Reminds me… we need to burn the pile before we move to the new digs. That town does not welcome wood burning firepits.
I take stuff to Office Depot. Watch them put papers into the secure device, pay, and walk away paper free
@morrismm, Amazon sells shredders very cheaply under their own label. I bought one last year to replace an old shredder that finally burned out and it’s done well. I don’t feed the new one more than two bags a day and let it cool off between bags.
We keep tax records for seven years, except for real estate and some investment records that we’ve kept forever (that may be overkill, but they don’t take up much space.) I shred Rx labels, bills, statements and receipts once a month, or at least that’s the goal. Sometimes it piles up.
In previous years we’ve used the shredded paper as kindling in our fire pit, but there was a burn ban last fall so we just put the bags in the trash.
@BunsenBurner Our sheet feed scanner (ScanSnap) is wireless.
I am not so good with my phone, but one cool thing I did was DH made a “light box” for me and I took pictures of the old big negatives from my grandma. Then reversed them and got really good pictures! I was so excited… I finally found a place that would process the old 3x3 format film, but at least I could see enough to pick out keepers. Did not try any color ones, just black and white.
Our garbage co does not take recycling with shredded paper. Small pieces clog the sorting equipment at their processing plant. We did not know that and found out the hard way when they refused to pick up our recycling - we had to fish the other recyclable stuff out of the bin and then dump the shreds into garbage. So check your garbage co rules!
@morrismm, if you’re looking for suggestions related to how to get things shredded, check to see if your area offers any free shredding events. Our county does it a couple of times a year, I think. We took a bunch once, and even though they had a “limit,” the guys there took all we had.
Facebook local marketplace groups are officially a bust. The two items I thought were sold - neither person has come forward to schedule an actual pick up time. Guess I won’t see that money - may end up donating to a church flea market instead. Very disappointed!
H went through our mudroom cabinet and we ended up getting rid of several pair of shoes we longer wear.
"Facebook local marketplace groups are officially a bust. "
I’ve had great results with my local group - both selling and even a little buying. Surprisingly few people flaking out on meet ups.
This summer, my goal is to be a member of the garbage-can-a-week club.
May I join this club? 
Reporting my first success of blocking transfer of unwanted items from House1 to House2. The items went into the trash!
SouthFloridaMom9: Of course. The only criterion for admission is that you pay me $1 million in small bills. I’ll PM you my address. :))
Seriously – you don’t need an invitation, just a desire to declutter!
I’ve suggested the idea of a bag a week to several friends who are overwhelmed with cleaning out their homes. For one friend she is so overwhelmed after going through a long divorce that she is stuck. I suggested that she let go of thinking of it in terms of the “big” job and just concentrate on one bag a week. I think she is ready. She bought a new car 6 months ago and has a goal of actually parking it in her garage.
Another close relative lives in a small house with male children and a H who might be a hoarder. He gets passive aggressive when she begins to declutter. He doesn’t throw anything away and is the recipient of anything the neighbors are getting rid of. She is at wits end. I suggested she take a bag and drop it off an a trash can or charity the day she bags it. If she has them sitting around he will pull stuff out.
Thank you @VeryHappy! The money is going out as soon as you send me account info . . . ha ha JK. Seriously excited to be in this club.
We did a bunch of purging when we moved last year but it wasn’t nearly enough.
This thread gives me incentive to just keep making some progress, @SouthFloridaMom9. Some weeks are better than others. We love to see the club grow:)
I went through four boxes of school reports, programs, cards my children gave me, etc. last Thursday and threw away enough to fill two brown paper grocery sacks. I’m sure I could have done more, but some things I want to see one more time before they leave the house forever. For example, I found the last birthday card and letter that my paternal grandmother ever sent me and that was a treasure in my eyes. My kids won’t care about it down the road. I’m about halfway through this pass through all the upstairs drawers and closets and I have gotten rid of quite a bit, but not as much as I could. I hope to move when I retire and this round should make the ultimate purge faster and easier.
@kiddie I have not had much luck with the local FB sales groups either. I tried to sell a lovely, unworn prom dress several times and got nowhere. I did sell my D’s Ugg boots on the group, but then the buyer turned around and sold them on the same group for about $10 more.
I was looking for a particular photo of my mom from childhood to post on FB today, on what would have been her 90th birthday, and I was stymied. I just didn’t have the time to go through boxes in the attic looking for it. So that and this thread are inspiring me to renew my efforts at consolidating and getting rid of stuff.
@FallGirl that was hilarious! I could really relate.
So this morning I am returning three dresses that I bought as possibilities for my son’s wedding, which don’t work. (Mosey on over to the MOB Dress thread, if you’re so inclined.) I’m also going to drop off some very very decent clothes at Goodwill – for example, a white linen dress that I will never, ever wear again, now that I’m semi-retired. I’m also dropping off a few polo shirts that have become too small, as I’ve become larger in the shoulders and, sadly, droopy in the mid-section. Age --> Gravity.