View Full Version : June Decluttering
flowerseverywhere
6-1-12, 11:57am
Wanted to start this up for the new month. DH has spent the past week decluttering the basement and the garage and I have done the kitchen and my craft room. Several truckloads to Salvation Army, sold over $1000 worth of stuff on craigslist and it is all gone, sold several large items to the young family down the street for a great deal, a trip to the dump and a heaping truckload to neices who are almost done with college so will be starting apartments soon. We have some more furniture to give to them, and some more to list on craigslist.
all I can say is when we go to move we will have 1/4 of the stuff we had at the beginning of the year. We will have a few books, our pictures, clothes and almost everything else is hand crafted, including the furniture we have left.
It is so liberating I actually cried this morning when I sat down and looked around, it is so neat and the things we have left are of the highest quality and truly items we love.
so keep on going, all the support here has helped me tremendously.
Bastelmutti
6-1-12, 12:00pm
Nice!!!
In May I did another charity pick-up, plus it was bulk trash day. Whoo hoo! :cool:
I consider it an accomplishment that recently I did not have any clothes (kids' or adult) to give my mom for a garage sale. I did give her a nice trike my kids are far too old for.
Carrying on slowly! Thanks for starting the thread again - it does help.
Sold items on Kijiji in May------gave serveral boxes to charity----and gave stuff
for two groups having yardsales. Also, recycled a lot of paper and magazines (these because they had been/were musty/or had articules pulled out of them) I give to charity if in good condition.......
I am in to keep it up in June.
I will check in later in the day....
Had stuff from the garage hauled away in preparation for my house sale. The fellow doing the home inspection was looking at what was there, and I ended up giving him a lot of items he could use.
flowers - that has got to be a great feeling. I forget are you moving locally or a distance?
The boys are off for 10 days on a mission trip. As soon as I get the fridge cleaned out I'm going to see what I can get rid of this month. I still have a bag of May things by the front door to take to the thrift shop.
flowerseverywhere
6-2-12, 10:57pm
flowers - that has got to be a great feeling. I forget are you moving locally or a distance?
The boys are off for 10 days on a mission trip. As soon as I get the fridge cleaned out I'm going to see what I can get rid of this month. I still have a bag of May things by the front door to take to the thrift shop.
not sure where we will end up. Might be an RV travelling around. Might be in Florida or South Carolina. Wherever we will be it will be with a lot less stuff.
fidgiegirl
6-2-12, 11:57pm
Float On, no pickups in your area?
Here DH is dedicated to unpacking his boxes of antiques from the old house and selling or displaying. I am hoping mostly for sales, but some of the items will be put up again. That is ok. I am really relieved at this development because I was nervous that they would just sit in the attic and I really would have liked to declutter further prior to our move, but it didn't happen.
We are going to organize the garage tomorrow. That will help us see if there is stuff to get rid of, plus we will use some of our self-watering pots and soaker hoses on the new plants.
Ok kids--it's Sunday morning, and I woke up at 5 AM in worry. At the end of the day I will have probably 200+ items to dispose of. Ugh. I am running a charity booth at the Antique fair, all with donated stuff. We will clear $3,000 this weekend on this event, but I will be left with stuff. I will have to dispose of it responsibly. ack. I see many more hours involved in this event--the "afterwards" work.
Float On, no pickups in your area?
Nope - pretty rural.
not sure where we will end up. Might be an RV travelling around. Might be in Florida or South Carolina. Wherever we will be it will be with a lot less stuff.
Sounds great - I can't get the DH on-board the RV retirement plan. If you look at FL...check out the Englewood area. We've had a lot of friends move there. It's gulf side. We stayed there when we'd go to FL for 6-9 weeks and stay with them during the week and then head out to our shows for weekends. Its a nice area, lower costs and easy to get to Tampa or Sarasota. I love the gulf side. DH is from Aiken, SC (across from Augusta, GA) that area has gotten a lot of 'half-backs' people tired of FL and wanting to move more north again. I'm looking forward to hearing about your next step!
