2019 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

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

[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.

[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]

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]

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]

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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[disneysteve]

Today's haul:

5 tote bags
1 fanny pack
2 garment bags from suitcases we don't even have anymore
1 camera flash
1 pair of pants
1 shirt
Some other assorted trash

The top shelf of my bedroom closet on my side is now empty except for the box from our humidifier and my tuxedo accessories.

[disneysteve]

I took a trash bag of clothes, a box of small assorted items, a large tote bag, and an old jewelry box to Goodwill today. I also went grocery shopping and cashed in $30 worth of half dollars for an Amazon voucher.

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.

We also watched the 2nd episode of Marie Kondo's show. That couple almost bordered on hoarding except everything was clean and there was no trash or bugs crawling around. Still, motivating to watch them deal with it all.

[disneysteve]

My wife is trying to reorganize some of the sewing supplies and asked if I could clean out a cabinet at the base of a bookcase in our living room so she could use it to store fabric. After dinner, I took everything out of there. It was filled with items from our Disney collection. I found a couple of items that I was able to fit onto our display shelves since I've been working on cleaning those off in recent months and there was some empty space. Several more items were added to the box to donate for a Disney charity auction coming up this summer. A few things seem to be selling well on ebay so I put those in the basement with my sales stock. A number of little things went in the trash. A couple of things in the Goodwill box. I'm left with 3 bags of collectible pins and buttons that I'm not quite sure where to put but I'll get them into a box or container and store them in the garage with other collectibles that aren't currently on display.

So the cabinet is empty, or at least it was until she moved her fabric into it.

While I was doing that, she was in the bedroom getting rid of some shirts and more items from her closet. She didn't do the whole Marie Kondo thing yet but did get rid of quite a few more items. She's still planning to empty it out and go through it item by item sometime soon.

[disneysteve]

Another fundraiser popular here is Clothes for the Cause. Groups are paid by the pound and accept textile items, belts, shoes, etc. which are stained, etc. as long as clean and not wet. Items are sorted for use, and stained items are bundled for rags.... Our track team made $1500 one year from this event. This is a great way to keep items out of the landfill...........

I love that. I'm going to look it up and see if they do anything in my area.

[SavingBucks]

Love to hear the decluttering stories. We started the process with a bang! It was precipitatied by carpet replacement in the office/bedroom. EVERYTHING had to go out and not everything is going back in! We moved to this house 6 years ago which is DH's childhood home. So not only our stuff but much of in-laws stuff is still here. DH will part with his Dad's dresser which will go to the curb shortly. I have taken boxes to the local women's shelter as well as Goodwill. I know some teachers and donated several boxes of school supplies. Shredded 4-5 boxes of old paperwork. This month there is a donation drive for animal shelters for towels, linens, etc. Items can be ripped, etc. as long as they are clean. Another fundraiser popular here is Clothes for the Cause. Groups are paid by the pound and accept textile items, belts, shoes, etc. which are stained, etc. as long as clean and not wet. Items are sorted for use, and stained items are bundled for rags.... Our track team made $1500 one year from this event. This is a great way to keep items out of the landfill...........