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

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@ysette9 - truth. Moving is a tremendous amount of work. Nice progress!

I cleaned under the bathroom sink, got rid of a bunch of stuff, put the six containers of lotion in the toiletry cabinet, and now the space is usable & looks great.

[ItsALongStory]

Our house has been under contract since last Saturday with a tentative close date of July 14th. My wife has made over 2k selling decorations, kitchenware and some smaller appliances. It's amazing what people buy through Facebook marketplace. We might actually be able to move out early at this rate.

We might also have to sit and sleep on the floor pretty soon. :-)

Our move will be international and we plan to start over rather than ship a ton of stuff

[Sibley]

Decluttered a huge pile of rocks! This is in preparation for decluttering the garage of termites. A neighbor wanted rocks, so worked out great.

[LinneaH]

My husband has finally decided that we will divorce. Not my choice, but I will make the best of it. I have decluttered a lot already, but a lot more needs to be done. I will not bring a lot of crap into my coming apartment.

Also, I am by choice not taking a lot of "stuff" from our current home. If there are things I don't absolutely need (but want/would be nice to have) and I don't love what we have now, I will not take it with me, but take time to look for something I really like instead. Examples are cheapo Ikea book shelves, I will not take them, I will put the few books I own in a box until I find the right solution. Could be new-to-me lovely old book shelves, could be in a unused kitchen cupboard, who knows? :-)

This will also help with ex-DH letting my have the few items I really want. Today I asked if I could take a really lovely pot stand that I believe originally comes from his grandma, and he was absolutely fine with that. There are a few things that I really want to keep (big and small, a linen cupboard is another thing) and I will really try to get them, but not much more except for what I really need.

As you maybe can tell, besides the sadness, I am also really excited to recreate my life. I am so looking forward to this.

Moving on with packing up stuff we need to remove before viewings of the house. We need to finish this part during this weekend/early next week. I am not packing nearly as much as ex-DH, partly bc he has more private stuff and partly bc I really don't want /need a lot of the shared stuff. I am just saying "don't want, don't need, you take it if you want it". I don't think he has realised yet that he was more of the reason for that we never got the house really in order with regards to stuff.

I do hope the house will sell pretty easily, but the house market is really shaky here from the Corona situation. Also, we have done a lot with the house, but there are still things to do, which may scare a potential buyer. We just want a pretty good price, and for it to be done.
But first, packing away a lot of stuff and getting the house in order.

I get access to my new apartment in October, and I am really planning to not have a lot of unnecessary stuff, but to have open space.

Oh, and on the waffle maker theme: someone is coming to pick up our double waffle maker tomorrow, I listed it for free on Facebook since no-one of us want it, and at least threee people interested so it should move away pretty easily.

[LinneaH]

Decluttered a huge pile of rocks! This is in preparation for decluttering the garage of termites. A neighbor wanted rocks, so worked out great.

Ha! I thought my sons (ages 9 and 7) were the only ones with piles of rocks:-)
(also piles of sticks)

[Sibley]

Decluttered a huge pile of rocks! This is in preparation for decluttering the garage of termites. A neighbor wanted rocks, so worked out great.

Ha! I thought my sons (ages 9 and 7) were the only ones with piles of rocks:-)
(also piles of sticks)

This pile of rocks was I believe 10 wheelbarrow loads. Probably bigger than your kid's piles :)

Worst part is, it was an average size pile by my standards of digging out rock.

[ysette9]

Took stuff to storage today. That makes two carloads so far. We still have a good amount of work to but there is hope. I am slowly giving away things on Buy Nothing also. It is slower going with that but at least people come pick it up!

[oneday]

Our library is doing curbside pickups with appointment windows.  Returned books are quarantined for 48 hours before re-shelving them.  No overdue fines though!

I hope they start doing that here!

Learned yesterday of a thrift shop in town that is taking donations again! I would have been there at 9 this morning, but Reasons. Maybe Saturday. Got my fingers crossed!

The shop was overwhelmed with donations this week, so when I showed up today they were not taking anything.

