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

[oneday]

The Pile Of Doom is gone! 🥳

The Pile of Doom™ is back.

The problem is I don't want to adult. So the Pile builds until I can't stand the mess.

Ah. I understand. There are times I also don't want to adult, luckily mine aren't frequent enough to cause this problem. You might find it helpful to designate 30 minutes to tackle the need-to-adult pile on a weekly basis or whatever. That limits the time spent (though you can certainly extend it once you start), yet also keeps the need-to-adult pile under control.

This would be helpful. Maybe even 30 minutes a month? Hmm....

I just discovered the Minimal Mom YouTube channel today. She has a very simple organization system for paper clutter. The thing that stood out to me was the 'Time Will Tell' basket. It's for all those coupons and flyers that you *might* use, but don't have a home. Then once a month you go through and trash/recycle the stuff you didn't use. Might be a solution for the need-to-adult pile until you get the motivation :)

I will keep this in mind as I dig into the pile more. There might be enough to justify a Time Will Tell basket.


@happy ouch, painful discovery! Let's level up out adulting together, along with all out friends on the declutter thread! :)

[MayDay]

The Pile Of Doom is gone! 🥳

The Pile of Doom™ is back.

The problem is I don't want to adult. So the Pile builds until I can't stand the mess.

Ah. I understand. There are times I also don't want to adult, luckily mine aren't frequent enough to cause this problem. You might find it helpful to designate 30 minutes to tackle the need-to-adult pile on a weekly basis or whatever. That limits the time spent (though you can certainly extend it once you start), yet also keeps the need-to-adult pile under control.

This would be helpful. Maybe even 30 minutes a month? Hmm....

I just discovered the Minimal Mom YouTube channel today. She has a very simple organization system for paper clutter. The thing that stood out to me was the 'Time Will Tell' basket. It's for all those coupons and flyers that you *might* use, but don't have a home. Then once a month you go through and trash/recycle the stuff you didn't use. Might be a solution for the need-to-adult pile until you get the motivation :)

I will keep this in mind as I dig into the pile more. There might be enough to justify a Time Will Tell basket.


@happy ouch, painful discovery! Let's level up out adulting together, along with all out friends on the declutter thread! :)

I have a friend who swears by this system. She previously struggled a lot with paper. I know there are paid options for her whole program but I think all the Sunday basket info is free.

https://organize365.com/the-sunday-basket

[SimpleCycle]

I use a slightly adapted version of Freedom Filer for my paper clutter and it works great.  The trick for me is monthly folders - it gives me a place to put "not sure if I need to keep" items along with "keep for a limited time" items, and they get purged when that month comes around again.  I think Freedom Filer recommends two years worth but I only have one year worth and that's enough.  Having a designated place to keep receipts (the monthly folder) has saved my butt a few times.  This article roughly describes it.  https://www.freedomfiler.com/pages/filing-system-university I set it up without buying any of the special products they offer - just regular hanging files and color coded tabs.  It takes about 2 minutes a month to maintain the system.

Freedom Filer only takes care of the reference part of the filing system though - I still have two paper trays on my desk, one for action items and one for unopened mail that I know is important but I haven't taken care of yet.  I love the idea of a designated day to attend to those items, will check out the Sunday Basket idea.

[oneday]

I have a friend who swears by this system. She previously struggled a lot with paper. I know there are paid options for her whole program but I think all the Sunday basket info is free.

https://organize365.com/the-sunday-basket

This system seems useful. I have good systems for archive and permanent papers. It's the action papers that are the struggle. Between Sibley's suggestion and this system, it may be time to schedule a recurring task (probably not Sunday, tho :)

I use a slightly adapted version of Freedom Filer for my paper clutter and it works great.  The trick for me is monthly folders - it gives me a place to put "not sure if I need to keep" items along with "keep for a limited time" items, and they get purged when that month comes around again.  I think Freedom Filer recommends two years worth but I only have one year worth and that's enough.  Having a designated place to keep receipts (the monthly folder) has saved my butt a few times.  This article roughly describes it.  https://www.freedomfiler.com/pages/filing-system-university I set it up without buying any of the special products they offer - just regular hanging files and color coded tabs.  It takes about 2 minutes a month to maintain the system.

Freedom Filer only takes care of the reference part of the filing system though - I still have two paper trays on my desk, one for action items and one for unopened mail that I know is important but I haven't taken care of yet.  I love the idea of a designated day to attend to those items, will check out the Sunday Basket idea.

