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try2bfrugal
9-3-12, 9:34pm
I hope it is okay to start a new thread on this.....

I just took three bags of stuff to the thrift store today, including a bag of books. Usually I sell the books at the used book store and get new ones in return but today I just thought I would save time and clutter by giving everything to charity.

It felt good to give away the old shoes replaced per my recent minimalist shoe thread. Now I have a few less pairs but I love all of the ones I have and they are all comfortable. We went for a hike yesterday through a Redwood forest and I wore my new outlet store athletic shoes. They were really comfortable even wearing them the first time for a several mile stretch.

Minz
9-4-12, 5:19pm
I hope it is okay to start a new thread on this.....

I just took three bags of stuff to the thrift store today, including a bag of books. Usually I sell the books at the used book store and get new ones in return but today I just thought I would save time and clutter by giving everything to charity.

It felt good to give away the old shoes replaced per my recent minimalist shoe thread. Now I have a few less pairs but I love all of the ones I have and they are all comfortable. We went for a hike yesterday through a Redwood forest and I wore my new outlet store athletic shoes. They were really comfortable even wearing them the first time for a several mile stretch.


try2bfrugal...I think you make a great point when you say you have less pairs of shoes but you love all the ones you have. That is a goal of mine...to surround myself with what I love. Too often I've bought things because they were a great deal but I didn't really love it and ended not wearing it much, therefore wasting money. I'd much rather have fewer things but LOVE everything I have. Like one time I bought this sweater for $70 (crazy, i know)...but I LOVED that sweater to death and felt great when I was wearing it!! I still have it seven years later but it doesn't fit quite as well. I should probably donate it but I keep thinking I can wear it when I drop some pounds. :)

Lainey
9-4-12, 9:40pm
Family collected 4 bags of items to give to another family member for his yard sale this weekend. Everybody wins.

Gardenarian
9-4-12, 10:33pm
I got handed down a beautiful Irish wool cardigan and have decided that this is going to be the center of my "capsule wardrobe." I have a lot of rather worn out, raggedy, missing button jackets and cardies, and they are all in a bag to go to the thrift store.

Funny how sometimes one perfect item obviates the need for a whole bunch of "kinda okay" stuff. Now if I could only find the perfect pair of shoes!!

Also, dd has gone up a couple of sizes again , so we have weeded about 1/2 her clothes.

try2bfrugal
9-5-12, 1:44am
I tackled a backlog of old paperwork and boxes today. We had the back of the car filled with cardboard and paper to take to the recycling center. I also got together another bag of old clothes and books for the thrift store. It feels great getting rid of all the clutter but there sure is a lot more to go.

try2bfrugal
9-5-12, 1:46am
I got handed down a beautiful Irish wool cardigan and have decided that this is going to be the center of my "capsule wardrobe." I have a lot of rather worn out, raggedy, missing button jackets and cardies, and they are all in a bag to go to the thrift store.

Funny how sometimes one perfect item obviates the need for a whole bunch of "kinda okay" stuff. Now if I could only find the perfect pair of shoes!!

Also, dd has gone up a couple of sizes again , so we have weeded about 1/2 her clothes.

The capsule wardrobe sounds like a great idea. I need to make that a project, too.

Selah
9-5-12, 10:47am
Got rid of stuff in the kitchen cupboard that didn't need to be there and I knew nobody wanted!

Minz
9-5-12, 12:15pm
What is a capsule wardrobe?

larknm
9-5-12, 4:04pm
Put sleeping bags into bags they came in and put them in the bottom shelf of a two-shelf table.

Answered long-standing email messages.

Sold clothes ex-neighbor left for me to do with as I pleased when she moved to Spain. Still have more to sell as the consignment store isn't taking many winter things yet. This stuff has taken up a lot of room in our small house.

Returned books and DVDs to library.

Wrapped up one fan and put in closet overhead shelf for the winter. Two more to go, but it's still too hot to do it yet.

Set out on the street for give-away a cool-mist humidifier we never used because not willing to pay to replace filter, plus some dog toys and a few odds and ends.

Took old-people's safe driving course, passed, and thus reduced car insurance.

Took old newspapers to bird store for use in bottoms of cages.

Minz
9-5-12, 6:58pm
Sold scrap gold jewelry - received check for $123.
Picking up free hay I found on freecycle.org - for my future chickens.
Took donations to St. Paws thrift store. Anxious to go home and find other stuff to get rid of.
Someone may be picking up my sofa I listed on freecycle.org

small & friendly
9-6-12, 5:40pm
The only cluttering issue that is bothering me right now is my refrigerator freezer! It's just a small apt. sized fridge and the freezer compartment is very, very small. I've been trying to stock up on sale items, but it is stuffed solid and I can't find what I want.

