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

[slackmax]

No major decluttering but still doing great on not bringing in new things and also eating down the pantry by using up the less-often used items and not re-buying.

I'm very good at not bringing any new permanent stuff into the house.

And I'm using up a lot of foodstuff boxes, and not rebuying, since it's stuff I usually don't use, like jello, tapioca, instant iced tea, powdered milk, etc.

And I'm curating the contents of a big green mystery suitcase. So far it looks like collector item stuff, like old postcards, stamps, old coins, whatever, neatly wrapped up in individual bags, stuffed into this suitcase. I will keep the list of contents on a piece of paper inside the box. At least I will know what's in it, in the future.  And I'm counting the time spent as time decluttering. 

And I'm giving myself points for decluttering stuff from inside containers, like dresser drawers and storage boxes, since it all counts. The dresser drawer is still there taking up room, but it is a bit emptier now. It all counts.   

A lot of the decluttering work I'm doing now is not actually getting stuff out of the house (a LOT of that has been done already, though). It's rearranging, curating, using stuff up. It all counts. I keep saying that, because part of me believes that only stuff that gets out of the  house actually counts, lol.     

[oneday]

@slackmax it all counts! Drawers that are easier to find things in and put things into are a decluttering win, too.

I've been hesitant to report this here, but after your post, I'm definitely going to:

Two days ago, I took the sewing things out of the cardboard box they'd been living in and put them back in the cabinet in which they belong. This was a delayed bit of decluttering from my move in late Feb.

I didn't even get rid of the box, because I'd recently wanted a box for something, but can't remember anymore why. Box will live flattened behind my dresser for a few weeks. If I don't remember why I wanted it by 6/15, then it will go out for weekly trash collection.

Anyway, the upshot is that the walk in closed is a bit more cleared out. Decluttering win!

[slackmax]

Yes, a decluttering win, Oneday!  It all counts!

[Dutch Comfort]

Good weekend: garden trampoline was cleaned by the kids and SOLD. The kids put the cash in our Travel-jar for our next big trip. Also another children's toy sold and a few posted on buy-nothing. Hope I will have some takers, since this is very slow lately.
I now admired the empty space that the trampoline left. We did not fill this up yet. First we want to have a good think about what to do with this space. I think the teens would like to convert this into the "garden-chill-zone".......
Next big project is the garden shed. Will try to have a good clean of that next weekend. 

[zygote]

I've been on a quest to deep clean my apartment. Apparently I do not have the mental capacity to deep clean and declutter at the same time, because not much has gone other than all the dust. However, I did get rid of a tank top that doesn't fit right anymore, a knife sharpener that never worked, and a dorm-sized ice cream maker that I've never used.

[crocheted_stache]

Tackled my sock drawer this evening. Between droopy, holey, mismatched (only one), and not really the right size, I'm keeping fewer than I'm parting with. I'm going to try with the much reduced selection for a while. I may eventually get a few more of the kind I like that fits and lasts.

I even pulled a couple t-shirts, which are hard for me because they often say things I want to remember.

In general, how do folks here decide what to donate versus what to put on Buy Nothing? Is there such a thing as textile recycling for the truly worn out stuff?

There definitely is such a thing as textile recycling - what country are you in? Here in AUS, Vinnie's sell stuff they can't sell instore to the rag recyclers and H&M also take it instore.

I put everything on Facebook because I think it's got a wider reach than a charity shop. I take the odd thing there.

Anything that gets beyond wearing in our household ends up as rags for when I change the oil on the car or have sone other dirty work to do.

I looked it up for my area (California) and at least locally, the textile recycling drop-off places suspended service because of the pandemic. If they've restarted, the web page hasn't caught up.

I don't do enough mechanic work to consume all the tattered clothes as rags, but the bike co-op might when they resume in-person wrenching. I know they used to collect that stuff.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Some small progress:
-Gave away a bag full of outgrown teen clothing
-And, two giant trays of frozen spanakopita, bought before we discovered no one in our family particularly likes it.
-Used up a bunch of stuff from the fridge, freezer & garden this weekend. We have meals prepped for the week ahead, and a ton of fresh ingredients. Baked parmesan zucchini to use up a lot of fresh herbs, plus some of the glut of zucchini. Enchilada rice, to use up chicken & enchiladas lingering in the freezer. And, steak on the grill, to use up two packages of steak left over from a meal service. Oh, and crockpot carnitas, using up a pork loin that had also been languishing in the freezer.
-Also, gave away zucchini. Our zucchini plants are going crazy nuts. We can't keep up

[chaskavitch]

I finally went through my drawer of exercise clothes and pulled out all of the ones that don't fit right or that were "not bad" enough to accept from my SIL but never actually got worn.  I'm bringing them (plus an accumulation of other things) to the thrift store today over lunch.

