Bravo, I appreciate hearing your examples.
I have to continue decluttering books and decorations.
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One of my sons was a voracious reader, and he only liked to read ānewā books. I spent a ton of money on books for him. BUT, he did great on the SATs/ACT, and got a decent college scholarship. I figure I made more in scholarship than I spent on books. Howās that for tying this thread to College? 
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The day before I closed on my condo, a blog that my D and I both follow published an article
about a company called Everything But the House that does clean outs/purges/estate sales for people moving, etc. I mentioned it to my title attorney the next day and she said she had also read the article. There really seems to be a market for those kinds of services for my baby boomer generation as we deal with stuff of our own and from our parents.
I continue to make process on my packing, but Iām getting to the awkward phase of things that are breakable or difficult to pack. I have scheduled packers to deal with these things a week from Wednesday, justifying it by the money I have made from FB sales and my yard sale. Things have gone for well under market value, but still something is better than nothing and it helps to make this moving process easier. I do still have my closet and bathroom and some of the easy kitchen stuff like Tupperware to deal with. I temper my frustration with the chaos now by envisioning what things will be like in a another month when I am in my new home and largely unpacked. My immediate needs in new condo will be a closet remodel for master closet and a little electrical work so I can mount television over fireplace. I have purchased fabric to recover sofa and it has arrived at Dās house (I was afraid to have it shipped here) and am talking to upholstery guy about getting on his list. Our last communication was him saying he wonāt put me on list until I have fabric in hand and when it arrived last week, he was on vacation. He will be one of my Monday morning phone calls. Sounds like he wonāt get to me until first of the year, but Iām going to cross my fingers that it might be earlier. It would probably be cheaper to buy a new sofa, but I love my current sofa - itās very comfy. I am excited and overwhelmed about this move - yesterday more overwhelmed than excited, but today the opposite. I think itās going to be a busy, but good August for me.
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@2VU0609 : Sounds exciting!! And it sounds like you have things well in hand.
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Well, easy go, easy come? My husband retiring this month. I just got rid of all those books and he reminded me heās got several boxes of science books to bring home from work.
I told him he can NOT claim the space I just made for his books!
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Science books?? I bet theyāre already out of date. If not, they will be in a couple of years.
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Did he help write or edit the books? Some more meaningful than others, or on unique topics, limited printing, etc. ? I have books relatives wrote for example.
They are mostly physics books, and he plans to āstudy themā when he retires, to keep his mind activeā¦ sure?
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Physics changes all the time. Iām assuming he already knows the basic stuff, so does he really need these? Whatever. We all make allowances for our spousesā odd cravings.
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Some universities put their physics colliquia online.
https://umdphysics.umd.edu/events/calendar/g-10-14r2d2diiib1kfgv4c3assnfht_202207181500.html
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Well basic freshman physics (mechanics) does not change much. But certainly the college textbook titles/editions and teaching approach do change over time, making old textbooks worthless to other students within a few years.
Iāve been hoping to find a good use for my 1980s engineering textbooks, including physics, perhaps for some curious geeky teen. But I have zero expectation that they could ever be used in a current classroom. For me they have been mementos from a happy time. Do they bring me joy? Yes, even though I have rarely opened the small collection does make me smile . But they are clutter, very heavy. Eventually they will go to CHaRM (center for hard to recycle materials) where they will get sorted and probably routed to recycle bin.
Lupus texted me today, and they are picking up next week. I already have some boxes ready to go out for them.
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Big week for me as 7/22 move approaches:
Tuesday - I call an agency that will pick up donations if you have a piece of furniture. After all was said and done with FB marketplace and yard sale, I had a mahogany corner cabinet that I donāt have space for in new condo. Iām feeling smug until they tell me earliest pick-up date is August 11th and no possibility of earlier. On to plan B. I called library to see if they had taken their hold off book donations and was told they were accepting them again. I took a trunk full/backseat full of books and left them at the library. Tuesday victory!
Also on Tuesday, I called a local church that picks up furniture and donates to those in need. Gentleman who runs the ministry tells me he can come on Wednesday afternoon if he can find a helper.
Wednesday: Two guys from local church show up to take corner cabinet. They had a dolly and the one who runs the program had a lift for his pick-up truck. They really knew what they were doing and it was still a challenging move. I realize now that it was a blessing in disguise that I didnāt sell this piece on Facebook as buyers would likely have damaged the piece and the house in taking it out. Big victory! I was so excited that I loaded almost all of remaining items for donation in car to take to Salvation Army on Thursday morning.
Thursday: Just got home from big trip to Salvation Army. I could barely fit my purse in the car with all items packed in car & trunk. It feels amazing to have basically all that Iām not taking with me gone. Biggest part of kitchen and dining room arenāt packed yet (waiting to let movers do most of that so they are responsible for any breakage), but Iāll do the easy stuff like Tupperware over the next few days. Probably some more stuff will be identified for purge, but itās probably going in the trash at this point. I generally have one sack of trash each week because Iām a good recycler, but Iām mentally apologizing to Mother Nature everyday now for everything that will end up in landfill. Iāll be back to my good habits soon.
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Very productive!
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Sounds like youāre in a great position for the move.
You go girl! I hope all works out well.
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Youāre inspiring. I need to resume the purge now that Iāve realized just how much stuff H didnāt donate before we moved. I donāt want to move it again.
Good luck next Friday!
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Great progress, 2VU0609!
Iām working on cleaning out the āstorageā side of my basement and starting with the big return on effort items - treadmill, elliptical, etc. Selling (manual) elliptical for $20 and giving away the treadmill. If someone can come and haul it up from our basement -that is a huge win and worthy any $20-$50 I would have (possibly) gotten for it on FB Market!
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The husband just informed me heās waiting for an astronomy book to come from Amazon! Because you know, his books are decades old, and he needs to know whatās going on these days! He is a PhD physicist, and worked in the field his entire career, but come on, Iām not buying work related books now that Iām retired :).
This is really a case of āif heās happy, Iām happy for him,ā but I do find it funny that he is so looking forward to āstudyā so much in retirement. Truth is, I suspect he really will spend a couple of hours every day reading these books. Itās all goodā¦
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Iād say itās a good thing that he liked his work so much that he wants to continue learning about his field even in retirement!
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Itās been a while since anyone posted. Maybe everyone is so busy cleaning out? Anyhow, I joined our neighborhood Buy Nothing Facebook group and it has been inspirational! Our basement has been the dump spot for 4 children coming and going to different living arrangements. Now they are relatively settled and our basement was still full. In the last few weeks I have gotten rid of everything from furniture to kitchen items to books and office supplies. Itās great. As soon as something goes Iām inspired to find another thing to post. Highly recommend.
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