Author Topic: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!  (Read 1850087 times)

Zamboni

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #850 on: December 06, 2014, 07:55:50 AM »
Donated some food to the local food drive today.

Next on my list is the green sofa.  Ugh, green sofa.  I just hope that the thrift shop people will think it's good enough to take away.

sheepstache

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #851 on: December 06, 2014, 08:22:01 AM »
Yeah, I was a bit impressed by how it turned out on my end. My GF still gets super defensive, and absolutely refuses to de-clutter or have a conversation about it. Turns into an argument every time. That being said, every time I get more of my stuff ready to throw away, cleared out, or ready to go to goodwill, some other stuff magically appears, and some of the rooms are getting a bit cleaner outside of what I do, and things start to have a permanent place where they are put away. Maybe it is like a virus. :-)

It's too bad my GF hates de-cluttering. ;-)

Sounds like she doesn't hate it; she just hates agreeing to it with you. So she comes around when she's not feeling pressured. Win-win. :)

Yeah. I'm realizing that's kind of the deal. Seems useless to me. I either need to figure out how to fake argue so she gets the point and I don't get worked up, or find a new GF.

But maybe you're being mean or bossypants in the course of arguing and that's what she's resisting? I mean, I wouldn't assume that from how you talk about it, but it's a possibility to consider.

As you say, you do get 'worked up' and if she gets stressed out about the idea of getting rid of things, your emotional state adds more stress on top of that. She may just not feel capable of making decisions under those conditions so she withdraws and does it on her own later.

People who don't like to get rid of stuff are fearful of the huge feelings of regret they get from losing or getting rid of something that they find they want later and they'll go to great lengths to avoid that feeling. So no matter what small amount of well-meaning pressure you apply may be too much for her to feel she can make decisions in that moment.

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The secret hoarder on the thread
« Last Edit: December 06, 2014, 08:24:17 AM by sheepstache »

smalllife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #852 on: December 06, 2014, 10:09:06 AM »
I have a grocery bag ready to go with extra towels and various items, a cork board that held my also-being-donated jewelry, and a picture that I've had since college.  In getting rid of the picture I've also decluttered a to-do list item: putting pictures in a collage frame that's been on the floor in the living room.  It's a stop gap, but it's done!  My sister is coming over for something unrelated so I'll offer her the jewelry before taking it to goodwill.

TeresaB

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #853 on: December 06, 2014, 02:30:26 PM »
Yeah, I was a bit impressed by how it turned out on my end. My GF still gets super defensive, and absolutely refuses to de-clutter or have a conversation about it. Turns into an argument every time. That being said, every time I get more of my stuff ready to throw away, cleared out, or ready to go to goodwill, some other stuff magically appears, and some of the rooms are getting a bit cleaner outside of what I do, and things start to have a permanent place where they are put away. Maybe it is like a virus. :-)

It's too bad my GF hates de-cluttering. ;-)

Sounds like she doesn't hate it; she just hates agreeing to it with you. So she comes around when she's not feeling pressured. Win-win. :)

Yeah. I'm realizing that's kind of the deal. Seems useless to me. I either need to figure out how to fake argue so she gets the point and I don't get worked up, or find a new GF.

But maybe you're being mean or bossypants in the course of arguing and that's what she's resisting? I mean, I wouldn't assume that from how you talk about it, but it's a possibility to consider.

As you say, you do get 'worked up' and if she gets stressed out about the idea of getting rid of things, your emotional state adds more stress on top of that. She may just not feel capable of making decisions under those conditions so she withdraws and does it on her own later.

People who don't like to get rid of stuff are fearful of the huge feelings of regret they get from losing or getting rid of something that they find they want later and they'll go to great lengths to avoid that feeling. So no matter what small amount of well-meaning pressure you apply may be too much for her to feel she can make decisions in that moment.