This is complicated, but I think I do a version of it for my reference papers.  Fortunately, I do follow this advice for Trash...get rid of ASAP!

Inspired by this conversation, I've gotten the pile down quite a bit. I think the Time Will Tell basket and scheduling the work should be my next steps.

[Sibley]

FWIW, my system is:

-immediately open all mail. Discard junk. Anything that's just for filing goes into the filing pile. Anything I need to deal with gets put into the desk.
-Each weekend, I grab my checkbook and anything I need to deal with from the desk, pay bills, balance as needed, etc. If something needs dealing with during business hours, it junks up my little table by the couch so I remember to get to it.
-I divert a lot of paper from coming in by switching most bills to online only.

The desk is usually a mess, but it closes so you can't see the mess. The filing pile tends to sit until I feel like dealing with it, I need to get into the files, or am moving the file box for cleaning. Whichever comes first.

[slackmax]

You see posts in this thread when someone has not been able to sell something for a long time finally decides to give it to charity. What they really are doing is giving the organisation an expense instead of a gift.

I'll definitely think about this before I donate any unsold items. 

My assumption was that different people might want the items who don't use Marketplace or eBay.  But my goal is to get stuff to the people who want/need it - not to contribute money to an organization through a donation of things.

Sometimes it just takes a while to find a buyer.  Yesterday I sold something that I had listed on eBay 2 years and 2 months ago!  Since I started decluttering with no end-date, I can hang out and wait for that to happen.  Hopefully reducing the amount of trash I have to deal with when I finally move.

There are plenty of things the Salvation Army would want, and be able to sell, that simply don't sell at flea markets or garage sales.

One example is 3 ring paper binders. You see them for sale at Walmart for $3 to $5 apiece. I have sold some of these for 50 cents at a flea market last year. This year no one wants them, for some reason.

But at least I know I can get rid of them by donation to the S.A.  I have actually seen a guy buying one of these binders at a Goodwill store  at the register. It was $1, I think.     

I don't worry too much about whether the donated item will have to be thrown out. At least it will probably be in a full dumpster, so the diesel fuel burned to hoist the dumpster around will be efficiently used, lol. 

[NotJen]

There are plenty of things the Salvation Army would want, and be able to sell, that simply don't sell at flea markets or garage sales.

One example is 3 ring paper binders. You see them for sale at Walmart for $3 to $5 apiece. I have sold some of these for 50 cents at a flea market last year. This year no one wants them, for some reason.

But at least I know I can get rid of them by donation to the S.A.  I have actually seen a guy buying one of these binders at a Goodwill store  at the register. It was $1, I think.     

I don't worry too much about whether the donated item will have to be thrown out. At least it will probably be in a full dumpster, so the diesel fuel burned to hoist the dumpster around will be efficiently used, lol.

I sold a ton of 3-ring binders in February - a garbage bag-full of them through FB Marketplace.  I had them listed as "as many as you want" for $5, and someone wanted them all - I was happy to be rid of them.

I assume that thrift shops can sell things for less than I'm willing to - the effort for me to sell something for $1 is probably more than it's worth for me and the buyer, but people shopping at a thrift shop would be more willing to purchase these things in combination with others.

Since my last update, I've sold another 4 things on Marketplace by offering shipping and increasing my "audience".

[Cassie]

Locally our thrift stores won’t accept china cabinets, armoires and entertainment centers because they cannot sell them.

[PMG]

I took the apple box back to the orchard when I was in the area for something else.  Alas. They are out of apples for the season but that means we won’t have any more boxes hanging around the house.

[Goldielocks]

I am now trying to sell our workshop full of wood tools.   At least the tools worth $40-$200 at bargain used prices.  There are a lot, as we are moving to a place without a workshop space.   Normally I would have a tool garage sale, but with Covid, any ideas?  CL will take a long time and they are too heavy to reasonably ship.

[SunnyDays]

Locally our thrift stores won’t accept china cabinets, armoires and entertainment centers because they cannot sell them.

People don’t want armoires?  Huh.  I love them - they create so much more floor space than a dresser and hold tons of stuff.  China cabinets and entertainment centres I can understand.

[slackmax]

I am now trying to sell our workshop full of wood tools.   At least the tools worth $40-$200 at bargain used prices.  There are a lot, as we are moving to a place without a workshop space.   Normally I would have a tool garage sale, but with Covid, any ideas?  CL will take a long time and they are too heavy to reasonably ship.

