<p>Books - That’s easy (once we decide to part with them). Our library accepts them and holds year-round booksale in the front lobby. </p>
<p>And (oooooh) our library also accept magazines for a “free” table - so I can give them away without guilt that they go to landfill only partially read. (This may be overkill, but I remove the address sticker because I once read people can use it to create a falsified address). </p>
<p>Starbright - That is fantastic that you have such good discipline when bringing in new clothes. I can only throw old ones out when in a certain mood, but then I do a few at a time. And I don’t really buy a lot of new clothes. I was shocked a few years ago to look at DD’s 1st year photo album and recognize so many clothes I still own.</p>
<p>Having 1000 or so books in Rubbermaid bins (no not the kind you can see through…and no not labeled in any way) is ridiculous. No one is ever going to reread these books. They are getting old and mildewy sitting in these bins in our garage. I’ve joked a number of times that I actually could EMPTY the bins and no one would be the wiser because NO ONE looks in the bins.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to keep books that you use or classics of some kind (we have all of the Caldecott books in hardbound, for example) but paperback, mildewy old science fiction…sorry…that needs to go.</p>
<p>I read my books and then take them to my school where we have a book swap area. I’d rather see someone else enjoy the books. If I want to reread…well…that’s what libraries are for.</p>
<p>But related to this thread…the space these books take up is space that could be used for things we really need or want to keep…or to create open space in the garage instead of piles of boxes.</p>
<p>Do you have curbside shoppers in your neighborhood, thumper? On a nice day before trash pick up, take the books to the curb and see if they are still there by pick up time. </p>
<p>My parents had 4 (yes 4) encyclopedia sets from the 1950’s that had to go when my mom moved out of the house. I dragged those puppies to the curb. Within an hour- they were gone. I saw someone with a pick up truck take them.</p>
<p>In rural areas like ours, curbside “picking” isn’t all that common…no traffic. BUT we do have a great swap sack at our dump that does take gently used items. They sell it for very very reasonable prices to help support the staff at our local landfill. It’s a great option for those who schlep to the dump.</p>
<p>One organization tip that I love (though it’s decidedly UN-glamorous!!):</p>
<p>If you want to organize all those extra household extension cords or small-appliance electrical cords or other wires, save empty toilet paper rolls. Then coil the cords into large loops and stuff each one into its own roll. Label if you need to. Amazing how easy it is to keep all this organized this way. I used this a lot today when taking down Christmas lights with all the attendance extension cords needing to be stored neatly…</p>
<p>One of my problems is yarn. I’ve been an occasional knitter for years, and the extra skeins add up. So do the vast quantities of yarn for projects I never got around to starting! I’ve told myself, “no new yarn until some old yarn is used up”, but it’s hard.</p>
<p>I’ve often fantasized that the yarn should be stored inside the walls for extra insulation. Then I wouldn’t feel guilty!</p>
<p>As for books, geez we have a lot too. H has some from his high school days. Our lovely county recycles even hardback books so if he ever agrees to let them go… they will turn into a nice egg carton someday.</p>
<p>Greenwitch: old yarn sells for good money on EBay. (I know this for a fact… because I buy it.)</p>
<p>I decided with the last move that any book I was never going to read again was going to the used book store. 17 book boxes went. I mostly kept reference stuff, like my 3 feet of books on coral reef fishes and my seven feet of books on dog training.</p>
<p>LOL! I think you are living with my husband. </p>
<p>At one point he had so much “I might use it later” electronic equipment and wires all over the place that I brought them all upstairs and laid them out in the living room. One of the printers was the size of a VW Bug. Even he had to laugh at that.</p>
<p>The last three years I actually have gotten a dumpster every spring, the small variety. Very inexpensive. A lot less expensive than couples therapy.</p>
<p>Regarding books (agree there’s something good about a home/room with books): How does one decide which ones to keep? As I’ve told DH at least a thousand times: “That’s what LIBRARIES are for!” He buys books and wants to keep them all! I’m almost as guilty with my cookbooks! How do we decide what to purge and what to keep?</p>
<p>I have a yarn issue as well. I got into crochet for a while, but have since stopped. My mom was a big knitter, but can no longer do it. I have bags of skeins hermetically sealed in the garage. Maybe I’ll try the ebay thing. I know etsy also sells yarn- in their craft supply section.</p>
<p>I keep fiction that I like and plan to read again – especially paperback only books, since they’re unlikely to survive very long in a library collection. </p>
<p>I aggressively dump non-fiction, which seems to be easier to get from the library or inter-library loan, and which often goes out-of-date anyway. (Or which is available on-line.) If I didn’t like fiction, off it goes. </p>
