@kiddie You are making me feel guilty with your industriousness. 
I need to use it to motivate me back into action!
Interesting article in todayās New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/style/the-future-of-nostalgia.html
Just went through luggage - goodbye suitcase with wheels that no longer spin!
" Unfortunately, now my MIL is cleaning out her house and downsizing and guess where sheās sending things?"
Donāt you HATE that?! But honestlyā¦itās fine. Just think of it as a service and send the stuff on its way. You have no obligation to keep anythhng.
My mom did that ALL the time. She had a harder time getting rid of stuff than I did. Guess she trusted me as ākeeper of the goodsā. Not too bad since things filtered downā¦ I did save a few things of sentimental value to me but easily discarded the rest.
My sister does that with me. She thinks Iām as interested in keeping old documents as she is, so sheāll spend a good amount of money to have things duplicated for me ā our grandparentsā marriage certificate in Hebrew; our grandfatherās passport application from ~1920. The truth is, I donāt care about this stuff. Iām storing it for the time being, but I donāt care at all if my descendants chuck it when Iām gone.
She sent me a blow-up of an article in my junior high newspaper about my winning a short-story contest when I was in 7th grade. I told her to just throw it out but she insisted I had to have it. So she paid to send it to me across the country, and then I threw it out.
DH does that with our sons. We have been cleaning out closets and keepsakes, and have gotten rid of alot, but heās piled up things on both of their childhood beds for them to look at when they come home. Firstly, I personally donāt think theyāll want any of it. Secondly, we have no idea when S1 may be here to even look at the stuff DH left for him.
Iāve sorted through stuff for kids and then sent them pictures to see if there is anything in the pile that they may want to keep. Works pretty well. Most of the time itās a āthrow it outā response. Much easier than waiting for them to come home (and STILL not go through it!)
^good idea @gouf78.
D gave me 2 bags of clothing for give away when we were at her place 2 weeks ago. I added some of my own things and now have a pickup scheduled for on Tuesday for 4 bags.
Has anyone used Craigās list to sell items? I have a few things (flat screen tv stand that I never used and a dog gate-type thing for a SUV which keeps your dog in the back area. Itās made specifically for the SUV I had at the timeā2009 Mercedes ML). I tried selling both on a local website (Next Door) and someone offered to buy the dog gizmo, but only if it would fit in her SUV (which wasnāt a Mercedes). She thought she could make it work, but it ended up that she couldnāt so she returned it. D has my old SUV but doesnāt want the gate.
I guess what worries me about Craigās List is that I am a bit concerned about strangers coming to my house to look at the stuff. Somehow if itās someone from my town or a neighboring one I am not as uneasy. This probably isnāt making any sense, so tell me Iām being overly cautious and I should just put the stuff on Craigās list. If I donāt sell it, Iāll just give it away. Both items were expensive and never used (mistakes) so I feel I should try and see if I can get something for them.
When Baby kid comes home to get something, she rarely goes through her stuff. She just plucks what she needsā¦ We have a few boxes of her thingsā¦ I doubt she will ever need them, so I will eventually just throw all of it out.
I have used craigslist and local facebook groups to sell stuff successfully.
Just donāt meet at your house. I meet at the parking lot of our local grocery store (small town area) and I have also met in the parking lot of our police department. The latter is the recommended choice to minimize any risk.
I canāt say enough good things about Freecycle!! Yes, you give the stuff away for free, but usually the stuff is gone within 48 hours. You can have people pick it up in your driveway; they never have to come into your house. Consider how much of a pain selling on Craigslist can be ā if you can even get someone to be interested in your item. Try Freecycle.
Cleared the last pieces of junk out of House1. Mr thinks we are due for another dump run! That is commendable. Next weekend project: get the garage ready for its new inhabitant.
Our LEOs encourage residents to use their parking lots to meet buyers/sellers, and the fire dept. does, too.Thatās the only way Iād try selling something, but it still involves giving my cell phone number to strangers, which I donāt like.
For some more valuable items, Iāve sometimes offered them to people I know or have done a trade of goods for services. Last month I got one of our garages cleaned out in return for a few big items we no longer needed. The guy hauled donations to a local thrift shop then took the trash to the county dump. Iām hoping to do the same with the basement garage soon.
Our accountant has a shredding event every fall. I canāt wait to get rid of the multiple boxes of stuff now taking up space in my dining room. Today I went through another 3 boxes of stuff from grad school and my early career that were in the basement. Now all that stuff is either ready for shredding or in our recycling bin.
Did my third (and I hope last) run to the town recycling center with old electronics (this time my old tower computer)
@kiddieās recent activity gave me motivation to do my annual overhaul of my two spice drawers (back in alphabetical order, too!) and my quarterly pantry clean out today. Not too much to purge but everything is nice and neat, ready for the holidays.
Iām about to embark on this common journey. I have so much junque that needs to be purged! Could somebody please speak to āDoes it bring you joy?ā Can somebody explain the concept to me? Seems to me, there are very few āthingsā in my world that bring me joy. People bring me joy. Things? Not so muchā¦ Maybe Iām wrongā¦
Just ask yourself with each item āDoes it bring me joy?ā and Iād also add āis this something we use?ā. If the answers are no, youāre supposed to get rid of it.
āBrings joyā IMO means āis it something that makes my life easier, more enjoyable, more hassle-freeā or āis it something that I use on a regular basisā or ādoes it bring back some happy memories.ā?