2014 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Did just a tiny bit in our basement today. The garage was my focus in the warmer weather. The basement is my focus for the winter. I discarded our fax machine. We haven't used it for years. Who knows if it even still works. And it was filthy from sitting unused all of this time. I also tossed a whole stack of promotional CD-ROM games that I had gotten at work or a convention years ago. I didn't even scratch the surface down there but I started surveying the job that needs to be done and formulating how best to attack it.

[Green43]

Hello, new here and think this site is great. I love to take bags of clothes to charitable resellers (we also have a personal friend who has a son just younger than ours so she gets all the youngest's hand me downs...) I realize this isn't garage sale weather (at least up north here.) but just thought I'd just drop a little note to be careful if holding a garage sale to declutter. I am an xray tech by trade and usually during prime garage sale weather we get 1-2 people that come in for ankle or shoulder xrays because they "fell" going into or coming out of a yard or garage sale. I am sure that some are honest accidents, I am also sure some are looking for a check in the mail from a lawsuit. I personally will not hold such events on my property since becoming educated in my profession. I will only drop off clothes for charity or sell online. JM $.02.

[creditcardfree]

I received a few things for my birthday recently. Several them are replacement items for things I already own. The old are going into the donation bin. I also found one ornament to donate. I have had it for a long time and I'm ready to let go. There were a few more I wanted to let go, but the kids did not. That is fine for now.

[snafu]

There have been a few de-clutter articles that all mention that make-up should be trashed at least once a year, mascara particularly is dangerous to use after 3 months, too high a risk of infection. I was surprised to learn detergents and disinfectants lose potency after a year. Lots of cleaning goes on in December as stuff is shifted and guests visit so a good idea to use up those small amounts left to languish in containers shoved to the back of under-the-sink cupboards and your laundry area. If it's thickened or dried out, easy peasy to rehydrate with a tickle of hot water.

[disneysteve]

There have been a few de-clutter articles that all mention that make-up should be trashed at least once a year, mascara particularly is dangerous to use after 3 months, too high a risk of infection. I was surprised to learn detergents and disinfectants lose potency after a year. Lots of cleaning goes on in December as stuff is shifted and guests visit so a good idea to use up those small amounts left to languish in containers shoved to the back of under-the-sink cupboards and your laundry area. If it's thickened or dried out, easy peasy to rehydrate with a tickle of hot water.

Being a doctor, I can understand the mascara thing, but I always wonder if some other "trash and replace" advice isn't created by the manufacturers to sell more product - like the pseudo-expiration dates on packages. Most products are good for way longer than the "use by" date, sometimes years longer.

[disneysteve]

I took the first real swipe at the basement today. I started with the vacuum and sucked up dust and dirt and dead bugs. Then i focused on a wooden pallet piled up with assorted stuff. Years ago, when we used to have a significant problem with water coming in, we got several pallets to elevate boxes and things off of the floor. We really don't need them anymore so my goal today was to get rid of that pallet.

I didn't fully sort everything but I did move things around enough to eliminate the pallet.
There was a case of martini glasses that I received as a gift several years ago. I took out the glasses and lined them up in the closet with our other glassware and recycled the box.
There was a garbage bag that held our old comforter, which we replaced years ago. That will be going to Goodwill on the next trip.
There was a nice grill pan that we have never used and a pair of walkie-talkies that we no longer need. Those both went into the garage for the next yard sale.
There were a few items that were strictly trash - a single kid's snow boot, an old pair of water shoes no longer in usable condition, etc. That stuff went in the trash.

A number of remaining items didn't get properly attended to yet. For now, they're just piled on the adjacent table, which ultimately needs to get cleaned off. The first step was clearing the floor space by getting rid of the pallet. Now we have some room to work down there and sort through everything.

Cleaning that section of the basement is different than the work I did previously in the garage because this stuff requires my wife and I both to go through the stuff. So I'm starting by eliminating the stuff that is outright trash or definite give away and then the two of us will go down there together to sort through what remains. We know there is a lot in the closets that we don't want or need - old wedding presents, inherited items that we never use, etc. Our plan is to clear that stuff out of the closets and make room for the stuff currently not in the closets to fit.

Sorry for the long post. More for my own benefit than anyone else's.

[JoeP]

I took some time this past weekend to clear out some space in my basement as well, to make room for some exercise equipment.

I'm not sure if this qualifies me as a hoarder, but I seem to have a hard time parting with college textbooks. Between my wife and I, we have about 40 textbooks, with original prices ranging from $20 with some close to $100. Most are obsolete, and current information can be found online now in seconds. These books, probably 150 lbs worth, have survived between 3 and 6 moves and dozens of moves within each residence. We just have a real hard time parting with them since we paid so much for them 25-30 years ago. Of course, we should have sold them at the end of the semester...

Anyway, they're going into the recycle bin, and might end up as napkins or blown insulation some day!

