2016 Decluttering Thread

[creditcardfree]

I researched this after my prior post and Best Buy is the closest to me with an e-cycling program. They will accept 3 items per household per day for free. Long list of what they will accept.

I knew Best Buy would take batteries, CD's, and ink cartridges. I did not know they would take laptops! Perfect. I have one to recycle. I'm pulling out the hard drive though!

[disneysteve]

My wife is coming home (finally) tomorrow night. I made sure to do some more cleaning and decluttering over the weekend. Last night, I took care of the area around the washer and dryer in the basement. I picked up random laundry items that had fallen over time and gotten forgotten. I threw out some old painting supplies that were past usable condition, an old squeegee that was pretty icky, and a few other things. A number of old plastic scoops from detergent were down there so those got recycled along with an empty bottle of stain treater.

I also mostly cleared off the top of the little shelving unit near the door to the garage. That's another spot where things tend to accumulate in our house. It's not totally clear because there are a few things I need her to deal with but I got rid of everything I could.

We also had her van washed and mini-detailed while she was gone.

[snafu]

The work you've done de-cluttering the laundry area speaks volumes of your relationship. My 2002 car has never been detailed. I'd be more delighted about DH arranging detailing for my car than any gift I can imagine. A small bouquet of fresh flowers is also a nice touch.

[Gailete]

We also had her van washed and mini-detailed while she was gone.

That is so sweet! Wish someone would clean OUR car! These are the sort of things that women really do hold dear. Pure thoughtfulness.

[disneysteve]

My 2002 car has never been detailed. I'd be more delighted about DH arranging detailing for my car than any gift I can imagine.

That is so sweet! Wish someone would clean OUR car!

I am not a big car wash guy. I can't tell you the last time mine was washed. I don't get the people who insist on washing their cars once a week. I think it's a waste. But now and then, when the crud really builds up, it's a good idea.

I didn't take it for a full scale detail. Those go for $100 or more. But we have a car wash nearby that does a really nice job with their very reasonably priced washes. For about $25 they wash and wax the outside, vacuum and dust the inside, clean the insides of the windows, clean the door jams, and ArmorAll the tires and dash.

[cypher1]

Been awhile but just I threw out an old lawn spreader, some old jeans, and left over shelf hardware from my former roommate's room.

[DaveInPgh]

Been awhile but just I threw out an old lawn spreader, some old jeans, and left over shelf hardware from my former roommate's room.

I held on to an old lawn spreader for probably 5 years that I never used. I finally got rid of it last year.

[disneysteve]

Seen on Facebook:

"I tried the Japanese method of decluttering where you hold every object that you own and if it does not bring you joy, you throw it away. So far I have thrown out all of the vegetables, my bra, the electric bill, the scale, a mirror, and my treadmill."

Happy 4th everyone!

[creditcardfree]

I did get my laptop dropped off at BestBuy last week. I kept the hard drive. My husband has now drilled into it for security reasons. We will take that in next time we are near the store again. I also have another computer battery I failed to take in the first time as well.

[disneysteve]

This thread has been quiet all summer. I guess we've all been busy with other things. Now that it's back to school time, it's time to start getting back into it. Our daughter goes back to college on 9/3 and once she is gone (and the weather is cooler), we definitely want to start attacking the clutter again.

The summer hasn't been totally without decluttering, though. Some decluttering happened by force actually. We got home from Florida a little over 3 weeks ago to find that our basement had gotten a fair amount of water in it while we were away. As a result, I spent a few hours down there cleaning up which included filling 2 or 3 large bags of trash with things that had gotten wet that weren't salvageable as well as some stuff that needed to be tossed anyway. I also found some stuff to donate that I didn't even realize was down there.

All of DD's college stuff is stored down there so once that is out of there, I'll have more space to dig into what's left.

You may remember I had done a great deal of work in the garage before. I'm pleased to say it has remained nice without new clutter accumulating. When we were leaving for a weekend away on Friday, DD even commented how nice it was to have a wide space to pull the suitcases out to the car. I'm definitely not done in there, though. There is more to be done but again, I need cooler weather. No way could I work in there when it was 95°. I'm actually looking forward to the fall when I can dig into the remaining stuff and make more progress in there.