I still have infinitely too many clothes, many of which no longer fit, because I keep storing them "just in case I want them again".  It's hard to find time to empty out my whole dresser to sort and think about it with kids home all the time.  I'm hopeful I can get more done in the next few weeks when they're back at daycare but I'm still allowed to work from home a few days a week :)

[MayDay]

Things I have done:

1. Gotten rid of a couple clothing items
2. Accidentally discovered (while searching for something else) that my H has various items he needs to go through like boots he hasn't worn in 5 years.
3. Decluttered some towels that are not aesthetically pleasing or functional

To do this weekend:
1. Go through work clothes and do seasonal switch from winter to summer, probably toss a few.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

-Gave away a shirt on Buy Nothing, and posted a dress. Will give it away this weekend.
-Sold a shirt & a Pokemon figurine on eBay

[lazycow]

@MaybeBabyMustache I would have taken that spanakopita off you in a heartbeat. Yum!!!

My daughter tackled her wardrobe of doom/shame this morning, all on her own. I had to shut my eyes (her orders) when she was ferrying multiple plastic bags full of crap to the landfill bin, even though I was itching to separate out recycling, soft plastics, etc). I had to just let it go this time. She did give me a few items of clothing to donate or send to textile recycling though.  I was allowed a tour when it was all done, and I am so very impressed with  how organised, tidy and clean everything now is. All like objects are grouped together in containers, and she even made her bed (that *never* happens!!). Am so very proud of her; it has been a work in progress for many months, and now she has a beautiful, peaceful space in which to relax and create.

Inspired by that, I am cleaning out the little shed in our vege patch. It was full of styrofoam I was hoping to recycle (no recycling drop off points within 200 km, sigh) so had to break it all down to landfill. It reminded me why I loathe buying new things: this all came from my son's workout equipment he bought a year ago. At least all the cardboard packaging in the shed can be used as a weed deterrent in the garden beds. My vision for the shed is to clean out the rest of the random crap, give it a good clean and put a deck chair in there, and it will be a lovely place to drink tea/cocktails. My husband wants to use it to put all the pool cleaning equipment and chemicals. We shall see who wins...

[Zamboni]

This past week I learned that facebook marketplace is now working much better in my local area that Craigslist, so I sold the following redundant items:
washing machine
clothes dryer
weed whacker
dog crate
squat rack, weight bench, plates
ski boots
ski poles

Had to trash another pair of ski boots that were older and had brittle plastic. Took old skis to the thrift shop after throwing the oldest of them away in the bin. I was worried the trash guys would reject my bin that had skis pointing out the top, but it all disappeared. Yay! Also donated a bunch of clothes to the thrift shop, and random stuff like holiday bowls and VCR tapes.

[meadow lark]

Hate to make it a contest, but I think I am in the lead!
My house flooded from the thunderstorms almost 3 weeks ago.  So all flooring, insulation, cloth furniture and anything not solid wood, and almost all possessions touching the floors had to be removed, plus kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinetry, and all drywall from 2’ down.  Unfortunately we had our new mattress on the floor bc the dog could no longer jump on to the bed to sleep with us.
Now just waiting for the city to come pick it up.  Flood water is full of trash, nasty stuff, dirt, and gasoline. 
Decluttering like crazy!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

In the last few days:
-Sold an outgrown hoodie on eBay
-Gave away a dress
-Somehow ordered two school yearbooks, so gave one away to another parent
-In packing for a vacation, discovered a bunch of outgrown pool/swim stuff. Gave away two sets of snorkel gear & four pair of goggles
-Sold a wand topper for an indoor water park
-Also while packing for a vacation, helped my husband declutter a couple of his drawers. This is *incredibly rare* in my house, so it was quite the victory. I'll either donate or sell whatever is there. I didn't bother sorting through it yesterday. Didn't want to slow him down. ;-)

Attempted to donate a bunch of books to the library, but they've changed their hours again & didn't update their web site.

My goal for today is to finish going through our pool storage bin, and pull out anything we no longer need/want.

[SunnyDays]

Hate to make it a contest, but I think I am in the lead!
My house flooded from the thunderstorms almost 3 weeks ago.  So all flooring, insulation, cloth furniture and anything not solid wood, and almost all possessions touching the floors had to be removed, plus kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinetry, and all drywall from 2’ down.  Unfortunately we had our new mattress on the floor bc the dog could no longer jump on to the bed to sleep with us.
Now just waiting for the city to come pick it up.  Flood water is full of trash, nasty stuff, dirt, and gasoline. 
Decluttering like crazy!

