What did you declutter today? Part II

[photo]

I have two drawers in my home office that I force myself to keep uncluttered. One is where bills and papers that require near-immediate attention lie. The other is for things that I use frequently but are very easy to misplace -- tape measure, scissors, yellow highlighter, and other things that are very irritating not to have if I need them. I've always maintained the bills drawer, and the other one came into existence a few years ago when I kept losing staplers (kids used one and didn't return it) and one day, found 4 in the house, 3 which were purchased as replacements.

[creditcardfree]

I'm looking through my husband's keepsake, memorabilia boxes. Wow!! So many cards. Mostly from me. I sent him a lot of mail during our dating years and just about every time he went to military school. For now, I'm just tossing duplicate programs and very obvious things...so not much. I'm going to sort the cards either by event or by sender. I'll put them all in a marked envelope. Easy to look through next time he wants to go down memory lane. But seriously, some of those cards I sent in my early twenties to him...down right scary.

[disneysteve]

Haven't posted for a couple of weeks but I had a very productive morning today.

I started in our bedroom and bagged up 4 trash bags of clothes to give away.
I brought up 2 bags from the basement that I had packed a while ago and never gotten rid of.
I then spent about 2 hours in the garage throwing out, recycling and packing up unwanted items.

I made two trips to Goodwill with a grand total of 7 bags of clothing and 7 carton boxes of assorted items.

I'm happiest about the stuff from the garage. Most of it was items that we've tried to sell at least twice at yard sales with no success. It was time for them to go. There is a lot more of that type of stuff in there but I have other things to do today so I called it quits. Two hours was enough to put a visible dent in the mess. I also filled two large trash bags and repacked/condensed some of the stuff that we are keeping to reduce its footprint in there.

[creditcardfree]

It is amazing what one can get done in a short amount of time, when motivated!

[snafu]

Kudos DS, 2 hrs. + 2 trips to GW with 7 bags and 7 cartons is a huge accomplishment! I'm sure the people who use your donations will bless you for your generosity. I recall you had flooding and hope you didn't suffer water damage to items still in use. If yard sales have slowed for the season, do you have items that could be sold for holiday season? Consider an ad in CraigsList or Kijji+city [local e-bay listing] and note for 2012 yard sale.

Does your Temple do a swap meet or charity bazaar? Perhaps it could be a fund raising event to support a cause. Social services often give vouchers to people in need for these events. Teens in my community do a Swap Sports Equipment event with help/sponsorship from our largest sport equipment franchise.

Having had the experience of clearing my mom's house after she had passed away, downsizing from house to condo a few years later followed by assisting DSIL to downsize...I know keeping stuff that isn't used, loved and enjoyed makes for gia-normous work under pressure in trying times.

If I bought it and found it didn't live up to expectations it's best gone - either immediately returned to vendor, re-gifted to someone who expressed an interest in trying it, or to the 'X' box for yard sale/donate. The money spent will not come back. I sure can't outrun technology, I seem to be at least one season behind! Some items can be sold for 1/3 - 1/2 original value if it's still popular.

[photo]

Here's always the problem I encounter when cleaning out something. I'll find some object and although I can't find an immediate use for it, am hesitant to get rid of it for fear I'll need it later. My house isn't highly cluttered nor is it bare, so we generally hit a happy medium. However, I intensely dislike that feeling of "Should I or shouldn't I (get rid of it)?"

[creditcardfree]

I did some work in my garage this morning. I found quite a few things that we won't take with us when we move, but could still be valuable to someone else...thus they have been moved to the garage sale pile. Garage sale is in less than two weeks, so I'm motivated to get things out of here.

[snafu]

Photo, we all have different values and circumstances. What particular item[s]? I gave myself some definitions of clutter to help decide what to retain and what needs to go. Do I use it? Do I love it? Does it make life easier? When did I last use it? Is it merely in the wrong place? I strive to have what is needed where it is needed, when it is needed and within arm's reach!

It helps to use awkward storage space like the cupboard over the fridge for occasional use items, attic/basement/garage storage for once a year or special event gear. I like to rotate decor and must change out closets for winter & summer garb.

