Author Topic: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!  (Read 1850117 times)

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #700 on: October 12, 2014, 10:07:17 PM »
I have kids and with flu season approaching, I'm hesitant to part with sheets! haha

MsRichLife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #701 on: October 12, 2014, 10:36:06 PM »
I have kids and with flu season approaching, I'm hesitant to part with sheets! haha

Ha ha....The boy has wet two sets of sheets over the last couple of nights and now it's raining so there's no chance to dry them. Looks like I need to keep a few surplus sets for at least the next few years.

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #702 on: October 13, 2014, 12:43:07 AM »
Speaking of sheets -- I have a super-organized friend who puts the following in a pillowcase:

1 fitted sheet
1 flat sheet
1 more pillowcase

Genius, I say! Her linen closet is impeccably neat and tidy <sigh>.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #703 on: October 13, 2014, 06:36:39 AM »
Speaking of sheets -- I have a super-organized friend who puts the following in a pillowcase:

1 fitted sheet
1 flat sheet
1 more pillowcase

Genius, I say! Her linen closet is impeccably neat and tidy <sigh>.

That is a great idea!

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #704 on: October 14, 2014, 04:33:55 AM »
I decluttered a bottle of whiskey by drinking the last tiny amount (not sure why it went back in the cupboard with so little in it, but oh well). *feeling virtuous*


I'm not having much luck with selling things on Gumtree lately, so I've just been donating stuff to the Op Shop. I feel a little bad that we are giving away gifts that people gave us, but then I realise that the are just accumulating dust and it's better for someone to get some use from them.

I've given up on selling anything in this city. It's hard enough even giving stuff away.

Re gifts: if it makes you feel better, I gave away a Christmas gift last Christmas within days of receiving it. I felt briefly bad but am being ruthless with what I keep/don't keep. Haven't regretted it.

I'm dealing with abstract clutter - digital photos. Part of me would like to delete nearly all of them! Just keep some wedding ones. But somehow I can't pull the trigger. So I'm doing a half-assed deleting some in each folder. At least I have nothing older than 2009 thanks to the last big electronic decluttering I did. I've never regretted getting rid of/deleting anything so far - why can't I just live in the present?? Ugh. Brains. They overthink things.

Since I wrote this I've been imagining how great it would be if I lost everything on my hard drive (well, I'd regret a few things). So that's probably a sign to be super ruthless.

happy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #705 on: October 14, 2014, 05:07:26 AM »
I decluttered a bottle of whiskey by drinking the last tiny amount (not sure why it went back in the cupboard with so little in it, but oh well). *feeling virtuous*

I'm dealing with abstract clutter - digital photos. Part of me would like to delete nearly all of them! Just keep some wedding ones. But somehow I can't pull the trigger. So I'm doing a half-assed deleting some in each folder. At least I have nothing older than 2009 thanks to the last big electronic decluttering I did. I've never regretted getting rid of/deleting anything so far - why can't I just live in the present?? Ugh. Brains. They overthink things.

Since I wrote this I've been imagining how great it would be if I lost everything on my hard drive (well, I'd regret a few things). So that's probably a sign to be super ruthless.

LOL @whisky. Sounds like a good way to declutter.
I changed jobs earlier this year and protectively transferred my key work files onto a stick "just in case". Despite getting the IT guru to do it,  when I tried to get  to the files, there was nothing there, and my old computer had already been cleaned. My heart sunk, but its now 8 months later and I haven't missed a thing.

MsRichLife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #706 on: October 14, 2014, 06:12:34 PM »
I got rid of some digital clutter yesterday. I couldn't find what I was looking for in my email inbox so I finally decided to give it a good clean out. Deleted 2000 emails and filed 500 or so. Feels so tidy in my inbox now :)

Elderwood17

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #707 on: October 14, 2014, 07:00:49 PM »
I got rid of some digital clutter yesterday. I couldn't find what I was looking for in my email inbox so I finally decided to give it a good clean out. Deleted 2000 emails and filed 500 or so. Feels so tidy in my inbox now :)

Good job!  That is an area of clutter that gets out of hand quickly. 