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The secret hoarder on the thread

I will out myself here as a non-secret hoarder. And what Sheepstache is saying is absolutely true. I can't stand to talk about decluttering with my husband. I know that I need to get rid of lots of stuff, and I actually am making progress on my own, but my husband has a tendency to approach it in a very one size fits all way, for example: "You haven't opened that box since we moved in, so we should just recycle it all because you clearly don't need anything in it." That makes me run to the other extreme and dig in my heels: "No I'm sure everything in it is valuable and important. Even if I haven't needed it recently I am sure I will need it soon." In reality it's somewhere in the middle: Probably 95% of the box can be recycled, but there are some things in there that are worth hanging on to (like my college diploma), so it does need to be sorted through. But it's hard for me to acknowledge that when he's in full-on THROW AWAY ALL THE THINGS mode, because it just puts me into "keep the broken fragment of china in case I ever buy a broken plate that has exactly that piece missing" mode.

I also tend to declutter in layers in a way that my husband doesn't. He takes a category and is ruthless about getting rid of lots of stuff. I'm much more likely to get rid of a few things from multiple categories every few months. In the fall, I sorted through my clothes and my kitchen stuff, and now I'm thinking that there are still some things in my dresser and in my cabinets that I don't really use and could get rid of. I'll probably sort through them before Christmas and then do the whole thing again next spring. My husband will probably say something like "Why haven't you gotten rid of that before if you've never used it?" but it's because it really has taken me six months of marriage to realize that I don't make shortbread and don't need the special shortbread baking dish. (Actually, he will probably say, "What is that? I didn't even know we had it." LOL)

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #854 on: December 07, 2014, 01:33:52 PM »
Thought the Christmas lights were in the Christmas box, but turned out not.  In the hunt for them, I went through two bins I've been intending to go through "when I had time".  Things I boxed up when I moved into my husband's apartment back in late 2010.  Not surprisingly, I found a bunch of things to toss and donate.  I culled it down to less than half a box, most of which is sentimental that I might be able to relinquish at another time.  Just waiting to hear back if my college aged cousin wants any of the kitchen items before I donate them.  And a hat tip in thanks to my mom, who stayed over last night (we had an unexpectedly full house with last minute visitors of my nephew, his dog, and my parents) for offering to help me go through the bins while we were down there and looking through them.

halftimer

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #855 on: December 07, 2014, 03:36:36 PM »
Donated 3 big boxes last week, then sorted through another layer of stuff, and posted 7 online sales. Some of these are groups of similar items, so if it all goes that will be another 20 things gone. First item sold today, happy to have the $ in my pocket even though it was a small sale. Secretly, I want to make a little money back and free up the space because I have been unusually spendy (for me) in the last few weeks. And I still have a few things I want to buy this week...

horsepoor

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #856 on: December 07, 2014, 08:54:54 PM »
Today someone finally bought one of the two Levi's sherpa jackets from my husband's teenage years, which my MIL foisted upon us when we were visiting over the summer.  Books have not been moving on Amazon, so I probably need to just suck it up and lower the price.  The more the clutter is cut down, the more I'm inclined to just sell stuff cheaply to get it out of the house.  It helps that I've been doing some work around the house replacing the kitchen floor, ripping out an ugly 1970's railing and replacing beat up old baseboards. Things seem more orderly, so the clutter sticks out even more than before, when the main living area looked more chaotic due to half-finished projects.

C. K.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #857 on: December 08, 2014, 03:27:54 AM »
Today someone finally bought one of the two Levi's sherpa jackets from my husband's teenage years, which my MIL foisted upon us....

Sounds like you're not the only one getting rid of clutter. :)

jordanread

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #858 on: December 08, 2014, 06:49:49 AM »
But maybe you're being mean or bossypants in the course of arguing and that's what she's resisting? I mean, I wouldn't assume that from how you talk about it, but it's a possibility to consider.

As you say, you do get 'worked up' and if she gets stressed out about the idea of getting rid of things, your emotional state adds more stress on top of that. She may just not feel capable of making decisions under those conditions so she withdraws and does it on her own later.

People who don't like to get rid of stuff are fearful of the huge feelings of regret they get from losing or getting rid of something that they find they want later and they'll go to great lengths to avoid that feeling. So no matter what small amount of well-meaning pressure you apply may be too much for her to feel she can make decisions in that moment.