Ok kids--it's Sunday morning, and I woke up at 5 AM in worry. At the end of the day I will have probably 200+ items to dispose of. Ugh. I am running a charity booth at the Antique fair, all with donated stuff. We will clear $3,000 this weekend on this event, but I will be left with stuff. I will have to dispose of it responsibly. ack. I see many more hours involved in this event--the "afterwards" work.
Do you think you could run a special today or even the last few hours? 'Buy one get two free' or 'pay whatever you want and take whatever you want'? I've seen people do that at yard sales.
Are the same people that donated all these items going to show up at the end of the day? If not maybe enlist some help through out the day and any helpers can take what they want for helping with the load out.
June 3 so far...........gotten rid of this month
---2 old magazines + 2 phamlets to recycling
---2 items of old makeup
---3 odds and ends in the garage (not even sure what they are or for--garbage
---2 pkgs of decorative stones, 1 set of 6 childrens garden tools (put I a only counting as 1 item..lol)
--charity box
total todate 12-----aiming for 150 items this month..
edited to add just done...1really old stained towel cut up for the one last use bin
--4 napkins given to Dd
new total 17..yeah
We ended up getting rid of almost everything, thank god. Oh believe me we cut deals from noon onward, but still we ended up with a trailer full of stuff, but nothing heavy. We donated it to the Methodist Church's ongoing jumble sale.
Beside that I have these boxes to peddle:
1) box full of Fostoria glassware. a dealer will pay $3 each
2) Box full of mid-Century modern treasures, worth about $15 wholesale
3) Sets of linens that I KNOW will be welcomed by the proprietors of B & B's here in our neighborhood
As of tomorrow when we make a donation run, I've donated:
2 paper grocery sacks of paperbacks
7 HB books
1 huge garbage bag of wearable clothing to the church drive
1 cardboard box of decorative junque
1 med. bag of unwearable clothes to bulk rag dealer
3 HB books and 1 PB to my Mom
I can't believe how much there still is and I haven't even hit the attic.
Woah, I just totalled up all of the cash: $4,400. Good god. That's twice as much as I thought we'd take in! All of this for ch*t people don't want.
flowerseverywhere
6-3-12, 9:30pm
Woah, I just totalled up all of the cash: $4,400. Good god. That's twice as much as I thought we'd take in!
great! I bet that things you never thought would go went quickly and some things you thought were great deals sat there. Always happens.
Thanks Float on. It's funny, we are telling people about our plans and giving stuff away. So far we have had three negative comments and all are from people who are negative about everything. Everyone else has been super supportive. A couple of people said they did not think they could tolerate the heat, but wished us good luck too. One of the draws of Florida is the kids will visit us there, especially as the grandkids get a little older. They have little reason to visit us here, all of their friends are gone although they do get here occasionally.
I am amazed at how much stuff we have given away, sold and donated because we are not shoppers. But since we have been together almost 40 years it doesn't take much buying (like we did in our younger years) as well as some gifting to suddenly be filled with clutter. I know now why people who clean out old people's houses get a dumpster and throw stuff out the window (literally) because even with our planning we still are overwhelmed sometimes with the amount of stuff we have.
Today was holiday decorations and the last bookcase. We are down to a small pile of books, and I am heading to the book selling store tomorrow with some very nice books. If they don't want them it's to the library booksale.
happystuff
6-3-12, 10:05pm
Our town wide yard sale is usually held in October. Much to EVERYONE's surprise - signs were posted and we are now having an additional TWYS in 1 WEEK!!! (Politics in a small town - don't ask!) Anyway, I have my permit and will be participating. I'm at soooo ready for this! Our family room is filled with boxes of stuff that are going and I still have several closets and packed-away-collectibles that I want to include in this sale. While I would love to make at least a *little* money, my bigger hope is to bring nothing back into the house! For some reason this is hitting me as a do-or-die opportunity. I didn't realize just how fed up I was with the junk in this house! Fingers crossed that this stuff goes. I'm so tired of it all... I just want it gone!
flowerseverywhere
6-5-12, 7:27am
good luck Happystuff. My experience with garage sales is to price stuff way lower than what you think it is worth, but at least you get rid of things and don't have to haul them back in. It went well at the used bookstore, and what they didn't want went to the library and I made a stop at Goodwill on the way home.