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #708 on: October 15, 2014, 03:21:53 PM »
This week has been super busy in the rest of my life, not much time for decluttering.  However today I got to toss out broken flower pots, etc. at my house and then at my mother's house which was satisfying.  I drove them straight to the dump.

The urge to purge is still strong.  There were several things I needed in a hurry this week and could not find and it was very inconvenient and annoying.  I want to know where things are and to have easy access.  I could not find some specific storm supplies, and I cannot find some hardware needed to secure the house which I KNOW is in the garage…grrrrr!

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #709 on: October 15, 2014, 06:29:40 PM »
I've cleared out a lot of paperwork lately. Need to keep working on that. And convince the BF that it's time to go through his giant, heavy filing cabinet!

This weekend we'll be taking a car load of clothes, books and DVDs to an op shop. I don't understand how we haven't run out of clutter yet! I'm definitely not bringing anywhere near this volume of new stuff into the house... I must have just never realised how bad we were with clutter before the last few years.

MsRichLife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #710 on: October 15, 2014, 06:39:30 PM »
I don't understand how we haven't run out of clutter yet!

This is how I feel. We've been actively decluttering for months, but everywhere I look I see more! It's never ending.

It doesn't help that I put excess towels in a box to donate and DH takes them out and puts them back in the linen closet I just cleaned out! Arrgghhh....

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #711 on: October 15, 2014, 06:50:01 PM »
I don't understand how we haven't run out of clutter yet!

This is how I feel. We've been actively decluttering for months, but everywhere I look I see more! It's never ending.

I think part of it is that your standards change as your de-clutter... so my space is so much better now than it was two years ago, but I'm not comparing it that way. Looking around the house now 'resets' my expectation of what my house looks like, and all I can see is the clutter that needs to be gone for it to feel lighter and brighter. Of course once I get rid of that clutter my perception will reset again and I'll want to get rid of even more...

sheepstache

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #712 on: October 15, 2014, 09:14:05 PM »
Donating a too-small-pair of bowling shoes.

I came up with a trick. Whenever I'm thinking, 'I should spend 20 minutes cleaning up the apartment,' I tell myself that I can get out of it if I can think of one thing to get rid of.

horsepoor

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #713 on: October 15, 2014, 09:53:29 PM »
Tossed a plastic pitcher into the donate pile.  That pile of crap is going to the Youth Ranch (allows a state tax deduction in addition to federal) on Friday.

Used a big foam core poster I brought home from work, plus some fabric to create decorative panels for my kitchen cabinets - I've been moving that poster board around here and there for about 2 months, so it's nice to have it in its final crafty destination.

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #714 on: October 16, 2014, 02:13:03 AM »

I came up with a trick. Whenever I'm thinking, 'I should spend 20 minutes cleaning up the apartment,' I tell myself that I can get out of it if I can think of one thing to get rid of.

Loved this idea, sheepstache!

Today, I gave my 11 year old son a mandarin orange box and asked him if he could fill it with small things to give away. He said yes and so I challenged him to do it in a limited amount of time. He decided on 20 minutes, so we set the kitchen timer and off he went! Yay!

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #715 on: October 16, 2014, 02:30:20 AM »
On the weekend we made paperwork categories and worked out the flow for our physical paperwork clutter. SO bought a shredder today and nearly got the fancy large one, but we agreed the next one down would be better as it suits our long term needs. Next step is scan and shred :)
We've been working through a paperflow book that we bought for SOs dad a few years ago, it's been good to have some guidance as we set up a system that works for us.

http://www.paperflow.com.au

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #716 on: October 16, 2014, 02:38:53 AM »

There were several things I needed in a hurry this week and could not find and it was very inconvenient and annoying.  I want to know where things are and to have easy access.

This is one of my GREATEST desires! To have a place for everything, and everything in its place.

I once read an article (source?) that asked, "If the power was out in the middle of the night, would you be able to find a pair of scissors?" Of course, I just laugh at the thought...there's NO WAY I'd be able to find a pair of scissors! Yet, I have 2 good friends who answered the same question with an unqualified "YES!!" Harrumph ..... Baby steps, mama, baby steps!

Thanks for everyone who is posting their successes and challenges here -- so very motivating to me!

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #717 on: October 16, 2014, 05:08:17 AM »
We got hubby's stuff out of storage. The furniture got donated without even coming to our house -yay!!!