Signed,
The secret hoarder on the thread

Yeah, I thought about that, but I am almost always pretty chill. I do get worked up when she gets upset and starts accusing me of wanting to trash all of her stuff. What did I do exactly? While cleaning a room, I asked (very nonchalantly): "Hey, I didn't know you had this! Is there a reason you are keeping it?". It's a stretch for me, but I do understand how it could be taken in a negative light. Part of the issue is that I usually just like talking through things, no decision needed. "I've been reading this thread, and this article, and I think it would be kind of cool to try something like that." "WHY DO YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ALL MY STUFF?!?!" Holy crap. I'm getting the hang of it. I stopped actually trying to talk things through, and just started doing them. If she agrees, she'll join in, and if she doesn't, she'll say something. It's just weird to me since I am usually more proactive than reactionary. Not a huge deal now that I figured it out, just different. I'm pretty flexible, and don't get the point of arguing, so the new method of communicating things is just a bit odd. It's amazing that something like this hasn't come up in the past 6 years, but that's what a relationship is I suppose. :-)

I will out myself here as a non-secret hoarder. And what Sheepstache is saying is absolutely true. I can't stand to talk about decluttering with my husband. I know that I need to get rid of lots of stuff, and I actually am making progress on my own, but my husband has a tendency to approach it in a very one size fits all way, for example: "You haven't opened that box since we moved in, so we should just recycle it all because you clearly don't need anything in it." That makes me run to the other extreme and dig in my heels: "No I'm sure everything in it is valuable and important. Even if I haven't needed it recently I am sure I will need it soon." In reality it's somewhere in the middle: Probably 95% of the box can be recycled, but there are some things in there that are worth hanging on to (like my college diploma), so it does need to be sorted through. But it's hard for me to acknowledge that when he's in full-on THROW AWAY ALL THE THINGS mode, because it just puts me into "keep the broken fragment of china in case I ever buy a broken plate that has exactly that piece missing" mode.

I also tend to declutter in layers in a way that my husband doesn't. He takes a category and is ruthless about getting rid of lots of stuff. I'm much more likely to get rid of a few things from multiple categories every few months. In the fall, I sorted through my clothes and my kitchen stuff, and now I'm thinking that there are still some things in my dresser and in my cabinets that I don't really use and could get rid of. I'll probably sort through them before Christmas and then do the whole thing again next spring. My husband will probably say something like "Why haven't you gotten rid of that before if you've never used it?" but it's because it really has taken me six months of marriage to realize that I don't make shortbread and don't need the special shortbread baking dish. (Actually, he will probably say, "What is that? I didn't even know we had it." LOL)

Yeah, I get that way too. I went to my storage unit and grabbed all of the bags of clothing. I didn't even bother going through them. The GF was appalled that I would do that, but I figured that I haven't missed anything from them in the past 3 years, so why bother? Granted, I am kind of like you and the plate when it comes to electronics. I hate throwing them away. I finally tossed all of my IDE hard drives and kept only one IDE cord, as opposed to an entire plastic grocery bag full.

Now, all that being said, I know I've noticed a huge improvement in my already pretty chipper mood. Not everything has a home just yet, but I'm getting there. Coupled with the book I'm currently reading (Cooked by Michael Pollan),the fact that pretty much everything in the kitchen now has a home has found me gravitating there and experimenting with different dishes. I usually cook a few times a week, but the frequency has been increasing. Also, my previous habit of keeping everything clean as I go has reasserted itself. For example, once I finish cutting everything, and stuff goes in the dish, the cutting board and knife get washed immediately. By the end of the meal, there are usually only 3 dishes to clean (plate or bowl for each of us, and whatever pot/pan/skillet I used to cook). Makes dinner very pleasant, and allows us to focus on the food. Now, couple that with my One Month, One Habit challenge for this month (eating in the dining room instead of in front of the TV) and the fact that I managed to find a home for everything that was stacked up on the Dining Room table, and meals are becoming more than the sum of their parts. Also, even though our kitchen layout is awful, everything being cleaned allows us to actually be in there together, working together on food. It takes a bit of creative spinning about, and god forbid someone goes to the laundry room when someone else needs in the refrigerator (which would trap someone in the laundry room), but we are actually able to accomplish a fair amount. Shit, yesterday, after heating up some stuffed clams in the oven for lunch, the GF actually sat down to the dining room table before I even got there. This is someone who absolutely loves her TV time, and for as long as she's been on her own has eaten all her at home meals in front of the tube. Oh, and night before last, we stopped watching TV to play some scrabble on the newly cleared off dining room table. Clean table, games in a specified home, and good times. There is a lot more happening as a result of this gauntlet than I expected. 

