2019 Decluttering Thread

[scfr]

We're in home-sale limbo, waiting to clear contingency hurdles. I did a pre-sale purging, and I can't start selling things like framed pictures or decor that we won't be taking or furniture (because we need to keep our home "showing ready" for backup offers or in case the sale falls through).

So I'm focusing on areas of smaller items that I didn't deal with during the pre-sale purge because they were too time-consuming and, because of their small size, they didn't impact the "showability" of our home so got put off until later.

I just finished sorting through jewelry. I sold 2 name-brand items on FB, dropped a couple things in the donation bag, and listed a bundle of no-brand items at a super-duper-bargain price on FB. If they don't sell within a week, they get moved to the donation pile. I have 3 pieces set aside to take to a jewelry/silver/coin buyer in the area.

Adding on to the jewelry/silver/coin theme, I went through the tiny stash of miscellaneous foreign coins that we have collected over the years in our business and leisure travels. I'm keeping the Canadian ones (highly likely we will be visiting Canada again), gave the one from DH's home country to him to use on his next trip, and put the rest in the donation bag --- they add up to only $2-3 worth and they are from far-flung countries that we will never visit again, so there is absolutely no point in continuing to carry them with us. There's also the $1 Luxor slot machine coin from a trip there in 1993 that went in the donation bag!

I sent a list of my china/crystal/silver to Replacements and got offers to buy. My days of hosting large sit-down meals are over. Time to pare down this category, before the move. I'm going to look at my silver, and if I have any excess, will take those to the jewelry/silver/coin buyer when I go, and compare what they offer me to the offer from Replacements.

So, next on my list is:
- sort silver
- visit jewelry/silver/coin buyer
- pack up & mail items going to Replacements
- sell on FB or donate china or crystal items that I no longer need but Replacements is not buying

[scfr]

My wife has continued working on her sewing supplies and has gotten rid of a lot of bits and scraps of material she was keeping "just in case" that she knows she won't ever use.

Your wife rocks! From things you have posted previously, I know your wife loves sewing, so this was probably not the easiest of sort outs for her.

[comicguy]

Last year I set out to get rid of 2018 items and I exceeded that goal with 2238 it was a bit of a chore but still made a difference. This year I am moderating that goal a bit and set at 500 items gone. Will most likely have more leave the house but we have a lot going on this year. So far for the new year I have gotten rid of the following items:

1/1

1 empty shoe box - recycled
2 cardboard boxes - recycled
4 grocery bags of grocery bags - recycled
5 Mickey shaped straws trashed
1 expired med - trashed
1 X-Mas Tree Skirt - trashed
3 boxes of craft supplies - to my classroom
2 hanging organizers w/ 8 containers - to my classroom
2 plastic lizards - to my classroom
2 books - to my classroom
1 tote bag - to robotics center
6 books - robotics center
6 rechargeable batteries - returned to owner
1 battery charger - returned to owner
1 cell phone holder for belt - donated
1 bag of fake like Pandora charms - donated
2 notepads - donated
14 comic books - donated
1 DVD player - donated
3 plastic dinosaurs - donated
2 action figures - donated
7 X-Mas Ornaments - donated
1 pricing gun - donated
2 rolls of pricing gun labels - donated
1 multi-meter - donated (72 items)


1/6

1 sample pack of dishwasher pods - used up
1 broken stapler - trashed
2 dry erase markers (dried up) - trashed (4 items)


76 items have left the premises

76 of 500 or 15.2% of goal

[disneysteve]

76 items have left the premises

76 of 500 or 15.2% of goal

Great start to the year! I suspect you'll blow past your goal.

[disneysteve]

DW has continued going through our photo albums, pulling out photos that we don't need to save, and condensing what remains. We haven't been keeping count but since starting the project, she's gotten rid of hundreds of pictures.

She partially cleaned out one kitchen cabinet that is large and deep and tends to get disorganized easily. She just double checked with me and we got rid of 2 reusable drink bottles (like from a local amusement park) so one went in the Goodwill box and the other went in the recycling bin.

I had a few minutes to kill while my computer was installing an update so I grabbed a small box and took a spin through our Disney display room and got rid of 26 items - mostly all little things, the biggest being a few plastic drink cups - but every little bit counts.

