mmm, we need to keep a supply as earthquake supplies…
But in that event we would eat it all.
Whoo hoo! After months of procrastination, we took a trailer load of junk to the dump! There’s still a lot to clear out of our garage, but this was huge step. DH even tossed miscellaneous spare parts and a few pieces from the just-in-case lumber pile.
@KnearSeattle - wow, congrats!! Is your husband my husband’s twin separated at birth by any chance? The just-in-case lumber pile sounds soooo familiar. 
I had a Tiffany Ice Bucket and gold plated silverware (both gifts I never wanted or used) that I wanted to get rid off. After months on the local facebook market group,nothing was happening. I gave them to a friends who has an eBay store and she sold them both. I am $145 richer and they are out of my house forever and into the home of somebody who wants them!
You’re all inspiring me – I’m heading to the attic to start a new Goodwill bag!
I hear of car breakins in our city much more now. I need to clear out one side of the garage to bring my car in.
I need to get boxes to pack kitchen items. Mugs, glasses, and china sets.
@oregon101 - My mom used to write the month and year of purchase with a marker on the front of the packaging so she could see at a glance what was the oldest can of whatever in the pantry, and use that one instead of a newer one. Of course when she did die, we found all kinds of very outdated stuff that she had bought on a whim or for a recipe that didn’t get made and then had worked its way to the back of the kitchen cabinets.
So happy—dumped a huge bag and a half of medical receipts. We haven’t been able to deduct our medical expenses in a very long time—fortunately expenses went down and income went up. I was saving the receipts “just in case” but felt great to dump them. I feel lighter!
We meet the CPA on Wednesday and then we can purge some of our stuff from 2018 as well.
Soldiering on. Looking for opinions on what to do with the many ceramic figurines my MIL gave my kids over the years. She made them at a studio from molds and so they aren’t original artworks; they’re primarily Disney characters, Ninja Turtles, and those big-eyed kids in various costumes. I want to keep one piece for each kid, but what to do with the rest - trash or donate?
I’m trying to recycle as much as possible, but would anyone else want this kind of stuff? @thumper1, I know you volunteer at a thrift store - would you accept something like this?
It seems as if at least half of the stuff I’m getting rid of came from my MIL somehow.
@frazzled1 Just donate and forget about it. Goodwill accepts everything. Let Goodwill decide whether to sell or junk. Worrying about this issue is exactly the kind of thinking that gets people stuck.
When we downsized, we didn’t have the time to agonize over what to do with every little thing. Things we knew we didn’t want either got junked or brought to goodwill. They took everything we brought them, although I’m not sure what they did with it all.
Once it’s out of your house, it’s no longer your problem.
Good advice to those who recently Kondo’d their closet (and the rest of us):
I got my DH to get rid of one sweater. One sweater!! But only by promising that I was sending it to S2 for him to wear.
I don’t know what to do with DH. He keeps telling me that the pile of sweaters he hasn’t worn in 25 years and can’t fit in to anymore “aren’t hurting anyone” by being covered with dust on the top closet shelf.
DH is still mad that I donated his clothes from HS (we are 62). I don’t think he will see a 28 inch waist or a 15 inch neck again.
Oooh, the “It’s not hurting anyone” line. My husband has said that so often I told him it should be tattooed on him somewhere sensitive.
I’ve started saying, “It’s hurting me because I feel frustrated and hopeless when I see it. It’s going to hurt our kids if they have to get rid of it some day.”
Still crickets. I’ve been known to donate/chuck one item at a time and so far he has no idea.
My DH’s line is “It doesn’t take up much space”. When you repeat that line over and over, it takes up alot of space.
@frazzled1: I think I’m going to tell him that it’s hurting me because I’m the one who going to have to get rid of it someday. Also, we’ve discussed the possibility of moving somewhere warmer and closer to our children. I don’t want to move 25-year-old clothes that no one who lives in this house wears anymore.
ETA: I totally understand wanting to keep a letter sweater or a varsity jacket. Those I’ll leave alone. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.
We took a tote bag with old handbags and pumps to Goodwill yesterday. Right now DH is outside burning another carton of old papers. Winning by inches here.