tl;dr: I've recently found that certain topics (like this one) cannot be broached conversationally with my GF, but if I begin taking action, she'll join in without ever acknowledging it. Aforementioned action makes things awesome.

Edited to reduce quotes.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2014, 06:53:35 AM by jordanread »

Gin1984

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #859 on: December 08, 2014, 07:18:36 AM »
I threw out 6 textbooks after checking that no one was buying them because they are too old.  I also posted two books for sale on the online yard sale, let's see if I get an bites. 

horsepoor

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #860 on: December 08, 2014, 07:28:38 AM »
While cleaning a room, I asked (very nonchalantly): "Hey, I didn't know you had this! Is there a reason you are keeping it?".

Asking for reasons why she's keeping it might put her on the offensive instantly, even though you aren't intending it that way.  Maybe ask her if it's something she wants to keep, or if you can put it in a place where it will be easier found/used.  I suspect that it might be helpful if she doesn't feel instantly like you're trying to get rid of her thing, but rather trying to help her make it more accessible and usable.

@C.K. yes, MIL has been decluttering and more or less has DIL's hoard down to his one designated room.  I was never in their house when it was full to the brim, but for a long time they never got rid of anything, and the house was so stuffed that my husband was sleeping on the floor for a long time after he went home to help out while his dad had cancer. A few years ago they got rid of literally dumpster loads of crap. Knowing this makes me extra vigilant about clutter, because I don't think it really bothers my husband the way it bothers me, due to living in a packed house as a kid.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #861 on: December 08, 2014, 09:58:06 AM »
Threw out the backpack that had mold on it.  I knew it had electronics we moved ourselves last year when we bought a house, but also found a small pair of earrings I didn't know I had buried in it...  That's bad on multiple levels.

My parents mentioned a friend of theirs moved last Tuesday and on Saturday had her annual party.  That's pretty awesome, to even have up stuff on walls and such.  We still don't have some things up a year later!  Many benefits to less stuff.

FunkyStickman

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #862 on: December 08, 2014, 10:36:44 AM »
A week or so ago, my wife had another meltdown because of clutter. Christmas season sends her into a depressional tailspin of clutter, cooking, and having to be nice to family (none of which she enjoys). So we sat down, and I gently reinforced the idea that our kids will not hate us for getting rid of their stuff.

"But it's their stuff! How can we get rid of their stuff?"

"If it's causing you to hate living here, then it needs to go. People are more important than things." (She's told me this on numerous occasions)

The girls ended up doing a massive cleaning, my son didn't get rid of anything, but packed up 3 huge boxes of stuff and put them away in the shed.

It's slowly getting better.

We went to a Christmas party, and re-gifted our stuff for the White Elephant exchange. I got rid of a set of juggling clubs! (I still have 2 more sets... *sigh*)

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #863 on: December 08, 2014, 12:51:32 PM »
Whole front porch is full of several garbage bags of clothes and stuffed animals as well as a set of wooden tray tables and a rocking horse. They will be picked up tomorrow by a local thrift store that picks stuff up (for free!) once a month. I have gotten onto their monthly schedule which is equally fabulous and depressing. Fabulous because they will come each and every month and it gives me motivation to work towards the next date -- depressing because I have enough stuff to actually have a truck come by each month to pick up our clutter :-/

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #864 on: December 08, 2014, 01:57:06 PM »
When going through some of DH's stuff I found out he keeps sentimental crap. How did you manage to help someone get rid of it? I tried saying that keeping his old sneakers or robe will not get rid of the  memories, but they never managed to leave the closet.