[creditcardfree]

I took some time this past weekend to clear out some space in my basement as well, to make room for some exercise equipment.

I'm not sure if this qualifies me as a hoarder, but I seem to have a hard time parting with college textbooks. Between my wife and I, we have about 40 textbooks, with original prices ranging from $20 with some close to $100. Most are obsolete, and current information can be found online now in seconds. These books, probably 150 lbs worth, have survived between 3 and 6 moves and dozens of moves within each residence. We just have a real hard time parting with them since we paid so much for them 25-30 years ago. Of course, we should have sold them at the end of the semester...

Anyway, they're going into the recycle bin, and might end up as napkins or blown insulation some day!

Congrats on figuring out those text books are no longer relevant or at least needed. I sold a majority of college textbooks back, but the degree related ones were kept for awhile, with the longest probably being 10 years after graduation. Mine also went to the recycle bin. We do still have a few of my husband's text books. I will have to ask him again and see if he is ready to part with them. Fingers crossed!!

[disneysteve]

I seem to have a hard time parting with college textbooks. Between my wife and I, we have about 40 textbooks, with original prices ranging from $20 with some close to $100. Most are obsolete, and current information can be found online now in seconds.

Anyway, they're going into the recycle bin, and might end up as napkins or blown insulation some day!

Congrats on clearing those out of your life. I did the same thing. I held onto college texts because I thought I'd need them in med school. Then I hung onto med school texts thinking I'd turn to them as reference material once I was in practice. But then the internet came along (I entered practice in 1993). I can't tell you the last time I cracked a textbook to obtain information. I sold off the books that were worth anything and the rest got recycled.

[snafu]

Congratulations Joe, it's really hard to get rid of text books and what they represent. Did you or DW ever use them for reference in your professional lives? DH finally got rid of text books quite quickly when he was able to part with his D ring binder of papers submitted for various courses. He did use a lot of that stuff as he writes articles about Job Satisfaction and we both taught 'Coping Effectively with Difficult People.'

I too worked in the basement this weekend when plans went poof at minus 21C and police pleading for people to avoid treacherous driving conditions. I'm determined to get rid of books while they are still new enough to be accepted at the book consignment store. I try to get a box of books there every December as they need a good inventory.

Dr Steve, good job getting old, no longer needed pallets out making more walking space. I wondered if it would it be practical to take some photos of stuff in the basement, one segment at a time, so DW could look at pics and tell you which items she felt should go. If you agree, the decision has been made. If you have a reason to retain, likewise, the decision has been made. I've always identified items to be sold with a stationary sticker since they're at hand but a small bit of making tape works great. As soon as the date is set for the sale, those decisions have already been made! Once the garage has been set up, basement stuff is added. It's so much easier to set up for your sale when the garage has less stuff don't you think?

[scottish girl]

Today I spent an hour and a half roughly sorting through my wardrobe. I've got two hugs bags to donate and four smaller bags that weren't fit enough to donate that are going into recycling. DH also sorted through his and has one bag to donate, one for recycling.

[JoeP]

Today I spent an hour and a half roughly sorting through my wardrobe. I've got two hugs bags to donate and four smaller bags that weren't fit enough to donate that are going into recycling. DH also sorted through his and has one bag to donate, one for recycling.

Related to my basement cleanout, I also brought up 6 boxes full of clothes sent by my SIL for our kids. I forced everyone to sort through them and we'll donate what we don't need. Looks like 4 full boxes will be donated this week.

I also threw out a bunch of other junk as well. We still have clutter to work on, but at least there is much less of it now!

[creditcardfree]

Today I spent an hour and a half roughly sorting through my wardrobe. I've got two hugs bags to donate and four smaller bags that weren't fit enough to donate that are going into recycling. DH also sorted through his and has one bag to donate, one for recycling.

Nice job, SG! Some of my recent donations were clothes I just never wear.

[creditcardfree]

Related to my basement cleanout, I also brought up 6 boxes full of clothes sent by my SIL for our kids. I forced everyone to sort through them and we'll donate what we don't need. Looks like 4 full boxes will be donated this week.

I also threw out a bunch of other junk as well. We still have clutter to work on, but at least there is much less of it now!

Good plan to just attack those boxes of clothes and make decisions. A little bit of decluttering at a time adds up to a noticeable difference.

[disneysteve]

Dr Steve, good job getting old, no longer needed pallets out making more walking space. I wondered if it would it be practical to take some photos of stuff in the basement, one segment at a time, so DW could look at pics and tell you which items she felt should go.

Nah. Working together with her won't be hard. We have plenty of time together with DD away at college. The hard part is that she has allergies so can't spend a lot of time down there rooting around in dusty stuff. That's why I went down first to clean up, get rid of trash, and spread stuff out so we can see it and address it more easily without stirring up a lot of dust.