Now there are just the boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff. So much stuff. I'm start to feel genuine revulsion to stuff. I suspect I may retch if I get any gifts this year with the exception of consumables like alcohol.

I find it distressing how much people are in the thrall of their Stuff. I used to be. Now minimalism seems to be so deeply appealing.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #718 on: October 16, 2014, 05:36:35 AM »
Funny you should mention this, Astatine. I just made some sort of minimalist pledge to myself. I've been intermittently decluttering in a random way for over 5 years, but it feels like I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not sure how far I will go, and how fast I'll get there but I feel an increasing aversion to stuff.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #719 on: October 16, 2014, 01:38:44 PM »
You are all very inspiring.

Sheets - for adults I find one winter and one summer set are fine.  For kids, lots of backup.  We went through 4 sets one memorable night.  Historical note, before fitted sheets, people had three sheets - the bottom one went to the wash, the top one went to the bottom, the clean one went on top.  It cut down on laundry and wear, and there wasn't a huge rush to get the laundry dry - if didn't matter if line drying took more than one day, the bed was made.  There are times that I think that if I could find sheets I liked that I could just buy all "top" sheets I would go back to that.

@Fireferrets - just curious.  What is the difference between acoustic and Spanish guitar?  I thought Spanish was acoustic?  Different strings? Different tuning?


I spent most of the summer outside (have to take advantage of warm weather).  Now that winter is approaching I am really sorting and rearranging and decluttering.  DD was here for Thanksgiving and we did a bunch of things that don't need a lot of strength, but do need two sets of hands. Outdoor things that are awkward are all put away for winter.  My plant stand for house plants is set up, the plants are all spruced up and on it, and the plant stand for seedlings is set up, ready for January.

As I sort and clean each area, I am looking at what I actually use and what I thought I would use, but don't.  A lot of the things I bought when I first moved here are now surplus, and are out or on their way out.  It's so nice to have more open rooms and surfaces.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 01:47:53 PM by RetiredAt63 »

WESTOFTHEHUDSON

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #720 on: October 16, 2014, 03:57:59 PM »
I have given up on trying to sell any of the items I no longer need. I don't live in a largely populated area anyways and between waiting for an offer and waiting for people to show up (some never came and then I'd re-post), etc it was not worth my time. I finally found a non profit group that was accepting items for a grage sale fundraiser. I cleared out 3 large garbags bags of clothes/kitchen items and it felt sooo good!

I next found someone who could use my kids extra clothes toys and a younger neighbor who is able to wear some clothes and shoes and even wanted unopened hand creams,etc I had around the house. I feel like I am on a roll and it's very liberating to reduce the amount of stuff we have.

Next is to give away yarn that I haven't knitted with but have stored for over two years. I think our local library said they would take it.

Oddly enough, it still feels like a lot of stuff around the house but I might take a few weeks off and then sort through what I feel should go next.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #721 on: October 16, 2014, 04:15:43 PM »
DH and I sorted through our storage area in our apartment building. We've learned that traveling with anything but a small suitcase is terrible, so out went 4 large suitcases, and we managed to fill 3 of them with other things to get rid of too! I'm trying to sell a few things, but I'd rather get them out of the house so if they don't sell soon those will be donated too.

C. K.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #722 on: October 16, 2014, 06:08:51 PM »
....We've learned that traveling with anything but a small suitcase is terrible...

Yep. That's why if it can't fit into my Zuca, I manage without the item for trips of up to a week.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #723 on: October 16, 2014, 06:57:00 PM »
I have a few places where I donate, I no longer even try to sell. Years ago a friend ad I did a shared yard sale, and the only things that sold well were my garden plants.  So anything still good is donated, everything else is thrown out.

I have also found that for larger items, just putting them at the end of the driveway on non-garbage days works - they are usually gone in a few hours.  All this needs is decent weather - no snow, no rain.  This is on a very quiet rural road, so this technique should work anywhere.

I figure whatever it is has paid its way, I am not going to wear myself out trying to get the last few dollars out of the item.  Just because I no longer get paid for my time doesn't mean my time is not valuable. 