Those tools are the sort of thing that would sell quickly at a flea market, if you have any nearby.

By the way, I don't see why you couldn't have an outdoor yard sale to sell them, with social distancing and masks on. Are yard sales prohibited where you live?

And you might get lucky with Craigslist, if you give it a try.

Good luck.

[oneday]

[snip]

I had been looking for a different paper in the paper stack (only one stack these days, woot!), and felt up to dealing with these & another envelope that arrived not too long ago.

Ha, ha! Two years ago, I was so excited to have just *one* stack of papers. Now with hedonic adaptation, I'm irritated to have one whole stack of papers.

FWIW, my system is:

-immediately open all mail. Discard junk. Anything that's just for filing goes into the filing pile. Anything I need to deal with gets put into the desk.
-Each weekend, I grab my checkbook and anything I need to deal with from the desk, pay bills, balance as needed, etc. If something needs dealing with during business hours, it junks up my little table by the couch so I remember to get to it.
-I divert a lot of paper from coming in by switching most bills to online only.

The desk is usually a mess, but it closes so you can't see the mess. The filing pile tends to sit until I feel like dealing with it, I need to get into the files, or am moving the file box for cleaning. Whichever comes first.

I definitely get rid of junk ASAP and also have all bills not only delivered online, but paid automatically.

Made good progress today.

• Paperwork from opening a checking account discarded or filed*
• Paperwork from turning slides into USB discarded or stored with USB*
• AAA's magazine flipped thru & discarded
• Almost-used-up notebook excavated & put back into "to use" pile
• Random paperwork filed*

*adulting delayed

[Goldielocks]

I am now trying to sell our workshop full of wood tools.   At least the tools worth $40-$200 at bargain used prices.  There are a lot, as we are moving to a place without a workshop space.   Normally I would have a tool garage sale, but with Covid, any ideas?  CL will take a long time and they are too heavy to reasonably ship.

Those tools are the sort of thing that would sell quickly at a flea market, if you have any nearby.

By the way, I don't see why you couldn't have an outdoor yard sale to sell them, with social distancing and masks on. Are yard sales prohibited where you live?

And you might get lucky with Craigslist, if you give it a try.

Good luck.

Not prohibitted, but people are on stepped up "locked down" - masks in public are mandatory, told not to socialize outside of your household for a few weeks, eliminate non-essential travel.  My guess is to flatten the curve before christmas season is here.  It will be hard to keep people apart for all of the holiday.

[Prairie Gal]

I went through two dresser drawers today and donated a bunch of tshirts and bras that were still good (ie never worn), and threw out the rest.

I am counting this as decluttering, since I used something I had instead of buying something new. I needed an impossible skinny (15") side table for my guest bedroom. After scouring used sites and not finding anything suitable, I looked around in my basement and found a crate that will do in a pinch. It's not really tall enough, but it will be better than nothing.

[PMG]

@Prairie Gal I’ve also got a crate for a night stand that is too short. I built a foundation for it out of books and brought it right up to bed height. I like to think it looks creative and not cheap. ;)

[okisok]

Dropped off the trunkload at Goodwill the next day like I said I would. Major progress there!
Came home and immediately filled some more bags. I'm getting into the sentimental stuff and gifted items now, which is a harder layer. I continue to watch decluttering and minimalist videos on YouTube, which is helping.
I've still got the pile of items I'll try to sell on the kitchen table. Need to get motivation to actually post them. I have $164 more dollars to meet my sales goal this year and the tableful will help.
The mattress was picked up by the charity. They left the moving blanket behind so I trashed it.
Cleaned out the junk drawer and it only has a handful of items. I only have 4 drawers in my kitchen--I can't afford space for junk!

[SimpleCycle]

16 things gifted on Buy Nothing - 14 gone and 2 awaiting pickup.

Have some other donations I'll take care of this week - outgrown diapers and diaper doublers for a food bank and eyeglasses to the Lions Club.

I also found two LED lightbulbs to return to the home store, so that'll be something out of the house and a little money back.

Honestly I've made a ton of progress on decluttering - the difficult part is maintenance of neat and organized living spaces.  I've been working on the kids and picking up.  We've got a long way to go, but I'm counting any progress as a win.

[MayDay]

16 things gifted on Buy Nothing - 14 gone and 2 awaiting pickup.

