2021 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Listed 2 items on ebay and 1 on Marketplace
Sold 1 item on ebay for $32.79 (cost me nothing)

[disneysteve]

Another successful ebay auction ended tonight for $19.10.

Something else ends tomorrow and is at $34.99 currently.

I started 2 ebay auctions last night, 2 more tonight, and 1 marketplace listing last night.

[disneysteve]

Something else ends tomorrow and is at $34.99 currently.

Auction ended at $35.99. Packed and ready to ship.

Another item has a bid, currently at $21.00. I'll pack that tonight to have it ready. It doesn't end for a few days but I've got the free time now.

Listed 15 magazines on ebay.

[disneysteve]

Three more ebay items have bids.
I listed one more item tonight.
My wife cleaned out a vintage sewing supply case that I will list on Marketplace as soon as I get a chance (probably this weekend).

[disneysteve]

3 ebay items sold today. Net profit about $52.00.

Listed 1 item on ebay.

[scfr]

A couple "one year ago" photo reminders popped up on my phone of my mom's former storage unit, taken when I first opened it up to start clearing it out.
It was reassuring & motivating to get that reminder of how much has been accomplished.

[disneysteve]

Shipped 2 items I sold yesterday.

Listed 2 more items.

Cleaned off my computer desk and regular desk.

[disneysteve]

Packed 1 ebay item to ship tomorrow

Listed a somewhat pricey item on Marketplace (asking $125 but willing to negotiate). I tried to sell it when I was in Florida but didn't find a buyer so I brought it home but haven't gotten around to listing it until now. It was in the garage and I kept forgetting about it. I'd rather not have to ship it as it weighs almost 20 pounds so that wouldn't be cheap, but if I can't find a local buyer, I may go that route.

I sold 2 lots of a specialty magazine on ebay this week both to the same buyer. I mailed them yesterday along with a note asking if he might be interested in buying the rest of the ones I have. He bought 23 issues. I have 93 remaining. I'd happily discount them if he buys directly since I won't have to pay ebay their 15% cut.

[scfr]

'Twas another good decluttering day at Mom's. Fought back the small creep of clothing on the master bedroom floor that is always trying to sneak back in (no match for me though), then attacked the piles blocking access to a wardrobe. Large bag of trash gone. A basketful of recycling gone and a couple boxes broken down. 2 tote bins full to Goodwill. Handful of books to a little free library, and some fleece for the local wildlife rescue. When the wardrobe area was cleared I dusted (cough, cough), decluttered, and rearranged the items that remained.

Maybe the nicest thing was a lovely text from one of my sisters who mentioned that she knows I'm dealing with a stash that goes back to the 70's. I didn't realize anyone else in the family knew just how bad it has been. I didn't think I cared if they knew, until I realized how nice it was to get that acknowledgement.

[james.hendrickson]

I threw out two boxes of junk, so old medicine that had expired, a couple of random cardboard boxes in my closet, old wire coat hangers, a couple of broken toys my kids had outgrown, and some vegemite and miso soup packets that been sitting in the pantry for five years.


Fett good.

[myrdale]

I'd built a pair of raised beds in my back yard a couple of years ago with the intention of growing some vegetables. Other than a couple of tomato plants and some strawberries, it really fell flat. I just didn't have the desire to put the effort into it. They had become a haven for the weeds, and worse yet i hated mowing around them.

Yesterday morning I demo'ed both beds, and spread the dirt over about 1/4 of my back yard for top dressing the soil.

[disneysteve]

Sold an item on ebay today and already shipped it out.
Packed 3 more items that have bids and end tomorrow.

I had listed something on ebay that I was pretty sure wouldn't sell, and it didn't, so that stack of magazines went into the recycling bin. I figured I'd give it a shot before I tossed them. A search of completed auctions found no successful sales so I wasn't surprised. I tried selling a lot of 10 items for a very low price and it still got no interest.

[scfr]

One small item (a scarf) from Mom's stash decluttered yesterday. I share its history to emphasize the value of gifting sentimental items NOW.

• Scarf's owner dies in 1979
• Scarf owner's spouse can't bear to part with scarf due to sentimental value (plus it's a piece of moderate quality); packs it up and carts it across the country in 1982
• Scarf somehow winds up in a box on the floor at the back of the master bedroom closet, and eventually becomes inaccessible and forgotten behind a massive pile of clothing
• When scarf's owner's spouse winds up in rehab (due to a fall probably caused by piles in the house though she refuses to admit that), daughter temporarily moves into the house and proceeds to attack piles whenever she has a spare moment --- clears out closet, discovers box full of "fiber treasures" in the back of the closet, all items dirty, many in disgusting shape, tosses some items, puts salvageable items in a small tote that she shows mother when she returns from rehab and of course mother asks her to put the tote in the closet so she can "think about it"
• When daughter revisits the tote with sentimental items, spouse/mother has finally reached a point where she recognizes the value in giving away sentimental items and offers it to overseas son in law who replies that he'd be delighted to have it
• Mother/spouse insists she will handwash the scarf and get it mailed off.
• A short time later, mother admits she's not going to get it washed. Daughter takes it home, hand washes it (5 times! it didn't get fresher sitting dirty in a box), and mails it off.

And voila, like magic, it is gone and going to someone who will treasure and use it. Only took 42 years, lots of emotional work, and time & effort (discussing and thinking and procrasting and moving here & there, and then finally cleaning & shipping).

[disneysteve]

3 successful auctions ended on ebay, one was for a lot of 13 items so that cleared out quite a few little things.

I just started an auction for 2 small items.

I emptied out a box of assorted stuff from my cousin's house. A few things went in the trash as I had only brought certain things home to show my daughter but we don't need to keep them and they aren't of any value. There are a few more items that will get listed for sale. And a few that I want to keep and need to find a place for. But that's one more carton box gone from our home office.

[disneysteve]

Listed 1 item on ebay

I didn't have much free time today but at least I did that. I also got the 3 items I sold yesterday ready to ship tomorrow.

On the negative side, I just ended 4 ebay auctions. I was attempting to sell several lots of old car magazines. There are successful prior auctions for issues of this magazine so I thought they'd go well. They haven't. Rather than list them a year's worth at a time, I'm going to repackage and put a few years together into larger lots and see if I can sell them that way. There was a recent auction where someone sold 250 issues for $250. I didn't really want to go quite that extreme but maybe if I do 3-4 years in a lot I'll get some interest. I have the past 25 years of the magazine.