I have given up on trying to sell any of the items I no longer need.

norabird

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #724 on: October 17, 2014, 10:10:52 AM »
My door is literally pulling at its top hinges from the shoes I hang over the back, and many of them I rarely or never wear, so I'm going to try taking some of the pairs to re-sell. Hopefully by the time I'm able to get over there, I'll have worked myself up to being comfortable with letting go of the pairs I like and still fit but hardly wear. They definitely aren't needed by any stretch of the imagination, I just need to take some time to accept letting them go. My door would thank me I know!

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #725 on: October 17, 2014, 02:13:07 PM »
Just had to dig through my file cabinet to find some documents and ended up putting aside a whole pile to be tossed.  Whoo-hoo!  We are so close to not needing the filing cabinet at all, although it serves as a TV stand in the office so it'll stay whether it's empty or not.  I am loving Evernote as a filing cabinet alternative. 

mo paper mo problems

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #726 on: October 17, 2014, 05:12:25 PM »
We got hubby's stuff out of storage. The furniture got donated without even coming to our house -yay!!!

Now there are just the boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff. So much stuff. I'm start to feel genuine revulsion to stuff. I suspect I may retch if I get any gifts this year with the exception of consumables like alcohol.

I find it distressing how much people are in the thrall of their Stuff. I used to be. Now minimalism seems to be so deeply appealing.

We're still going. Not too many boxes left in the lounge room but the spare bedroom is full of boxes stacked higher than me.

Learn from my hubby:  THROW EVERYTHING AWAY. Do not keep stuff. Do not keep multiples of stuff you don't need. Don't buy books or DVDs. Stuff is overwhelming.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #727 on: October 17, 2014, 06:39:10 PM »
I HATE having excess stuff. Even though I've always been somewhat frugal, I am finding more and more how much crap I have accumulated over the past few years. I just took a big bag of clothes to a consignment store and have given away a lot of stuff on my local Buy Nothing group. So refreshing.

boy_bye

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #728 on: October 18, 2014, 10:04:52 AM »
it's very motivating reading about everyone else's hard work!

i signed up to participate in a designer discard sale that is going on tomorrow -- a bunch of designers/artists are getting together to have a yard-sale-type thing where we are going to sell supplies, prototypes, and anything else we have lying around our house that we want to sell. i guess the assumption is that designers will have cool stuff because it seems like a lot of people are coming.

i feel like this is a great opportunity for me to get rid of my things that are too nice/valuable to just give to the thrift store but which i am a little too lazy to try and sell on ebay or something. :) so i'm going through everything and trying to sell as much as possible.

earlier this week i went through all my clothes and pulled about probably about 50 pieces to sell, including several of the dresses i made when i was running a dressmaking company. these are beautiful little shift dresses, made from vintage and eco-friendly fabrics, so i'm still wondering where to price them. the fabrics in them alone are worth ~$20 each. i guess i will price them around $30 and be open to negotiation. there's also a lot of just normal clothes, which i'm going to price at $5 each, i think ...

i've pulled about a dozen pairs of shoes, too -- will price them at $5 each except maybe a couple of pairs that are fancy brands and practically brand new, which i'll put at $10. i've also got a small jewelry box of costume jewelry, which i'll probably price pretty low.

today my task is to go through my fabric stash and see if i can part with half of it. i also have a silhouette cameo cutting machine that i just HAD TO HAVE a couple christmasses ago but have like 0 interest in now. and i think i can also sell off the linocut printing gear i bought to make my wedding invites. it was fun to do that project, but i don't see myself doing any more.

i also have a rather large stash of silly japanese stationery with like cats hiding in food on it. i cut this in half a few years ago at a stoop sale i held in brooklyn, but i'm probably ready to cut it in half again.

so ... busy day! but i'm pumped about tomorrow. i think i can probably bring in at least a few hundred dollars. i even signed up for a square credit/debit card reader for my phone, so people can buy my shit with plastic. woo! here's to everyone taking my shit and giving me money!

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #729 on: October 18, 2014, 01:28:36 PM »
Hit a bit of a slow patch here. Trying to convince DH not just to tidy all his stuff but to sort through and see what he actually needs. Managed to get rid of a few more clothes that aren't worn recently (mine and his) so still making a bit of progress.