My two craft areas are almost all cleaned out. that was really hard. My closet and drawers only have clothes that fit, are in good repair and I like. It was silly to have dozens of articles of clothing I didn't like but just couldn't get rid of. but I finally did.
Wow Iris that's a crazy amount of money from your sale - good job!
Hope your sale goes well happystuff!
Thanks! My family room is getting more and more cluttered, but with stuff for the yard sale. I SWEAR I will not bring ANY of it back into the house!!! I've always said that a yard sale is either to make money or to get rid of things. My goal is to get rid of things! If I make any money - all the better - LOL. Also have back-up plans for things that may not sell - except my treadle. Not sure what I'm going to do with it if it doesn't sell this time. But... everything in it's own time! I'm excited! Two closets cleaned out so far in prep for this!!!
Where does it all come from? Oh right...I brought it into the home. Okay adding to the list:
Another bag of wearable clothes to the church collection
Donated a printer and a sewing machine (The printer works but I don't NEED 2 printers; the sewing machine works but is an older model.)
A coffee table--that no longer fits our needs retuned to the original owner.
rosarugosa
6-9-12, 12:47pm
I have some clothing items that were never quite what I really wanted (e.g. light blue short raincoat), but that served me well for many years and are still in fine condition. Then recently I 've found the short black raincoat that is just what I want, but I tend to hold onto the old one as well, since there is nothing wrong with it other than I don't love it. (Then there are the two long raincoats, so the chances of me ending up naked in the raiin are pretty remote!) So my question is, does one get rid of the light blue raincoat type things in one's life? My clothes are all neat and organized in the closet, but the closet is very full. Getting rid of some of these perfectly good things that I don't love would make the closet a bit less crowded, easier to keep clean and easier to see what's there. Do any of you deal with similar issues? I suspect this is closely related to the "I need more socks" phenomenon :)
Rosa: Yes. You do get rid of them. Especially if it is in good shape and you can consign or something. But even if not, yep. You'll never think about that coat again if it's not a fave.
I have a few garments like this. Usually I'm good at it, but these two or so give me trouble.
Someone once recommended the "flip your hangers backwards" trick. I bet you've seen it, but for anyone who hasn't: hang your clothes backwards in the closet. When you use the garment, you are allowed to hang it up forward again (does that make sense?). If you haven't used it in six months (or whatever predetermined period) it goes to charity. Need to do this for my own and DH's clothes. He is more of a clothes-horse than me. I think he has the same predicament as you, rosa - and he takes really good care of his clothes, so they last a long time. I think he just gets sick of them, but can't see any other good reason to get rid of them. We're working on it. In this house at least no clothes are hanging in the basement.
So the town wide yard sale was a huge success in that the goal was the get rid of as much as possible! Made a little money, got rid of a lot of stuff and have destinations for a good bit of what is left. And as an emotional bonus - two items that I still had a bit of "sentimental" attachment - I am confident that they went with people who will use and appreciate them! Very satisfying day!!!
Good work decluttering folks!
Kelli: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I think that even as I was typing the question, I knew the answer, but you've given me a helpful nudge. That raincoat is going to the Salvation Army, perhaps to end up in the hands of some little person who has NO raincoat :)
Even if the stuff is organized and put away, it still clutters my life when it's time to clean the closet, or I'm trying to find something. As I was working on the closet this spring, I found some things I'd forgotten that I had, which puts me at risk for buying more things that I do not need, which would be a total waste of money.
