been doing one non-standard chore a day, and listing one item on eBay per day. As you can imagine, those things go well together, as many of the chores are really organizing a cupboard or a drawer. I also am then decluttering, tossing, recycling anything we don't need.

The eBay sales are super slow, but like a little drip. Plus, they force me to walk to the corner mailbox, so guaranteed steps on days when I really need that!

Still keeping this up. We've sold so many random things. (We've put 10x that in the donation, garbage or recycle piles.) Every day I try to organize or clean something. A few days a week I'm working outside, which needs significantly more help than the inside. We bought our house 3 years ago, and the previous owners had tons of high maintenance plants. We cancelled the yard service (weekly) & have been attempting to keep up on our own. Clearly, we've failed. I could spend daily quarantine time on the yard & never catch up. Similar to the house, we actually need a full yard reboot. We need to rip out the majority of the plants, put in zero maintenance drought resistant plants, & save ourselves a bunch of time.

Just be aware that nothing is zero maintenance. You can get low maintenance, but no matter what you get there will be some work needed. Recommend that you talk to a local nursery, a good one will be able to help you choose low maintenance plants appropriate for your area.

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Re: Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2
« Reply #3549 on: April 20, 2020, 08:56:36 AM »
@Sibley - we are looking for something that can easily be handled by a 2x/year yard service (or, us getting out there for a day once a quarter or whatever.) But yes, fair enough. Nothing is truly zero maintenance!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!