Madgeylou that discount sale sounds great. Great opportunity for you and the other designers to collaborate which always makes running that kind of activity much easier. Would love to know how it goes.

Zikoris

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #730 on: October 18, 2014, 04:45:21 PM »
I had a big pile of magazines I was keeping for recipes I wanted to try for months/years. One or two recipes per magazine. Last weekend I finally just ripped out the recipes, stuck them in a binder, and tossed the magazines. Bonus: now that I don't have to dig around looking for a recipe, I've actually started making them! I made two this week from the collection, a crazy good Thai green curry and some spiced roasted vegetables with pistachios (Canadian Thanksgiving side dish).

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #731 on: October 18, 2014, 06:35:08 PM »
9 full car loads of stuff to various charities and the recycle shed at the tip plus e-waste.

Still so many many boxes of crap.

There are also boxes of packing paper, 3 large boxes of rubbish (will gradually dispose of through the weekly rubbish collection and luckily our neighbour is going away next week so we can borrow his bin and fill it to the brim too), filled the recycling bin, have a huge pile of stuff for hubby to give to his friend tonight (not sure why the friend's stuff filled several boxes but there you go), gave away a grill to another friend, etc.

So much crap. Minimalism <3

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #732 on: October 18, 2014, 11:16:21 PM »
Have to get moving again next week. Just found 4-5 amazon boxes in my cupboard! Will fill and release to Thriftland!

C. K.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #733 on: October 19, 2014, 05:31:55 AM »
I volunteer at a small local organization that doesn't have much storage space, so I took it upon myself to keep their tablecloths and chair covers in my closet between events.  Now I do not have as much space as I'd like for my own items.

That was over a year ago. Sometimes I "borrow trouble," as my sister says.

Recently, they committed to some clutter busting, which means they now have the space for their own things.  I had planned to return their linens anyway this month, whether they had space or not. Now, I don't need to have that conversation.


RetiredAt63

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #734 on: October 19, 2014, 12:40:41 PM »
@Malaprop - I agree about purses - I have a summer purse, a winter purse, and a dressy purse.  It is too much trouble to keep switching purses.

I am sorting out my DD's room - really it is supposed to be the "guest" room where she is by far the most frequent guest, but others have used it.  It is definitely her room at the moment - masses of her stuff.  All gone once she gets her permanent job and a place of her own.  Well, to be totally honest, half is her stuff, and half is mine - it is a handy place to "toss things in for a bit", and then the bit turns into months.  And what is with the cache of dog food?  That is scary, since she swears up and down it was not her.  No sign of mice, at least!

When I look at the house as a whole, I realize that my usage has changed since I retired.  I no longer have a lot of school prep and marking to do, which was why I had one bedroom turned into my office.  Some of the things I do in my living room (what a multi-purpose room that room is) could move into the office, and make the living room more welcoming to visitors.  Hmm, must think about this more.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #735 on: October 19, 2014, 02:58:14 PM »
Well, the sale was really fun! I sold a lot of dresses and shoes and some fabric and some random stuff like a bike basket. I sold only a few of the primo vintage fabrics -- seemed like people were looking more for finished items than raw materials -- so I'm thinking that I might need to bite the bullet and list them on Etsy.

Everything that I didn't sell, other than the primo vintage fabrics, I drove straight to the thrift store. Eight bins down to three and $250 in my pocket. No bad.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #736 on: October 19, 2014, 08:07:12 PM »
Made great progress on the weekend. You can actually walk around in our spare room now! The main living areas are looking great, so much nicer when there's very little clutter. We took an entire car load to charity and now I can't see how we ever fit that much crap in the house.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #737 on: October 20, 2014, 05:18:30 AM »
Oh god, I read bits of this thread and got motivated to declutter ALL THE THINGS! Again.

I've been decluttering for a while... I went fairly hardcore for about 18 months before I moved to this house a year ago. I was living in a too-big house full of shit I had "inherited" from various hoarders in the family who never got rid of anything. I've been resting on my laurels for most of the past year at the new (much smaller) place, but I recently realised that there was room for improvement.

For example, books. I have now sold/donated the long-unread, the half-read, the maybe-will-read-agains, etc. I now only have one small bookcase and am determined to keep the books I own confined to that. I used to be very sentimental about books but realised recently that life is too short to read most of the stuff I've read more than once, so I got rid of it. And I've also accepted that I may never read the "classics" that I *should* read, and that's okay. Because I don't feel like reading them anyway. So I got rid of those.

