Update on post #4094 - I had to go to a funeral this weekend an hour away - I took the punchbowl and some other things and dropped it off at their Goodwill. I know DH - if it’s out of sight it’s out of mind and I won’t get “caught”
Made a quick pass through our bathroom and dumped old shampoo, conditioner, moisturizers. Cleared out the guest drawer and got rid of expired travel-sized toothpaste, creams, etc., tidied up the rest of our inventory. Put it into a container that can live on an easy-to-reach shelf when we have company and tucks up nicely under the sink between visits.
Finally getting to some areas that are cluttered. Focusing on areas seen by family at Christmas get together, specifically the laundry room. Difficult thing is that old containers of paint and chemical cleaners and unsure how to dispose. I opened paint outside to have it dry out. H is zero help but did trick him into a mini-clean out of some of his sweater drawers. I’ll count that as a win. Folded up dog crate that no longer use for visiting grand puppy so the master is looking pretty good.
In our city, many paint stores take/recycle partially used paint containers. Just repainted our interior and dropped off all the old paint, quarts to 5 gallon. Cleared out a good sized shelf in the garage.
It’s funny – Back in the Old Days, when I was raising two young children and both DH and I were working full-time, my house was of course a mess. No surprise. I remember visiting my father and his wife – they were then in their 80s – and being amazed at how neat, clean and organized their house was. Now that I’m retired with no children at home, I’m approaching the same state. I love it!
I need to do a bathroom linen/supply closet pass!
I have been traveling for most of the last 18 months while my son and his friend lived in our house (I work remotely). Friend has moved out, S is still here for a couple of months until a job move to another city and I want to be here at least until he goes. So I’m back in and we all changed rooms. It’s been fun to “take back” my spaces, and has been an excellent time to clean out everything, (re)arrange furniture, DIY some stuff, and donate or organize what’s left.
Our state assemblyman sponsored an electronics recycling event last weekend, where I was able to get rid of an old TV, computer monitor, VCR, two desktop computers, one laptop, and miscellaneous remotes, cables, keyboards, etc. What a relief!
I arrived 15 minutes early and the parking lot was already jammed. By the time I left, there was a 2-mile backup on the highway at the exit ramp for the event. It’s time-consuming to get rid of old electronics - so nice when there’s a free recycling event in my area.
I am curious about the electronic recycling events. We have several old phones, computers etc, etc. I want to load them up and take them in and be gone with them. However, H thinks you you have to clear all the memory and that at times taking out the SIM card is not enough. Did you just take your items in or how thoroughly did you erase the memory on things like cell phones and laptops.
My husband disassembled the computers and laptop, removed the hard drives, and took out other stuff he thought he might be able to use again or that just looked interesting. Because you can never have too much random stuff in boxes in the basement!
We’ve never brought cell phones to a recycling event, so the old ones are … in a box in the basement. We don’t have many, though, because we don’t upgrade for years and years.
@Chumom if you can turn the phones on, you should be able to factory reset them.
Thanks, I’m just curious. My H makes it seem harder than it probably really is.
D1 got married last month and we were storing about 3/4 of the decorations. It was a destination wedding in that everyone had to drive about 3 hours either north or south to get there. She was trying to be fair to everyone as far as traveling time. I joked at the reception that on the way home I was going to stop at Goodwill and unload as many of the decorations as I could. I did not want to bring that stuff back in the house. Well, when we got home there was a bag tied to our front door with a note asking for contributions and they would be in our neighborhood the next day for pick up. Vases, tea lights, candleholders, tulle, frames for the table #’s etc went directly from the van to the curb. I think daughter was bit sad, but I did tell her I would store it for about a month, but I needed my space back. She was ok and said go ahead. I was so happy not to have that stuff back in the house. I still have some decorations, but it all fits in one tub that she can take home with her.
Our local Best Buy always accepts electronic recycling of all types. No appointment needed, no waiting for a recycling event.
@calla, do you just take things into the store? (Like big TVs?)
Thanks - we have a couple to get rid of, including 1 with turn knobs.
Our Best Buy charges $25 per TV or monitor, and will accept only three items per day. There is a limit on TV size (up to 32-inch screens are accepted at my local store). I believe their policy varies by state: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/services/recycling/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025
Yea, the Best Buy in NY charged us $25 to return Dad’s big old TV. Believe me when I say we were just glad they took it, even with fee.
Interesting read for Bag a week people - https://www.npr.org/2019/12/04/784702588/the-best-thing-you-can-do-is-not-buy-more-stuff-says-secondhand-expert I have only read this review (not the actual book)
Wow, our Best Buy doesn’t charge anything. We just take all kinds of things to the store. We live in SoCal, so maybe there is a geographical difference in policies? I should add, we’ve taken TVs but never huge ones.
ETA: thanks for the link @frazzled1 . I guess it does vary by state.
I should also add, our local Goodwill also accepts electronics for recycling. They station someone in the back of the store who helps us unload our car. It’s easy: just drive through and drop off. Again, we are in SoCal, and policies probably vary by Goodwill store. My city is very recycling-minded.
I am more confident that the electronics dropped off at Best Buy actually are recycled as opposed to winding up in landfill, so my personal preference is to drop it off at Best Buy.
Husband scanned more statements and got the paper copies ready for our burn pile. Another few inches.
Just found a new home for a book box worth of late MIL’s genealogy materials, those are going away tomorrow.
I just went through my outside holiday decorations box and got rid of the old lights we haven’t used in over 10 years. Don’t know why I didn’t throw them out when I replaced them with new ones.