Sorry to hear that.  Must be stressful.  But at least you don't have to make a lot of decisions.  It just all goes.  (Early on in my decluttering, I may have had a thought or two along the lines of "a fire would just solve this for me.")

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Hate to make it a contest, but I think I am in the lead!
My house flooded from the thunderstorms almost 3 weeks ago.  So all flooring, insulation, cloth furniture and anything not solid wood, and almost all possessions touching the floors had to be removed, plus kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinetry, and all drywall from 2’ down.  Unfortunately we had our new mattress on the floor bc the dog could no longer jump on to the bed to sleep with us.
Now just waiting for the city to come pick it up.  Flood water is full of trash, nasty stuff, dirt, and gasoline. 
Decluttering like crazy!

Sorry to hear that.  Must be stressful.  But at least you don't have to make a lot of decisions.  It just all goes.  (Early on in my decluttering, I may have had a thought or two along the lines of "a fire would just solve this for me.")

So sorry to hear that, @meadow lark - that sounds really difficult. Sending you all of the positive vibes & good wishes, as you start fresh.

[Sibley]

Hate to make it a contest, but I think I am in the lead!
My house flooded from the thunderstorms almost 3 weeks ago.  So all flooring, insulation, cloth furniture and anything not solid wood, and almost all possessions touching the floors had to be removed, plus kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinetry, and all drywall from 2’ down.  Unfortunately we had our new mattress on the floor bc the dog could no longer jump on to the bed to sleep with us.
Now just waiting for the city to come pick it up.  Flood water is full of trash, nasty stuff, dirt, and gasoline. 
Decluttering like crazy!

Sorry to hear that.  Must be stressful.  But at least you don't have to make a lot of decisions.  It just all goes.  (Early on in my decluttering, I may have had a thought or two along the lines of "a fire would just solve this for me.")

A friend's mother is a hoarder. All tucked out of sight because it simply can't be acknowledged that she has a problem, but I've been in the basement. The single most effective decluttering happened after their basement flooded. My friend said they got a dumpster delivered and filled it, and that was after the trash got massively overflowed that week. The basement was unfinished too, so no drywall, etc. My friend is not going to have a good time when it comes time to clear the house.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Cleaned out or large outdoor "pool stuff" bin today:
-Cleaned all patio chair cushions, and got those tied onto the outdoor chairs
-Emptied the bin, and then shop vac'd it
-Went through all of the pool toys. Found a bunch that needed to be tossed or recycled
-Listed a few items on Buy Nothing
-Repacked & organized everything back in the clean bin

I also moved the bin & cleaned under it. So many leaves!

[meadow lark]

Yeah, it’s been quite the decluttering experience.  I’ve said several times, “Too bad it wasn’t a fire” so we could just have a forklift come through.

Today I decluttered the craft closet.  Anything up on a shelf wasn’t ruined by the flood, but it all has to be boxed and moved so they can do the drywall. 

Proud pic of my closet!

[meadow lark]

Light decluttering of hall closet.  I would say I half decluttered it when throwing everything in boxes and bags.  I guess I’ll declutter again when it is time to put things away.  Storing a lot in the garage until the heat rock is done.

I did bring a load of undamaged stuff to the thrift store, but most of my stuff is just going in the trash bc there is so much exhaustion / fatigue/ time crunch.  The house has to be completely clear by tomorrow am.

The only thing we are not having done is the master bathroom, bc we need at least 1 sink in the house to live here.  (But it will have to be gutted after.). It had been decluttered previously, but now it is a mess with all our stuff.

[Sibley]

Probably doesn't count, but I don't care.

I'm decluttering rocks. Previous owners were idiots and used rocks for landscaping. Except they didn't do it right, so we're talking 3-6 layers of plastic, dirt, rock, and woodchips on top. Yeah. A mess. I've been digging out rocks since I bought the house 4 years ago and I will probably be digging out rocks for as long as I own it. But I'm working on the last big area of rock, and I just got a section cleared down to dirt. Only 15 feet left!!! 

Dug out rock is piled up in the backyard until I get around to posting it as free on FB or wherever. Then some schmuck comes and hauls it away. So realistically, it won't go anywhere until the fall. Or maybe even next spring if I'm exceptionally not with it. But at least it's not in my flower beds.

[lazycow]

@meadow lark yes, you definitely win! So very sorry about the flooding. You are putting a very positive, brave face on things. All the best.

