@thumper1 “But I have found that the faster things get OUT of the house…the more likely they are to actually GET out of the house!” - This is my new mantra.
I will say he is keeping his lips zipped this time round. Maybe because he isn’t really getting to see what is going so far - it is going in a bag and out the door pretty sharpish. Or maybe doing this in tax season when I am already tired and cranky is a good plan after all 
Yes, when I can get things that still have value into the hands of someone who can use them, it really is a great thing. Good Will is my last resort. Glad they’re there but not my favorite. I don’t like throwing things in the garbage because it just adds to the landfill.
DH isn’t one to clean anything out but, because we’re remodeling and painting and everything has to come out, he asked if I’d go through his closet with him today. Part of me wanted to say that, since I’m doing the rest of the whole house, perhaps he could do his own closet but he’s a great guy and we all have our…challenges so I said yes.
And YES to getting things out of the house once they’re deemed no longer wanted/needed. Having stacks of things or bags around makes me crazy. I load up my trunk and, if necessary, my back seat and drop off as quickly as possible. Even when I know I’ll have more in a few days. I think I experience an endorphin high of sorts when I leave my bags wherever I’m dropping them off!
So, my update is that I cleaned out and then packed up the guest room/office yesterday. Things are in my trunk to donate. I went through all my wrapping paper and gifts that seemed like a great idea at the time but, well, here are some “treasures” that were never given. I’m going to an Oscar party tonight with friends. I’m going to bring the 4-5 items that actually are new and have some value and see if anyone wants them.
“DH isn’t one to clean anything out but, because we’re remodeling and painting and everything has to come out, he asked if I’d go through his closet with him today. Part of me wanted to say that, since I’m doing the rest of the whole house, perhaps he could do his own closet but he’s a great guy and we all have our…challenges so I said yes.”
At least he is meeting you half way.
" I think I experience an endorphin high of sorts when I leave my bags wherever I’m dropping them off!" That must be what I am experiencing. It feels so good to make even a little dent in the pile of stuff.
Everyone keep posting - Need to keep this thread alive because it certainly does motivate me.
@swimcatsmom: I’m really glad to hear that you’re able to make progress. Just keep on going. Rome wasn’t built in a day!!
I’m really happy someone place a big clothing and shoe donation box at a gas station less than 1/4 mile from my house. On the other side of the street is a paper/cardboard recycling dumpster at a school. I made a small run to both last night just to get things out of the house. I take my best donations to a resell shop affiliated with a women’s shelter.
Today, I finishing the dining room and throwing out spices that were packed and forgotten. I’m going to dump and recycle the containers while watching mindless TV.
=D> :x 
H and I cleaned out his closet and we hardly argued at all!!!
4 Heavy kitchen bags out and he even dropped them at Goodwill today.
H has complained off and on for years that he does not have enough space and I have an
unfair amount :-@ while I literally own half of the amount of clothes that he does. I simply hang
everything and I color code, etc. After he tried everything! on and tossed he has a shelf empty.
Happy days.
^congrats, @oregon101! My dh just walked by his closet and said going through it was going to be “h*ll”. We’re so different–I don’t mind going through things and, as noted above, there’s the bonus of getting things OUT of the house!
I’ve changed gears and instead of waiting till a giant black garbage bag is full, I’m filling Walmart bags and throwing them in my car. I have that good feeling twice- once throwing it in my car, and then at drop off. I’ve been sidetracked by yard work this week. I cut, chopped and filled 6 yard bags with branches, twigs, and leaves. They go to the curb tonight.
I forgot to tell my holiday success story. We have a BIG artificial tree (9’, pre-lit from Costco). Hauling it out of the upstairs storage closet and un-boxing it and carrying the sections downstairs and then repeating the process in reverse has become a problem. The largest section probably weighs 50 lbs and is unwieldy. Getting it upstairs and smashed back into the box was so daunting to me that it was still up in mid-January. My sweet husband has a disability so it was just me on the stairs. His cane gets him up and down, but he can’t carry heavy things.
So,
We have a huge under the stairs closet that was full of old camping gear, sports equipment the kids didn’t want anymore, cookware that never made it back to the kitchen after the remodel, etc. We sent 90% of that out and made a place for the tree . Win, win. Seven boxes of “good for someone else” stuff out, new home for the tree.
Helped my parents move this week. We did a big sort before the move, and now a much more manageable sort since they’re in the new place.
The bags of clothes my D put together in January are still in the living room though…got to deal with those!
@dragonmom I would LOVE to have a closet like that for the Christmas tree, lucky you!
I have shredded and shredded and shredded this weekend. My husband went through his desk and got rid of a bunch of financial stuff, plus leftover college admissions papers with sensitive info on them.
@dragonmom Does it fit in all put together and decorated so you can just pull it out next December? Ta-dah! 
I wish!
S2 moved overseas today. He and I got rid of LOTS of stuff before his departure. Several bags of clothes, lots of trash and junk, other stuff packed up and in the basement. Am going to update his room so we can use it as a guest room once I can bear to go in there.
We also spent lots of time this week clearing out fallen branches from the yard. Then on Friday, we had 70 mph winds, and now have even more to clean up.
Dragonmom, I have a tree like that causing me problems, too. H doesn’t want to take it down! Seriously, he keeps saying he wants to leave it up all year. Because it is a pain to smoosh and carry the pieces downstairs. I’m now eyeing a small first floor hall closet and wondering if it’s a little bigger than the tree box…
I have a confession, I had a tree that I did leave up for several years. It was so heavy and cumbersome and one year no one would help me take it down so I just left it up. I did undecorate it and always planned to maybe decorate for different seasons but that never happened. I finally took it down a couple of years back and its never going back up. I need to donate it. The cat sure does miss it. She liked to sleep under it.
I would love to have a tree closet that I could just wheel the assembled tree into - sorry, @dragonmom I misunderstood.
Weekly check in. I have slowed down this week because I have been working 12+ hour days. Just filled 1 bag this morning and brought it to the dumpster at work. Maybe I’ll manage one more for the bin at the house by pick up day on Tuesday.
I’m beginning to actually see a tiny (really tiny) bit of progress. I have kind of been focusing on the bedroom and the mountains in front of the sliding doors are less than they were and I can see the cedar chest that had been buried. And I found my blue lounge pants that have been MIA for years which I was quite excited about (they are very comfy).
Funny story. My husband had made a comment to me that if he dies not to throw away books in the den without going through them because there is money hidden in them (WTH?). I was talking to the office manager at work (the one who said I could use the dumpster) and she said her husband told her the same thing. We had a good laugh about it but really, why?
A dollar here and a dollar there? Or hundreds stuffed in each book? I’d ask for more information.
@swimcatsmom : Congratulations on making progress. There will be starts and stops, but I suspect you’re not going to stop moving forward.
Two truckloads of yard debris to the recycling yard. Yesterday I surveyed the boxes that we still have stacked in the library, and I think half of what is in them can be easily disposed of. I think I will let them sit there until we refinish the fireplace and then toss that stuff!