I think I have psychological baggage from the days when I could never find clothes to fit me, so I'm stocking up for the "no more petite clothing apocalypse," or something.
We have a very small house with just one large closet (that we added). It is built into the eaves (our second floor is all about eaves and head injuries!) with double poles, and is about 13 feet long. You only could consider it a walk-in if you are one of our cats. So the seasonal shifting back and forth from front to back is a bit of a project that I don't particularly enjoy. Superfluous clothing is just, um superfluous (and there's a lot of it). I've definitely gotten better about being a good gatekeeper concerning what comes in, and I'm slowly culling away what needs to go out.
Happystuff: That is the best, when something goes to someone who you know will appreciate it - which reminds me that I have a great story about that fur muff I mentioned a while ago - can't remember if I told it or not, but I don't think so. Anyway, it was a delightfully happy placement of a really neat thing that was languishing in my closet.
todate
--2 books --to charity
--2 more magazines to recycle
--1 clothes steamer (one of those things I just had to have and barely used)--sold
--4 bundles of deck wood---sold
--20 misc. items in the garage--charity and garbage
--1 very large tarp that was the worse for wear---to the curb and pick up by someone before the truck got it
--1 outside umbrella pole (not sure to what umbrella)---to the curb ...........................................
--1 outdoor seat cushion--garbage
Total of 49 items...yeah.
rosarugosa
6-11-12, 6:39am
Danna: Sounds like you are a woman on a mission!
Hey, it turns out Joe & Vicki had the answer to my question, Financial Integrity posted this on FaceBook:
“Just because something is out of sight doesn’t mean it isn’t clutter. Our various gazingus-pin drawers – including our attics, basements, garages, closets and storage sheds – are havens of clutter, filled with projects and products we’ll probably never use. Unfinished projects sap you of vitality. Clothing discarded after a few wearings leaves a feeling of dissatisfaction and superficiality.”
- Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin, “Your Money or Your Life”
frugalone
6-12-12, 12:13am
I just put out a bunch of cardboard to be recycled.
I have also been getting rid of a lot of empty peanut butter jars that DH saves for some odd reason. He doesn't even wash them; just puts them back in the cupboard empty.
frugalone
6-12-12, 12:18am
Could you explain that flip the garment thing again? Do you mean you put the item toward the back of the closet (or far left, in my case) and then if it doesn't make its way to the forefront you get rid of it? That's a good idea!
Rosa: Yes. You do get rid of them. Especially if it is in good shape and you can consign or something. But even if not, yep. You'll never think about that coat again if it's not a fave.
I have a few garments like this. Usually I'm good at it, but these two or so give me trouble.
Someone once recommended the "flip your hangers backwards" trick. I bet you've seen it, but for anyone who hasn't: hang your clothes backwards in the closet. When you use the garment, you are allowed to hang it up forward again (does that make sense?). If you haven't used it in six months (or whatever predetermined period) it goes to charity. Need to do this for my own and DH's clothes. He is more of a clothes-horse than me. I think he has the same predicament as you, rosa - and he takes really good care of his clothes, so they last a long time. I think he just gets sick of them, but can't see any other good reason to get rid of them. We're working on it. In this house at least no clothes are hanging in the basement.
frugalone
6-12-12, 12:49am
OK, I'm back. I just moved a box in the kitchen and underneath it I found another box. Full of newspapers, some of which go back to 1983. This is a real problem.
Am I alone in this kind of thing? Somebody? I don't know whether to laugh, cry or get mad.
rosarugosa
6-12-12, 5:45am
Frugalone: I would definitely laugh and just keep moving forward! I can't see any reason to cry if there is another option.