It's clutter if I forgot I owned it. It's clutter if it causes stress within me or my family. It's clutter if it has bad memories. It's clutter if there are too many containers without lids. It's clutter if there are more than 12 hangers per ft. of closet rod. it's clutter if it's expired, wrecked, ripped, broken or non functioning. A flashlight whose battery is dead is useless if power has failed.

[snafu]

Suggest de-clutter sock & underwear drawer. Toss orphans missing their mate, anything hole-y, torn, scratchy or uncomfortable. It's helpful to buy all-the-same socks to simplify pairing; 12 pair, on sale at a go.

[creditcardfree]

I'd suggest looking through computer/electronics equipment for extra cords, outdated software, manuals and batteries. Find a place to recycle or donate the usefull items.

[disneysteve]

Here's always the problem I encounter when cleaning out something. I'll find some object and although I can't find an immediate use for it, am hesitant to get rid of it for fear I'll need it later. My house isn't highly cluttered nor is it bare, so we generally hit a happy medium. However, I intensely dislike that feeling of "Should I or shouldn't I (get rid of it)?"

This describes me perfectly. I never wanted to give away something that was of practical value even if I hadn't actually used it for years just in case I needed it someday. I can't really tell you what changed my mind but I just finally got fed up with the clutter and said the hell with it. If I ever need it, I'll buy another one. None of those items are irreplaceable. If I haven't used it for this long, realistically, I'm not ever going to use it.

My problem has been even more aggravated by the fact that I've been a collectibles dealer for 25 years so I never want to get rid of anything that I perceive as having resale value, especially if I bought it purposely to resell. However, I have items that I bought to resell 15 years ago. I've displayed them at numerous collectibles shows, listed them on ebay more than once, even put them out at our yard sals and still haven't sold them. It is time to unload them, take the loss and reclaim the space. It gets a little messy at tax time but big deal.

So my advice is to bite the bullet and really take a good hard honest look at that stuff and get rid of it if you haven't used it forever and don't see yourself using it anytime in the future.

[marvholly]

Like DS, my late husband was a major collector/dealer. With the market a DISASTER I am hanging on to a BUNCH of stuff until I can at least recoup the investment.

On a personal front I suddenly realizes i was being very dumb/selfish. I get about 6 free magazines, some weekly & some monthly. I would read and just recycle. My Dad lives in an independent senior building w/an in house library. The local public library provides recent books & residents & families can donate hardbacks.

However, the stuff in the magazine rack is probably older than some of my grand kids. In the last 7-10 days I have finished w/about 12 magazines and put them in the rack.

[snafu]

Another place that magazines are appreciated is waiting room in ER. Everyone there is stressed out either for services or waiting for someone in a medical emergency. Any reading material is appreciated.

MH: How wonderful to take reading materials to a senior's residence. Have you reviewed the re-sell/collector items to know exactly the original cost and current market value? Collectables are often cyclical, favorites until it reaches saturation and the market vanishes. Are some items seasonal? Do you see similar items on-line? When merchandising, the profit is in the purchasing. When purchase price was too high, the range for profit is insufficient. The cost is sunk, the money is gone.

Have you tried different seller venues like Craig's List or Kijjiji + name of community for example? If there is any possibility technology will make items obsolete, is it better to re coup something or donate for a tax write-off? Are you comfortable holding the goods until the economy is strong again? Once again fear is breaking out all over.

[marvholly]

Snafu
I am in regular touch w/several local dealers & auction houses. i check sites like ebay about 1x/month/ NONE of the items are tech based. they are mechanicals, lighters, graphics, ivory, pottery...........furniture.

[disneysteve]

We had an old dining room table that has been in our garage for years. It was a perfectly good table. We just didn't use it anymore. I tried to sell it a couple of times but never found a buyer. So it just stayed in the way in the garage and I would shift it from place to place when I needed to get to other things. Last night, I hauled it out to the curb for trash collection today. One less big piece of clutter in there.