2018 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

Hi everyone. It's a new year so time for a new thread to help encourage each other to stay motivated at getting rid of clutter and keeping it away. This is the place to report your successes and your challenges. And for those who are wondering, I firmly believe that this IS a financial topic for a number of reasons. If you sell things you no longer need, you earn money. If you donate things you no longer need, you help others less fortunate and may get a tax break (I'm not sure how that works with the new tax changes). If you find things you've been missing, it keeps you from spending money to replace them. And if you get used to living with less clutter, it encourages you to not spend on things you don't really need.

I've got nothing to report quite yet but I'm actually on vacation in Florida right now as I type this message. Vacations always get me fired up about decluttering because we spend a week or two living with minimal stuff and virtually no clutter and it's great. Then I get home and the clutter bothers me way more than usual. So I really want to strive to cut through it once we get home.

[rob62521]

DH and I went through our closets and tried on stuff and those items we no longer wanted or fit, we took to the thrift store. Since we had new clothes, this also helped make room for what we have that is new.

[Bluebird]

Thanks Steve! I was waiting for your new post!!!

[Thrif-t]

Last week one of my daughters let me take her high school dance dresses to a consignment shop

My other daughter likes to hold on to stuff so I didn't have any luck convincing her to let go of some dresses, she'll never wear again. But she did go thru some junk in her room and declutter a little, it's a start with her.

[Gailete]

That is something that I would like to start doing. I have clothes in my closet I haven't worn in years, while others I wear constantly. I have a huge closet so it is way to easy to accumulate stuff. Also we have a big house that always looks cluttered due to boxes and boxes of sewing patterns that seem to multiply in the night. Can't do much about them, but I need to git rid of other things that are no longer needed.

We have a small house on our property that we use for storage, and once we are done with snow for the year, there are some things in there that I might want to Craigs List. We are also taking what we can to the thrift store when we can. Until this weather goes away, we can't even access the building to add things that are bigger for sale. Saves having to let people we don't know into our actual home.

I came to a sad conclusion the other night, that I can no longer do counted cross stitch, not because of my hands, but between bifocals, etc. I can't see and count threads, so that is some stuff I will be sorting out as well. I have all sorts of goodies for sewing and crafting, but rather than just declutter it all, I have plans to hopefully re-package it all up and sell it via my store. I need to get myself to the point that I am only storing the actual things that I use for the crafts I can do.

but most of the decluttering won't be happening until spring.

[comicguy]

Since the 1st of the year I have managed to squeeze a bit of time to declutter some items:

1/4
3 clipboards returned to work
1 pre packaged holiday meat and cheese platter to work
1 box of crackers to work

1/5
1 package of cucumbers
1 box of stale cereal
1 partial bag of marshmallows (dried out) - trashed
1 small Lego set - DS' house

1/5
6 large Cardboard Boxes - recycled

1/6
6 Tool boxes (with all the tools, parts, supplies)
1 bag of assorted robotics supplies brought back to the robotics center
1 box of very expired hot chocolate - trashed

1/7
2 laser pointers (donated)
1 2” bouncy ball (donated)
4 keys (recycled)
1 grocery bag of misc receipts, used up gift cards, etc… (recycled)

1/8
1 blender (DS’s house)

1/9
2 books, 2 DVD’s (donated)

1/10
2 DVD’s - donated
1 binder organizer/separator - used up
5 dead pens - trashed
2 dead highlighters - trashed
4 pair of safety glasses - to robotics center

1/11
1 Freezer burned Ice Cream - trashed
13 empty plastic thread spools (can be used as inexpensive pulleys) - robotics center
1 bag of adhesive tie strap mounts - robotics center

[Bluebird]

I bagged up 3 boys items for the neighbor, 1 item for a coworker, and 1 item for donation. Progress!

[comicguy]

1/15 decluttering efforts


2 oven mitts - donated
4 potholders - donated
2 dishcloths - donated
1 stack of window clings - robotics center
1 small grocery bag of garbage - trashed
1 package of loose leaf paper - brought to school
2 small disposable aluminum bread pans - used up to make banana bread
2 small opened packages of cheese blocks (moldy) - trashed
1 rusty muffin tin - trashed (16 items)

[GrimJack]

I have a 2nd bedroom that seems to have been converted to a garage and I can barely get into it. My decluttering goal is to straighten if up and carry some stuff out each day (or at least each week). I should post a pic --- some of that stuff is worth keeping but most is useless to me. I was given a car so I will be able to haul some stuff to the local 'Value Village' (which is for profit but what can you do - they take most everything).

[disneysteve]

I have a 2nd bedroom that seems to have been converted to a garage and I can barely get into it. My decluttering goal is to straighten if up and carry some stuff out each day (or at least each week). I should post a pic --- some of that stuff is worth keeping but most is useless to me. I was given a car so I will be able to haul some stuff to the local 'Value Village' (which is for profit but what can you do - they take most everything).

Good luck with that project. Be sure to post an “after” picture.

[disneysteve]

I started this thread but haven't actually posted to it yet. As I mentioned, we were on vacation when I first posted. We got back on Sunday. I have done a number of things to improve the clutter since getting back. I'm not going to list them all but let me just say that I'm definitely seeing everything with a much more discerning eye.

Do we really need this?
Do we ever use this?
Would this be of more value to someone else?
Would we really miss this if it was gone?

I did just finish some of the year-end work of clearing out the financial folders. The year-end statements have all come in so I got rid of the monthly and quarterly statements. I also tallied up the utility bills for budgeting purposes and got rid of those. I haven't cleared out the credit card bills yet because I need those for taxes. Then they'll go out too.

[Thrif-t]

Ugh not too long ago I decluttered the basement and felt so great. Guess what? When I took down the Christmas decorations I just threw them all around down there. So tomorrow getting the basement back straightened up is my No 1 priority!

[scfr]

Sorted through stationery/cards and put together a package to mail off to a family member who needs them for a charity project.

[Bluebird]

I cleaned out and organized my empire chest of drawers today, donating or giving away at least 20 items. Yay!

[disneysteve]

My wife is going out of town to care for a sick family member. We don't know how long she'll be gone but we're figuring at least a week or so. I'm going to try and use some of that time home alone to do some more decluttering.