Took a different route home because it was more efficient), so didn't realize that it passed right by another thrift shop.  I happened to notice it was taking donations, so finally able to get rid of the 4 dining chairs and the shower squeegee that's been hanging around since before our Shelter in Place order went into effect.  The living room feels so nice without the extra chair! The other chairs were stowed in my patio storage closet, so I got to reorganize that a bit, too.

Not sure if this counts, but I finally installed the clips that hold up my hatchback's cargo cover, so the clips are no longer rolling around loose in the cargo area, and the cover works properly.  Felt like a declutter :)

[mspym]

Three books off to a friend's daughter, I've worked out which of my duplicate jerseys I like most and will keep, others are going in the donation pile, along with the hiking boots that hurt my feet (but only after 2 hours which isn't something you can spot in the store). I'm slowly working through my TBR pile and now there are two more books to lend to friends or put in the street libraries.

My latest thing has been thinking over my (objectively beautiful) kitchen aid standmixer. I love it, I don't use it very much so its cost per use is hovering around $70, and it's half a cm too tall to fit in any of the cupboards in the kitchen so instead it takes up an ungodly amount of bench space.

[Fresh Bread]

Don't your cupboard shelves move, @mspym ? Ours just sit on those bracket pins, so I can adjust as needed. Eg I've got a mini shelf specifically for glass jars that's about the height of a pataks tall curry sauce jar.

Got rid of a box of paints today at the chemical clear out day. Super well organised, only queued for two minutes. And we weren't allowed out of the car because of Covid so they just opened the boot and took it all while we sat there like royals.

[mspym]

@Fresh Bread one more thing the builders of this place got wrong. Only two sets of shelves in this kitchen are height-adjustable and they are shallow - deep enough for cups, not for anything sizable, not particularly sturdy (mmmm particle board), and also above the counters so I would need to get on a step stool to lug a 10kg stand mixer in and out, assuming it could fix and didn't break the shelves... Right now I am thinking about clearing off the top of the Billy 2x4 bookshelve in the corner and putting it on top of there. Also .5cm too high to fit inside *that*.

Huzzah for clearing out paints!

[Fresh Bread]

Yes true, I wouldn't put a stand mixer on our shelves either, it would need to be at the bottom. I've got the breadmaker and slow cooker on one shelf and I bet it will sag in time. We were able to design our own kitchen but due to space/services/window constraints everything is still in the wrong place. Whaddya do.

[Raenia]

My stand mixer has pride-of-place on the countertop, but then I use it about every 2-3 days minimum - I bake a lot of bread, and it goes soooo much faster with a dough hook.  And our cost-per-use is 0, since it was a wedding gift.  I think they come in different sizes, if you enjoy having one but this one is too big you might be able to sell it and put the proceeds toward a smaller model.

I switched over my drawers to my summer wardrobe, and put a few things in the donate pile as I went.  Not really a declutter as nothing left the house, but DH finished building some extra shelving in the office/library, and I was able to unpack three more boxes of books.  The library looks great!  Today we plan to buy a curtain rod and hang the curtains my mom gave us for that room, and that'll be another bag gone.  DH has also been working on his pile of papers to scan and discard.  I did some decluttering of old computer files - not very exciting, but necessary.  I wanted to do it before my next back-up.  I burned a candle to use it up.

I still feel like there's stuff everywhere - time to start another pass through the house I guess.  It's a neverending cycle.

[Frugal Lizard]

We have been machines at filling up our recycle and waste bins.  A neighbour offered some extra capacity in his bin so in went another old soaker hose.  Our water is so hard that the holes become clogged within a couple of years. And I worked in the garden picking rocks.  The homeowner is using the rocks in a crawl space under their kitchen.  Garden is looking so much tidier.

I can't wait until the end of June - that is when we are borrowing a car and trailer and clearing out all the debris.  In the mean time, the debris piles just get bigger.  But the house is feeling so much better.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'm loving the decluttering at our vacation house. I've listed a few things on a local swap site, and have already made $60. Logistically, I won't be able to get to a donation site more than once, so I'll plan to take a car load, but it's awesome to have people pick up some larger items.

