2021 Decluttering Thread

[james.hendrickson]

I don't think he had an abnormally large amount of stuff. I'm sure if you clean out the house of your average 65+ year old, you'll find just as much or more. I took 12 car loads to the thrift shop when I was in Florida and threw out probably 20 bags of trash, a ton of recycling, and 10 boxes of documents shredded.

What came home was the good stuff. Some was things that I'm in the process of selling. Some was practical items that we can use - office supplies, tools, a small appliance or two, tape, etc. Some was personal items like photographs and other mementos that we wanted to keep.

About 10 cartons came home filled with antique car magazines. They actually sell quite well on ebay bringing about $3/issue and I have 25 years worth. I don't plan to sell them individually. I'll list them 12 at a time by year. They'll bring a bit less that way but I'll get rid of them faster. I'm trying to knock out some of the individual items first and then I'll get to those later.

Good idea regarding the old car magazines. I had no idea any of that stuff had value.

[disneysteve]

Dang, how much stuff did your cousin have?

I don't think he had an abnormally large amount of stuff. I'm sure if you clean out the house of your average 65+ year old, you'll find just as much or more. I took 12 car loads to the thrift shop when I was in Florida and threw out probably 20 bags of trash, a ton of recycling, and 10 boxes of documents shredded.

What came home was the good stuff. Some was things that I'm in the process of selling. Some was practical items that we can use - office supplies, tools, a small appliance or two, tape, etc. Some was personal items like photographs and other mementos that we wanted to keep.

About 10 cartons came home filled with antique car magazines. They actually sell quite well on ebay bringing about $3/issue and I have 25 years worth. I don't plan to sell them individually. I'll list them 12 at a time by year. They'll bring a bit less that way but I'll get rid of them faster. I'm trying to knock out some of the individual items first and then I'll get to those later.

[james.hendrickson]

Item I listed on ebay last night already has a bid
I was prepping an item to list on Marketplace and discovered it isn't in as good condition as I thought so I will donate it instead (it still works but is a bit wonky).
I emptied out another box of stuff we brought home from my cousin's house; I emptied out 2 boxes on Friday

Dang, how much stuff did your cousin have?

[disneysteve]

Item I listed on ebay last night already has a bid
I was prepping an item to list on Marketplace and discovered it isn't in as good condition as I thought so I will donate it instead (it still works but is a bit wonky).
I emptied out another box of stuff we brought home from my cousin's house; I emptied out 2 boxes on Friday

[disneysteve]

Sold 2 items on Marketplace this week
Took 2 boxes and a board game to Goodwill this morning
Listed 2 items on ebay that both have bids already
Just listed another item on ebay a moment ago
Listed several other items on Marketplace

[scfr]

Spent the day at my mom's. After running a couple errands and taking care of some fix-it's, we started tackling her clothes. A couple items went in the trash, many items were returned to their proper places, and 4 bins went to Goodwill. Noticeable progress.

[disneysteve]

I did another session in the garage after dinner. I focused on the front corner area. I finally organized all of our snow/ice scrapers and brushes in a milk crate so we won't be searching for them come wintertime. I cleaned off and organized the rack that holds lawn tools (rakes, pruning shears, brooms, etc.). I went through 3 boxes of my mom's old papers that can all be shredded. Now I just need to find a local community free shredding event as I'd rather not pay to do it if I don't have to. I got 2 boxes packed and ready for Goodwill. I threw out a garbage bag full of stuff and partially filled another bag.

I actually feel like I'm making some real progress.

[disneysteve]

My father had a large stamp collection including thousands of first day covers, assorted envelopes, and postcards. I've recently started going through them with the intent of eventually taking them to a dealer to see what I can get for them. Unfortunately, they weren't stored well and many are damaged as a result. So I'm sorting through them, tossing the damaged items, and separating the postcards from the envelopes. I've sold a couple on ebay and have a few others that I will list as well. I've also found a number of postcards sent to my family from friends and other family members so it's been neat to see those. This morning I went through another stack of them.

[disneysteve]

Spent a couple of hours in the garage this morning. 3 bags of trash. Some boxes broken down in recycling. And a bunch of stuff ready to give away or sell. It’s pouring here so no Goodwill run today. And I’m going out of town on Monday so I’m not starting any online sales until I’m back.

I also went in the attic yesterday. I was looking for something I didn’t find but while I was up there I took down a few boxes for items we no longer own. I need to spend some more time up there when the weather permits as a bunch of that stuff needs to go.

[disneysteve]

I started thinning out my tax return files, keeping just the returns themselves and recycling or shredding all of the supporting paperwork. I know I probably don't need the returns either (beyond 7 years) but I'm okay keeping a pretty small file that is maybe 10% of what it started as.

I've continued to work on this this morning and I've discovered that I actually have a bunch of duplicate paperwork. When our previous accountant retired, he gave us back all of the original documents that he had held on file. That meant we had both our copies and the originals. I'm in the process of getting rid of all of that now.

I also put a few of the collectible items we cleared out yesterday onto Marketplace last night and one sold this morning. She is supposed to come for it this afternoon. More space and more money - gotta love that.

[JoeP]

May be OCD for some, but after we got fiber installed for internet, I went through and removed all the old coaxial cable. It falls in the the mental decluttering category for me!

Also we ended up renting a storage unit for all the clutter from the kids moving in and out. A lot of temporary things we know they'll need once they're out on their own.

[disneysteve]

Two items sold on ebay today.

I started thinning out my tax return files, keeping just the returns themselves and recycling or shredding all of the supporting paperwork. I know I probably don't need the returns either (beyond 7 years) but I'm okay keeping a pretty small file that is maybe 10% of what it started as.

[disneysteve]

My wife and I just browsed one display case and removed 10 items that neither of us care about and are willing to part with. Add that to the 20 plushes we removed the other day.

I then spent a bit of time in the basement. Threw out a number of items, added a bunch to a box to give away, set aside a few to sell, and put some paper in the recycling bin.

[disneysteve]

This morning, I took 2 bags of clothing to Goodwill and took 2 old bbq propane tanks to the hardware store for disposal. They've been taking up space in the garage for years. It cost me $20 but it was well worth it. I also asked DW about those old thank you notes and they just went into the recycling bin.

[disneysteve]

Cleared some stuff off of my desk. I realized that there were a number of items always there - glue, envelopes, etc. - that we do need but don't use nearly often enough to have them taking up desk space. They now reside on a shelf across the room.

I went through our stationary shelf and tossed a bunch of random greeting cards that came from various charities. We will never use them. I tossed some very old thank you notes that will never get used. There's also a stack of thank you notes from our wedding (1992) that I will ask DW about before tossing those. I don't think we've used one since the wedding presents.

I had 2 boxes of 500 envelopes in the closet that I think came from my old office. I don't remember for sure. But we have another box of 500 on the shelf. We will never need 1,500 envelopes so I listed the 2 unopened boxes on Marketplace. If they don't sell in a week or two, I'll list them on the Buy Nothing Group.