2022 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

I worked in the upstairs hall closet this morning. I tossed out a bunch of expired meds and other products. We had two full bottles of baby oil from two different long defunct stores. Neither of us can even remember what we ever used baby oil for. In the process, I also found a bottle of one of DD's hair products that she didn't know was in there and a bottle of my prescription mouthwash that I didn't know was there.

[scfr]

Last weekend at Mom's in addition to "the usual" (running errands and doing housework):

Old nonfunctioning VCR/DVD combo disconnected and hauled off to Goodwill with 2 nonworking remotes, 40+ VCR tapes, and a couple other random things
New DVD player hooked up
When I left she was watching old family movies on the DVD player, happy as a clam.

Unless you have a child who is willing to grit her/his teeth and come sort through your mess, take care of the decluttering now! Your future self will thank you for the quality of life. And honestly, don't do that to your child either!

[ua_guy]

DH and I started turning over the house this last weekend making a pile of donate/sell. I did this exercise with the kitchen last year and it was fruitful--and has stayed clean/sparse ever since. When we moved in, it was under a very stressful time crunch so a lot of stuff just got thrown in closets or never dealt with. Feels good to finally go through stuff. There's some junk, but a lot of it is stuff we just no longer value.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

In the last few months I've tried to give away things via "Nextdoor." Mostly they've been items that I think an institutional charity would either throw away or damage (a big stack of egg cartons, for example), so I hoped to find an individual to take them directly. Have I ever had a string of no-shows!

I've got a box ready to go to St. Vincent de Paul thrift store today. Their store is close so I can drop it off when I go to do an errand.

[crazyliblady]

In the last few months I've tried to give away things via "Nextdoor." Mostly they've been items that I think an institutional charity would either throw away or damage (a big stack of egg cartons, for example), so I hoped to find an individual to take them directly. Have I ever had a string of no-shows!

I've got a box ready to go to St. Vincent de Paul thrift store today. Their store is close so I can drop it off when I go to do an errand.

I give away my egg cartons to farmers that I know. Usually, I buy some eggs from them, but this year has been touch and go with the high heat and I have not been to buy eggs from them in well over a month. So, if you know any farmers or go to the farmer's market in your area, they are more than happy to get them.

[disneysteve]

We're finally getting some cooler, less humid mornings here. I spent an hour doing yard work and followed that with 2 solid hours cleaning the garage. I emptied out two large boxes of stuff. I listed multiple items on Marketplace and other local selling groups, 2 items on Buy Nothing, and brought in a few things to list on ebay. It already looks better even though all the stuff is still there.

I'm off the next few days so hopefully I can do another session or two out there.

My ultimate goal is to clear enough space to make part of the garage my ebay work area. A portable AC and space heater and it can be used year round.

[disneysteve]

I spent an hour doing yard work and followed that with 2 solid hours cleaning the garage. I emptied out two large boxes of stuff. I listed multiple items on Marketplace and other local selling groups, 2 items on Buy Nothing, and brought in a few things to list on ebay.

Sold an 8-gallon shop vac today. $45 in my pocket and a large box out of the garage.

Someone is supposed to be coming tomorrow to get a carton full of old bottles.

I did about an hour in the garage this morning. I have 3 cartons of old paperwork from my mom that needs to be shredded. I'll start working on that. I also pulled out a large carton containing a punch bowl set that I'll take to Goodwill on Tuesday when I go to the post office. I've tried to sell it multiple times without success.

[disneysteve]

Someone came by today to pick up a stack of milk crates so those are gone now too.

[disneysteve]

Someone is supposed to be coming tomorrow to get a carton full of old bottles.

That person never showed, but someone else came for them yesterday.

Last night, I listed a wooden CD/video/book rack and someone just picked that up about 30 minutes ago. That has sat next to my computer for years. While cleaning in that room last night, I realized I haven't actually touched a single item on that rack for a very long time. I rehomed those items and got rid of the rack. Most of the CDs on there were photo storage so I can't get rid of them, but I don't need them at my fingertips.

As my ebay business grows, the need to declutter and better organize my work areas has increased, which is what is driving my recent efforts.

[scfr]

Last Sunday at Mom's we finished one massive decluttering task that we've been working on for awhile and started another. First time I ever gave my mom a fist bump - lol. I also got a thank you from her. A couple weeks ago she felt really ill and called 9-1-1. The EMTs took her to the hospital. For the first time, they were able to walk all the way around her bed so that they could work from both sides of the bed to get her transferred. She told me that it felt really good to not be embarrassed. And as someone who does work that is pretty physical, I felt really good knowing that the EMTs were probably spared a bit of wear & tear on their bodies.

[disneysteve]

I spent a couple of hours working in the garage the other day. I basically took everything out of one side, went through it all, and reorganized it. Once I put it all back, I was able to make the walkway probably 18" wider which is nice. I packed 2 boxes of stuff for a yard sale which I want to do in the spring. I packed 2 boxes for Goodwill and dropped them off today. A number of things also went into the trash and recycling bins.

The forecast is beautiful for the next 6 days so I may try and work in there again soon. Still plenty to be done but I made some nice progress. Before winter sets in, I want to have it better positioned for my ebay work. That's where I store all of my boxes and some of my packing materials (which take up a lot of space).

[disneysteve]

I got into the garage again today. I decided to stop setting things aside for a yard sale next year. I want the space now. So I packed up my trunk with 4 cartons of stuff plus several larger loose items like a movie projector and a power saw and took it all to Goodwill. A number of the items were things I've had listed for sale on Marketplace but have gotten no interest so I deleted those listings. Some of the stuff is worth decent money but if I can't find a buyer, it's out of here. None of it is stuff I want to deal with on ebay either because it's worth too little or it's too big/heavy/expensive to ship.

Getting rid of that stuff let me open up the aisle between stacks so I can now walk in and out of that section easily and get to everything that remains. I also set aside a couple of boxes of stuff that I do want to list on ebay. I can pull items from there from time to time, especially during the winter when I may not get out to as many sales.

[crazyliblady]

I have been shredding receipts and taking them to recycling and also getting rid of some clothing that I no longer need. I don't really have time to do ebay sales, though.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Hallelujah (or however you spell it ) ! My husband found a taker for about 1800 music CDs. That was a lot of space in our small house. We still need to work on the spare bedroom these had been in.

[scfr]

Do we have a 2023 decluttering thread? I got rid of 1GB of Email today, and unsubscribed from a lot of email lists.