well that was a bust - typed in about 100 cd’s, Amazon would only accept about 15, totaling $3.75, so I am just putting them all in the rummage sale pile
I believe if you have the Amazon app on your phone you can just scan the UPC and if it up for trade their will be a trade-in button on the product page. Might be a lot faster!
^ Thanks for the info on the DVDs. Today I cleaned out a towel closet, 2 kitchen cabinets, and some home office items. 4 more bags donated. I love that all this unnecessary stuff is going out and nothing new is coming in to take its place.
The garage re-siding project is about to begin… so we needed to clear out the space around it. Mr. and I spent the morning packing the old cabinets we ripped out of the garage into the truck. Added a bunch of other junk… 1,400 pounds taken to the dump. That will count for a lot of bags, lol.
Two steps forward, one step back:
I’ve been doing a great job, if I do say so myself, of decluttering and getting rid of useless items. We’ve been storing a lot of items in our basement for a good friend who recently divorced, sold The Big House, downsized to a smaller house, and then downsized to an apartment. He’s just received a job offer he can’t refuse in another city, so he’s moving there. He came over to take his items and realized that half the stuff he stored with us will be useless in his new city. (He doesn’t plan to own a house ever again.) So I am now the proud owner of a Flexible Flyer sled, many rakes and shovels, a croquet set, and a pair of andirons, among some other silly items. Oh, joy. :((
the recent “is your bedroom a haven” thread inspired me to go through some of the childrens tubs in our sitting room. Have a dollhouse listed on craigslist; and several bags of trophies and junk in the trash. Someone in this thread a while ago mentioned to do just a bit at one time. Good advice!
I had kept everything my kids brought home from preschool and elementary school (Don’t ask why, because I’m not sure I can answer that). I’m not through all of it yet, but I’ve gotten rid of most of it, only keeping a few things that will likely get trashed if my kids don’t want them as reminders of what they were like when they were younger.
^^ That is the project I keep avoiding. Lateral file cabinets full of every paper from pre-school on. By #3, I did purge quite a bit each year, but overall I need to reduce it all down to a reasonable box or two per kid.
I don’t think I’ll even have a box for each of them when I’m done. I’ve been very selective about what I’m keeping. Honestly, in the past 16-27 years since I’ve had all these papers, I’ve never looked through them.once until now. I’m keeping the ones that evoke special memories.
DD1 and H are expecting their first child, a girl; younger DD is not married. They visited this weekend; they bought a crib - nice deal and sturdy/good looking, very basic; I bought two baby slings. Wooden high chair and wooden toddler chair dug out of the attic. Other things which went to niece and nephew will recycle back - niece with girls 1 and 4 will have lots to provide. Large box of clothes from H’s closet to donate. The fall will be our time to clear out DD2’s things from our storage to her apt when she moves from college apt to wherever her professional job will be (civil eng - she is looking at big cities). As they cherry pick items to take, we can part with things. One lady I know says she decides what she doesn’t want to dust off anymore in her house and is downsizing that way.
Kind of nice to do it in one big swoop - empty out cabinets and only put back what you really use/want. We have two guest bedrooms done nicely - now to work on the closets…
Another load from the basement gone today. I found a t-shirt from college with sentimental value that I had thought was long gone. I was so happy to see it. lol! I forgot there were old clothes down there. One container was from the 80s.
Just cleaned out my sewing “basket”. Not much garbage produced (well the container itself which was falling apart), bu a real sense of accomplishment having thrown out all the loose threads and organizing all the pins and needles, etc. neatly into a different box.
Going through tons of paperwork lately. H came home tonight and brought me a Valentine’s present- a new shredder! Lol. I think he saw what was going on and wanted to protect his own shredder from heavy use.
How romantic! His and her shredders! 
Indeed! We have his and hers shovels, chainsaws, you name it. Shredders are hot. B-)
So I have new motivation!
My house is not cluttered, but lately I’ve been feeling the weight of “stuff.” I figured out why.
