2021 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Returned from vacation Sunday night. Took my ebay and Marketplace accounts off vacation mode last night. Sold 4 magazines on ebay today.

Now to list a bunch more. ETA: I listed 7 lots of magazines that I had prepared as drafts before we went away.

Not a decluttering issue but I also listed something for my daughter. She has tickets to a fan convention next month and for a variety of reasons has decided not to attend. I'm really hoping somebody will buy that as it was a pretty costly ticket.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Consigned 35 items and then took 4 bags of stuff to goodwill. OMG feels so good. Plus I cleaned out and tried on a ton of clothes in 1 kid's room

[disneysteve]

I photographed and prepared draft ebay listings for 7 lots of 12 magazines each (one year's worth of issues per listing). I'll post them when we return from vacation.

I was curious how many magazines I've sold so far. Since returning home from my cousin's house in July, I've sold 107 magazines. Not bad. And after vacation I plan to ramp up my efforts. I have about 10 cartons of magazines to sell so 107 is a good start but there's plenty more to go.

[jenn_jenn]

Wow. I've never heard of that. Was that a COVID restriction? Any idea if they're still doing it?

Other than corporations, who would donate brand new stuff to a thrift shop?

As far as I know, yes. I thought it was odd! They said their policy was due to the pandemic and safety concerns. I can understand not wanting to accept things in poor condition (which everything we had was in good or like new condition) but didn’t get their very strict stance on this.

We actually were going to donate 6 sets of brand new in packaging curtains but since they wouldn’t take everything else in the box, we honestly forgot they were in there. ♀️

[disneysteve]

A couple of months ago, we tried to take a bunch of stuff to our local Goodwill and they weren’t accepting any donations unless the item was brand new in packaging or with tags. The Salvation Army was the same.

Wow. I've never heard of that. Was that a COVID restriction? Any idea if they're still doing it?

Other than corporations, who would donate brand new stuff to a thrift shop?

[jenn_jenn]

A couple of months ago, we tried to take a bunch of stuff to our local Goodwill and they weren’t accepting any donations unless the item was brand new in packaging or with tags. The Salvation Army was the same. *sigh*

My husband wanted to take everything to the dump but it was good stuff and I didn’t want to see everything add to a landfill. Finally got around to posting on FB marketplace and was surprised how quickly (almost) everything sold.

Made $300 for things we were going to donate anyway and we didn’t add to a landfill. Win!

[disneysteve]

Got a bid on an ebay item that ends on Tuesday.

Three auctions ended successfully tonight. I sold a total of 63 issues of magazines between the 3 auctions.

[disneysteve]

Got a bid on an ebay item that ends on Tuesday.

Listed an item on Marketplace that I've had on ebay without success. I figure I've got a better shot at selling it there since postage kind of kills the deal on a low priced item.

ETA: Got rid of 3 books on the bookcase. Went into the hall closet for something and ended up tossing out a number of expired products.

When we get back from vacation in a few weeks, I plan to start aggressively listing and selling things. I've been dragging my feet recently because I knew we were going away. Also, by mid October the weather should start being cooler consistently allowing me to spend time working in the garage (though there is plenty to do in the house as well). And on or before December 1, I will be switching to part time at work so I'll have more time to devote to the decluttering efforts.

[bjl584]

A friend of mine is moving and will be having an estate sale this weekend.
He told me that I am free to bring anything that I want over to try and sell as part of the sale.
I've gathered a few things up to take over.

[james.hendrickson]

I threw out a couple of old red vases that had been on one of my shelves for years, gathering dust. It felt great to get rid of them.

[scfr]

Today I dropped off accumulated plastic bags and shredded paper at the recycling center.The shredded paper included things I will be taking to my grave on my mother's behalf (family secrets & professional papers she had no business holding onto that I found when sorting through all of her stuff), so I guess you could say that I partially offloaded emotional baggage today! I also dropped off 1 small bag of items at Goodwill (1 item of mine, the rest were my mom's).

[disneysteve]

Sold an item on Marketplace today.

Started the four ebay auctions that I saved as drafts before we went away.

[GordFelcon]

I have sold a lot of my clothes that I don't wear anymore a week ago. Finally my closet feels better-emptier)))

[scfr]

More organizing and tidying (putting things back where they belong) and sorting resulted in 2 more large tote bins full of clothes dropped off at Goodwill following another decluttering day at mom's yesterday. Found a couple items of fall clothing Mom has been wanting to locate. Now that we've cleared out enough clothes that we have some space, we bounced ideas back and forth about setting up a clothing clutter prevention system using resources already on hand. My mom has a lot of physical limitations, and they are not getting better with age. What we are probably going to do is move a sofa table that is in the family room in to her bedroom, where she can sit and fold laundry, near where the laundry should be put away (probably put away by me when I visit if I'm being realistic but at least it won't wind up on the floor where it is a tripping hazard or where things get lost in the pile). In other words, convert something that is mostly decorative to something more functional and badly needed.

And there was the usual book rotation: library books swapped out, plus some book discussion and more books added to the "to borrow" list. Mom went through pages she had torn out of publications that mentioned books she wants to read ... then those pages went in to the recycling tub that a couple years ago I placed on the floor next to the sofa where she reads her mail, newspaper, magazines, etc. That tub, and the use of library books, are a couple of the "clutter prevention" tools that I've implemented in her house since moving near her to help. Not all of my ideas have worked or stuck, but the recycling tub was a definite winner. Less paper piling up and none winding up on the floor. No paper on the floor. No books purchased.

Mom gets a charge out of the decluttering because she can see physical changes ("look at how that pile has shrunk!").
I enjoy the satisfaction of effective systems put in place that prevent the clutter in the first place and save both effort & money.

[disneysteve]

I just got $110 on Marketplace for a set of pneumatic tools I brought home from my cousin's house. I had tried to sell it while I was there without success. I knew it was of value but just needed to find the right buyer.