[MountainGal]

@MaybeBabyMustache, you do such a good job at online sales!  Well done.

And, count me in with the rock crowd.  Vice versa, though:  The neighbor kiddos find the most interesting of rocks on our property which they in turn give to me.  ;)

DH and I had a party over the weekend on our lower deck.  The weekend before I cleaned out the deck cupboard, tossed several things including a broken solar light, and relocated a few more.  I also helped DH "unclutter" an old fence by turning it into firewood.  My first time using a reciprocating saw and was very proud of myself.  He's out on medical leave so I'm picking up some of the physical slack.  I used a staple hammer for the first time, too, to put up a sunshade for the party.  Whacking that thing was very satisfying.  :)

Tomorrow:
~A small box to the Goodwill containing a small wine rack, pair of shoes, and a few free toiletry items given to me with a purchase.  I might add a few more things this evening.
~A toner cartridge to the office supply store to be recycled.

~The free with purchase bag mentioned above included a few laundry detergent pods, which I gave to a neighbor since we don't use them.

[Prairie Gal]

I got rid of five extra dining chairs today, since I got new ones.

Weirdly, I sold another chair a few days ago, and the lady was supposed to pick it up on Saturday, but still has not showed up or responded to my messages. Not sure what to do about it. I guess since she already sent me an e transfer I will hang on to it for a while, but I sure would like it out of here.

[Fresh Bread]

I'm putting a vehicle into a car sharing club to make a bit of easy money (hopefully). Whole nother decluttering area discovered. I didn't know I was storing so much stuff in there! Rags, bags, pens. 3 travel dog bowls.

[happy]

I'm so frustrated with decluttering at the moment. Yesterday I decided to take the big pile of items, all carefully cleaned and  piled up in the corner of a room into the family store, about 25 mons drive away. On the internet it said open.  so I loaded up the boot and managed to park in the crowded parking zone. Open, yes, but not taking donations at that entrance. Go around the other side of the building. De-parked, went to find the contactless bins on the other side. Nope, no bins and another sign saying not accepting donations at this time.

Now I have a boot load of stuff in the car. I need to find another solution because its not coming back out.

[Shinplaster]

We just sold our house, and there are a lot of big furniture items that we are not paying to move.  We'll be downsizing to about half the space we have now, so no need to take it.  I was dreading trying to find new homes for it all - donation centers here are not accepting any large items.   On the off chance the new buyer might want a piece or two, I did up a list and left it for her to think about during the home inspection.   She's taking it all!  Four couches, large wall unit, end tables, bookcases, old CRT TV, and other odds and ends.   Turns out she is not bringing a lot with her either, and is thrilled that several areas will be pretty much furnished for her on possession date.

Although the things will still be in this house, after the end of August they won't be in our house.   : )

[RetiredAt63]

We just sold our house, and there are a lot of big furniture items that we are not paying to move.  We'll be downsizing to about half the space we have now, so no need to take it.  I was dreading trying to find new homes for it all - donation centers here are not accepting any large items.   On the off chance the new buyer might want a piece or two, I did up a list and left it for her to think about during the home inspection.   She's taking it all!  Four couches, large wall unit, end tables, bookcases, old CRT TV, and other odds and ends.   Turns out she is not bringing a lot with her either, and is thrilled that several areas will be pretty much furnished for her on possession date.

Although the things will still be in this house, after the end of August they won't be in our house.   : )

That worked out really well for you!

[Frugal Lizard]

We just sold our house, and there are a lot of big furniture items that we are not paying to move.  We'll be downsizing to about half the space we have now, so no need to take it.  I was dreading trying to find new homes for it all - donation centers here are not accepting any large items.   On the off chance the new buyer might want a piece or two, I did up a list and left it for her to think about during the home inspection.   She's taking it all!  Four couches, large wall unit, end tables, bookcases, old CRT TV, and other odds and ends.   Turns out she is not bringing a lot with her either, and is thrilled that several areas will be pretty much furnished for her on possession date.

