2025 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

I took advantage of the somewhat milder temp today in the 40s to get into the garage for a bit. As usual, the boxes and packing material had gotten a little out of hand since when it's super cold, I just throw things in there and periodically have to clean it up. I broke down all of the boxes and organized them. Any boxes I wasn't keeping went into the recycling bin which goes out tonight. I also combined a couple of bags of packing paper. And I packed two cartons of stuff to take to Goodwill. I'll probably take those over on Friday if I need to go to the post office.

[disneysteve]

Almost time for the 2026 thread, but we're not quite done 2025. We have been doing quite a bit of decluttering. My daughter has been cleaning out her room and getting rid of a lot of no longer wanted items. Some went for donation and a bunch have been listed on ebay.

I've been working on decluttering the basement, where I've gotten rid of quite a few things. I've also been focusing on the family room because now that both my daughter and I are selling on ebay, we need that to be more functional space. I've had a lot of merchandise piling up in there that needed to either be listed for sale or disposed of and I've done a good bit of both. I've been limiting my buying of new items until I work through the backlog.

Today, I emptied out an old cabinet of video tapes. I tossed out a bunch of them. A few are going on ebay. The rest are personal things that I am saving and will look into getting digitized. The cabinet is now empty and I listed it on Buy Nothing earlier. Someone is supposed to be coming for it tomorrow. In its place, I plan to put a shelving unit for DD to use for her ebay stock.

Lots of other stuff getting sorted through here and there along the way, too.

Onward into 2026 with ongoing decluttering.

[disneysteve]

I've embarked on a new project - cleaning out our basement. We've talked about it forever. We've started the process numerous times and not kept up with it. We did a bunch prior to remodeling the kitchen earlier this year, and then didn't do any more. This time I'm serious about it.

I started Monday night and went through the pantry shelves. I dumped several open bottles of liquor that have been down there for years that we will never use. At least one bottle was left over from DD's Bat Mitzvah which was 17 years ago. I was then able to move our emergency water supply from the pantry, where it takes up valuable space, to the floor shelf where the liquor had been. I also got several other items out of the pantry.

I did more today. I brought all of my yearbooks up into the office and will get them situated there. I found 2 books that belong to DW and when she got home she said she doesn't need them so those will get donated. I also found a small box of sewing machine accessories that I asked her about. They belong to a machine that she no longer has so I will probably sell those on ebay.

I found a casserole travel carrier that had been MIA so that's back in the closet for when we need it. We were just looking for it recently when we had dinner at a friend's house.

I found multiple old cans of paint that I brought up to the garage and will dispose of appropriately.

My plan is to work down there at least once a week for the foreseeable future. That's how I've been doing the yard work since late August and the transformation out there is tremendous. I'm hoping for similar results in the basement with each passing week. Eventually, we will buy some new storage containers and shelving once we see what's left and needs to be stored.

[disneysteve]

I just went through another file drawer and tossed another pile of papers into the recycling bin.

There was a thick file of stuff from my time on the board of trustees of our synagogue, a position I left in 2016.

There were two files of assorted paperwork from my professional career including prior licenses, continuing education program certificates, copies of documents like my diploma and residency certificates, and more. There were a few things I held onto like legal paperwork and such but most of it got recycled.

There were a few papers from my old car. I had tossed all of the maintenance records but still had some of the purchase paperwork. What do I possibly need that for? I sold the car 5 years ago.

On to the file drawer that holds all of our tax papers going back way too many years.

[disneysteve]

I saw a short video reel on Facebook today talking about how we shouldn't leave behind a mess of papers when we die. We know what is important and what is just sentimental or complete trash that we've just hung on to. It's far better for us to deal with it while we're still here and just leave the important stuff, and tell our loved ones what it is.

After dinner, I took that message to heart and started going through my files. There is so much that I've saved that I truly don't need. I've already put quite a bit in the recycling bin and I'm still working on it and will continue to do so in the coming days. If nothing else, it will free up space in my file drawers.

Also, in the course of doing this, I found some silver coins in my drawer that the jeweler didn't buy when we sold our gold and other coins months ago so I listed those on ebay.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Okay got rid of about 6 bags of stuff and tomorrow swinging by a consignment and then dumping more

[disneysteve]

goal this week is to dump stuff at goodwill. I will update when I get ride of a ton fo stuff

I took two boxes over Saturday morning when I went to the post office which is in the same center.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

goal this week is to dump stuff at goodwill. I will update when I get ride of a ton fo stuff

[disneysteve]

I haven't posted to this thread for a while. I guess I've been focused on some other things.