We have had several large Rubbermaid totes in the laundry room filled (or even overflowing) with stuff to wash. She never washed the items either because they were out of season or we had nowhere to put them when they were clean (like blankets and comforters and tablecloths) or whatever. Bottom line is many of those items have literally been sitting down there for years. The past week she started working her way through those bins. She has actually found a few items that we were "missing" that are now clean and back in use, the tablecloths have been washed and are now stored in an underbed box that she cleaned out, but most of what she has found is stuff that we simply don't need, evidenced by the fact that it's been down there for years and we've managed just fine. So a bunch of things will be getting donated and she still has more to work through. By the time she's done, we'll have 2 or 3 large empty totes that we can use to store things we actually want to keep. That should come in handy down the line, especially in the spring when I can really attack the garage seriously again.

[corn18]

Moving truck left yesterday. 53' trailer full of our "stuff". Even after we purged 1.5 rooms of furniture. Working with DW to purge more on the other end. We had 20+ large plastic totes full of our 2 kid's stuff (memories). They have no place to put it, so it moved with us.

[disneysteve]

Moving truck left yesterday. 53' trailer full of our "stuff". Even after we purged 1.5 rooms of furniture. Working with DW to purge more on the other end. We had 20+ large plastic totes full of our 2 kid's stuff (memories). They have no place to put it, so it moved with us.

Best of luck with the move and with unpacking on the other end.

[corn18]

Best of luck with the move and with unpacking on the other end.

Thanks. We're currently stuck in Cincinnati waiting for the snow storm to abate. Don't feel like pulling a U-Haul trailer through a snow storm.

[disneysteve]

Thanks. We're currently stuck in Cincinnati waiting for the snow storm to abate. Don't feel like pulling a U-Haul trailer through a snow storm.

Sounds like a wise decision. Safe travels.

[disneysteve]

As year-end statements have started coming in, I've been clearing the files of the monthly and quarterly statements to be shredded.

[kork13]

Another decent weekend of work toward controlling our clutter. We purchased a used bookcase on the cheap (~$35) for our 3 y/o's bedroom, which allowed us to consolidate some extra toys & books. DW is working through a bunch of our baby equipment (walkers, baby monitors, random other stuff like that) and has made 2 trips this last week to the kid-to-kid resale store to sell stuff. A glider chair in poor repair is in her car waiting to be sold, or else otherwise disposed of. Slowly making progress.

Side note, a result of getting the new bookcase was a total rearranging of both boys' rooms. Although we actually added things to both rooms, they both somehow have more available floor space.

We still need to watch that Netflix show... Not sure when it'll make sense to sit down & do that with DW...

[disneysteve]

Side note, a result of getting the new bookcase was a total rearranging of both boys' rooms. Although we actually added things to both rooms, they both somehow have more available floor space.

Organizing and decluttering go hand in hand. Sometimes you just need to come up with a better use of your available space and it isn't as much about getting rid of things (though that certainly helps).

[MooseBucks]

I also came across something that I've been meaning to deal with for years. When I was younger, like still living with my parents (I left home at 18 and I'm now 54), I used to collect (or perhaps hoard) change. Nothing special or collectible. Just regular every day pocket change. I used to roll it and stack it in a cabinet in my room. I had cashed in all of it years ago except I never cashed in the half dollars. I have a plastic tube about 2 feet long that is a giant stack of half dollars. It's probably about $150 worth of coins. I took out $30 worth and will cash them in at the Coinstar machine tomorrow when I go shopping. I feel strange going there with the whole tube at once but I pass that machine every week so I'll make it a ritual each week until I've cashed them all in. That money will get added to our Amazon account for future purchases.

Half dollars are collector's items now. I've tried 3-4 banks trying to get some.

[disneysteve]

Half dollars are collector's items now. I've tried 3-4 banks trying to get some.

Not according to any website, ebay, or coin shops. If they aren't silver or mint, they're worth 50 cents each with rare exception.

[disneysteve]

Half dollars are collector's items now. I've tried 3-4 banks trying to get some.

I still have a couple hundred. If you want some and will pay postage, PM me.