Call them and ask.
Be aware they only want things that are in mint condition.
Didnāt want yāall to think that Iād forgotten or fallen down on the job. I just relocated to my parentsā house. My mom is having surgery Thursday so Iām here for the week and putting their lives in order. So, while Iām not getting rid of stuff at my house, I am eliminating all kinds of mental clutter for my parents and siblings.
One of those things was to use up gift cards my mom has been holding on to for years, so off to Nordstromās we went. @VeryHappy we go there because they have size 5/5.5 shoes for my mom! PM me a pic of the shoes and name a price and maybe we can take them off your hands!
My project in the next couple weeks will be my garage. Itās in good shape, but I want to get some sturdy shelving installed with an eye towards all the stuff that will be needed for college or come home from college.
Where do you guys put that stuff? How bad will it be? I know some of the stuff will go back where it came from (clothes back into closets) but what else should I plan to store during the summers?
We just stash it in the unfinished part of the basement. I donāt worry about that stuff too much because itās just for a few months. Weāre now at the point where it doesnāt come home - one child in an apt, one living a plane ride away so goes in with buddies on a summer storage unit.
Youāll be storing things like the plastic carts w/drawers, a futon or any chair/tv stand/furniture you bought specifically for the dorm room, BEDDING (I swear, all the layers of bedding including feather bed) takes up a lot of space!, extra lamps, rugs, etc. Unless you have a child who just takes a duffle and a pillow! 
^^Make sure the bedding is washed before you store it for the summer, year abroad or extended return home. Trust me!
We have stashed dorm mountain stuff (other than clothes that will be worn) behind a club chair in our living room that sits in a somewhat out of sight corner.
Well. it would seem we burst a pipe today because S2 and I came home to an inch of water in the basement and water spraying the front of the house from a hose that had been CHEWED through. I suspect when S2 shut off the line to the outside spigot, he turned it open to full throttle instead of closed.
Outside water is off, I have swept and sucked gallons of water off the floors, the dehumidifer is running, and will have a humongous fan down there in the morning. Yet another opportunity to sort and toss! 
Thank goodness I hadnāt taken the seven bags of batting I was planning to donate downstairs! DH grouses that we havenāt put everything back into the basement workshop after last yearās flood. Well, itās a good thing we didnāt! Of course, he is conveniently out of the country and is missing these festivitiesā¦
@countingdown, is your insurance company covering the damage?
We sucked up the water and rented a heavy duty fan to dry out the floors. The floor has 50 yo linoleum ā no carpet, fortunately. Not enough damage to bother with insurance. The base of the walls arenāt damp.
@CountingDown be very careful if you choose to pull up that linoleum- a lot of it has asbestos in it. You can send off a piece to get tested before you pull it up, itās not that expensive to do.
Three day weekend for me! Plan to fill some bags this weekend and do some organizing! Hoping to inspire H to do the same!
Whoās joining me and making some movement in clutter outside (in bags or in the car to donate) as opposed to inside!??
Report back and letās keep each other motivated! Report the oddest thing you find when cleaning out. The oldest. The āI didnāt know I still had this!ā item. Fun times.
The oldest thing I found in the MIL clean out was a newspaper article of Hās g-grandmotherās wedding
from 1896. We also found both MIL and FIL First Communion paperwork from the 1930ās. As a genealogy person, these were real gems.
Oddest thing: gallstones from MILās surgery decades ago.
I do try to take the recycling/Goodwill right away. I like to get it out of the house permanently.
Hard to beat 1896 except for some antique item maybe.
@SOSConcern Your raisins and my magazines seem so young now. 
I brought two power tools up from the basement. They have value so Iāll be giving them away (rather than throwing them away). I also lugged up a very heavy desktop computer. That will go to Goodwill tomorrow.
I need to bag up all the hair products that I bought, tried, and never finished using. With very frizzy hair, I am a sucker for every new miracle product. Under my sink is the serum and conditioning graveyard. I feel bad throwing all that out (although I donāt buy expensive brands, just drugstore) but donāt know where to take it. Maybe Iāll box it all and send it to my D.
The dentkids are married, in college, or living away from home, except S2 who has autism lives with us. H has an intense teaching schedule this term so I am working on the ābag a dayā club. Either Goodwill, storage unit (for kidsā stuff and extra furniture for future kids home/apt), or office dumpster. H is a hoarder, so not touching his stuff, but the great purge is on!
@sryrstress: OMG-- actual gallstones?? Who keeps those? I think you might win this contest! @-)
@rosered55 make sure there is no personal data on the hard drives before you donate. People will still your info. You should be able to reformat the hard drive.