Although the things will still be in this house, after the end of August they won't be in our house.   : )

That worked out really well for you!

way to go

[ysette9]

Yesterday I sold a little kiddie table and chair on FB marketplace. Today I am giving away a plastic training potty. Both of them gone frees up precious floor space. Onward and upward!

[slackmax]

Three big suitcases and some other stuff that I could not sell at the flea market I took over to  the Salvation Army dropoff.  Check those off the list! 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Sold a mattress that was used a couple of times & has been stored (wrapped in original packaging) in our garage. So happy to have it gone

[LinneaH]

Gave away a kiddies room rug (the type with roads, houses etc). It was a bit worn on the back and deemed way to childish by the boys so off on local Facebook buy and sell group it went. A nice lady came to pick it up, I was clear that is was a bit worn (will not show when in place) but she was very happy nonetheless. Also, gave away an Ikea Benno shelf (tall very narrow book shelf, for smaller books, cd, dvds). This was also on local Facebook, which is very reliable, people will come pick up, on time, and be very thankful. Sometimes you get a small piece of chocolate as a nice "thank you", or they will say thanks again when you meet in the local grocery store. I am just happy that someone will pick up what I want to get rid of. Ihave one more Benno up for graps, hoping someone wants it.

I am also waiting for someone to come pick up a larger book shelf, with glass doors. They should be here in 20 minutes, but this is from Facebook Marketplace, where people are much more unreliable. I do hope they will pick up though, this needs to go away for the staging of the house. I do have a back up person, so I am someone optimistic. We'll see.

[ysette9]

I have been trying to give away this diaper pail with no success. Buy Nothing didn’t want to touch it and no bites yet on FB Marketplace. I would hate to throw it away but it may come to that.

[LinneaH]

Update: The person came (much later than he said) and picked up the big shelf w/glass doors. No problem once he had arrived, he had a truck, I had to help him carry,  but no issues. (Don't you just hate when people come to pick up something large and have a small car...)

And my lovely neighbour, which I will miss dearly when I move, realised we wanted to get rid of the small book shelf, and she was in need of one exactly like that, so I just carried it across the street to her. I also confirmed w/her that I can pick some flowers from her garden for the photographing of the house.

That's two small and one big book shelf out of the house!

Gave away a kiddies room rug (the type with roads, houses etc). It was a bit worn on the back and deemed way to childish by the boys so off on local Facebook buy and sell group it went. A nice lady came to pick it up, I was clear that is was a bit worn (will not show when in place) but she was very happy nonetheless. Also, gave away an Ikea Benno shelf (tall very narrow book shelf, for smaller books, cd, dvds). This was also on local Facebook, which is very reliable, people will come pick up, on time, and be very thankful. Sometimes you get a small piece of chocolate as a nice "thank you", or they will say thanks again when you meet in the local grocery store. I am just happy that someone will pick up what I want to get rid of. Ihave one more Benno up for graps, hoping someone wants it.

I am also waiting for someone to come pick up a larger book shelf, with glass doors. They should be here in 20 minutes, but this is from Facebook Marketplace, where people are much more unreliable. I do hope they will pick up though, this needs to go away for the staging of the house. I do have a back up person, so I am someone optimistic. We'll see.

[ItsALongStory]

Finally got rid of my skis and boots. We're moving overseas and they didn't make the cut since we're only taking suitcases and aren't moving to a ski area.

Wife had made well over $7500 selling all of our belongings with over $2k still to come our way from beds etc.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Some awesome progress by others! Nice work. @ItsALongStory - wow! Super impressive.

We're at our vacation house, and I don't list things on eBay from here (no printer, hassle to mail, etc), but I've accumulated a ton of stuff for when we get back to the house.

Also listed a chair on the local Facebook site. Fingers crossed, as I don't want to figure out the logistics of getting rid of it on my own.

[RetiredAt63]

Finally got rid of my skis and boots. We're moving overseas and they didn't make the cut since we're only taking suitcases and aren't moving to a ski area.