<p>More often now I get books out of the library, and then if I really, really love the book I buy a copy, often when it comes out in paperback. That’s helped my wallet and my bookshelf. (Part was also that we made the decision that the number of bookshelves we have now is the max number we’re going to have – no more adding bookshelves.)</p>
<p>I’m thinking of getting rid of a bunch of old cookbooks since I have some that I haven’t cooked out of in fifteen years. The on-line sites like Cooks Illustrated and Epicurious are so good that I don’t usually feel the need to try a twenty-year old recipe in a cookbook I didn’t have great experiences with in the past. The 40 year old Joy of Cooking is sticking around, as is the Cake Bible and the LA Times Cookbook.</p>
<p>If any of you yarn folks would like to donate yarn, check with a local middle school – many have projects where they knit scarves and hats for the homeless or kids in safehouses or similar situations. A volunteer group in our area knits tiny hats out of soft fine yarn for all the new babies, and another group crochets baby blankets for low-income moms. I’m all thumbs, but these folks do some mighty good things.</p>
<p>I used to think I could count on libraries, but they throw out books even faster than I did. Our local library through out all their fantasy about a year before the first Harry Potter was published. Then they ended up having to buy half of it back. They didn’t even throw it out logically. They threw out anything that hadn’t been checked out within ___ years. So sometimes they threw out the first and second book of a trilogy but kept the third. :rolleyes: In any event we reread a lot in this house or pass the books on to friends. So I hate to toss them.</p>
<p>We have a book bank in our area. You take them your old books, magazines, videos, cds,
dvds, games or puzzles. They redistribute what they can then recycle the rest. After you’ve dropped off you get a tax receipt in the mail about a week later. The last time I dropped off my tax receipt was for 1,500 dollars! much better than trying to sell in a garage sale to take to a used book store.</p>
<p>Right now, I can’t see the floor of my walk in closet. It was used to hide gifts and its a mess. I like the earlier suggestion to empty the whole closet out. That will be my first project before I even take the Christmas decorations down.<br>
Then, I would really like to go through my Christmas decorations, oraganize them and donate what I don’t need/want anymore.</p>
<p>Having lived in a NYC apartment for a good part of my 20’s I learned that less is more when it comes to living peacefully in a space. However with 4 kids the stuff has accumulated in our basement and attic. It drives me insane that there is stuff…just stuff taking up space anywhere. I have also noticed that the kids have now resorted to using my closet to store some of their out of season clothes. My goal for this winter break is to get all four kids to throw out useless paper and sift through clothes. There is no need to hang on to things that someone else may be able to use. I would rather have the space in the attic just for the toys for the imaginary grandchildren. I just can’t get rid of a beautiful Playmobile doll house that is fully furnished, American Girl dolls and all the accessories, and the building toys that my sons played with for hours on end. We all have our stuff that we can’t part with. My stuff is all related to the kids.</p>
<p>The one thing I did do years ago was to get two large binders for each kid. The first binder has their cards that they made for us and special projects, as well as report cards and anything else that was especially meaningful. Each item is placed in the plastic cover sheets that seal at the top so nothing slips out. Their second binder has everything from highschool…reportcards, awards, newspaper clippings, college acceptance letter (to the college they attend) and letters that they received from people they came in contact with over their highschool years, and some of their better essays that they had written. One day they will each get their binder and it is perfectly organized and preserved well. It could sit on their shelf in their family room so their kids could enjoy seeing what their daddy or mommy did when they were young.</p>
<p>I recommend unclutterer.com as a good read. I try to throw away something from my home every single day. The goal is to have nothing in it that I don’t need or that I don’t love. “Eh, it’s ok” or “Eh, someone gave this to me long ago” doesn’t fully cut it. It is a work in progress, of course!</p>
<p>Several years ago someone told me that there is some kind of paint which is good for painting inside of closets as it does not show marks. Anyone ever heard of this? Anyone have any other suggestions for painting closets?</p>
<p>For all of the purging I do, I have never completely emptied the walk-in MBR closet. I would like to do that and paint it (still has builder’s paint) before organizing.</p>
<p>"Gee, I’m lucky to get a DRAWER done in a day! " - Well that’s lots better than nothing! </p>
<p>More on Freecycle… I subscribe to the daily summary of postings. Mostly I look at the “Wanted” ads - sometimes that gives me an extra push to give away something when I know it is truly needed. Many freecyclers are set up to get email for every new posting - some takers respond within 20 minutes. </p>
<p>I also sometimes do Freecycle “Offers” for items going into the “give away” box, just in case there is somebody interested. Last year I was stunned to get 8 replies on a box of misc Christmas decorations, AFTER Christmas.</p>