The other thing that I want to tackle this fall is the attic. I'm pretty sure it's been at least 2 years since I've even been up there. I know there is junk up there that we absolutely don't need but it's been out of sight, out of mind. At some point, I need to deal with it, especially if we might be talking about moving in a few years, but it's not a high priority right now.

[creditcardfree]

We've been decluttering, just not posting here about it I guess. I've been noticing more and more things that we don't use, particularly as our hobbies have changed, and our girls are older (needing fewer toys and games). Even clothes have been decluttered. Why keep what we don't wear, right?

In the end I had two large boxes, about 8 cu ft total of things we recently dropped off at Goodwill. I'm collecting more from the kitchen, which I thought I had decluttered completely. In the end there were specialized pans that I was keeping just in case. I'm done keeping things for 'just in case'. If I can replace the item for $20 or less, I'm letting it go. If I really ever do need the item, I will buy it. The odds are pretty low of that happening since some of these things I haven't used in years.

I'm looking forward to the cooler weather, too. My garage needs to be cleaned out and decluttered.

[disneysteve]

I've been noticing more and more things that we don't use

I'm done keeping things for 'just in case'. If I can replace the item for $20 or less, I'm letting it go. If I really ever do need the item, I will buy it.

I think getting rid of clutter is definitely a mindset. Once you start looking at everything through that lens, a lot more stuff strikes you as unnecessary. And I totally agree with your point about buying something if you ever really need it rather than holding onto something for years and years "just in case".

[snafu]

Thank you for bringing this thread forward. Sorry to learn your return from vacation revealed water in the basement. I hope you've taken photos if you plan to file an insurance claim for damage and ruined items.

I wonder if you are finding it easier to relinquish items stored in basement, garage and possibly attic, yet to come.

We've made changes to our lifestyle this year and I have been re evaluating stuff category by category. This past week I loaded a box of serving platters, at least a dozen salad plates and miscellaneous glasses from different eras as we have stopped hosting large dinners. Earlier in the month I loaded a box of bed linens for the Mennonite Thrift Store. I was so pleased when DH [our clothes horse] reviewed his shirts and willingly filled a large black trash bag for donation. This week I'm tackling 'electronics.' Old phones we planned to sell are now too old to have value, DVD players we never use, cords for items long recycled, iPad and lap tops if I can figure out how to verify the hard drive is actually clear all go to recycle. I'll donate coffee makers, electric fry pan and anything else from RV days.

[creditcardfree]

We've made changes to our lifestyle this year and I have been re evaluating stuff category by category. This past week I loaded a box of serving platters, at least a dozen salad plates and miscellaneous glasses from different eras as we have stopped hosting large dinners. Earlier in the month I loaded a box of bed linens for the Mennonite Thrift Store. I was so pleased when DH [our clothes horse] reviewed his shirts and willingly filled a large black trash bag for donation. This week I'm tackling 'electronics.' Old phones we planned to sell are now too old to have value, DVD players we never use, cords for items long recycled, iPad and lap tops if I can figure out how to verify the hard drive is actually clear all go to recycle. I'll donate coffee makers, electric fry pan and anything else from RV days.

You have done a great job, snafu! You can also pull the hard drive out of your laptops. My husband then literally drilled through ours (use eye protection) so no information could be compromised. Then we still recycled it at Best Buy.

[disneysteve]

It's still 90°+ here but I'm starting to get into that fall cleaning mindset.

This morning, I spent some time in the computer room/office space. We have a stack of posters and art that has never been hung. I sorted through that and got several items down to the garage to give away or sell if we do another yard sale.

I got 2 boxes from collectibles into the attic where they are all stored.

I searched a couple of things on ebay and discovered that an old collectible catalog that I used to get sells for $3.95/copy and a collector's magazine sells for $5.95/copy. At that rate, I've got over $300 worth of magazines sitting here. I scanned and listed several copies of one of them and will work my way through all of them. I'd love to get them out of here and earn a little money along the way.

Threw out some dried out glitter glue from a long ago craft project.