2017 Decluttering thread

[snafu]

How much is enough? Once I read tableware for 8 was sufficient for most households, I boxed our excess as an experiment. That resulted in nearly instant kitchen declutter! I've not missed the excess in the two years it's . been gone. That success led to further declutter by the numbers. The research is correct ! I'm happy to sell, donate or trash kitchen equipment not used regularly. Would you consider offering excess beer glasses for sale by the dozen?

[msomnipotent]

I like my beer glasses. Some were my grandfather's and are older than I am. Quite a few are from different countries and I think of the trips when I pour a glass. Plus, my guests have become accustomed to drinking beer out of a glass that was specifically designed for that certain beer. I have turned my friends and family into beer snobs. At least I have it down to just one per brewery now. I used to buy in sets of 4 or 6 so they would match. I wound up packing away all but some frosty mugs and my favorite glass. I plan on giving away most of the coffee cups. The majority of those come in the form of gifts from exchange students, so I feel a bit guilty.

A service of 8 would probably last 1/2 a day here. I have a tremendous amount of tableware by anyone's standards, but I use them all. I haven't had any big parties or holidays since last summer because of my wrists, but when I do, I usually have at least 30 people at a time. I can't stand paper plates or plastics, so I have to have enough "real" stuff to serve everyone. It gets nuts when you start to think about the margarita glasses, the water goblets, the red wine, the white, the champagne flutes, tea cups, demitasse cups, etc. And then the dinner plates, the Christmas plates, the luncheon plates, etc. But I'm fancy like that. It's how I roll.

[disneysteve]

I'm glad to see others keeping the thread going. I haven't been doing a whole lot but little things here and there.

The other day I went to put something in one of the file drawers and it was so packed I sat down and tried to get some stuff out. I had a folder from a life insurance policy that I no longer have, so I eliminated all of that paperwork which helped some. I need to do more in there but at least I did something.

[disneysteve]

I did a batch of shredding today, though I followed it up with a round of cleaning out the file drawers which just generated more paper to shred.

I went through financial statements and insurance company paperwork and got rid of a good size pile of old statements and reports.

[commoncentsmike]

I want to say we're up somewhere around $700 this year from Craigslist. Nothing crazy, but we literally weren't using the items we sold. Doesn't make sense to keep them, but it makes cents to sell them!

[cypher1]

Sold my last pair of front speakers to a friend, along with giving him back his old metal shelves I held onto when he was moving a year ago.

Finally threw out my older exterior light fixtures since I just upgraded to solar LED lamps. Gave back another friend's wet saw after completing my backsplash.

[JoeP]

I'm going to attack a shed tomorrow! It isn't necessarily packed to the gills or anything, but it is difficult to find things because they are scattered among many locations. I suspect that when I'm done, it will be like having a new shed...just don't fill it!

[JoeP]

Doesn't look like much, but this allows me to get a lot of stuff off the floor. Combined with the usage of bins, it makes things much easier to find now. I also threw out a kitchen garbage can worth of junk.

[cypher1]

Doesn't look like much, but this allows me to get a lot of stuff off the floor. Combined with the usage of bins, it makes things much easier to find now. I also threw out a kitchen garbage can worth of junk.

Looks great! You can never have too much shelving anywhere IMO.

In my garage, I try to keep most objects off the ground, except for large items.

[msomnipotent]

My in-laws are having a garage sale this weekend, so I'm bringing a few boxes of stuff. It is mostly things too cheap to list online and my daughter's clothes that the nieces don't want, so nothing major.

I have sold several of my husband's and BIL's old Tonka toys on Ebay this week. I didn't know that they had a free listing offer until 6/1/17, so I might start listing some things for myself. I really need to get my butt in gear.

[disneysteve]

My daughter came home from college on Sunday. I listed all of her textbooks on Half.com last night. I've already sold 3 of them today. I love how easy that is.

[alexander grey]

Love this thread as a big declutterer! I try to lead a minimalist life (whenever possible) so I make sure to do a big clearing of the whole house, especially my garage, twice a year.

[msomnipotent]

I sold $60 worth of junk at the garage sale. I didn't think I had more than $20, so that was a nice surprise. What didn't sell went to a charity near the in-laws. I put several things on bookoo last week. I didn't get any bites yet. I found an ad for an animal rescue needing items for a charity garage sale, so I'm going to start packing things up for them tomorrow.

[msomnipotent]

My aunt had a garage sale and we were able to get rid of a few boxes of "junque". It was mostly unopened craft kits my daughter has had in her closet for years and cleaning supplies I don't use. I'm shocked that we made about $50 somehow. Unfortunately, it now looks like a bomb went off in our basement and I don't have the energy to put stuff back. But between the last garage sale and this, things are starting to add up! My daughter's closet looks a lot better and there is more floor space in the basement.

I forgot about the animal rescue sale, so I'm ticked off at myself.

I did a little decluttering around the house this week and found a whole Wii system and a bunch of games that I thought was at the cottage. I plan on bringing a lot of stuff to the cottage the next time we go, but only stuff that needs to be there. We have things like a book shelf and a bunch of books, the Wii, and some little kid toys and a toy organizer that would be of use. The cottage is boring when the amusement park is closed.

[disneysteve]

I've been doing virtually nothing as far as decluttering lately but I've been thinking about it a lot. Does that count?

Seriously, every time we go on vacation (we were just away the week before last) my urge to declutter gets stoked. We spend a week or two living in a clean, clutter-free environment and I realize how nice that is. Then we come home and I go on a decluttering binge for a week or so and then lose traction. This time, the post-trip decluttering hasn't happened because I've just been too busy.

I'm hoping that in the fall after I cut down to one job and will be working fewer hours (I'm shooting for 32/week instead of the minimum of 43/week that I'm doing currently), I'll have both the time and the energy to get back to the decluttering on a more regular and serious basis.