Not sure if I posted this before but a WONDERFUL “bag a week” routine that is now happening in our household (with a H who has a hard time parting with stuff and he has SOOOO much stuff!) is tied to our regular garbage day.
I tried to get him to buy into the bulk garbage day we are allowed once a month. Put as much as you want out at the curb (minus any things they won’t take) and they will come take it away. But I think that was overwhelming and “too much” for him to think about doing and parting with. Our garbage has to be in city provided cans. Each household gets one very large garbage and one very large recycling bin. Because we have a large lot and lots of yard waste (which in our area gets put in garbage) we got an extra large garbage can, so we have 2.
He and I don’t generate that much garbage on a weekly basis so we made a deal to try and fill the 2 large cans each week starting with cleaning out the garage. Anything worth putting at the curb one or two things at a time for “free” or to sell on the neighborhood page we do, but there is so much crap it is easy to fill up the two cans. This seems very doable for him! I’ve noticed he is taking initiative the day before garbage day to fill them up when I’m at work.
It’s a small thing but when you add up the weeks it’s making a difference!
As many of you here know, I recently moved. I just want to say that if you are planning to move, thinking about moving or if there is even a very slight chance you will ever move - start/keep getting rid of “stuff”. I was very thankful I did and even H who is the reluctant one has seen the light. There were a few things he did not get rid of that ended up moving with us and he regrets that. We are both very glad we got rid of a lot. I just can not say it enough.
I mean, it’s taken YEARS to get him to this spot. And honestly, I would prefer some other areas to be focused on OR some other objects to be dealt with but “bag a day” beggars can’t be choosers!!
DH works in radio and we have a pallet in the basement that has 16 (!!!) book boxes filled with cd’s. There must literally be over 1,000 down there. He has decided it is time to start purging. We have been spending 3 hours every Saturday morning going through them. As of this past weekend : 4 boxes down, 12 to go. They haven’t left yet, just moving onto another pallet but he’ll sell the whole lot to a guy with a vintage music shop. Same guy paid several hundred bucks a few years ago for all the vintage vinyl. I’m just happy sunlight can be seen in the basement because the windows aren’t blocked
Tell me more! We don’t have anything collectible but have about 30 lineal feet of CDs, all of which have been uploaded to various clouds and backed up on various hard drives. How can I get him to just let them go? It’s not like that Sting CD is suddenly going to be valuable like a rookie baseball card.
For about 30 years I’ve had a big rubbermaid tub of Easter stuff. I’ll keep the tablecloth and napkins, but most of the other stuff is going via a local Helping Hands facebook page. Pickup scheduled for tomorrow morning… 4 more interested parties as backup. I also sent the photo to my daughter to ensure ok to give all away, and then i retrieved one of the stuffed animals.
Ha! All I can tell you is those boxes are big and heavy! We are talking about downsizing and moving to our retirement location and he doesn’t want to pay to move them. Not to mention, at least a dozen boxes haven’t been unpacked from when we moved here in 2005. I keep saying if they haven’t been opened in 17 years, it obviously doesn’t matter what’s in them but he insists on looking at EVERY SINGLE ONE!
We had a huge plastic bin for every holiday that looked much like this! I have weeded down and only kept a couple of decorations if any and most of the children’s holiday books for the holiday.
I had about six people interested in the Easter bounty pictured above. I sent directions to the first person, and she planned to pick up the next morning after dropping of daugher at school. No show, and when I PM’d a few hours later she said her husband would come by “after work”. Late at night I PM’d again, and she was unsure when pickup would be… suggested I move down the list.
Next I selected the person who said she was associated with a nonprofit. She said she lived not far away and came by this afternoon. YAY.
It irritates me no end when I’m giving away something of real value (or not) and people flake out. It seems to happen at least half the time. I really don’t understand.
We had two large toys that we decided were not suitable for GD. I posted a photo of them on the neighborhood site (Free!) and they were picked up within 15 minutes. I’m delighted. It took H about three minutes to haul the toys to the driveway and snap a photo for me to post. Best of all, there was no drama this time from an entitled neighbor who thinks she should get anything she comments on even when she can’t commit to a time for picking it up.
@Colorado_mom - that was my only issue with Buy Nothing. Most of the people showed up but occasionally someone flaked out and that was annoying. I don’t mean people who sent me a message saying they had to delay picking up - I was OK with that. After 2 days , I told them I was moving on…I needed to get the stuff out.
Our “Buy Nothing” group uses bins for giving away items (assuming they fit or aren’t perishable). I ask the person when they think they can pick up (approximately); then I let them know that the (labeled) bin is out, and where it’s located (I put it between my garage doors). This way they can come when convenient and I don’t have to waste time waiting around for them. The longest I’ve ever had to wait for something to be picked up was a day.
I don’t mind when people message that they have to come a different time, but when we’ve agreed on a time and they forget and then want to reschedule, I don’t do that. They forget that to give that thing away I’ve taken a photo, written a post, attached a photo, entertained responses and chosen one, messaged the person I’ve chosen, messaged again to agree on time and give directions, and then kept track of time to set it out at the right time. Then, because of their “forgetfulness” I have to bring in the object in case of rain, message them again, agree on another time and set it out again at another agreed time. This is wayyy too much trouble. I’d say it happens at least 1/4 of the time.
Meanwhile, someone else who wants the thing enough to show up misses out.
I have almost always left my freebie stuff on the front stoop in a trash bag (or occasionally do delivery). So no waiting around for pickups. But I take it in at night, so a no-show can be a drag trying to decide new plan with them vs starting over with a nil (next in line). In this week’s example, I did NOT want to miss the opportunity for Easter usage this year.