We probably will not be in this area in five or six years. My oldest is going to school in a city where she likely will work. If my second DD goes to school anywhere close to her (several very good schools an hour in any direction in decent-sized cities with opportunity) we will likely pull up stakes and move down to that part of the state. Nothing holds us here - we are corporate transplants. This is a few years off - if ever - but it has made me look at my surroundings differently.
Thinking a free-standing condo or townhome. Or maybe a small ranch in a retirement community. Either way, we want less. Even my husband is going through stuff in the man cave.
I decided that with the Feb sales my wool coat that was looking pretty ratty needed to be replaced. Found its replacement at 65% off. Then I went to the basement and weeded out all of the coats we no longer use. There were 8 of them. They are heading out as soon as Salvation Army is open. Maybe there will still be time for someone to get some use out of them.
Mr. B and I took a truckload of stumps to the recycling place today. The yard where we used to take them decided that they no longer accepted stumps, but the gate guy was nice and told us the address of another place… So the tree that cam crashing down during last year’s post-earthquake storm is GONE. 
I haven’t been on this thread because I grew up with a hoarder. A real, true hoarder that could have been on that hoarding TV show. So, I’m pretty good about purging things. Not perfect but pretty good.
Well, we’re starting a remodel which will include re-texturizing every wall and ceiling in the house. That means everything has to come out of every room including the closets. Kitchen and bathroom cabinets don’t have to be emptied but that’s it. I’m very overwhelmed but my first pass has been to find anything that I don’t want or use that still has value. I’ve been offering things to friends and on nextdoor and have been making goodwill runs. Just today I passed along a bag of dog toys, some liquor, some beauty products, a noise machine and an old Wii and all of its related equipment.
We have been empty nesters for a few years but I’ve been lax about having my kids clean out their bedrooms. O.M.G. there is so much stuff in two of the three. I think March 27 is my deadline to have everything out but I’m overwhelmed by the task and how to approach it. I think i’m going to hang out here for inspiration.
I’ve been trying to restart my clearing out but it is honestly overwhelming when you are married to a hoarder who gets nasty when you ask him why he’s washing yet another empty food jar to use - for what? That incident nearly led to divorce after 34 years of marriage - this is not home to me any more. Our house, garage, outside is so full of garbage I just hate being here. And a bag or two a week isn’t going to make a dent in it.
Anyway, whiney rant over. I am trying again and being ruthless when i have the time and energy (tax season plus all new software at work so i have little of either right now). i have almost emptied the 2 entry hall closets of all the stuff that has been sitting there unused for years. One is completely empty (it was literally so full stuff was piled from floor to ceiling so more of can achievement than you might think) and y I am planning to pain it and to put shelves in so I can use it as a pantry and get all the excessive food cans he buys off the washing machine, dryer, floor and also as a place to store kitchen items I like but don’t use often. The other will remain a closet I guess but a usable space without coats that have not been used for many years (decades in some cases - no your son is not going to want the overcoat youbkast wore while we lived in England 34 years ago - apart from the style he is 150lbs lighter than you were even back then). I have been pretty ruthless with just putting stuff in trash bags and dumping it - no more sorting through and washing, listing, pricing and bagging it for it to end up in the den with all the other bags for donating. Just straight in the trash. Thee was a huge Rubbermaid container of shoes, boots etc.- all gone
Then I started on the kids bathroom cupboard. Damn, that is a huge cupboard. Couldn’t believe the old shampoos and face stuff etc. that belonged to the kids - they are 29 and 31 and haven’t lived here in years. Tupperware containers of craft stuff - again not going through, just dumping straight in the trash bag. Got a ways to go with that cupboard. I also shove a few items from the garage and the outside on the way to the bin on Tuesday mornings. Hardly makes a dent but maybe I’ll start seeing it after a few weeks.
The office manager said I can put a couple of bags a week in the office dumpster so that will help. Now that I think of it, have to go to work today. Think I’ll fill up a bag and take it with me.