Have some other donations I'll take care of this week - outgrown diapers and diaper doublers for a food bank and eyeglasses to the Lions Club.

I also found two LED lightbulbs to return to the home store, so that'll be something out of the house and a little money back.

Honestly I've made a ton of progress on decluttering - the difficult part is maintenance of neat and organized living spaces.  I've been working on the kids and picking up.  We've got a long way to go, but I'm counting any progress as a win.

Does anyone have advice on how to teach this? I am naturally a picker upper/putter awayer. If I have something in my hand I don't drop it on the nearest horizontal surface, I put it away (or at the very least contain it to a "things I need to put away" pile.

I was helping my son with his room yesterday, he is 13. He walked his book to his room and dropped it on his bed. The correct "put away" place is 2 feet to the right on the top of his bookshelf. It would take literally 0 more time to set it two feet to the right. Then it would be done! I don't know how to teach this to him, all my attempts have failed. Maybe I just can't because his brain doesn't work like that?

[former player]

16 things gifted on Buy Nothing - 14 gone and 2 awaiting pickup.

Have some other donations I'll take care of this week - outgrown diapers and diaper doublers for a food bank and eyeglasses to the Lions Club.

I also found two LED lightbulbs to return to the home store, so that'll be something out of the house and a little money back.

Honestly I've made a ton of progress on decluttering - the difficult part is maintenance of neat and organized living spaces.  I've been working on the kids and picking up.  We've got a long way to go, but I'm counting any progress as a win.

Does anyone have advice on how to teach this? I am naturally a picker upper/putter awayer. If I have something in my hand I don't drop it on the nearest horizontal surface, I put it away (or at the very least contain it to a "things I need to put away" pile.

I was helping my son with his room yesterday, he is 13. He walked his book to his room and dropped it on his bed. The correct "put away" place is 2 feet to the right on the top of his bookshelf. It would take literally 0 more time to set it two feet to the right. Then it would be done! I don't know how to teach this to him, all my attempts have failed. Maybe I just can't because his brain doesn't work like that?

I think the error here is thinking that "putting away" is a separate task from what has gone before.  What you might try teaching is that the job (whatever it is, and it might just be finishing reading his book for the day) is not complete until everything is ready for you to start the next job, or re-start the same job.  So if you have read a chapter of the book the job of reading is finished not when you finish reading the book but when the book is where it belongs and can be picked up from its proper place to start reading the next chapter.  Similarly, undressing is not completed when the clothes are off, it is completed when the clothes are in the proper place for their next use, either in the laundry hamper or put away ready to be brought out again when needed.  Taking out the trash is only completed when a new trash bag is in the bin.

I learnt this when reading something about how a tradesman, such as a carpenter or mechanic, works.  If you treat putting tools back where they belong once a job is done then you are always ready for the next job, you never lose or accidentally break or damage your tools.  I found it an enormously useful reframing of how to get things done.  It sounds to me as though its something you do naturally, in fact you do it so naturally you haven't realised its something that needs to be taught to most people.

[NotJen]

I was helping my son with his room yesterday, he is 13. He walked his book to his room and dropped it on his bed. The correct "put away" place is 2 feet to the right on the top of his bookshelf. It would take literally 0 more time to set it two feet to the right. Then it would be done! I don't know how to teach this to him, all my attempts have failed. Maybe I just can't because his brain doesn't work like that?

I don’t have kids, but I remember being one.  My room was always a disaster (part of it might have been having to share with my sister and not having full control).  But I turned into a tidy person as an adult.  We did have to clean our room periodically, but were not harped on to keep it tidy.  We also had lots of chores to help out around the house, so we learned about cleaning even if we weren’t choosing to do it on our own at that point.  I wouldn’t worry about it too much, eventually what you’re teaching will have an impact.

I’m still mystified about which of my things sell quickly.  Yesterday I listed a coaster set (no box, but never really used), and it sold in an hour!  I’m also setting out a mirror to be picked up - yay for a larger item gone.

[Frugal Lizard]

Yesterday we had a huge snowfall.  Perfect snow for making snow sculpting and snow ball fights. All the snow pants got tried on - three pairs don't fit anyone.

[Plina]

I was helping my son with his room yesterday, he is 13. He walked his book to his room and dropped it on his bed. The correct "put away" place is 2 feet to the right on the top of his bookshelf. It would take literally 0 more time to set it two feet to the right. Then it would be done! I don't know how to teach this to him, all my attempts have failed. Maybe I just can't because his brain doesn't work like that?