We're enjoying some nice fall weather so I got into the garage for an hour tonight. I mostly did "routine maintenance" sort of stuff, breaking down boxes, organizing shipping supplies, getting rid of some accumulated trash, and packing 2 boxes for Goodwill. I didn't feel like diving any deeper than that today but it all helps clean up the space.

[cypher1]

I've been more proactive decluttering at my parent's place (eventually they'll have to go to assisted living). End of the summer I threw out so much garbage or duplicate items, or broken tools in their garage. Pulled a lot of items off top shelves to go through since they can't reach or access at their age, or they just forgot about. Along with getting permission to toss out old xmas lights that sat in containers for years. Opened up the garage to store their one car in and left the other side open for misc items to sort through. Anything left on those shelves is easily identifiable or personal stuff for them to go through at a later date.

For the last week I've gone over almost every night for 60 minutes each time to go through their basement. They don't go down there anymore with both having bad knees. I've just been collecting their trash or dated items to bag and dump. While sorting through memos/photos/letters/artwork to be in a separate pile for them to keep. Same idea of pulling seasonal items or collectibles store in cabinets and putting on a table to go through and see what they want to keep. I moved cleaning products, toiletries, light bulbs, that accumulated throughout the years to sort through upstairs later on. While breaking down old book bookshelves, office chair, rug, and old luggage I was able to clear out and open space to move around. There is still some season items they need to go through. But the last big items to haul is to give-away a pool table which someone is already planning to take, an old work bench I plan to take apart to move next weekend, and then break down an old wooden desk.

My first phase was to clear out most of the garage and all of the basement since they should not need to store down there as they keep forgetting what they have. Next is going through their kitchen, bathroom, and living room to just open up some space to navigate through. My parent's and sister's bedrooms will be last phase, or even if they allow me to go through. My goal would be to get through most of those areas by the end of this year.

I should probably open a new thread just talking about decluttering struggles with elderly parents and mindset or connections we share with items.

[disneysteve]

We recently canceled our land line phone finally. I unplugged and removed the phones from our kitchen, bedroom, and computer room. I just need to get the phone and answering machine in the family room but I need to move the sofa to get to the plugs so I didn't do that yet. Getting rid of the phones has given us more space on our kitchen counter, my bedside table, the file cabinet next to the computer, and once I remove it, the end table in the family room.

[disneysteve]

I still have plenty to do in the garage but it's been too warm here to work out there so I've started turning my attention to the basement. We made progress down there when we were prepping for the kitchen remodel but barely scratched the surface of the overall stuff that needs to be addressed.

I spent a bit of time down there tonight. I realized that I have a ton of old Priority Mail boxes that I got when I was selling on ebay back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I haven't used them in years. They can still be used but I almost never ship with Priority Mail and they are the old designs with no barcodes for scanning. They need to go. I gathered all of the loose ones as well as 3 more bundles of them and got them into the recycling bin. I brought up a big carton of them too and will get those recycled next week. There are 3 more smaller boxes remaining and I'll get those next time I'm down there.

Just what I took up tonight cleared off the entire top shelf of one shelving unit which is great. That now gives me all of that space to store other items. It also cleared the space where the loose ones were piled.

[disneysteve]

Quote is broken so...

jenn_jenn, that's great! And yes, it can be surprising what people will buy. That's why I'm always so blown away by how much stuff people just throw away or give away for free when they could quite easily be getting money for it. Of course, being a reseller, I'm quite happy to take their stuff for free and turn around and sell it. I can't lose when my cost of goods is zero.

Stump1000, that's definitely the way to go. One bite at a time. One shelf. One drawer. One box. Whatever. It can also be helpful to set a time. Work on it for 30 minutes and then move on. But get in the habit of doing it regularly. One drawer per day and your dresser is cleaned out in a week. One box a day and your garage might be cleaned out in a month. Every little bit helps and it is a great feeling when you can start seeing visible progress.

[Stump1000]

Honestly, I’ve been trying to tackle one small spot at a time - like a drawer or a shelf - so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Feels good to actually see a difference without burning out in one day.

[jenn_jenn]

We’re preparing for a big move and so I’ve been selling items around the house on FB marketplace that I don’t intend to move with us. All I keep thinking is why didn’t I do this sooner? Cash in my pocket and less clutter. It’s a win-win!

I’m honestly surprised at some of the things I’ve been able to sell. For example, I had a glass card box from our wedding 4 years ago, I didn’t notice until I went to sell it that it had a small crack in it. Still sold for $15. A set of 4 copper Moscow mule mugs that are at least ten years old I listed for $10 and the guy gave me $20 and wouldn’t accept any change.

Can’t wait to keep decluttering!