Today I organised some documents, got rid of a lot of cardboard boxes left over from the move, made a list of things I should get rid of, on Gumtree or ebay or by donating to a charity.

And most importantly, I have listed two pairs of shoes on ebay and identified 6 other pairs that I will put up. I just hate taking all the photos... I am a shoe-a-holic. I have too many shoes to admit to on this forum... and some I only keep for sentimental reasons. Like a pair of heels that my ex bought me. Beautiful but no longer really "me".

*sigh*

So my goal for the next few days is to put them all up on ebay and also get rid of the now-unnecessary bookcase and a few other bits.

fallstoclimb

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #738 on: October 20, 2014, 07:09:00 AM »
My husband just decided on his own to sell 99% of his records -- about 200 of them -- and they were out the door on Sunday.  I'm shocked.  To be honest he had a bit of an emotional reaction but knew he was doing the right thing.  He almost never listened to them, and he saved the ones he had an emotional attachment to.  He was staring horrified at the empty shelf and then was like -- I'm going to look at the records I kept -- and sat and looking at them for a while LOL.  The poor guy.  Records have defined him for a very long time, but he wanted the money for his bike fund.  I DO wish he'd sold them before we moved those damn things 4 or 5 times across different apartments, but I'm proud of him for doing it at all, and with no pressure from me!  When he was having the "what have I done?" reaction I had to remind him we are not our things.  I'm a little afraid he will regret it, to be honest, but there was no reason for him to hang on to them.

We rearranged some furniture this weekend to make room for a dog bed in our bedroom, and ended up accidentally making our guest room this really streamlined, minimalist room.  I'm really happy with it and am wondering if we can do the same with the office -- it would involve getting rid of the filing cabinet, definitely doable, and the old school TV in there.  I do like being able to watch the news while working when there is some sort of major story going down, but its been over a year since I've done that....I should probably just let it go.  We'll see.   

Anti-minimalist, I do want to get some big throw pillows to turn the guest room bed into more of a daybed, but those are expensive enough it'll probably be quite a while before I actually buy them.

CU Tiger

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #739 on: October 20, 2014, 07:28:39 AM »
Congratulations to everyone who is hitting the decluttering hard - you are all so inspiring!

Yesterday I got down in the basement (The Basement of Doom) and while the laundry was washing and drying I sorted through things, reorganized some shelves so I can see what I have, and got a bunch of things to throw away/recycle/donate.

Here is where I ran into some trouble...my husband came along behind me and tried to sneak some of the stuff back into the basement. One of these items was a BROKEN dustpan....I said, "This is trash! It goes out!" In the end I prevailed and a large amount of pure-t junk left the building.

I think that we are now on the same page about the clutter. Our goal is that in the spring we are going to paint the floor with epoxy paint, for a clean look down there. We will have to get everything - EVERYTHING - out of the basement when that happens. We have about five months to reduce the amount of crap we'll have to move out and back in. I think having a reason to dejunk/declutter helps some people get stuff done.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #740 on: October 20, 2014, 09:15:10 AM »
Visited my sister this weekend.  I have new inspiration/motivation to declutter after seeing how it was impossible to walk around in her basement due to stuff/storage,
and surfaces everywhere were completely stuffed to the gills.  I'm very happy in my smaller and significantly less cluttered place.  It's more functional, looks bigger and brighter and is so much easier to keep clean!

Goals this week: Keep working through some paper clutter, and work on the digital clutter in my phone.  It's becoming evident I will need to replace it soon, so I want to only hold onto those photos I really want, not the 12 photos of the same object because it's so easy.

Zaga

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #741 on: October 20, 2014, 09:45:26 AM »

I've also cleaned out our linen closet this weekend. Undecided what to do with the excess hand towels and sheet sets we seem to have. What's a reasonable number to keep?
My opinion about this is 2 sets per bed that you use daily, and one set per bed that is used only occasionally.  Then I keep a good sized stack of pillow cases.