We currently have a grocery bag by the kitchen island that we continually add stuff to donate whenever we see it. It's unsightly, but helpful to have someplace to put things before you have time to change your mind.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #865 on: December 08, 2014, 02:15:25 PM »
When going through some of DH's stuff I found out he keeps sentimental crap. How did you manage to help someone get rid of it? I tried saying that keeping his old sneakers or robe will not get rid of the  memories, but they never managed to leave the closet.

We currently have a grocery bag by the kitchen island that we continually add stuff to donate whenever we see it. It's unsightly, but helpful to have someplace to put things before you have time to change your mind.

I wouldn't car sneakers or a robe sentimental, so I think you have a different issue going on here (fear of releasing items rather than sentimentality).  For sentimental items, I try multiple passes of decluttering.  Things I was on the fence on pass 1 I feel better about releasing on pass 2 - or 3.  I also try to pick one item of a collection to save that represents all of them.  (I've got way more sentimental items saved than I need.  It doesn't help DH tells me I should keep things from my grandparents.)

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #866 on: December 08, 2014, 02:16:48 PM »
@Cookie -- go gently with sentimental people :-) I am very sentimental and yet I am peeling off the layers, getting rid of things that 2 years ago, I couldn't bear to part with. It will need to be on his own terms.  It can be done ... just sloooowwwlly  :-)

Cookie

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #867 on: December 08, 2014, 02:35:36 PM »
Quote
I wouldn't car sneakers or a robe sentimental, so I think you have a different issue going on here (fear of releasing items rather than sentimentality).
They are from high school and remind him of riding bikes and hanging out with friends. I wouldn't have guessed old sneakers would be something sentimental, but they are. I'll let a couple months pass and then go through the closet again with him, maybe then he can part with the old shoes.

CommonCents

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #868 on: December 08, 2014, 02:41:16 PM »
Quote
I wouldn't car sneakers or a robe sentimental, so I think you have a different issue going on here (fear of releasing items rather than sentimentality).
They are from high school and remind him of riding bikes and hanging out with friends. I wouldn't have guessed old sneakers would be something sentimental, but they are. I'll let a couple months pass and then go through the closet again with him, maybe then he can part with the old shoes.

Interesting.  Maybe suggest he reach out to the friends instead?  Sounds like he misses that time of life.  If he's moved away, he could still restart an online friendship.  I 3-way email with two long distance high school friends (one of whom moved away too) and have for 15+ years.  He might then feel better about it.

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #869 on: December 08, 2014, 05:29:25 PM »
When I got home from work yesterday I FINALLY gave the balcony a once over - we had broken pots, rusty plant-stands, etc that are all now in the bin. Much better already.

Next step for the balcony clutter: releasing some of the pots (filled with potting mix) in which there are no longer plants. I don't know why I thought I needed to have 100 different pot plants on my balcony. Now that most of them are dead, I'm very happy to cut back to those that are surviving well.

bye-bye Ms. FancyPants

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #870 on: December 08, 2014, 06:37:12 PM »
We moved everything out of our kitchen into the basement. Whatever we don't use in 30 days leaves this house. Its been about 2 weeks so far and we have barely used anything! I am amazed at what we could actually live without.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #871 on: December 09, 2014, 10:14:28 AM »
After an online clothes/shoe shopping spree (I'd much rather over-order online, try on at home, then return what I don't like) I've made quick decisions on what to keep and what to return. I've filled up my car with the clothes returns and gathered up unused (still in package) stuff from around the house. I've filled up the entire car just about between returns, old project returns, and 2 bags of goodwill. I have to get them all out by Thursday when DH needs the car.

I'm a total overbuyer. Especially for home depot type crap. I'd rather buy everything possible that can work to minimize the million trips to the store. I always procrastinate on deciding whether I need it or not. Then the stuff goes unused in my garage collecting dust. Sad part is most of this will end up on a gift card because receipts are long gone. I wish I could kick that habit!

