January Purge

[ejchase]

I returned two pairs of boots to a department store yesterday and am in the process of giving away an old broken printer and three printer cartridges to somebody I made contact with on Freecycle. Total for month so far: 6.

[happystuff]

Finally packed up the Christmas stuff... still at 3 plastic storage crates, but culled about a dozen or more ornaments for donation as well as broken ones into the garbage. Reused 2 of my now-empty photo boxes as ornament storage boxes, so that leave 7 more empty ones to find a use for or donate.

[ejchase]

Good work, Happystuff, on the Christmas ornaments.

I feel like I should count the printer I got rid of yesterday as 20 or something because it's been sitting in our upstairs hallway for something like 2.5 years because I didn't know how to get rid of it properly. :) I now know where to drop off electronic waste in my neighborhood but am also glad I found somebody on Freecycle who could use it.

Anyway, I also gave away 9 hand-me-downs to a friend's daughter. New total for month: 15.

[ejchase]

I took 24 things to Goodwill and returned 4 pillows and a sweater to stores. I know it's weird to count things I bought and returned, but really, one of the big sources of my clutter is stuff I bought, decided I didn't want and didn't return in time or didn't bother to return, so I'm counting it!

New total for month: 44.

[Yppej]

Good for you EJ. Our dining room table is cluttered with things DS got for Christmas, doesn"t want, and hasn't returned or exchanged yet. Soon the 30 days will be up for some of them.

[Teacher Terry]

I filled my car with stuff for the thrift store and took it today. Just when I think I have nothing more to give I find a bunch of stuff. My wardrobe is getting smaller and smaller as I am just keeping stuff I really like and wear.

[happystuff]

I have a donation to the war veterans scheduled for pickup next week. My donation box is pretty full, but I hope to add to it between now and then. Having a scheduled pickup date definitely gets me moving!

[ejchase]

Good work, Teacher Terry and happy stuff. Yppej, thanks for your encouragement.

I took 21 bottles of various kinds of old medications to the safe waste drop-off near my house today. New total for month: 55.

[rosarugosa]

Donated 2 books to the library and added a blow dryer to my Saver's donation box.

[lmerullo]

I didn't count like some of you, but i culled some work/business clothes. Hubby went out to work on a project and I stayed home and had a "me" day. When I was putting the laundry away ( yes, it's all completely done and that rarely happens) I decided the clothes I push aside to put in the ones I actually wear could be let go. You see, I was semi-retired for two and a half years but went back four months ago. All those work clothes I held on to " just in case", well, I'm not using them. To the donation they went. Apparently they won't take hangers, so those went in the garbage.

[JaneV2.0]

I dropped off two bags of groceries at the barrel at my local store, and have two leaf bags of clothes, three boxes of household goods, and a couple of appliances to donate this week.

[ejchase]

Sounds like everybody is making good progress.

I FINALLY got rid of an old laptop today. This is another one that feels like it should count as 20 because there were a lot of steps involved in getting rid of it - posting it as a give-away on Freecycle, figuring out how to get the old files off it and onto an external hard drive and then coordinating the pick-up with its new owner. DONE! I haven't used it in over two years, so figuring out the best way to dispose of it has been a job that's been hanging over my head for a while, and it feels so good to have taken care of it.

New total for month: 56.

[Tybee]

Sounds like everybody is making good progress.

I FINALLY got rid of an old laptop today. This is another one that feels like it should count as 20 because there were a lot of steps involved in getting rid of it - posting it as a give-away on Freecycle, figuring out how to get the old files off it and onto an external hard drive and then coordinating the pick-up with its new owner. DONE! I haven't used it in over two years, so figuring out the best way to dispose of it has been a job that's been hanging over my head for a while, and it feels so good to have taken care of it.

New total for month: 56.

Good for you! How do you actually get all the old files off a computer to give it away or recycle? I don't know how, and don't even think I want to save all the old files, which are teaching files I don't want to have anyway.

[Tybee]

Working on cleaning and purging kitchen cabinets. This is good because I actually have some cans and boxes that were past expiration date--gosh, where does the time go? Kind of horrible that I am not doing this every month. Need to go back to flylady. I can only do a couple a day because I get depressed and burned out. Have gotten rid of a thermos, a coffee grinder, a tin from the 40's, and a can of pumpkin from 3 years ago!! All I can say is I must have moved it from SC and then we grow our own pumpkins every year so I never got around to using it.

[ejchase]

Good for you! How do you actually get all the old files off a computer to give it away or recycle? I don't know how, and don't even think I want to save all the old files, which are teaching files I don't want to have anyway.

The IT guy at work actually did it for me - which was super nice because originally I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy, and they were going to charge me $100 to do it.

Frankly, I don't know if I needed all the files, but there were baby pictures of my daughter on there, and I wasn't sure I had copied all of them, so now I know I have everything. It's clutter, but it's very compact! :)

[iris lilies]

This week I am cleaning and organizing the basement. Arrrgh. It is dirty, actual dirt, because it is am old basement. That I can deal with. It is all of my flower show accoutrements that are a problem. Getting them organized is my goal. I threw out a few thins that I now regret (unusual for me!) and fortunately they are still in our garbage can on oir patio, so
I will retrieve them.

[ejchase]

Iris Lilies, I hope your basement clean-out went well.

My daughter and I went through her clothes and books and found one book (torn up) and three dresses (with holes and/or permanent stains) for the trash. We also packed up hand-me-downs which I will count later and deliver to friends today. I also gave away an old bicycle helmet of hers to another mom.

New total: 61.

[ejchase]

Nice progress today: 23 hand-me-downs to family friends, 16 items to Goodwill, an old package of diapers passed on to neighbors with a little one, 2 items of clothing returned to a store.

New total for month: 103!

[mschrisgo2]

Nice,ejchase!

[Teacher Terry]

Wow echase you are doing great! I did find another bag of stuff for the thrift store.

[ejchase]

Thanks, mschrisgo2 and Teacher Terry for the encouragement. January and February and July and August are the months when I have to make my big pushes, so I'm doing my best!

This community really inspires me!

[Lainey]

Just made it: donated 4 shopping bags of clothes to Goodwill, along with a tabletop magnification mirror.

It really is true that you can get a better sense of the clothing you really need once you've been retired for a number of months. Makes culling the clothes you're not needing any more very easy.