This seems like a good rule of thumb to me.  We upgraded to a King bed a couple years ago and now have all these Queen sheets and really only need one set for the guest bedroom.  However, that's a lot of perfectly good fabric, so I'm trying to think of some good uses for it, rather than just carting them all to the thrift store.    We actually have four sets for the king bed now; 1 set that kind of sucks and we don't use, 1 good set, 1 OK set, and now some flannel sheets for winter.  Should just get rid of that sucky set.  I tried repairing the fitted sheet once but the corners keep tearing out.

I just got done listing a couple more things on Ebay and got better photos of an item that wasn't selling.  Also used up some scrap wood and leftover foam and batting to make a nice padded seat for my tack trunk.  It's nice to see clutter being absorbed into something useful.
If you or someone you know sews, old sheets can make great fabric for basic costumes, under-dresses, lining for fancy clothes, etc.  I make medieval costumes, and save old sheets for under-dresses.  They are great because they are so wide without seams.  Depends on the fabric though, if it has torn it may be too thin/worn even in the 'good' places to still be usable.

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #742 on: October 20, 2014, 01:46:00 PM »
Hubs is going away on business this week -- this is often when I do my best decluttering. Amazon boxes are sitting in the hallway at the ready. Now its time to put on my gloves and get in the game! Go! Go! Go!

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #743 on: October 20, 2014, 01:50:24 PM »
I got rid of a 2cm pile of photos last night and this morning I will add a pair of jeans to the donation pile.

smalllife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #744 on: October 20, 2014, 02:34:53 PM »
I decluttered quite a bit of the yard work to-do list (mental clutter) this weekend.  Seeds are no longer on the dining room table, they are planted, and two manual tasks are behind me for less than I thought it would cost.

As an added bonus, I went through the linen closet and streamlined/rearranged to give myself some breathing room when I open it up. Goodwill box is ready to go!

What do you guys do with papers that need to be shredded?  We don't have enough to justify purchasing a shredder but it gets big enough to be annoying waiting for the bi-annual free days from the library.  Burn it as starter paper?  Oh! yet another reason to cross off "get/make worm composter" off my to-do list.  :-)

starbuck

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #745 on: October 20, 2014, 02:50:35 PM »
What do you guys do with papers that need to be shredded?  We don't have enough to justify purchasing a shredder but it gets big enough to be annoying waiting for the bi-annual free days from the library.  Burn it as starter paper?  Oh! yet another reason to cross off "get/make worm composter" off my to-do list.  :-)

Yea we use it as starter paper in the outdoor fire pit. You can also tear off just the confidential part of the document, and recycle the rest of the piece of paper. That way you're dealing with less overall paper to shred and dispose of.

When I had a worm composter I would shred it and give some to them using a small handheld shredder.

ender

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #746 on: October 20, 2014, 03:02:11 PM »
Posting a few things on Craigslist in anticipation of moving in December (and getting married!).

FEELS SO GOOD.

WHY HAVEN'T I DONT THIS BEFORE!

/done

Astatine

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #747 on: October 21, 2014, 03:28:10 AM »
What do you guys do with papers that need to be shredded?  We don't have enough to justify purchasing a shredder but it gets big enough to be annoying waiting for the bi-annual free days from the library.  Burn it as starter paper?  Oh! yet another reason to cross off "get/make worm composter" off my to-do list.  :-)

In January, we gave in and bought a small one for $20 at OfficeWorks. Paper is my nemesis so it helps with that and is far faster than tearing by hand to put in the recycling bin. I use the shredded paper as mulch sometimes and other times chuck it in the compost bin.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #748 on: October 21, 2014, 09:24:20 AM »
Giving my box of 72 votives left from my wedding to a non-profit I volunteer with for decor their gala.  Technically it's not in my house, as it was put in my MIL's house, but it is my clutter.

tariskat

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #749 on: October 21, 2014, 12:45:45 PM »
I trashed bathroom cabinet old / never used stuff, pulled a purse (and will pull a second if I ever find it) to donate, and have been eyeing my book collection very hard.  I'm not counting the trashed things as part of my Amazon box, though; that's all gonna be give-away items.  If I did I'd probably have filled it.  I also added to my paper bag of clothes to donate, things I saw after coming back from vacation and just thought You know what, this is adorable but I haven't worn it for over a year.