Solution? Need to do some canning very soon! :)

fidgiegirl
9-6-12, 6:41pm
What is a capsule wardrobe?

http://mybrokencoin.com/minimalistic-approach-a-capsule-wardrobe/


A capsule wardrobe is ideal for the woman who’s fed up with buying clothes that end up hanging forlornly in her closet with a sign saying: “ worn once…what the bleep?!”

A capsule wardrobe is simplicity itself: 2 pairs of trousers, 1 skirt, 4 tops, 2 pairs of shoes, 3 scarves, 2 belts and jewelry. You could have a summer and winter capsule – less is more!

Greg44
9-11-12, 8:01pm
7 BOXES - COUNT THEM SEVEN! My DW actually contributed quite a few clothes and odds and ends out of the garage. I tried not to become too excited!

I asked if there were any more items and she said there was in her closet -- she said about 15 items. We keep a big box in the garage labeled "donations" so everyone knows where the stuff needs to go. After boxing up all the stuff I couldn't imagine having to box up our entire house and move. So much STUFF...anyway a good start to fall cleaning.

Tussiemussies
9-11-12, 11:36pm
We have been decluttering somewhat and put two futons that are in good condition and also a nice kitchen dining set on Craigslist. -- with no replies. We are really surprised. Is there another place people are using these days to sell items?:)

fidgiegirl
9-12-12, 8:04am
Tussies, a few thoughts:

1) Geographic area may matter: Here, CL is king, but my friend told me that in her new city, they have a similar local service that is the popular place to look.
2) Price point. If it's priced too high, no replies :(
3) Have the replies gone into a junk or spam folder in your e-mail?
4) People are scared of bedbugs, so that might be a deterrent.
5) It took us a while to sell our dining room set, and we're in a major metro area.

Don't give up! And if you can't get them sold, I hope you will be able to donate. We have a great org here that outfits families who have been homeless or need to start over. They would LOVE items like yours. The challenge for us with such big items would be how to get them hauled in.

decemberlov
9-12-12, 9:58am
Did some bathroom decluttering. We had so many towels all different colors from previous bathrooms.
Kept only black & white towels in the bathroom (2 per person (one black & one white) - I always use mine at least twice before washing).
Kept 4 swim towels that I put with the bathing suits downstairs in the laundry room.
Packed away the brown towels to be used when we build the bathroom upstairs.
Packed up for goodwill - purple towels, blue towels and all others (there must be a dozen towels!)

So many towels!! I feel so much better having just the black & white ones in the bathroom and not all kinds of mismatched towels! Somehow it just feels so much more serene. In the future if I have to buy any more towels I will never buy anything but white!!!!

Also removed all the sheets that were in the bathroom closet, kept only 2 per bed and stored the extra set in each bedroom closet accordingly.
I have 6-8 kids sheet sets that I will be donating to a little girl at my mom's church that could really use them.

Feels good :)

try2bfrugal
9-12-12, 10:40am
I donated a magazine rack and big shopping bag full of stuff to Goodwill yesterday. My husband pointed out that we have very few hard copy magazines and newspapers coming in these days so we no longer need a rack.

I switched back to Goodwill from the rescue shelter shop because Goodwill isn't as picky about what they will take since they have so many stores. I am trying to get the kids to throw out some of their old toys and stuff in the garage but that is hard slogging. I am going to have to offer financial rewards - like a dollar a pound of what they will give away or maybe a new video game in return for a certain amount of bags of junk, so they have an incentive to declutter.

We drove to the mountains on Saturday when we went gold panning and I took along a stack of old papers to sort through on the drive. From that trip I got two shopping bags of old papers to shred and recycle.

