2018 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

I took care of the other side of the under-bed space. I couldn't totally clear it because the stuff down there is my wife's and she is out of town but I was able to eliminate a lot of it and vacuum well down there so it's much better. A few things went in the trash, recycling, or Goodwill pile.

[Thrif-t]

I took care of the other side of the under-bed space. I couldn't totally clear it because the stuff down there is my wife's and she is out of town but I was able to eliminate a lot of it and vacuum well down there so it's much better. A few things went in the trash, recycling, or Goodwill pile.

Bravo DisneySteve!! That would be the day my DH would EVER clean out under the bed and sweep!

[disneysteve]

Bravo DisneySteve!! That would be the day my DH would EVER clean out under the bed and sweep!

Somebody's got to do it. I don't care who. Plus, my wife has pretty bad allergies so getting down on the floor and stirring up a bunch of dust isn't a great task for her. In fact, that's partly why I'm doing it now as she is out of town for a couple of weeks. I'm trying to take care of some of those particularly dusty jobs while she's not in the house.

I just went through one of our closets and got rid of a bunch of old razors, first aid tape, boxes from old software programs, and a couple of other things. I looked the razors up on ebay and they are selling regularly (these are vintage razors) but only for a few dollars each which just isn't worth my time once you deduct ebay and paypal fees plus the time to do the listing, packing, and shipping.

I have had absolutely no luck for months trying to sell things, so I'm just boxing it up and going to call a charity again. It felt good getting rid of so much stuff at once last time, and the time spent isn't worth the extra money anymore.

This is exactly where I am at this point. If something is of significant value, sure, I'll try and sell it. But most of the stuff I'm getting rid of is selling for under $10. It just isn't worth the time. I can make a lot more money faster and easier just picking up an extra shift at work like I did today.

[snafu]

I too express admiration and compliments for your vacuuming and decluttering efforts.

[Bluebird]

I'm very impressed with your efforts DS! In the last week, I gave 4 bags of baby clothes to a neighbor, dropped off two sets of sheets at the animal shelter and dropped off a very large bag at Goodwill! I have several partially filled bags for this week and will report back soon!

[disneysteve]

I had a little meltdown in the basement today. One of those "I've had enough" moments. I proceeded to grab a large carton box from the garage with the intent to pack it full for Goodwill.

I found a bag of unopened curtains that my wife bought a ridiculous number of years ago (the receipt was still in the bag) and we never used.
I found a bag with 4 silver goblets and a pair of brass candlesticks that weren't even ours to begin with.
I found a box of 10 assorted picture frames.
Jigsaw puzzle.
Old book.
Several assorted packs of party napkins still sealed.
Old toy dragon thing from my daughter.
2 brand new ear thermometers.

That pretty well filled the box. I'll drop it off this week.

In the process, I also threw out a bunch of open packs of napkins, cups, and paper plates, a couple of partially used arts and crafts kits, a sheet of styrofoam bought for some project back in middle school and a number of other things.

Little by little, item by item, I'm making progress.

[msomnipotent]

I found cereal from Costco in my basement that expired over a year ago the other day. FOUR Costco boxes. I need to either rearrange my pantry so extra cereal fits, or move the shelving in the basement to the bottom of the stairs so I see it every time I open the door. It is tucked in a corner on the other side of the basement right now, so out of sight, out of mind. Moving the shelving might be my project for today. We already keep the drinks and freezers by the stairs, so it makes sense.

[disneysteve]

I found cereal from Costco in my basement that expired over a year ago the other day. FOUR Costco boxes. I need to either rearrange my pantry so extra cereal fits, or move the shelving in the basement to the bottom of the stairs so I see it every time I open the door. It is tucked in a corner on the other side of the basement right now, so out of sight, out of mind. Moving the shelving might be my project for today. We already keep the drinks and freezers by the stairs, so it makes sense.

That's one of the big challenges to buying in bulk. You need to have a good tracking system in place to use things in a timely manner before they go bad. You don't want to overbuy and you don't want to put things away and forget about them.