Wife had made well over $7500 selling all of our belongings with over $2k still to come our way from beds etc.

Good for her.  I wasn't able to sell much when I downsized, ended up donating about half a moving van of furniture to charity, plus several car load of stuff to another charity. 

[LinneaH]

I have given away a lot of stuff, but yesterday I managed to sell a special item, hobby related, expensive to buy new, difficult to find second hand, and not losing much value when being used. I knew it would keep it's value, but pretty difficult to find a buyer.. So happy I found, not one, but two all of a sudden. This meant I did not have to lower the price, but received the $200 I wanted. Also, it is huge, so we could not bring it easily when we move, so double whammy :-)

I asked the buyer if he wanted a couple of items for free, one related to the hobby, the other two outdoor toys in good condition. My kids have are way too old for these and he had two small very nicely behaving kids in the car, so I asked him without his kids noticing, if he wanted them. He was delighted and so were his kids when he told them. And so was I :-)

(if I ask a parent if they want to take some toys for free, I always make sure their kids do not hear, so the parent can say no w/o the kids noticing) 

[ysette9]

(if I ask a parent if they want to take some toys for free, I always make sure their kids do not hear, so the parent can say no w/o the kids noticing)

100% this. Thank you for being considerate.

[LinneaH]

(if I ask a parent if they want to take some toys for free, I always make sure their kids do not hear, so the parent can say no w/o the kids noticing)

100% this. Thank you for being considerate.

:-) I have two boys of my own, so I'm trying to help out fellow parents when I can :-D

[diapasoun]

Cleaned out our bathroom cart and threw away some toiletries that we were never going to use that were unlikely to be taken on our Buy Nothing group (old and opened).

[MountainGal]

Finally tended to the plants here at the office which used up the rest of the bagged potting soil, food spikes, and more of the liquid plant food.  This freed up more room in the storage area, and DH got his two garden tools back.  :)

[ysette9]

I’d like to take a moment to honor Buy Nothing groups everywhere. They are such a godsend. That is how we are getting most of the stuff we identify for decluttering. I also picked up a bag of clothes of the next size up for my baby last night so now he has a whole new wardrobe of too-big stuff instead of his former too-small stuff. I love it.

I have four paper bags lined up neatly outside my front door, all labeled with names of people who will be stopping by to pick up books or unused household things. A+

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Cleaned under the guest bathroom sink. Found the following:
-Handy Manny bandaids (our kids are 13 & 14). Saved for a rainy day
-9 empty travel toothpaste tubes (?!)
-2 used toothbrushes (not ours)
-4 containers of Kids Tylenol, all wildly expired
-A lovely Restoration Hardware soap dispenser, never used. Possibly damaged from sitting forever under the sink, and likely getting occasionally damp
-An empty container of cleaning spray

All gone, minus the soap dispenser, which I'll see if I can bring back to life. The challenge with having others in & out of the house is that no one ever wants to throw anything away, in case it belongs to us or someone else. Therefore, things accumulate!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Got rid of a chair & two decorative pillows we never use (too "fancy" & light in color, which is not ideal with kids around).
-Found two Japanese fishing floats in the closet. They were my grandparents & no one in the family is attached to them/wants them. I'll take them home & list them on eBay.

I'm in the home stretch of having the majority of the house decluttered & organized!

[happy]

I'm in the home stretch of having the majority of the house decluttered & organized!

Well Done! That's such an achievement!

Meanwhile I'm plodding along.  DD visited and took home with her the spare lawn mower, a set of flannelette sheets and a small bookshelf. I found a home for a few of the things that were on the bookshelf. I decided to donate a couple of cushions and a matching picture and started to pack up Nanna's tea and coffee set. Got one box done. Sorted and unpacked another box of her possessions, but most of these were keepers.

I actually have plenty of cupboard space and still quite a few  boxes to be sorted and unpacked, but instead of just dumping stuff in the wardrobes and cupboards I am trying to sort and cull as I go.

