Super^!
Wow–on a roll. Cleaned a lot of stuff out of our huge storage room.
H wanted to keep everything. I have my two bins of my childhood stuff and it is mostly going by-by. H cannot face any loss. H argued about parting with a rug that turned out to be a mistake. I told him he had 1 1/2 weeks and Va Vets get it. He put it on next door (which is under my name-groan) and simply gave the dimensions and priced it at $100. I would have said the fact that it was brand new, the colors and asked for $300. LOL but hmmm maybe just going to keep my mouth shut. H thinks every single thing is someone else’s treasure. H letting it go to charity might be worth the $ loss.
@oregon101 I bet if you post the colors and add the fact that you would have listed it for $300, it will go pretty quickly! But yes, absolutely, getting rid of stuff is worth the $ loss to me.
Yes, the objective is to get rid of the stuff. If you don’t make $$$ on the stuff, that’s not the point. This isn’t a thread about how to conduct a garage sale or use eBay to sell stuff – it’s just a thread about getting rid of stuff!! For me, any way I can get rid of something is a win.
We spent a day helping my son - he bought a house a few years ago and the former owners “generously” left him dozens of paint cans, piles of tiles and soffit and other not useful things as well as my sons accumulation of a few years worth of “I’ll get to it later” piles. We had at least two full pickups taken to the dump! He can finally park in his garage!
Agree! My son was hesitating about getting rid of perfectly useful things that he had no use for. It felt like he needed someone else to say “it’s ok - lets just pitch it”.
I’m glad I found a thread where people will be as excited about these things as I am! This is also a covert operation: I’ve been doing an inventory and clearing out of all the old paint in our garage. We had close to 50 (!!! for a 4 BR house) cans in various places in our garage attic. For months, I would open up a few, put them in the corner to dry out, and throw away any dried ones (this is what our city allows for latex paint disposal). I’ve also found that there are a couple that are usable, and labeled them and brought them indoors. The huge eye opener is that obviously we KEEP buying primer for every paint job, when we have multiple cans already (this reminds me of the Kondo advice to do ALL of one type of item at once…which is how I discovered I had 4 pastry brushes in the kitchen, oh and 8 spare bed pillows!). DH did discover my project and maybe even grudgingly agreed that we should check the inventory before we start a project.
Another very satisfying clear out is the stuff we need for my upcoming college freshman’s dorm! Turns out we have about half of what we need stored here, from other siblings or just repurposing. Win win!
I’m calling this stage “emptynesting”, as it feels like the opposite of the pregnancy nesting urge. Out everything and everyone goes LOL!
@mom60 I forced myself to use up our bin of hotel toiletries that everyone accumulated. I didn’t buy soap/lotion/shampoo until it was all gone. Very satisfying…and no one is allowed to bring those home anymore unless they go directly into their own travel toiletry bag and stay there!
I finally remembered to swing by goodwill with several bags I’d stashed in my car last week. Next up, some garage work.
I have just two bins of my childhood stuff. One is nearly empty–HS papers?? weird perfume smell. Keeping about 10 pieces of paper and a handful of pictures.
Very rewarding.
Looking for some house papers today–I was shocked they were not files. Sadly found many bags of old paperwork in file drawers–another project.
I replaced my dresser an night stands. Old furniture is going to the church rummage sale next week, and a lot got purged in cleaning out the old drawers and filling the new ones.
Made some progress in whittling down our book inventory. The local library is fussy about the books they’ll accept for their annual book sales: undamaged covers, nothing that’s been kept in a basement, no textbooks, etc. I was able to fill 2 boxes that met the criteria.
Also separated all the kids’ books that were inscribed to each daughter on birthdays and at Christmas, and packed them to hand off at upcoming visits. Still so many books, though. If I read them and liked them, they’re hard to part with; if I haven’t read them yet, I tell myself I will eventually…
I cleaned off the living room shelves where I display family photos. It was out of control - I had close to 50 photos. Pared down to just over 30. Kept a few of the extra frames and the rest of the frames are off to the local senior center rummage sale (along with the mugs and place mats I had cleaned out of my kitchen closet a few months ago).
@frazzled1 : That’s why we have libraries!
If you read a book and enjoyed it, pass it along to someone else so they can enjoy it too.
If you haven’t yet read a book, give it to someone who will. And when you’re ready to read the book, go to the library!
I just went through my workout clothes - filled up a bag with stuff I never wear. This week I donated an old suitcase to a local rummage sale. Seems like you can always find more stuff to get rid off!
Not exactly a bag, but we have been getting multiple catalogs at home and our office for a company we only shop once a year, at the most. The catalogs are an inch thick! I emailed them and asked to stop receiving the catalogs because we shop their store online only anyhow. Hope it work!
@threebeans Good for you, you got rid of a future bag!
We took a laundry hamper full of household goods to donation center over the weekend. And I’m ridiculously pumped for upcoming appointment at consignment shop – up to fifteen items for resale, so I’ve got handbags and clothes staged in upstairs hallway.
Just gathered up new unused school supplies (crazy - nobody in this house has been in HS in 7 years!). Found a local school is collecting for foster kids, so later today I will drive over and donate them.
I put 8 dozen glass plates and 5 dozen forks on NextDoor for free. We used them for a party. They were cheaper than renting. A neighbor in the area picked them up today and said they would be used for an event and then given to the White Shield adolescent center as they are desperate for dishes. Feel Good give away.
The porch is full waiting for the VA Vets to pick up. The nice Persian rug is there. I decided not to bail H out (he did not write the ad in a way that showed what a beautiful unused rug this is) as the better take away is that sometimes you just part with things. He thinks everything is far more important than it is. (if I leave him a note he reads it and then leaves it for me to toss).
2 van loads of stuff went to the church rummage sale. (Furniture, luggage, glassware, ballpark giveaways…). I spent $3 at the sale to buy a picture frame, a plastic bin, and a metal spatula. The plastic bin is in the basement to collect items for next year’s sale. My old cheap metal spatula is in the bin. The picture frame is going to my mom’s house because she needed it for a picture she’s had for years and never framed. If it doesn’t work with her picture it will go in the bin with the spatula. I love that sale.
For people who think thanking things is stupid or creepy. (Marie Kondo way)
It is from Shinto religion and the thinking is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. In Shinto religion, everything that surround us has spirit and we live with the sense of gratitude toward them. I’m from Japan so I was surprised that some people don’t feel thankful for the things that served them for many years. Very interesting cultural difference!