I don’t have kids, but I remember being one.  My room was always a disaster (part of it might have been having to share with my sister and not having full control).  But I turned into a tidy person as an adult.  We did have to clean our room periodically, but were not harped on to keep it tidy.  We also had lots of chores to help out around the house, so we learned about cleaning even if we weren’t choosing to do it on our own at that point.  I wouldn’t worry about it too much, eventually what you’re teaching will have an impact.

I’m still mystified about which of my things sell quickly.  Yesterday I listed a coaster set (no box, but never really used), and it sold in an hour!  I’m also setting out a mirror to be picked up - yay for a larger item gone.

Where does he put the book when he goes to bed? I have adopted the strategy to put everything away  before going to bed. It takes me about five minutes every evening to put things in their place if I haven’t immediately put everything away.

[PMG]

We completed several wood working projects over the weekend using up wood we had stored, improving storage spaces, AND we even put the tools away promptly afterward!  I rebuilt nicer, prettier legs for our dining table.  My spouse moved a shelf on his office bookshelf so that now it is spaced appropriately to hold his tall binders.  I built a not very pretty but perfectly useful bookshelf for my home office space.  All from things we had on hand.

This lead to a good clean up and putting away of things and the house feels so nice today. I'm still working on organizing my work space, but it's already such an improvement.

[SunnyDays]

@MayDay, I use the strategy of “like goes with like,” so all the books are in one place.  To your son, putting away might be completed as long as his things are in his room.  And he is a 13 year old boy, so that might be all you can expect from him.  As long as it’s not creating work for you, maybe it’s good enough?

[slackmax]

Found some dusty and grimey areas on kitchen counter while looking for stuff to move or throw out. Cleaned that area with dish deterg and water, then noticed fridge door seal was (and has been) awfully grimey also, so wiped it clean with paper towel and water.

Rediscovered a 32 ounce tub of frozen peaches, now thawed, in fridge.  Totally brown, yuch, even though seal still intact. Instructions say they are only good for 5 days in fridge after thawing (who knew?) , and they are waaaay past that, so I feel entitled to just toss them out, and will feel mainly good about it.

 Found 2 packets some powdered drink called Postum. Made one up with hot water. Didn't like it, poured it out. Yes! You can do it, Slackmax! Go, Go !  I then tossed out the remaining unopened packet. And recycled the small glass jar they were in.

[PMG]

@slackmax I grew up with a parent hoarder. Every time you post a success I feel a bit of that struggle and feel like I know a bit about how long and hard your journey is.  You are doing so much. It’s wonderful.

[oneday]

Yes! You can do it, Slackmax! Go, Go ! 

+1

:)

[okisok]

Way to go @slackmax! You deserve to have tasty, healthy food. No sense keeping foodstuffs you don't like.

Put an end table, storage container, and throw pillow on the curb. Put an air mattress and its storage tub on Buy Nothing. Several asks, we'll see who takes it away.

Sold a board game on Marketplace today and the buyer is on their way. Listed three more items. I keep telling myself it's perfect timing with gift buying season coming up, so many people will be looking

Used up four containers of lotions and other toiletries this week.

Pulled a quart bag of costume jewelry that was nice enough to donate, threw away the worn or broken stuff. Now it's down to what I actually wear, which is very little. I'm eyeing another necklace that may be too far gone to save. Tossed out the weird phone-cord-like ponytail holders that do not work for me. Tossed all the stretched out ponytail elastics and put a new package in my Amazon cart to add to my next order.

I don't make a grocery list on scratch paper anymore. I open my Instacart app or the Amazon app and immediately add the item to my cart. Then when I'm ready to order, everything is already there and doesn't have to be transferred from paper. Was able to throw all the scrap paper I saved for grocery lists away. Decided to clean out the entire junk drawer and rehome the few items I wanted to keep. Now it's a serving utensils drawer! My kitchen is too small for junk.

Feeling very motivated from watching The Minimal Mom's YouTube videos!

[slackmax]

PMG, oneday, and okcisok,  Thanks for the encouragement!   :) 

[diapasoun]

Towel, blanket, pillow taken from old home and intended as donation... successfully donated. YES.

[SunnyDays]

I’m proud of you Slackmax!  Has my nagging paid off?