The hanger thing: Many folks have a preferred orientation for the hangers in their closets, e.g. for me, the necks "must" point to the right. So if I were to do this, I would hang everything with the hanger necks pointed to the left, and when I wore something, I would hang it back up with the hanger pointed to the right. After 6 months or a year, or whatever period of time, I would readily be able to see what I had worn and what I had not, thus making it easier to decide what should go.
Woo Hoo! Finally got the DH to go thru the closet under the stairs.
We got rid of the snap and lock wood look flooring that we used for our trade show booth. It was a pain to put together everytime we did a show and last time we went to Philly I bought wood look contact paper and stuck it on the floor and got more compliments on that than the wood floor that took hours to put together every year.
Also got rid of other flooring tiles that I had wanted to put on son's bedroom floor but discovered I hadn't bought enough and they aren't made anymore.
Those two items had been in the closet for several years taking up most of the space. They went to the habitat for humanity resell store.
Magazines
More clothing, shoes, purses
More sewing/craft stash
Books
an old TV cart
A broken office chair went to the dumpster at the church
happystuff
6-16-12, 1:55pm
Post town wide yard sale update - made two trips to the thrift stores this past week to drop off unsold items. I itemized the donated items and got receipts so I can use them for next year's taxes - yeah!
Have "spaces" where sold items used to be, so today - after chores - I'm hoping to do some re-organizing and spread stuff out into those sapces. Again, I said "spread stuff out"... I'm NOT buying anything new to fill the spaces!!! I'm also hoping to find more things to declutter as I organize.
Have been feeling very, very good about my decluttering efforts the last 2-3 weeks. I'm thinking writing here has helped me stick to it all, so... Thanks, everyone!
fidgiegirl
6-16-12, 2:04pm
frugalone, I'm with rosa. Laugh, laugh, laugh! It may have sat there for 30 years, but now it's gonna go. That's what counts. To the curb, newspapers!
I'm going to do the hanger thing right now, and will try to post a pic.
fidgiegirl
6-16-12, 2:18pm
Here's what "backwards" looks like in our house (the four hangers to the left are the way we normally hang, and the ones on the right are backwards):
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5458/7381012392_5d67aa8e2e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7381012392/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7381012392/) by fidgiegirl (http://www.flickr.com/people/7733846@N05/), on Flickr
I have to confess, I tried to do my clothes, but I have so few on hangers, and they are truly all clothes I know I have been wearing often. Though one does have a stain that I need to try to tackle and let go of it if I can't get it out.
DH has a LOT more clothes than I do, and he's so extremely visual that this will be good for him. He is of the mindset that if it's good, hang on to it, cuz you'll never know. Though he's getting a little better - he let go of some shirts earlier this year that he just didn't care for anymore. I encouraged this, because he has lots of shirts in really nice shape that he DOES like. Back to flipping - In fairness, I did not flip his long sleeved stuff. He won't start using that again consistently until the fall, so there would be no point.
I also wrote the six month mark on the calendar. He'll likely swap his short sleeved stuff to another closet prior to the six month mark, at which point we'll be able to assess, but just in case he hasn't, we'll have a reminder to take a look. I'm kind of excited to see how this works. Maybe we won't even need six full months to get the picture. Who knows. Kind of a neat trick, I've always thought.
frugalone
6-17-12, 12:40am
Thanks for the photo! Unfortunately I have more clothes on hangers than not...and this might be just too much work for me!
Things I threw out this week:
Old newspapers
Empty jars
Soda cans
Two pairs of boots from my closet that have not been worn in years
Some clothes I just don't like
Some scarves (ditto)
Here's what "backwards" looks like in our house (the four hangers to the left are the way we normally hang, and the ones on the right are backwards):
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5458/7381012392_5d67aa8e2e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7381012392/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7733846@N05/7381012392/) by fidgiegirl (http://www.flickr.com/people/7733846@N05/), on Flickr
I have to confess, I tried to do my clothes, but I have so few on hangers, and they are truly all clothes I know I have been wearing often. Though one does have a stain that I need to try to tackle and let go of it if I can't get it out.
