Maybe he doesn’t want to get rid of them if he considers them gifts? Tell him he would be giving you a gift by donating them somewhere and giving you the space for something else.
My opinion on the husband thing is either learn to not let it bother you, or bribe him “honey, we could take that trip you always wanted if you agree to toss the clothes” or see if he’d allow you to at least box the stuff up and place somewhere else so it doesn’t bother you as much. My husband has his own stash of stuff and it helped that I organized his things, but I didn’t throw his stuff away. We have a small spare bedroom where he keeps his clothes and knowing they are at least orderly allows me to forget about it mostly.
In the end, you are not really responsible for his stuff, and it’s okay to allow it to be his issue and not yours. Ha, ha, what I’ve learned from College Confidential in getting my son thru college, now applying advice to other relationships! Just continue decluttering your own stuff.
I listed D1’s childhood bed on Craig’s List this afternoon, free in exchange for removal from the house and hauling away. Within a few hours, I received approximately 10 expressions of interest. I ended up disassembling the bed enough to get it out of the bedroom and am waiting to hear back from the first person who responded as to when she can get a truck here.
We got rid of the piano in the living room. There is an online neighborhood group and I posted that it was free to whoever would move it. Within 2 hours we had a taker and in 2 days it was gone. We are doing the floors in the first floor and nothing is staying that we don’t use and/or love.
We finally got DS’s Roland (electronic music keyboard) packed up. Darn, it’s a big expensive box. But he is graduated now and anxious to have it now that there are no campus pianos to play. We are happy to have it out of his old room, which may soon become the exercise room.
VeryHappy, I nagged and criticized. That helped some. It was a long process. I also have no guilt about thowing stuff that he cannot. Just today there were coupons in a drawer that I was purging and he did not want me to get rid of.
They were $2.00 off for a six pack of Boost that he bought a few years ago after a surgery. No experiation date.
“I might buy them again”.
I responded, “I will take care of them”, then tossed. He just cannot but he can let me.
I go after things and he has, after a long time–years, mostly gets it.
Good luck.
Also, a great suggestion that came from here that help my H with some sentimental clothes is that he put them on, I took a picture, we talked about the item and then I put it in the away bag. It really was nice for both of us.
When my Dad had a hard time getting rid of any of his stack of unread aviation books in his den, I tried this. “Let’s look at the together to see if you can part with half of them.” That made it easier to dig into the pile, knowing he’d still have he did not need to part with them all.
I’m getting back in the swing of it here. After sending loads of stuff with my son for his college apartment, I’ve also thrown out a few things that no longer work and filled a bag of trash from the basement.
I find myself watching Love It or List It on HGTV and thinking “You wouldn’t need anything if you got rid of some of that STUFF”. Nobody needs that much STUFF.
Started packing up stuff for the fall rummage sale (decided not to do the garage sale). I have 2 full bags of men,s clothes and half a bag each of men’s and women’s clothes as well as some housewares. I have learned to keep the clothing separated by gender as it is easier for the people sorting the stuff at the sale.
This is only the beginning.
Someone mentioned the small bottles of shampoo, etc, small soaps from hotels. If they are unopened there are groups that collect them and will give them to homeless shelters.
S leaves for his new school (overseas) on Wednesday and H flying over with him. To console myself I am planning on a big cleanout during my 5 days home alone.
Back on it! Huge load to Goodwill last week and working on another.
Got bunch of stuff for consignment but not sure where to start with those items. Most are close to brand new.
A new bag to go–maybe two. 5! of H’s polo shirts!
Mr. is out traveling, so I had some extra time this weekend and packed 2 bags to go! Stuff that outgrew me. 
Brought an old TV and copier to electronic recycling on Sat.
Took out my old Halloween decorations today. I now have 2 large bins and 3 bags going to the rummage sale. Two bags full went into the trash. My kids liked all of this when they were younger, but it’s time to move on.
Cleaned out my shoe “collection”: threw out the uglies, put the goodies no longer needed into the donation pile, took the ones needing some TLC to Nordstrom to get repaired, and pulled the fall boots out of the closet.
I highly recommend Nordstrom’s shoe repair service! My patent Ferragamos look brand new.
^ that’s good to know, bunsen. There is a Nordstrom about 10 minutes from me and I never knew they did shoe repair.
I tried two local shoe repair services and was not thrilled with the results. Then I saw a lady drop a pair of pretty beat up shoes at Nordstrom for a “shoe spa” and asked her how she liked theirs. She gave glowing reviews. Nordstrom started out as a shoe store, and they pride themselves in all things shoe. They have a dedicated place where they send shoes off for repair, so it took a week to get my shoes back. There are fees, but so there are fees at the local shops. I also take my clothes, even the ones bought elsewhere, that need alterations to a local Nordstrom because I like their seamstress. It costs $$, unless the item was bought at Nordstrom and the alterations are minor.
Wow. Who knew. There are building a Nordstrom’s in my town. I think it will take two or three years until it’s up and running, but that’s good to know.