I see more decluttering in my future. Some mice have decided my garage is their winter home. I'm too terrified to go in and shuffle stuff around yet. I'm waiting the 2-3 weeks until the poison kicks in.

Money Badger

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #872 on: December 09, 2014, 08:39:38 PM »
Pardon if i missed a post in this thread, but what's the best method for getting antique furniture sold  (60 yrs or better) for good prices.   Craigslist isnt working well for this (sell other stuff there all the time).   Thx!

NinetyFour

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #873 on: December 10, 2014, 01:18:13 AM »
I don't know why I thought I needed to have 100 different pot plants on my balcony.

Impressive!!  Legal??

;-)


dorothyc

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #874 on: December 10, 2014, 10:01:37 AM »
I don't know why I thought I needed to have 100 different pot plants on my balcony.

Impressive!!  Legal??

;-)

Translation for US - potted plants.

NinetyFour

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #875 on: December 10, 2014, 10:37:43 AM »
Oh--thank you for that translation!  I was beginning to wonder if Happier had a nice little side gig, as many folks here in Colorado now do!

C. K.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #876 on: December 10, 2014, 01:01:18 PM »
Oh--thank you for that translation!  I was beginning to wonder if Happier had a nice little side gig, as many folks here in Colorado now do!

That might be why she's happier at home. :D

BZB

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #877 on: December 10, 2014, 09:05:53 PM »
several grocery bags full of toys and kids books are in the car ready for donation drop off

HappierAtHome

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #878 on: December 11, 2014, 01:02:39 AM »
Oh--thank you for that translation!  I was beginning to wonder if Happier had a nice little side gig, as many folks here in Colorado now do!

That might be why she's happier at home. :D

Love it!!

But yeah, other posters are correct. Aussies call plants that grow in pots "pot plants". NinetyFour, you'd better file that away for when you visit us down under.

NinetyFour

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #879 on: December 11, 2014, 05:48:59 AM »
Oh--thank you for that translation!  I was beginning to wonder if Happier had a nice little side gig, as many folks here in Colorado now do!

That might be why she's happier at home. :D

Love it!!

But yeah, other posters are correct. Aussies call plants that grow in pots "pot plants". NinetyFour, you'd better file that away for when you visit us down under.

Got it!  That term is now in my "Aussie glossie"--my Australian-inspired nickname for my glossary of Australian terms.

Pangolin

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #880 on: December 12, 2014, 11:39:56 AM »
I posted another batch of junk nice stuff on ebay last night. The first batch brought in over a hundred bucks. It turns out that the t-shirts I wore as a teenager in the 90s are now desirable "vintage" items. My former packrat tendancies served me well for once. :-P

Ready2Go

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #881 on: December 12, 2014, 12:16:35 PM »
This thread has been an inspiration to me.  Have taken 14 boxes of old papers to recycle.  A mini-van full of stuff to local donation center, and FINALLY able to get DH to recycle 15 years of old computers, hard drives, zip drives,  bernoulli disks ( anyone else even know what these are??), and a box of old  floppy disks.  we can now almost move around in the basement.  Still more to go!

happy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #882 on: December 12, 2014, 10:55:00 PM »
Booked council cleanup - 2 cubic meters of stuff is up on the kerb ready to go.

Ready2Go

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #883 on: December 13, 2014, 05:14:20 PM »
DH emptied 3 more boxes and we sent another car load to the thrift shop today.  Found more zip disks and another zip drive.  DH not happy that we got rid of old computers last week and now he can't check what's on the old zip disks.  After 15 years I can't see what we could be missing... not easy to get rid of clutter!!

horsepoor

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #884 on: December 13, 2014, 10:28:04 PM »
Realized this morning that all my Amazon listings were inactive... no wonder none of my books were selling!  Sold two of them since reactivating the listings, and also sold some car seat covers on Craigslist. 