@Sibley it definitely counts! Gardening clutter is still clutter. I am about to prune the lower branches of 3 of my olive trees, so when I walk past them I don't get my hair tangled in the branches.

[SunnyDays]

Ha, I declutter my lawn pretty much every day in the summer once the wind is finished blowing all the brittle branches off my poplars.  After one major wind storm, it took me 3 days to remove the ankle deep twigs.  So I could have gotten credit for all that?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Helped/encouraged my husband to do some decluttering while we were packing for a vacation. He found four extra pair of swim trunks. Now, let it be known that I offered to help him pack, solely because we normally arrive at a destination, and he's forgotten some sort of core item...like, swim trunks. Or, underwear. This results in lots of extras & duplicates, as you can imagine.

-Found four pair of swim trunks. Will give a few pair away, sell the nicer brands
-Found two extra pair of flip flops. One fits my teen, so I can avoid buying him a new pair for our trip. I'll sell the other pair, as they've never been worn & are a fancy brand
-Three pair of shorts he's outgrown. I'll give those away
-A swim shirt that's two sizes too big. Already have someone ready to pick it up via Buy Nothing.

[Raenia]

Broke down a pile of boxes and carried a load of cardboard and paper to the recycling pickup spot.  I can now walk to the couch without stepping over anything!  Moving sucks.

[slackmax]

Recycling dudes rolled by today and took away a bunch of ancient and unused and unneeded  plastic and glass that used to be in my kitchen cabinets.     

[shadesofgreen]

Monday I rearranged my storage unit and made it much easier to get around in. I than managed to get the top of the toolbox into the car and onton the rest of the 3-tier toolbox! I am so happy and relieved to get that out of the house and away from possible toe annihilation.

I tossed some really horrible and smelly soap remints that I had been given. I also managed to drain a hand soap that the pumphead had broken off into another container so it can be used up.

[zygote]

Was deep cleaning a storage area in our kitchen, and asked my wife to tell me what she wanted to keep so I could put it all back. She's not necessarily a hoarder, but doesn't like to get rid of anything that "could be useful", so I was expecting to make room again for most of it. But she got rid of two bags of reusable bags, two bags of medical supplies for the cat that's no longer with us (it was too hard to get rid of it at the time), and a small shoe rack that we weren't really using anymore. Very pleased! It's much easier to get to the stuff we actually kept now.

[mspym]

Not our decluttering buuuut our neighbour is moving out and this means we will finally have a basement that we can easily get our car in and out of, now he's not using it to store construction equipment, including mini-digger.

[oneday]

@SheWhoWalksAtLunch that seems like a very sensible standard.

@mspym woot!!!

[SunnyDays]

Not our decluttering buuuut our neighbour is moving out and this means we will finally have a basement that we can easily get our car in and out of, now he's not using it to store construction equipment, including mini-digger.

Clearly, basements aren't the same thing in Australia as in North America.  We would never be able to get a car up and down the stairs, lol!

[Sibley]

Not our decluttering buuuut our neighbour is moving out and this means we will finally have a basement that we can easily get our car in and out of, now he's not using it to store construction equipment, including mini-digger.

Clearly, basements aren't the same thing in Australia as in North America.  We would never be able to get a car up and down the stairs, lol!

I'm curious. @mspym  please describe your basement.

[mspym]

Easy - we have a duplex and underneath is the basement garage with a sloped driveway down into it. Internal stairs go up into the houses, with little storage rooms. Our side has our bikes, our gym and the home brewing set-up. The neighbour's side (and well into the shared space) is filled with equipment for his construction business, often including a small digger.

[SunnyDays]

Easy - we have a duplex and underneath is the basement garage with a sloped driveway down into it. Internal stairs go up into the houses, with little storage rooms. Our side has our bikes, our gym and the home brewing set-up. The neighbour's side (and well into the shared space) is filled with equipment for his construction business, often including a small digger.

Aah, so more like underground parking than what we call a basement, where there are only steps inside the house.

[Sibley]

Thank you! I've seen houses that are set up like that, but I haven't called it a basement. Don't know what I would call it though. Mostly I just call it a recipe for flooding. Hopefully that isn't a problem for you.

[MountainGal]

Great job everyone!