[oneday]

I’d like to take a moment to honor Buy Nothing groups everywhere. They are such a godsend. That is how we are getting most of the stuff we identify for decluttering. I also picked up a bag of clothes of the next size up for my baby last night so now he has a whole new wardrobe of too-big stuff instead of his former too-small stuff. I love it.

I have four paper bags lined up neatly outside my front door, all labeled with names of people who will be stopping by to pick up books or unused household things. A+

Thanks for the endorsement. I'm thinking of starting a BN in my neighborhood. Not sure how well that will go, since we are not supposed to be visiting outside our social bubbles, but maybe I can do the groundwork now and launch it in the future.

What do you think are some of the factors that make your group such a success?

[ysette9]

First, all of the handoffs are contactless. People mostly leave things in front of their front doors and then neighbors stop by to pick up. I have found it awesome in this weird time because if anything it can save people a trip to t he store.

As for the momentum... I joined established groups each time so didn’t have to get it started from zero. In my former group I saw that the admin also encouraged us to do a lending library of items, which was cool. Big garden tools and machines, folding tables and chairs for outdoor parties, and the like. That drive more traffic and interest in the group.

[oneday]

@ysette9  thanks for the feedback! Good info, I'm taking notes.

[ysette9]

I’m selling the baby’s jumperoo tonight! He mostly wasn’t interested in it for the last month so I decided to get the floor space in the living room back. Naturally, after listing it he took and interest in that toy unlike anything we had seen in a while. Oh well...

[Frugal Lizard]

All the piles of junk around the house - including four heavy duty construction bags, the carpet and underpad from two bedrooms and an old play structure are now completely gone.  They are not in the garage, or the back or the side.  Enough to fill the back seat of the car, the trunk, and a 14 foot trailer.  Yippee!

And we did it the mustachian way - borrowed a car and trailer and hauled it all ourselves.  And the metal parts all got separated and sold to the scrap guy so we got some money back.  As the dump is a flat fee we made sure the trailer was full. 

[RetiredAt63]

All the piles of junk around the house - including four heavy duty construction bags, the carpet and underpad from two bedrooms and an old play structure are now completely gone.  They are not in the garage, or the back or the side.  Enough to fill the back seat of the car, the trunk, and a 14 foot trailer.  Yippee!

And we did it the mustachian way - borrowed a car and trailer and hauled it all ourselves.  And the metal parts all got separated and sold to the scrap guy so we got some money back.  As the dump is a flat fee we made sure the trailer was full.

That is super progress!   Congratulations.

[mspym]

Poking around a bookshelf corner identified 4 cardboard sleeves, 2 plastic envelopes and about 10 misc bits of paper that can all go. Now that corner looks slightly neater. I have 3 books and a magazine to go to the street library. I should properly be more ruthless with my books. I have a pile of 30 manga and 10 books that I need to shed but I don't *quite* feel ready yet to just put them in a street library. I also recently bought some shirts and now (protests from Ofpym regardless) I will throw out the worn out shirts they are replacing.

[Prairie Gal]

Today I put a bunch more small household items in the donate box. Threw out a bunch of old nail polish, lotions and whatnot. Yesterday I listed a wall decor thing for sale on FB, but no interest so far, so I might just throw it in with the donations.

Tomorrow I am planning to take about three boxes full of stuff that are in my car to the thrift store. I just have to phone them and make sure they are accepting donations.

Do you ever feel like you just keep de-cluttering and de-cluttering and it doesn't really seem to make much difference?

[ysette9]

The problem we have identified is that things come into the house regularly through all sorts of natural processes (shopping, gifts) but there is almost no regular exit process. So mass accumulates (pitting my chemical engineering education to work there!). So decluttering might just be a constant process simply to keep up with the constant inflow.

Personally I think decluttering on a regular rhythm has to be paired with really strict thoughtfulness on what is allowed in to begin with. Easier said than done.

[oneday]

Do you ever feel like you just keep de-cluttering and de-cluttering and it doesn't really seem to make much difference?

At a certain point, you'll start to really see & feel the difference, I bet. 

Plus what ysette9 said.