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #885 on: December 16, 2014, 07:53:25 AM »
Wow, there is some serious decluttering going on on this thread.  I do not have any to report per se, however the feeling of ease and enjoyment in our uncluttered spaces continues unabated.  My uncle came over the other day and could not stop talking about how beautifully we had fixed the house up and how great the new paint job looks.  Of course nothing has been painted, or fixed up, I simply decluttered and am keeping each room clutter-free. 

I still have a lot of papers in storage right now which need to be tossed/scanned/filed but they can wait until after Christmas.

I am working on how to declutter my Christmas preparation which still includes loads of presents, mailing cards and having a big messy wrapping station on the dining room table.  I have managed to use almost every gift in my gift drawer and do not plan to continue to have one.  I am using up all the old wrapping and ribbon and cards (I am ashamed to say that I am actually using some that someone else was tossing out).  I find the mess created by  having the wrapping stuff out for more than one day is messing with my serenity.  Note to self…not doing that next year.

Next year I want to cut back on the number of kids we give gifts to and put the Christmas card info into a database so I can print labels.  I know the card thing is outdated but it is an old fashioned thing I like and it is a way of keeping in touch with elderly friends abroad.

I aslo want to move more and more into baking gifts instead of buying them. 

One final part, we have always driven around delivering to houses, and it takes a lot of time and energy.  When we were younger it was like an all day party but now it is a slog.  I definitely want to examine this for next year.

Do any of you guys make this time of year too complicated?

tariskat

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #886 on: December 16, 2014, 09:26:35 AM »
Good luck, wintersun.  We have actually simplified our Christmas big this year (no gifts for one family, and will miss the party on the other side and hopefully the avalanche of little white-elephants that comes with) but it helps that we don't have kids.  I have had some uber-busy Christmases and this year might be the simplest, woohoo.

Over the weekend I went through my closet and have now 2 paper bags of clothes to donate (already had 1 nearly full, just hanging out); filled a small bag with toys to give out; recycled most of the paper in my 'pet' file folder; went through 2 little bins of office supplies / computer things and reorganized and tossed things.  Over the last couple weeks I have gotten rid of probably 3 dozen books and half a dozen DVD's; my crap finally fits in my bookshelves! At the end of last week I recycled several huge stacks of paper in our office that were 10-20 years old, and this morning cleaned up my own desk at work.  As grad students our lab tends to get messy and I'm fighting it hard.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #887 on: December 16, 2014, 01:06:40 PM »
Before joining this forum I did these things:

-I used to have two closets full of clothing. They were so full to the brim I had to have a full hamper of dirty clothing all the time since all the clean stuff would not fit. I donated both closets to people who needed them, took 80% of my clothing and donated it in one go. I am still donating stuff since.
- I sold my tv since I desperately wanted to reduce my media-intake.
- I sold my iphone.
- I sold my laptop.
- I donated/ threw out all of the extra bits and bobs that were my ''decoration''.
- I stopped smoking.

My tip: have a big bag/basket where you throw in all of the clothing/stuff you want to donate on a daily basis. After a month it's a lot and when you have little time on your hands to go to a local charitybin. I've found this very helpful when I wanted to make donating and clearing out clutter a habit.

C. K.

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #888 on: December 16, 2014, 01:50:02 PM »
wintersun,

One organizer suggests butcher paper for all gifts year round. Decorate festively. Saves space and it's a multi-purpose item. You can wrap sandwiches or something in it.

MsRichLife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #889 on: December 16, 2014, 02:23:04 PM »
This week we've managed to sell some larger items on Gumtree for a reasonable amount. Must be the Xmas spending season that's helping us out.

1 x Smart trike that my son has grown out of
1 x quad bike scooter thing
1 x hiking backpack that my husband pulled out of a dumpster and cleaned up. Sold for a profit of $110!
Various bits of 'stuff' out of the man cave

I think I'm going to spend today doing a serious declutter and then take a load of things to charity.

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #890 on: December 28, 2014, 08:05:55 AM »
Ms Rich Life,  You really did well on the backpack, congrats!!!  It is so satisfying to both clear the house AND a make money!

