2019 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Coinstar charges a relatively high percentage rate..the figure of 7 or 8 percent comes to mind. It might be worth going to a local bank with a coin counting machine instead.

Coinstar is free if you get the money as a gift card. I'll take it as a credit to our Amazon account.

[james.hendrickson]

I know Marie Kondo's method focuses more on categories of items than location (declutter ALL of your clothes at the same time, not just one closet) but she also has the Miscellaneous category and notes that we have a ton of miscellaneous in our lives. I attacked some of the miscellaneous today in our bedroom closet.

I got rid of:
1 broken scale
6 shirts
3 pairs of shorts
2 tote bags
1 watch
1 pair of beach shoes
2 wooden hangars
3 craft books and
a bag of unfinished craft projects from a craft I no longer do

and a few other things that I didn't record.

It also gave me an opportunity to vacuum in there. We had some killer dust bunnies residing on the floor.

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.

Coinstar charges a relatively high percentage rate..the figure of 7 or 8 percent comes to mind. It might be worth going to a local bank with a coin counting machine instead.

[disneysteve]

I know Marie Kondo's method focuses more on categories of items than location (declutter ALL of your clothes at the same time, not just one closet) but she also has the Miscellaneous category and notes that we have a ton of miscellaneous in our lives. I attacked some of the miscellaneous today in our bedroom closet.

I got rid of:
1 broken scale
6 shirts
3 pairs of shorts
2 tote bags
1 watch
1 pair of beach shoes
2 wooden hangars
3 craft books and
a bag of unfinished craft projects from a craft I no longer do

and a few other things that I didn't record.

It also gave me an opportunity to vacuum in there. We had some killer dust bunnies residing on the floor.

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.

[creditcardfree]

Then we watched the first episode of Marie Kondo's show. We really enjoyed that. I was a little surprised how impactful the little greeting ceremony at the beginning was for me. I love the idea of taking a moment to thank our house and aim to take better care of it.

Of course, after watching the show, we turned to each other and said now we wanted to clean - so we did. We went up to the bedroom. I took all of my long sleeve dress shirts out of the closet and piled them on the bed. I went through them one by one, tried on several I wasn't sure about, and decided which to keep and which not to. The result was I got rid of 9 shirts. Five will go to Goodwill; four went in the trash as they are stained or worn out. My wife did more organizing than decluttering, getting her sweaters folded the new way so that she can see them all nicely in her drawers. She said that tomorrow she may do the Marie Kondo thing in her closet because she has noticed there are a number of things in there she hasn't worn for a long time and doesn't need anymore. Then she said she could go in there right now and pull out some things she doesn't want, so I told her to do that. Get rid of that stuff first, then she could do the deeper dive tomorrow. She quickly got 5 dresses onto the Goodwill pile. Just a first step but a good one.

Yes, I was touched by that ceremony too. She mentions that in one or both of her books I think, too. Our new home is base housing and while it's okay, it's not the level of nice I'm used to. I've been working really hard to appreciate where we are and what this new space is providing.

These types of shows are great for motivation, even Hoarders shows, can inspire me to clean.

[creditcardfree]

They packed up your whole house in 6 hours?? 2800 sq ft?? Man I am amazed, I can't imagine!

Packed up the things that need to go in boxes. Moving everything on to the truck was another 6-7 hours the next day. Yep, we didn't have things packed in...compared to most Americans we are minimalists, yet don't think we don't have things, we do! And remember those two ladies packing were professionals, they were flying! I'm sure if I packed it all up, it would have taken four times as long.

[kork13]

Thanks for the recommendation on Marie Kondo, I'll check out her book/Netflix when I have an opportunity.

[disneysteve]

We discovered several months ago that our Wii no longer worked. I did all of the troubleshooting I could with online info and it is just shot. Of course, months later, it was still sitting on our family room floor. Tonight after dinner, I finally gathered it all together, cables and all. The broken unit will go in the trash this week. The controllers and a couple of other accessories that still work will go to Goodwill.

Then we watched the first episode of Marie Kondo's show. We really enjoyed that. I was a little surprised how impactful the little greeting ceremony at the beginning was for me. I love the idea of taking a moment to thank our house and aim to take better care of it.