[MayDay]

Thanks all for the ideas on messy 13 year olds. I have been harping on "the task is not finished until ______" for awhile. In particular for trumpet practice- he has a log that he has to turn in for his band grade. Trumpet practice is not done until you write on your log!. Lol. This doesn't work. Every day I still send him back to his room to write on his log.

I think the advice to just give up is probably best.

In decluttering news I cleaned out the kitchen junk drawer. We had 4 highlighters in the kitchen. WHY.

[slackmax]

I’m proud of you Slackmax!  Has my nagging paid off?

I guess so, lol. 

[SunnyDays]

I’m proud of you Slackmax!  Has my nagging paid off?

I guess so, lol. 

Well then, I consider my job done!  (Dusts off hands.)

[Sibley]

Decluttered the cupboard of the cornbread mix. Yummy.

Also gave most of a bag of charcoal to my friend when I went over to say hi today. I have a mini grill, but I don't use it. I have it for other people to grill on it. I don't need to store a bag of charcoal, this is at most a once a year thing. There is another bag in the garage, but it is less readily accessible so I left it for now.

[Sibley]

Another day... more decluttering! I am working on figuring out digestive problems with the cat. I suspect food intolerance, so am trying different foods. Dropped off a bag of wet food that was rejected/I think are problems to the shelter.

[happy]

I have been harping on "the task is not finished until ______" for awhile.

This...I never realised that I habitually don't complete the task in terms of putting things away routinely.  I mean I'm not a slob, but a lot of my clutter is because I didn't put x,y or z away when I'm finished using it. Often I'm in a hurry and think I will get that later.  And so forth with a variety of excuses. I'm practicing "finish the task"...eg new item comes into house...needs to be unpacked, packaging disposed of, and a place needs to be found for it to live.  Mail: open, dispose of excess paper/plastic covering/deal with contents. I had a pile of items I decided to declutter sit on my kitchen island for 2 months....doh! I didn't really declutter them, just displayed them!

[lazycow]

Went op shopping this morning and bought a cornflower blue running top and multicoloured long cardigan, so came home and put 2 grey tops and 2 cardigans in the donation bag. I had been gravitating to grey clothes which wash me out and are so boring so am swapping them for colour. And I get such a rush from doing the '1 thing in, 2 things out' shuffle.

The school year is over, so I will sort through my son's textbooks and see what I can sell. He has no need for his ridiculously expensive Texas Instruments calculator so I will sell that too. Only 1 more year of school to go!

Next up is going through the bookselves again as I have bought a few 2nd hand and new books for my birthday. Books are my kryptonite so it will only be 1 for 1.

[oneday]

Posting for accountability: Room Mate and I share a hobby.  Today we jointly decluttered our hobby accessories. Not a lot volume wise, but nice to clear out unused bits. I also got to reorganize my hobby cupboard; it is pleasing and more functional.

I have volunteered to advertise the items to the hobby group and handle the distribution.  Tomorrow!

Also tomorrow: finish seasoning the cast iron so it can be put away rather than cluttering up the countertop.

Done! The items are listed and the pan is more or less seasoned.  Woo!

Well not all the hobby items were claimed, so I finally posted in another forum and they are claimed! Posting for accountability: will arrange no-contact drop off this weekend.

[mspym]

I turned flat beer (didn't quite seal completely) into delicious beer bread, which we ate for dinner.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Sold car mats for a car we no longer have. $20 in, junk out of the garage.
-Gave away a puzzle as soon as we finished it, via BuyNothing
-Listed other car mats on local neighborhood swap. (I'm not in charge of buying car accessories, but it appears we have too many!)
-Teenager has outgrown pants (it's finally pants season again, after ~8 months), so I listed a pair on eBay. Unfortunately, had to order new pants, so not really clutter out, but at least not storing things we don't need

[MayDay]

Went op shopping this morning and bought a cornflower blue running top and multicoloured long cardigan, so came home and put 2 grey tops and 2 cardigans in the donation bag. I had been gravitating to grey clothes which wash me out and are so boring so am swapping them for colour. And I get such a rush from doing the '1 thing in, 2 things out' shuffle.

The school year is over, so I will sort through my son's textbooks and see what I can sell. He has no need for his ridiculously expensive Texas Instruments calculator so I will sell that too. Only 1 more year of school to go!

Next up is going through the bookselves again as I have bought a few 2nd hand and new books for my birthday. Books are my kryptonite so it will only be 1 for 1.