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #891 on: December 28, 2014, 08:37:23 AM »
I'm starting at one corner of the house and working my way across in a winter clean out project.  So far I've managed the master bath and most of the master bedroom.  Initially I was trying to do one room a day, but so far managing only about 1/2 room a day, which is okay.

I don't have the cleaning gene, so unfortunately the dustiness level is impressive.

wintersun

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #892 on: December 28, 2014, 09:38:58 AM »
Cookie and Funkystickman,
how are you doing with your digital organising?  I have not begun the photo thing yet.  To be honest I barely know how the iPhoto software works.  I just put things in there.  This winter I am determined to deal with the photos and the excess paper that I held onto in the big purge. 


smalllife

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #893 on: December 28, 2014, 01:02:51 PM »
Received a (requested) gift of a drawer knife block-thing, which means that I can declutter the knife block that hogs counter space :-)  As an added bonus we decided to only keep the knives we use, so half of the knives go with the knife block.

Gave up on taking a probably-silver serving dish to be appraised and am just donating it instead.

Just took a pile to Goodwill a week ago and already there's another half bag of stuff.  The main living area is finally at the point where I can clean up and not feel cramped (I like lots of breathing room  ..)

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #894 on: December 28, 2014, 07:19:51 PM »
Cookie and Funkystickman,
how are you doing with your digital organising?  I have not begun the photo thing yet.  To be honest I barely know how the iPhoto software works.  I just put things in there.  This winter I am determined to deal with the photos and the excess paper that I held onto in the big purge.

Going slowly. I did scan a box's worth of paperwork. I'm using leftover computer parts to build a file/print server (it's a tiny little computer) that will store all my digital stuff.... photo scans, DVD rips, music, whatever. For about $150 I can get a couple of 2TB drives and mirror them for safety.

The computer itself is already running Ubuntu (free OS) so I just need to get the drives and set them up. Then I can systematically destroy all the papers and crap I have piling up everywhere, including DVD's, CD's, and photographs. If I want to get fancy, I could even make a media server out of it, and be able to play my media from it on the Xbox or tablets.

Will post up progress as it happens.

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #895 on: December 28, 2014, 07:37:48 PM »
For me, after Christmas feels like time to kick it into high gear! As the visiting and such winds down, I want to really get going with the decluttering!

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #896 on: December 29, 2014, 08:53:35 AM »
Yesterday, I dropped off a bag full of various items at Goodwill. Then last night, I decluttered our sock drawers, which had become ridiculous. I could still cut back more. I find that the first pass of decluttering is the hardest for me. I keep a lot more stuff than I need. By the second and third pass, I'm better at letting go of stuff that I don't use. Does anyone else go through this or are you better at culling the first time around (which saves time).

1967mama

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #897 on: December 29, 2014, 10:49:36 AM »
Nancy, I often have to make a few passes at things before I can let them go. The first time through, its funny to me how I will be thinking, "There is NO WAY I could get rid of xyz" and yet the 2nd or 3rd time through, I'm thinking, "Why was I keeping that?!"

Cookie78

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #898 on: December 29, 2014, 11:35:16 AM »
Yesterday, I dropped off a bag full of various items at Goodwill. Then last night, I decluttered our sock drawers, which had become ridiculous. I could still cut back more. I find that the first pass of decluttering is the hardest for me. I keep a lot more stuff than I need. By the second and third pass, I'm better at letting go of stuff that I don't use. Does anyone else go through this or are you better at culling the first time around (which saves time).

I do it in stages also. As I get a freeing feeling from getting rid of the first wave of things it becomes easier to eliminate more in subsequent rounds.

happy

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Re: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter!
« Reply #899 on: December 29, 2014, 01:36:32 PM »
I find that the first pass of decluttering is the hardest for me. I keep a lot more stuff than I need. By the second and third pass, I'm better at letting go of stuff that I don't use. Does anyone else go through this or are you better at culling the first time around (which saves time).

Yes, thats how it works for me too.  And sometimes at random times an item I've visited  and kept on a previous declutter will pop into my mind and I think, "I could let that go".