Here, lately, I've tossed:
2 pairs of shoes, both well over 20 years old, with one more pair possibly joining them
A pair each holey socks and skivvies
A pair of holey trouser socks
Old medications (the local PD has a drop box)
A few old beauty items

Also:
A stack of egg cartons went to a neighbor
3 magazines went to a different neighbor
Baking goods were used up in 6+ dozen homemade cookies
Blueberries and strawberries were used in a keto friendly cheesecake
A neighbor's Mason jar was returned to her

And this weekend I'll declutter about a billion dust mites from cleaning the floors.  :)

[halftimer]

Finally parted with a few pairs of shoes that do not fit right. I debated selling them, but then left them labelled in the neighbourhood free space and they were claimed right away so I'm happy with that. I took a big box of jars to a friend who does seasonal canning and they gave us a few jams and pickles in exchange! I will definitely do that again.
We were gifted a care package months ago of cookies and hot chocolate and mugs. The thought was very appreciated, but I have too many mugs already and have turned a few extras into pen cups, and artful storage containers on the desk already, so these were not even needed as backups. They finally went onto the neighbourhood free space too.
One more online sale in the last week, so I'm encouraged to continue despite it being so slow.

[slackmax]

Finally figured out how to use Facebook Marketplace without a smartphone, so online sales may pick up!  I have been using Craigslist, but that seems to be yielding fewer and fewer sales as no one apparently even looks there any more, sigh.

On other news, I took two average size bags of clothes to Salvation Army today. 

[MaybeBabyMustache]

My son received a yard sign & metal holder for his middle school graduation. He has zero interest in displaying said yard sign. I posted on my local Buy Nothing, & someone was looking for a yard sign holder. Win/win.

I've also asked about any place to donate outgrown soccer uniforms. Club uniforms are $250+/each, and I have a bunch to donate. I'm hoping someone will come up with ideas, because the waste just about kills me.

I've given away all of our zucchini ahead of our vacation. We're talking 15+ zucchini, and they are all distributed to people who want them. Hurrah!

[Sibley]

My son received a yard sign & metal holder for his middle school graduation. He has zero interest in displaying said yard sign. I posted on my local Buy Nothing, & someone was looking for a yard sign holder. Win/win.

I've also asked about any place to donate outgrown soccer uniforms. Club uniforms are $250+/each, and I have a bunch to donate. I'm hoping someone will come up with ideas, because the waste just about kills me.

I've given away all of our zucchini ahead of our vacation. We're talking 15+ zucchini, and they are all distributed to people who want them. Hurrah!

Is there a club mailing list, message board, etc?

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@Sibley - the club is swapping to a different uniform. It's required by the contract with Adidas every two years, I believe. Adidas "retires" your original uniform & you have to use a new design. It's obviously a scam, so you can't repurpose/share uniforms. It's also incredibly wasteful. So, no good options for passing down within the club, as everyone needs to order the new uniforms

[Loretta]

I donated a recyclable bag full of bric a brac today.  Some spray I was gifted, a surge protector thingy, a few poor fitting shirts.

[Sibley]

@Sibley - the club is swapping to a different uniform. It's required by the contract with Adidas every two years, I believe. Adidas "retires" your original uniform & you have to use a new design. It's obviously a scam, so you can't repurpose/share uniforms. It's also incredibly wasteful. So, no good options for passing down within the club, as everyone needs to order the new uniforms

That is seriously shitty.

I would see if you could find a low income team or something and coordinate a mass donation.

[oneday]

I can finally participate again! In re-organizing the bike stuff, I found a key to a bike locker at the transit station I no longer live near. So was able to mail that back to the transit company and will get my $25 key deposit back! Woo!

[slackmax]

40% chance of rain at the flea market today, so stayed home and walked around and started a list of items to try to sell on Facebook Marketplace, since I now have an account there.   

[Loretta]

Recycled a bag of plastics today.  I am hoping to have 2 large boxes emptied out this week to clean out--I am tired out vacuuming around them!  They contain cat food from Chewy that I didn't realize would be so huge when I ordered it. 

[SquashingDebt]

An empowering decluttering this week:  I took all of my high heeled shoes to the thrift store.  I haven't worn them in several years and don't intend to ever wear heels again. I want to be comfortable at any formal events I attend, and I'm confident I'll be able to find some dressy flats or sandals to wear as needed.

[Sibley]

3 bags of stuff in the trunk to be dropped off on my way home. Thanks to road construction, I'm on the backup to the backup route and go right past the goodwill.

[lazycow]

@SquashingDebt getting rid of high heels is a fabulous feelig! I am so happy my 5 ft tall daughter doesn't feel the need to look taller than she is, and lives in Birks and Docs. My own mother insisted high heels were necessary, and I spent many years tottering around in pain. Gave them up a few years ago too and mainly go barefoot :-)

[slackmax]

Will do online research on 4 retro board games (sixties) to see if there is any interest from buyers.