Of course, after watching the show, we turned to each other and said now we wanted to clean - so we did. We went up to the bedroom. I took all of my long sleeve dress shirts out of the closet and piled them on the bed. I went through them one by one, tried on several I wasn't sure about, and decided which to keep and which not to. The result was I got rid of 9 shirts. Five will go to Goodwill; four went in the trash as they are stained or worn out. My wife did more organizing than decluttering, getting her sweaters folded the new way so that she can see them all nicely in her drawers. She said that tomorrow she may do the Marie Kondo thing in her closet because she has noticed there are a number of things in there she hasn't worn for a long time and doesn't need anymore. Then she said she could go in there right now and pull out some things she doesn't want, so I told her to do that. Get rid of that stuff first, then she could do the deeper dive tomorrow. She quickly got 5 dresses onto the Goodwill pile. Just a first step but a good one.

I think watching this show is going to help motivate us to keep at it. If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend doing so. If you have, or even if you haven't, I also highly recommend watching the show.

[Thrif-t]

We decluttered a ton in 2018 as well due to a move. We moved from 2800 sq ft to 1700 sq ft. Fewer rooms, so less furniture needed. Our movers originally quoted 2 days for packing, but during the walk through one month out I pointed out the items I knew would not go...in the end too women packed us in 6 hours. It was breeze for them! We are also likely less...don't miss anything we let go of.

They packed up your whole house in 6 hours?? 2800 sq ft?? Man I am amazed, I can't imagine!

[creditcardfree]

Wow, have we decluttered this year. Movers are here packing up the house and they just asked me why they scheduled 3 days for packing. I told them they did the initial walkthrough 2 months ago and we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff since then. 15 trips to Goodwill, 2 17' U-Haul truckloads to the kids and the packers are taking a sofa and home gym. While we were purging, I asked my wife if we should just get rid of everything and start over. I'm a miser now and would definitely throttle the spending. She said no for that reason.

We are moving into a bigger house, so there will be a lot of unused space. We bought it for resale, so that's ok. Won't be in it more than 2 years and might only be in it 2 months. Should have rented. But if we have to move again, the company covers all the transaction costs (including any loss on sale), so it's just the inconvenience of moving twice. But we will probably purge even more if we do move again, so that is good. Less is better at this stage of our lives.

We decluttered a ton in 2018 as well due to a move. We moved from 2800 sq ft to 1700 sq ft. Fewer rooms, so less furniture needed. Our movers originally quoted 2 days for packing, but during the walk through one month out I pointed out the items I knew would not go...in the end too women packed us in 6 hours. It was breeze for them! We are also likely less...don't miss anything we let go of.

[corn18]

Wow, have we decluttered this year. Movers are here packing up the house and they just asked me why they scheduled 3 days for packing. I told them they did the initial walkthrough 2 months ago and we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff since then. 15 trips to Goodwill, 2 17' U-Haul truckloads to the kids and the packers are taking a sofa and home gym. While we were purging, I asked my wife if we should just get rid of everything and start over. I'm a miser now and would definitely throttle the spending. She said no for that reason.

We are moving into a bigger house, so there will be a lot of unused space. We bought it for resale, so that's ok. Won't be in it more than 2 years and might only be in it 2 months. Should have rented. But if we have to move again, the company covers all the transaction costs (including any loss on sale), so it's just the inconvenience of moving twice. But we will probably purge even more if we do move again, so that is good. Less is better at this stage of our lives.

[cinfooya]

Marie Kondo has a television show on Netflix. I just watched the first episode yesterday where she helped a couple and their two young kids get control of their clutter. The couple seemed to have a better relationship after the process.

I just watched that show recently and loved it. Already requested her book from library. I've always been dedicated to decluttering but Marie Kondo showed me a lot of new ideas. She definitely takes it to a new level! So far we have 3 bags going to Goodwill and 2 bags for local Resale shop. It's not so much the decluttering but the organizing aspect as well. I feel more calm and focused when things are decluttered and organized. disneysteve - This is great discussion to start as definitely related to Finance. There's the obvious of selling your old stuff for money but also I've found, when organized we take better care of our stuff so lasts longer. And when things are organized you see what you have and don't buy things you don't need.