DH has a LOT more clothes than I do, and he's so extremely visual that this will be good for him. He is of the mindset that if it's good, hang on to it, cuz you'll never know. Though he's getting a little better - he let go of some shirts earlier this year that he just didn't care for anymore. I encouraged this, because he has lots of shirts in really nice shape that he DOES like. Back to flipping - In fairness, I did not flip his long sleeved stuff. He won't start using that again consistently until the fall, so there would be no point.
I also wrote the six month mark on the calendar. He'll likely swap his short sleeved stuff to another closet prior to the six month mark, at which point we'll be able to assess, but just in case he hasn't, we'll have a reminder to take a look. I'm kind of excited to see how this works. Maybe we won't even need six full months to get the picture. Who knows. Kind of a neat trick, I've always thought.
frugalone
6-17-12, 12:41am
Oh, plus a feather duster that was disintegrating in the closet!
fidgiegirl
6-17-12, 10:15am
Keep on keepin' on, frugalone! All good progress.
Float On, I noticed you got rid of some big stuff. I always feel really good with big stuff. Such a big space opens with just one item!
leslieann
6-17-12, 12:35pm
You guys motivated me. I just re-organized one cupboard in the kitchen and moved a bunch of items to the trash (!!) and consolidated some other items. Thanks. Now what else around here?
flowerseverywhere
6-17-12, 11:13pm
I started this month with my positive results from decluttering and wanted to post more. Today a long time friend came over and she said "your rooms look so much bigger, what did you do?"
It was a nice feeling to know that the hard work I have been doing has paid off.
I am about to make a big decision. someone from a non-profit contacted me about some items I have for sale. Do I donate them or hold out for bigger money? I am thinking that good Karma is the way to go instead of trying to make as much money as I can.
didinicole
6-27-12, 11:33pm
Go for the Karma. And congrats on the bigger home.
June 29
I was trying for 5 items a day...but lost count awhile back
---with serveral more large items from the garage...many small things and a
bunch of food items to the food bank, serveral items (new curtain rods, and shower head)
that were just hanging aroung bought and never used got
installed and old ones tossed or donated.
I think I have more then reached 150 items this month.
Very, very pleased with myself.
rosgura...I love your quote from Joe and Vicki...a really good way to think about all the stuff that gets tucked away...
it is still there, weighing on us even if we think we are ignoring it.
I am going to start this again in July.
fidgiegirl
6-29-12, 10:57pm
I just did a big deal to me. I burned up all my old journals and letters from painful old relationships. They were nothing I wanted to review, too angst-y, too full of loneliness, not items that brought me joy and nothing I'd want my DH to have had to sort through if I were splatted on my bike tomorrow. They are gone, and I feel good about it. It took me a long time because I knew I had to do it by myself, but when DH has been out of town the last few times I was obstructed from making a fire, if I remember correctly, by weather. I thought about throwing them in the garbage, but didn't want them to exist in any form so that I had to worry about someone running across my innermost thoughts as they blew out of the recycling truck or something. I knew they had to burn. So I seized the moment tonight and did it. DH is coming back to town tomorrow.
To have done this is sacrilege to some, I know. But it's done and it's a weight off.
"I just did a big deal to me. I burned up all my old journals and letters from painful old relationships. They were nothing I wanted to review, too angst-y, too full of loneliness, not items that brought me joy..."
Good for you, fidgiegirl. That's something I need to contemplate doing for myself.
rosarugosa
6-30-12, 7:22am
Kelli: I did the same thing a few years ago while cleaning up after a basement flood. Mine were from my teen years, and I truly believe the world is a better place without that little cache of angst - so I say good for you!
I did my weekly housecleaning yesterday, and I think I need to edit some of my ornamental objects. Some parts of my house look like a gift shop with all these pretty things on shelves, a tasteful gift shop, but still . . .
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