[disneysteve]

I went back into the basement after lunch and continued my attack. I got a few little things into the trash as well as a few big things like an old broken drying rack and some old cans of latex paint. I also brought up, emptied, and recycled several bottles of alcohol and champagne that were no good.

I broke apart and trashed a display frame that I built years ago for when we used to sell at collectible shows. We haven't done a show for 20 years and won't ever again so I have no need for those frames anymore. I got rid of one of them and have one more I need to break down the next time I work down there.

I'm realizing more and more how many things we've held onto for literally 2 decades or more "just in case". Well it's been 20+ years and we haven't needed them yet. It's time for them to go.

We had a roll of surplus carpet from my daughter's bedroom, for example. We installed that carpet before she was born. I guess I kept the extra in case anything happened and we needed to patch it. But she's 22 now. We've never needed it. At this point, if something happens to the carpet, we'll just replace the whole thing. So that went in the trash.

It does feel good to be ridding ourselves of these things. I don't know if anything I did will be noticeable to my wife when she comes home but I'll certainly tell her all about it.

[Bluebird]

I had a dream last night that I was decluttering after work today I added about 20 items of outgrown boys clothes to the bags for the neighbor/friend.

[creditcardfree]

I'm realizing more and more how many things we've held onto for literally 2 decades or more "just in case". Well it's been 20+ years and we haven't needed them yet. It's time for them to go.

I've started using The Minimalists (they have a podcast and Netflix documentary) guideline for 'just in case' items. If you can replace it for $20 or less and in about 20 minutes you can get rid of it. The truth is just in case items are almost never used.

[disneysteve]

If you can replace it for $20 or less and in about 20 minutes you can get rid of it.

Exactly. When we were young and broke, holding onto things made more sense. Today, though, I'd rather have the space and if we really need something, we have the means to go out and get it.

[~bs]

That's one of the big challenges to buying in bulk. You need to have a good tracking system in place to use things in a timely manner before they go bad. You don't want to overbuy and you don't want to put things away and forget about them.

Or split it with a friend or family. It's a lot easier to handle 2 boxes of cereal before expiration than it is 4.

Or avoid buying consumables unless it can be frozen or is generally non-perishable or you plan to start using it immediately or regularly

Or use at least half of the perishables. In bulk generally cost half, but need to buy double, so the cost of buying 2 boxes is the same as buying 4 boxes and throwing 2 away.

Some of it is just common sense. It makes more sense to buy the family pack of 2 bottles of ketchup, 1 mustard, and 1 relish for $5, then split among 2 parties than it does to buy a 1 gallon metal can of ketchup, then throwing most of it away in a month.

[disneysteve]

The work continues....

My wife and I used to coordinate a weekend retreat program. We haven't done it for several years though we hope to revive it at some point. We still have all of the paperwork from prior years. I'm not ready to ditch it all but I did find that we had many, many duplicates of much of it. I sorted through it all and saved one copy of everything. That eliminated 2 boxes worth of paper and consolidated everything into a single milk crate.

I trashed/recycled a number of old containers that we no longer need or use. The ones that are still in good condition will go to Goodwill.

I consolidated our liquor stash onto some shelving that I put up last year, emptying out a crate on the other side of the basement in the process.

I cleaned out one side of our bathroom medicine cabinet, throwing out almost all of what was in there.

[msomnipotent]

I wasn't in the mood to move a giant shelving unit yesterday, so I worked on the "kitchen desk" that every home in the subdivision has but no one uses as a desk. It just collects clutter. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 2 phone systems that we don't need anymore. One has 11 recordings of my grandmother leaving messages for my daughter (who was a baby at the time). You can hear the cancer making her sicker and sicker. It made my mother really sad to hear it and my daughter isn't interested in hearing someone she doesn't remember, but I don't want to erase them. The other one has a recording of my daughter calling me for the first time when she was a little kid. I'm afraid to record them on my cell phone and then lose the phone. What to do, what to do...

I'm also trying to get my husband to get rid of these Stephen Ministries books. He has giant binders and books that he hasn't touched in the 19 years we have been married and they take up a whole bookcase. He doesn't want to get rid of them because "they were kind of expensive and I might need them again." He won't go to church, so what is he going to use them for?