[creditcardfree]

I have found one thing that is kind of a downside, though, to be honest. We no longer enjoy activities that we used to spend a lot of time doing. As collectors, we were always going to flea markets, yard sales, thrift shops, antique stores, and auctions. We would plan weekends and even vacations around doing those things. Now that we no longer are buying all of those sorts of things, going to those places has lost its appeal. The thrill of the hunt for that special item is gone. Although I like that we're decluttering, I do miss the enjoyment I derived from those activities.

I can see that being a change for you. Clearly the benefits of decluttering have outweighed the enjoyment factor, or you would still be doing it. Hope you find something that can bring back that excitement without cluttering your home!

[disneysteve]

Marie Kondo has a television show on Netflix. I just watched the first episode yesterday where she helped a couple and their two young kids get control of their clutter. The couple seemed to have a better relationship after the process.

Ooh. I didn't know that. I know what DW and I are watching after we finish Mrs. Maisel. And I can totally see how it would help a relationship. As kork said, clutter is stressful. It can often be a source of friction in the household, yelling at the kids to clean their rooms or put away their toys, spouses arguing over the mess in the family room or basement or garage, etc. And once you really get serious about clutter, you will find that you become far more discriminating about new purchases and what you're willing to bring into the house so it lessens spending too.

I have found one thing that is kind of a downside, though, to be honest. We no longer enjoy activities that we used to spend a lot of time doing. As collectors, we were always going to flea markets, yard sales, thrift shops, antique stores, and auctions. We would plan weekends and even vacations around doing those things. Now that we no longer are buying all of those sorts of things, going to those places has lost its appeal. The thrill of the hunt for that special item is gone. Although I like that we're decluttering, I do miss the enjoyment I derived from those activities.

[creditcardfree]

I would highly recommend Marie Kondo's book on tidying up. See if your library has it and both of you should read it. I don't think you have to go full out with her method but it can really change your mindset and approach going forward. My wife and I did use her method with a few categories of items and it made a huge difference.

Marie Kondo has a television show on Netflix. I just watched the first episode yesterday where she helped a couple and their two young kids get control of their clutter. The couple seemed to have a better relationship after the process.

[creditcardfree]

I've never really participated on these decluttering threads, but I've always been jealous... My wife & I both have a tendency to keep things around that we don't need or use (both of our mothers were/are somewhat obsessive collectors), and honestly, having the extra stuff cluttering the house really stresses me out alot. We're not slobs or hoarders by any means, but it's just a whole bunch of little nicknacks, toys, and other junk (DW hates that word at this point) that just sits on countertops and along the walls that makes the house feel cluttered and disorganized. It's apparently gotten to the point that this weekend my wife & I actually had a [editor's note: absolutely ridiculous] shouting match/argument that basically centered around the fact that I'm stressed out by the random junk sitting around, and my wife was stressing out trying to clean things up to help me not stress, but we just weren't seeing eye-to-eye about any of it, and I didn't even recognize what it was doing to me. SOOOOO..... we've spent much of the weekend (and really, a fair part of the last month) organizing and clearing out a bunch of stuff that we don't use or want. Multiple trips to the donations shop, and alot of time just working through some of the randomness in our lives. Our kids' toys have been picked through alot, as have both of our closets. Hopefully, we can keep it going, and get our clutter under control. If anything noteworthy, I may try to actually participate here in the thread. The garage will be a challenge.

Happy new year, and good luck on your own adventures in cleaning house!

Most people don't realize how stressful clutter is! Our brains know it's there, even if we do not consciously think about it. I'm a big believer in having less for this reason alone. I showed a new neighbor friend my cabinets one time and she was shocked at how many were empty. I buy what we need and use and if we aren't using it regularly it needs to go. And also it so much easier to move with the military without all the extras. We can unpack in one day if we had to, usually do it over three days.

I'll be cheering for you in 2019, kork! You won't regret it and hopefully can find a balance with what your wife wants.