I saved my TI graphing calculator for unknown reasons..... Never would have thought the current models would be exactly the same! Now my 13 year old is using it for Algebra. Not that I am advocating saving them for another 20 years haha.

[NotJen]

Went op shopping this morning and bought a cornflower blue running top and multicoloured long cardigan, so came home and put 2 grey tops and 2 cardigans in the donation bag. I had been gravitating to grey clothes which wash me out and are so boring so am swapping them for colour. And I get such a rush from doing the '1 thing in, 2 things out' shuffle.

The school year is over, so I will sort through my son's textbooks and see what I can sell. He has no need for his ridiculously expensive Texas Instruments calculator so I will sell that too. Only 1 more year of school to go!

Next up is going through the bookselves again as I have bought a few 2nd hand and new books for my birthday. Books are my kryptonite so it will only be 1 for 1.

I saved my TI graphing calculator for unknown reasons..... Never would have thought the current models would be exactly the same! Now my 13 year old is using it for Algebra. Not that I am advocating saving them for another 20 years haha.

Love my TI from ~1994.  I used it through college (engineering) and during my career, though most of the functions were overkill.  Still have it sitting next to me at home, and use it daily, though usually just for simple math that any calculator could do (but I've never had to buy a calculator since I have this one from my parents).

[RetiredAt63]

I still have an old calculator.  I don't use it much but can't bear to ditch it.  I have a slide rule, totally sentimental, it was my Dad's  (electrical engineer).

[SunnyDays]

Joining the TI calculator club!  Still have mine from stats classes 30 odd years ago and still use it regularly.

[oneday]

Went op shopping this morning and bought a cornflower blue running top and multicoloured long cardigan, so came home and put 2 grey tops and 2 cardigans in the donation bag. I had been gravitating to grey clothes which wash me out and are so boring so am swapping them for colour. And I get such a rush from doing the '1 thing in, 2 things out' shuffle.

The school year is over, so I will sort through my son's textbooks and see what I can sell. He has no need for his ridiculously expensive Texas Instruments calculator so I will sell that too. Only 1 more year of school to go!

Next up is going through the bookselves again as I have bought a few 2nd hand and new books for my birthday. Books are my kryptonite so it will only be 1 for 1.

I saved my TI graphing calculator for unknown reasons..... Never would have thought the current models would be exactly the same! Now my 13 year old is using it for Algebra. Not that I am advocating saving them for another 20 years haha.

I was able to use this to my advantage! Saved mine for and used during college, which took me over a decade to complete. Was still able to sell it for decent coin, since it was still virtually the same as newer models.

[okisok]

Air mattress was picked up. The very next day, SO mentioned he could use my air mattress for something. I pointed out that I'd saved it for 5 years and we didn't use it, and I had given it away *the day before*. He shrugged and said, ok then, no worries. It wasn't even important enough to go buy one for what he had in mind. Moral of the story--don't keep things just in case!

Have two more bags of donations by the back door waiting to fill completely before I take them to the donation center.

[Goldielocks]

Air mattress was picked up. The very next day, SO mentioned he could use my air mattress for something. I pointed out that I'd saved it for 5 years and we didn't use it, and I had given it away *the day before*. He shrugged and said, ok then, no worries. It wasn't even important enough to go buy one for what he had in mind. Moral of the story--don't keep things just in case!

Have two more bags of donations by the back door waiting to fill completely before I take them to the donation center.

Ack.  About 2 months ago, I had a pile of misc. metal "free for pickup".  It included a large amount of house wiring (new), on partial spools from a home reno 10 years ago. Even some heavy stuff for a stove circuit. We are selling the home and don't want to store it anymore.   The day after it was picked up, I opened the wall where I was adding a closet door (for resale) and saw that a mystery wire was in the wall-- that needed rerouting and a new junction box.   

I had to run out to buy 20 ft of house wire.  At least I still had one junction box left behind.   I am still glad to have gotten it out of the house and the lucky person who got $300 worth of wiring for free was very happy.

[Sibley]

After I ran all my errands yesterday, a bunch more popped up so I was out again today. Not my plan! But I did deliver the big bag of cat food that I forgot to take to the shelter yesterday. 20lb bag of dry food, out! (accidently ordered the wrong kind, don't want to deal with returning to Chewy.)

also caulked in the book room, threw out an empty tube of caulk. Will finish up the rest of the caulk in the utility room.