2014 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

I went through the closet tonight and parted with 4 dress shirts. Then I checked my top dresser drawer and removed 4 pairs of socks.

More to do, of course, but I feel good about that. It's a rather big step for a guy who never gets rid of anything.

One thing about decluttering is that I've found it to be it's own motivation to do more. The hardest part is getting started.

I really need to work on the t-shirts next. I have a ton of those. Even though most do get worn regularly, I really don't need to have so many.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I have just finished my biggest ever de-cluterring. I made three trips to Goodwill.

There is more to do... next month. (Oh, I hope.)

[dawnwes]

I am working on it. I sold 5 items on ebay in Dec. I got 2 large bags of clothing to Goodwill. I threw out quite a bit of old items that were broken or otherwise unusable.

I will be working in earnest this week and next. The basement will be organized by the end of the Holiday break and our ping pong table will be back up and running! That is my goal.

[disneysteve]

I listed two books on half.com on Sunday and they both sold on Monday. Can't beat that. Declutter and make money doing it.

[disneysteve]

Cleaned a little corner of our bedroom where stuff accumulates for Goodwill. Bagged and boxed some items that have been sitting there for way too long. Threw out a few things as well.

[snafu]

Thanks for bringing up the De-clutter thread. Good on you for clearing out that accumulation corner. I dumped older make-up last night. I'm about to clear out the bthrm medicine cabinet, RX drawer stored in the hall linen cabinet, OTC meds and 'zip' kits for colds/flu, stomach ailments, 1st Aid etc. I'll trash expired items and list items to replenish as I'll be shopping at our super pharmacy tomorrow or the next day.

This sounds weird but there are terrific bargains at the drug store for bread, milk, eggs, cereal and coupons from the make-up demonstrator make department store brands more reasonable.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Found a silver dollar belonging to my son who is visiting, so I was able to give that to him.

Have gathered twelve items for donation, but will wait till the New Year to take them.

Found a few fabric items that I'll cut to ribbons for use in the garden.

[bzbee]

I selected a few pair of socks and undies that are on their last leg, and planning to use them up completely. I have some new ones, but I will not use them until I will use up and throw away the last pair of my old stuff. I tend to buy replacement things ahead of the time when I get a good deal on them. Like for example, I bought a new comforter for my bed, with the intention to throw away my old one. But now it has been over 2 years, and the new one sits in the bag, and I still use the old one. For some reason, I always like to use up things until they fall apart. Maybe, the later I start using the new thing, the longer it will take before I will need to replace it again.

I don't donate anything anymore, since now we take a standard deduction on our taxes, due that low mortgage cost and no medical bills. We would have to donate a ton of stuff, or get a health insurance and pay for it in order to it to add up to enough to write off.

When my kids outgrow their clothes, I give boys clothes to my one sister that has 3 boys, and then some boys and girls clothes gets sent to my other sisters that has a boy and a girl.
Me, and my husband don't outgrow our clothes, so we just use it up completely, nothing to donate or give away.

The only clutter I have in my house, is my husbands tools (the garage is too small for that now) and my kids toys.

I also have lots of toiletries, toilet paper, food items and other things stored in my pantry, under beds, and other hiding places. But I don't consider that a clutter, because we will use it eventually, and most of it will not go bad for years. I coupon a lot, and when something is almost free, it is a sin not to get it that time, instead of going and paying a regular price a few weeks later because I run out.

[bzbee]

I checked my medicine box. Had to throw away some expired cold medicine. The only stuff left there now is cough drops, bandages, alcohol and some a Neosporin tube. We don't use any medications, so I don't stock up on anything but bandages. I am not going to buy any Tylenol to replace that, because it has been a few times, that I would buy some cold medicine and we end up not using it and it expires. Such a waste of money, even with a good sale.

[sagremus]

My fiance has a huge bin of stuff that we are taking to the pawn shop today (knives, swords, and other stuff). He's been trying to sell them privately to no avail.

[bigdaddybus]

I filled 2 lawn trash bags with clothes to donate tonight. And those were just my clothes, none of the other 5 in my family. It was ridiculous that I had that many extras.

[disneysteve]

I have to give DW and DD credit for the latest entry in our decluttering. They took on the linen closet yesterday. We had way too many sheets including things that were worn out and mismatched pieces. They filled 2 trash bags with linens to give away and just kept one set for each sofabed and a few sets for each of our beds. There is still more to do as I know there is a bin in the laundry room with even more sheets, most of which we will probably give away too.

[snafu]

Yahoo, so many items off to serve others. The pet shelters appreciate bed linens and towels, needn't be in good condition. If you're putting away holiday decorations, you might consider donating any that you haven't used for the past two years. It's so stressful to have to look after items that no longer serve your needs.

IF you've new technology, new appliances, new clothes or new toys replacing older stuff, I suggest you take a photo and write an ad for CraigsList if you wish to sell, or load into your vehicle for donation on your next trip out. you might find it most efficient to just recycle/trash to clear space.

DS: Some people pick a number like 12 or 20 Ts and donate the balance. Kudos to DW and daughter who went through the linen cupboard pulling out those that are worn, mismatched, no longer used etc.

[cypher1]

Over the holidays I went through archiving emails from my old Hotmail and Gmail accounts. Definitely interesting going back 6-7 years of conversations.

I'm still going through cleaning up my MP3 collection on my NAS box, but have another 100GB to process/purge.

But for real de-cluttering, its been mostly throwing out older clothes or give away.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I've culled some 200+ books and more sewing fabric than I even knew I had. Found a dress pattern, girls size 5-6, that I'd used to make a dress for my niece who now has a 6 year old of her own. Oh, those drawers really needed a do-over! I'm running out of carrier bags to put these things in.