Perhaps partly aspirational. “That’d be perfect for ___ occasion or just in case and it’s on sale.” Then the occasion does not take place.
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Shredded four years’ worth of receipts, old statements, etc. Have two giant garbage bags filled to the brim. I culled it down to a grocery bag’s worth of documents and home improvement receipts, which will make it far easier to sort and file.
Joined a couple local buy-nothing groups with the intent of giving away some household stuff that others could actually use. Blinds from our previous kitchen windows are perfectly good, just don’t fit the new bay window configuration.
Have a zillion sweaters in my closet that need to find new homes. Also want to pass along fabric I’ll never use. After I get through painting the kitchen, our bedroom and S2’s rooms, then I’ll get to the sweaters and linen/fabric closets. The painting comes first because we ordered new shades after the windows were replaced, and the trim has to be painted before they can be installed. And since all three rooms need painting, might as well do that as well, lest I spill paint on new shades.
When my back, neck and arms get tired from the painting and furniture moving, I sit and shred or do other organiz-y things. Soooo much gets accomplished when H is out of town!
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Just don’t touch his stuff!! 
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I put 2 listings on an online selling site and sold one so I’m $8 richer and rid of four small plush toys. It takes a while to research pricing and create the listings but I’ve got the time to spend on it since I recently retired/am between jobs.
Also had to clear out my clothes from my son’s closet since he’s coming home for the summer between college and grad school. Which led to a huge re-organization of my clothes storage and a bag of them to the thrift store.
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My long term housecleaner and dog sitter stopped working for health reasons. Her replacements are so-so. Yesterday I got one to help me clean the garage fridge. We worked solidly, washing the shelves, organizing, tossing food, then she suggested we do the top part too. It is the first time she’s earned her fee, and I feel happy to finally have that fridge clean.
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I just finished a major closet cleaning. Our kids are grown and have their own homes. Over the years I’ve commandeered their closets (and dressers). I realized that I didn’t just have a closet - I had a whole clothing museum. I took a different approach to the clean-out. I tried to see how many items I could get rid of. I would clean out a section, fold the discarded items, and pile them up in stacks of 10 items before I bagged them. I made a game of it - try to see how many multiples of 10 I could get. I ended up bagging 110 items of clothing. So many pairs of black pants! I had to face the fact that I’ll never be a size 8 again, nor will those pants from 2000 ever come back in style. It took me several weeks to do this. Purple Heart came to pick it all up this morning. I feel light and free now.
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What are black pant styles from 2000? I’m sure I must have some in my closet. 
Higher waisted. Wider legs. Some were pleated. Trust me…very outdated.
LOL - Very outdated means they will soon be back in style 
I keep some old clothes, but more inclined to do so if I like the style / fit on me. Not all that keen on the current trends, just like what I like. Imagine my disappointment last year to find that a small size of a pair of beloved pants (hollywood waistline) I’d been pining to fit in for years finally fit again… but alas, they really didn’t look as good on the older body.
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umm…could be mistaken, but I’m sure Nordie’s has a whole lotta high waisted, wide leg pants right now.
google tells me they’re quite trendy now…
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I find that when old clothing trends return, they are usually just different enough for your old version to still look dated.
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Yes! These pants are not trendy at all. Plus, I appear to be shrinking as a lot of them were too long.
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When I retired I got rid of many pairs of black pants, and I still have more to go. Seeing how I haven’t worn any of the other probably 15 pairs of “work pants” I had since I retired, maybe it’s time to get rid of them too.
I did get rid of 4 pairs of shoes and bagged about 25 pieces of clothing today, including some with tags still on.
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I spent a bit of time reorganizing some of the mess we brought home from younger S’ final college apartment. He’ll be traveling the next 6 weeks, then moving in with his GF’s family for a few months so they have time to find an apartment. Hence most of this stuff will be here a while, if not forever.
But, while going through it, I believe I’m finally ready to trash my laundry basket purchased in 1990 when I went to college. It has been in younger S’ room for years holding random junk. Sniff. It might be hard.
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So strange, isn’t it? That I can find it harder to get rid of something that is partially broken, but still has a function, than it is to get rid of some new unused item.
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I get it. Partially broken items need to go into a dumpster/landfill if not given a second chance. New items can be donated.
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I’m also strangely attached to odd things. I don’t have many things, but the ones I do have, I tend to keep and make do even when they fall apart.
Like my gym bag. It’s just a recycleable bag I got when we went to SeaWorld 10 years ago. Slowly the straps have been breaking. 4 attachment points became 3, so I tied it together. 3 became 2, so I used it that way. A couple of months ago another broke, so now I just have to hold it. And instead of tossing it, I’m contemplating taking it to work and using our massive stapler on it to piece it back together. It works - well sort of now - so why spend $$$ on another. I think I got my $5 worth out of it, but I just can’t let it go…
My house is full of stuff, but if you took what is mine, it’s actually very little percentage wise.
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My plan for the summer is to get my two sons, before they move away for grad school in the Fall, to take everything down from the attic and put it in our basement so I can sort and purge. It’s going to be a time capsule from the early 00s, their early years, because I stopped putting things up there at least 10 years ago. About the time my mother passed away and I had to clean things out of her attic, my childhood home, that hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. One large box I could see something furry through a hole and I took it outside and dumped it and ran. Turned out to be an old worn teddy bear. One of a number of things that creeped me out after they’d been deteriorating for years.
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@one_two, hoping it goes well as you will be so much the better for it. 
I have been basking in being almost a year out from selling my house & downsizing last year during the daytime hours, but I am still having nightmares about summoning kids home (both 30-somethings) to deal with their stuff. In the dream we only have 24 hours until I have to give possession to new owners. It seems to be the new version of my college nightmare of showing up for class only to find there is a test I didn’t know about.
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Just went through my and my mother-in-law’s costume jewelry - a bunch for a rummage sale and some for a collector I know
Also, getting rid of a couple of dozen small picture frames (rummage sale bound)
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