2018 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Congrats! I finally exceed the 2018 goal. Not sure the exact number but I believe we are at 2100+. It definitely helps to be moving AND downsizing at the same time.

I think there is no better motivation for decluttering than preparing to move.

[creditcardfree]

Lucky me! I do it every three years...so you can imagine how little I have!

[comicguy]

Congrats! I finally exceed the 2018 goal. Not sure the exact number but I believe we are at 2100+. It definitely helps to be moving AND downsizing at the same time.

Awesome progress!!

[creditcardfree]

We sold a 42 inch plasma television this morning. Items keep leaving!

[comicguy]

1 poster - recycled
1 printer - recycled
1 pair pants - donated
2 T-shirts - donated
7 pairs of shorts - donated
1 box of really old mothballs - trashed

13 items left the house

1598 items of 2018 or 79.18% of goal

[MooseBucks]

Unfortunately took a two week break from decluttering but got a couple hours in last night and finished cleaning/organizing our walk in closet and filled another box to be donated. Feels good to know everything in there now has a home and all our bins are labeled.

Spent about an hour in the garage and filled up the recycling bin with boxes that have been sitting for quite a bit in there.

Going to try and get another hour or two in once the kids are asleep tonight.

[disneysteve]

I had sort of taken a break also other than getting rid of the fish tank, which was a big thing, but I just listed a couple of things on ebay - a bunch of old collector magazines and a book. I'm also throwing out the protective binders I had for the magazines. We have a bunch of books that are nice reference items but we never, ever look at them, so I'm going to see if I can get anything for any of them. If not, I'll give them away.

[disneysteve]

I removed a stack of 16 Disney lithographs from our collectibles room. They will be donated to an upcoming charity auction. They only go for about $5 each on ebay and are a pain to ship as they are rather large. This brings the total number of items removed from the collection so far to at least 127 (I think it's actually more than that and I forgot to record some).

[comicguy]

Got rid of a bit more last night

1 dead sharpie - trashed
2 Robotix Kits - donated to school
1 winter jacket - donated
19 Ball caps - donated
7 T-shirts - donated
1 Book on CD - donated (31 items)

[Thrif-t]

I got rid of some of my girls old dance dresses, just in time, homecoming is next week. I also took some old coaching items down to the soccer field with a free sign; practice pennies, cones for drills and a dry erase board that has a soccer field on it. I'm tired of it in my garage and so far haven't found any younger coaches around who'd want it. I'm sure someone will scoop it up down at the fields.

I also dropped off a fishing tackle box that my DH got from someone. He was all excited when it was given to him but he's never used it, and bought himself another one, so I donated the given one.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

To Goodwill:
2 boxes of nice blankets
2 toys

Set aside for Humane Society or other animal rescue:
3 old blankets
2 old afghans
3 old sheets
1 old cotton curtain
1 old towel

Decluttering that is really just organization:
It is finally time to take my pressure canner down to the basement. And maybe just two more batches before I can put away the dehydrator for the year. I had to put away my pickles, 13 gallons worth, so I bought another shelf for the basement.

[disneysteve]

Decluttering that is really just organization:

That's definitely part of decluttering. It isn't just getting rid of things. It's making sure everything has a place and is in its place. Part of the reason for getting rid of the unnecessary things is to be able to better organize and store the stuff you're keeping so that it isn't clutter.

[disneysteve]

We are donating a number of items to a charity auction in November. I pulled out a few things last night and have a nice pile of stuff I need to pack up and ship to them. It's an online auction based in Florida. We are going down there in a few weeks but unfortunately we're flying this time instead of driving. Otherwise I would have just delivered it all in person.

[scfr]

Since July 1, I've been following a "3-fer" program. For every 1 non-consumable* product that DH or I bring in to the house, I get rid of 3 items. This has been my way of making sure we don't fall in to the clutter trap, and to start prepping for a possible move.

I sold a few things through the neighborhood FB garage sale page, trashed some, gave away a couple, and donated the rest.

Tomorrow is the start of a very busy 2-1/2 months at work, so I decided to make today the last day of my "3-fer" program, at least for the time being. (I'll keep a donation bag going, and will toss things that wear out, but I won't do any formal tracking or selling.) I did a quick sweep to gather up some more items to make sure I hit my number, listed a few to sell, and I'm about to head off to the charity thrift store with the rest.

*I don't count things that get used up like food or household items. Anything else counts. When my walking sandals wore out and I ordered a replacement pair, I had to get rid of 2 things in addition to tossing the old pair. Same thing when my calculator died. You get the idea. I list for sale anything I think I can get $5 or more (the buyer picks up at my house) and donate the rest. I give an item 1 week to sell, and if it doesn't sell it goes in to the donation bag.

[disneysteve]

My wife cleaned out a bunch of clutter from her side of the bedroom yesterday.

I sold a stack of magazines on Ebay today.

I've decided to box up and give away all of DD's remaining textbooks and some other books that I've had listed on Amazon for the past 5 months or more. That's probably about 20 books all together. The return from selling them is minimal in the grand scheme of things and I'd rather not have this carton of books sitting here any more. We did really well with textbooks through her 4 years of school so at this point, I'm ready to call it quits.

[msomnipotent]

My husband has finally agreed to get rid of at least part of his mountain of books that he hasn't touched in the 20 years we have been married, but actually getting him to drive the 1 mile to Half Priced Books to sell them is another challenge. I have finally put together the cat tree that has been sitting in a giant box, and I want to put it right where the two cheap bookcases filled with untouched books are sitting. They need to go, so I told him that if some of them are not gone by the time I get back from my trip I'm going to take all of them. I'm willing to bet good money that they will still be here when I get back.

I cleaned out one of the basement freezers and the fridge and freezer upstairs. I had more bones than I realized, so I made bone broth last night. I surprised myself by not having much to throw out. It mostly just needed to be reorganized.

I forgot my most important breakthrough! My husband put the cat tree box in the recycling bin all by himself! He didn't try to save the cardboard, and it was the thick cardboard that he loves to hoard. I'm also going to try to make a Box Monster costume for myself if I have time before Halloween just so I can get rid of more boxes. I hate dressing up, but the stash of boxes I found in the attic needs to go.