2017 Decluttering thread

[disneysteve]

My wife has started to attack our photographs. Just now, she went through one box and got rid of a stack of prints that I measured at 2-1/2 inches high. She threw out another similar stack yesterday and is still going at it. By the time she's done, I'm sure she will have gotten rid of thousands of photos.

One thing we just remembered is that one place we used to get our pictures developed used to give duplicate prints - which we've saved of course. So for hundreds and hundreds of pictures, we actually have doubles of every one. Those are prime decluttering material for sure.

[creditcardfree]

One thing we just remembered is that one place we used to get our pictures developed used to give duplicate prints - which we've saved of course. So for hundreds and hundreds of pictures, we actually have doubles of every one. Those are prime decluttering material for sure.

Now that photographs can easily be scanned, duplicates are definitely not necessary. I tossed ours years ago, including ALL of the negatives.

I also tossed blurry pictures and those of general scenery (like mountain views or zoo pictures) if they don't include people. I also learned to keep only one or two per event. I don't need 12 pictures of my daughter opening gifts at her birthday for example.

[disneysteve]

Now that photographs can easily be scanned, duplicates are definitely not necessary. I tossed ours years ago, including ALL of the negatives.

I also tossed blurry pictures and those of general scenery (like mountain views or zoo pictures) if they don't include people. I also learned to keep only one or two per event. I don't need 12 pictures of my daughter opening gifts at her birthday for example.

Yep. That's exactly what we are doing. A picture of my daughter in front of an elephant at the zoo - yes. A picture of just an elephant at the zoo - no.

We have no intent to digitize the photos but debulking the physical prints will be a nice accomplishment. I'm guessing we will reduce the space taken up by photos by about 50% which would be nice.

[james.hendrickson]

My wife has started to attack our photographs. Just now, she went through one box and got rid of a stack of prints that I measured at 2-1/2 inches high. She threw out another similar stack yesterday and is still going at it. By the time she's done, I'm sure she will have gotten rid of thousands of photos.

One thing we just remembered is that one place we used to get our pictures developed used to give duplicate prints - which we've saved of course. So for hundreds and hundreds of pictures, we actually have doubles of every one. Those are prime decluttering material for sure.

Is it worth the time to scan and sell them?

[creditcardfree]

Is it worth the time to scan and sell them?

What? Why would you sell your personal photos?

We haven't scanned any of our physical photos either. Maybe one day, but it is low on the list and I would want to further reduce the ones that we even considered scanning.

[disneysteve]

Is it worth the time to scan and sell them?

What are you talking about? Sell what?

[james.hendrickson]

What are you talking about? Sell what?

The pictures. One popular passive income strategy is selling your pictures online. Images of cityscapes, landmarks and families sell well.

[disneysteve]

The pictures. One popular passive income strategy is selling your pictures online. Images of cityscapes, landmarks and families sell well.

I've heard something about that. Where would one go to look into doing that?

I certainly wouldn't sell photos of anyone in my family. And I wouldn't sell photos of others without getting their permission. But photos of places and things maybe.

[msomnipotent]

I decluttered half of our linen closet while eavesdropping on my daughter's fight with her friend. Then I got caught, got bored, and left a big mess in the hallway to be cleaned later. This is a great example of why my house is cluttered to begin with.

[StormRichards]

I decluttered half of our linen closet while eavesdropping on my daughter's fight with her friend. Then I got caught, got bored, and left a big mess in the hallway to be cleaned later. This is a great example of why my house is cluttered to begin with.

What was the fight about? You can't put something this out there without some details.

[snafu]

msomnipotent, is it true?
...Clutter is the result of delayed decision-making. Organization is the result of systems and processes that make decision-making easy.
There are a bunch of cute posters on that theme.

It's a topic my adult ESL students enjoy debating

[msomnipotent]

What was the fight about? You can't put something this out there without some details.

Lol. Typical 11/12 year old stuff. "I'm not talking to them because they are not talking to me, and they are not talking to me because they think I ignore them" kind of thing. Although the ring leader of this particular circus seems to thrive on negative attention and has started spreading lies that even her own close friends are calling her out on. She (as in our daughter and not the ring leader) is our only child and I keep telling her that this is the sort of thing she would be dealing with DAILY if she had sisters and it is no big deal, but she thinks it is a major thing.

I'm actually kind of worried because she told a trusted teacher about it while fighting back tears because of course she had to be PMS'ing at the time, and she was referred to the social worker. They have zero tolerance policies for everything. Nothing good will probably come from it.

[msomnipotent]

msomnipotent, is it true?
...Clutter is the result of delayed decision-making. Organization is the result of systems and processes that make decision-making easy.
There are a bunch of cute posters on that theme.

It's a topic my adult ESL students enjoy debating

Most of the clutter on my table is cook books, newspaper clippings of various things, coupons, and grocery sale papers. I have a lot of recipe ideas clipped for "someday", which could be tomorrow or never. Weeks go by before I clip coupons and organize my coupon organizer. Sometimes the coupons expire before I even get them in the coupon wallet. Although lately it has been a bit of an extreme. I haven't been able to use my left hand and the rest of me isn't great due to RA, so things are piling up. I really don't remember the last time I went shopping, but it could have been last week for all I know. But I kind of doubt it because I would have a lot more groceries.

[disneysteve]

Most of the clutter on my table is cook books, newspaper clippings of various things, coupons, and grocery sale papers. I have a lot of recipe ideas clipped for "someday", which could be tomorrow or never. Weeks go by before I clip coupons and organize my coupon organizer. Sometimes the coupons expire before I even get them in the coupon wallet.

One thing that I've really tried to work on in recent years is eliminating activities that simply don't accomplish anything realistically. Clipping coupons is a good example. If you regularly clip coupons but rarely actually use them, just stop doing it. You're not saving any money anyway and you're wasting time and creating clutter. Just stop. Toss all of the coupons you already have in the recycling bin and move on.

Same for recipes. The internet has every recipe you could ever possibly want. There is no reason to buy cookbooks or clip things out of newspapers and magazines. It's clutter simply for the sake of clutter. I'm willing to bet that you have rarely if ever actually gone back and used any of those recipes that you cut out and saved.

[StormRichards]

Lol. Typical 11/12 year old stuff. "I'm not talking to them because they are not talking to me, and they are not talking to me because they think I ignore them" kind of thing. Although the ring leader of this particular circus seems to thrive on negative attention and has started spreading lies that even her own close friends are calling her out on. She (as in our daughter and not the ring leader) is our only child and I keep telling her that this is the sort of thing she would be dealing with DAILY if she had sisters and it is no big deal, but she thinks it is a major thing.

I'm actually kind of worried because she told a trusted teacher about it while fighting back tears because of course she had to be PMS'ing at the time, and she was referred to the social worker. They have zero tolerance policies for everything. Nothing good will probably come from it.

Mine is the same age and know this drama all too well. My DD is having friends sleep over tonight. She invited a friend that rarely gets invited to anything and she feels bad about that. She didn't invite another friend because those two aren't close so that would be awkward. She invited a different friend who is coming, but was later invited to a sleepover by the non-invited friend. So she had to tell her no and of course it will leak out why and the uninvited friend will be upset for not getting invited. A lunch table of 8 with several cliques within the clique.