In decluttering the garage I am finding some cool stuff we didn't even remember we had like a battery charger with international plugs and a brand new cover for our grill. We have this idiot bird that comes every day and fights with his reflection in the grill on our patio, so the cover will come in handy, though I am not sure what the bird will be doing with his time now since that used to be such a big part of his day. :)

decemberlov
9-12-12, 10:44am
We have this idiot bird that comes every day and fights with his reflection in the grill on our patio, so the cover will come in handy, though I am not sure what the bird will be doing with his time now since that used to be such a big part of his day. :)

Poor bird :laff:

Minz
9-12-12, 5:41pm
Fidgiegirl,
Thanks for the info about the capsule wardrobe! Sounds like a great idea!
On a side note...I have this one very light-weight scarf and I've learned to get so many uses out of it....
1) I wear it as a sarong around the house
2) a shirt... I wrap it around my torso and tie/knot over one shoulder and wear a little sweater over it
3) I used it to cover my hair while walking in the rain today instead of using an umbrella
4) a neck scarf
5) tied it in my hair
6) shawl

I tend to wear a lot of black/grey so I love scarves to brighten up things and give a little sparkle!!

Life_is_Simple
9-12-12, 6:51pm
I donated a magazine rack and big shopping bag full of stuff to Goodwill yesterday. My husband pointed out that we have very few hard copy magazines and newspapers coming in these days so we no longer need a rack.

You have just earned a Decluttering Star!!906
You got rid of something that HOLDs junk! :+1:

try2bfrugal
9-12-12, 9:16pm
You have just earned a Decluttering Star!!906
You got rid of something that HOLDs junk! :+1:

Thanks! I will have to look for more bonus items like that.

pony mom
9-15-12, 12:32am
My decluttering book hasn't come in at the library yet. Ironically, one copy is missing, the other is overdue. So I'm starting small. Last night I worked on my underwear drawer and threw away 6 pairs of thongs (can something so small be considered a pair?) and two pairs of socks. The socks are worn at the heels and I'd be embarassed if someone saw them up close. The thongs, well, just not so comfortable as the few larger ones that I have.

Also started a "Donate" bag, with two purses that I don't use. I bought a nice new one last month and am getting rid of three.

Look out, I'm on a roll now!

try2bfrugal
9-15-12, 1:27am
I took an old printer to Staples to be recycled today. I also took 10 ink cartridges for recycling at $2 rewards points each for $20. I got my kids to sort out some stuff in the garage so out of that I have a big bag of papers to recycle and two bags of old shoes. The shoes are too junky to be donated so those are going to have to wait until I have room in the trash or we do a dump run. I also donated a set of dishes that we hadn't used in two years that really bulky and heavy and taking up a lot of space. It was a very pretty set so I hope someone enjoys it, but I wanted the space for stuff that actually gets used.

Life_is_Simple
9-15-12, 4:04pm
I donated about 10 books at a local library. They were really happy to get them. I'd rather donate books to local libraries, where their Friends sell them to benefit kids programs at the library.

I dropped off some organizing shelves, some laptop carrying cases, and a few other things at the Salvation Army.

frugalone
9-16-12, 5:10pm
I got very annoyed the other night and threw out a paper trash bag's worth of stuff. I had all these little scraps of paper and things I'd printed out 5+ years ago to use in my art. I knew I'd never use them...I tossed them instead.

I have an ongoing art supply donation box that I am going to take to a nearby arts center that works with a lot of children and also the disabled. If it's worth anything, it goes in the box.

I also have an ongoing clothes donation box.

fidgiegirl
9-17-12, 5:40pm
One book to a Little Free Library box.

Going to organize the kitchen now.

We are hosting game night this week, and need to put some things away. Now that we are settling into the house more, I have more of a draw to declutter again.

flowerseverywhere
9-17-12, 9:12pm
in prep for our move next week we got rid of even more. having an estimate from a mover is a good motivator.

Two old dressers went out today to a young nurse setting up an apartment, and we cleaned out under all the sinks. Lots to recycle, lots to garbage and a box of cleaning stuff to a neighbor. Tomorrow a table and chairs goes to another young lady who graduated this year and is being very frugal while trying to pay off her loans asap.

I estimate we have possibly gotten rid of 75% of our stuff. and some of it is already in a storage unit, and we don't miss it! How crazy is that.

Lainey
9-17-12, 9:25pm
flowerseverywhere,
I love how you're donating stuff to people who could really use it, especially younger people trying to get a household going.

Good on you, and good on them for realizing that donated items are the way to go!

try2bfrugal
9-17-12, 11:11pm
My husband filled the back of the crossover with junk he took to the dump - the shoes too ratty for Goodwill, the remnants of an kids old fort, an old appliance, packing foam and just whatever junk we could find laying around outside or in the garage. I have been sorting and shredding old papers so we had about seven bags of shredded papers this week we took to the recycling center. Today I took a bag of old batteries to Radio Shack for recycling.

It feels great getting rid of all this junk and old paperwork.