May Purge

[happystuff]

I don't see that this has been started so here is May's Purge thread.

Had a donation pickup yesterday so 25-30 items out the door! Very motivated to continue, but it's actually getting harder to find the "easy" stuff to let go.

[iris lilies]

Yesterday I dropped off a fairly newish pair of athletic shoes to St.
Vncent De
Paul.

Picked ip two chairs cor,our weekend place there.

[Teacher Terry]

Took more stuff to the thrift store.

[iris lilies]

Today a guy who had tuckppinted oir house two years ago called, out of the blue, to see if DH had any banana trees to give away.

well! Do we have banana trees!!!

so we got rid of 5 banana trees and a big pot.

[Gardnr]

Today I gave a pile of fridge magnets to an employee at work. AND 4 cookie cutters to another who LOVES to entertain. WIN WIN! Outamyhouse>8)

[iris lilies]

Today I gave a pile of fridge magnets to an employee at work. AND 4 cookie cutters to another who LOVES to entertain. WIN WIN! Outamyhouse>8)
How are you counting those fridge magnets? :~)

[Gardnr]

How are you counting those fridge magnets? :~) counting those suckers GONE:D

[iris lilies]

counting those suckers GONE:D
Hahahaha!

[Lainey]

Today is half-price day at Goodwill (it's every other Saturday), so I use that as an opportunity to drop off donations at the same time. Doesn't have to be a big bag, today's drop-off will include a new belt (came with a pair of pants and I just didn't like the belt) and a DVD movie.
I've learned that it's easy and quick to donate a few items instead of waiting until everything in the house is gathered - Just Do It!

[Gardnr]

And today it's quilting day. I just sewed together 13 pieces of leftovers into a quilt backing for a 49x65 inch quilt. If you know a quilter, a 4" strip is NOT trash! I've got it loaded on my machine and I'm ready to go!

Say goodbye to a short pile of leftovers:0! This quilt goes to my charity group next week along with 2 other small ones I quilted yesterday. Fling Flang Flung!!thumbsup!:~)

[Gardenarian]

DD had a clothing swap and she says she's going to take the 5 boxes of clothing left over to the consignment store...yeesh. Really need a purge. I hate to dump it all at Goodwill.

[happystuff]

Sold the wrought iron glider swing that has sat on our front porch since we bought the house. Was lovely, gave us a lot of pleasure, but hasn't been used for several years. Also, dd and I both like to watch storms come through and there is no way I felt it was safe for either of us to sit on it while storm-watching. It was a good "let-go".

[Yppej]

More clothes. I discard one item a week and am so far ahead I am into 2019, and I am bringing many fewer new clothes into the house as well. My total expenditure so far in 2018 is less than my average expenditure per month in 2017.

[nswef]

We took a 12,000 btu window air conditioner to the Re-Store yesterday. A relief and major job to remove from the window ( we had central air put in), then into the truck.

[Yppej]

Nswef what was the cost to install central air? Is it separate or part of your heating system?

[rosarugosa]

I culled 4 clothing items this weekend. A session with Mom always inspires me to get rid of something!

[Gardnr]

Nswef what was the cost to install central air? Is it separate or part of your heating system? I"m not Nswef but we had to replace ours last year. I don't think AC is separate from heat anymore. $11600 installed with 1 year warranty. Gulp! Thankfully we have a 6 month emergency fund so paid cash. This included duct cleaning/sealing which we knew we needed from a free energy audit a few years ago.

[Yppej]

Wow! That is a lot.

[rosarugosa]

Wow! That is a lot.

I think the cost might be even higher for those of us with oil heat systems.

[Float On]

Wow! That is a lot.

Yes, it depends on square footage and other factors. We had a national company try to sell us an incredibly large heat/air pump that was really overkill for our 1500 sq ft for $13,000 about 8 years ago. We went with a local guy who did the appropriate size for our house for under $8000 at the time. Make sure to always get several quotes. I could really tell the national guy was working on commission and it got so ridiculous early on that I didn't offer him a drink of water until way after he asked for one. Yes, it was summer, yes our air was out so the house was super hot! Made him sweat and not get his commission.

[Yppej]

I think the cost might be even higher for those of us with oil heat systems.

Contractors have said natural gas is cheaper but ordinary people have told me horror stories about the gas company. At least with oil you have a choice of provider. Gas is a monopoly. I would really like geothermal but am not near a body of water so it would be very expensive I think.

[Gardnr]

I went through a closet today. It's access has been 1/2 blocked for years by a treadmill. Got rid of it! Craig's List yielded no buyers. Gave it to a woman on my staff who works part time-she has a 3yo so can't go to gym on no-work days. She is thrilled and it is GONE!

I opened that back closet door. I organized all the gift bags that had been tossed back there-I keep gift bags standing in a box for quick visual. i folded all the tissue paper also tossed back there. It is standing in the back of that box. I tossed several hardsided paper cylinders-why was I saving those? Broke down a few boxes and put them in the drawer with other boxes.

Leather briefcase, 5 gallon popcorn container and 1 decorator pillow in my trunk for the next thrift shop stop. Some stuff into the trash bin-can't remember what now. A handful of crumpled paper into the recycle bin.

A bunch of huge (2X-4X) thrift store shirts that were stuffed have been folded and stacked for future use in quilts.

I'm really happy with the way this closet is looking now. :cool:

[rosarugosa]

Contractors have said natural gas is cheaper but ordinary people have told me horror stories about the gas company. At least with oil you have a choice of provider. Gas is a monopoly. I would really like geothermal but am not near a body of water so it would be very expensive I think.

Yppej: I agree with you & we have oil heat too. What I was really trying to say is that people with electrical heat and duct systems can add A/C a lot more easily than those of us with steam or hot water systems because we would need an entirely separate system introduced to our houses. We had considered the Unico system a long time ago, but decided it wasn't worth it for us. We got two window units a couple of years ago and that has been enough to cool our little house, and we don't even use them all that often.

[Yppej]

Mine is forced hot air not a boiler system. I don't know if that makes a difference?

I am still hoping to get more years out of the existing furnace. Where I am you definitely can get central heat without central air as a lot of the housing stock is old.

[flowerseverywhere]

I have been in the use it up fabric mode. I have been making quilt tops from what I have as some of my quilts are getting worn. No new buying of fabric. My stash is really decreasing.

Also, I belong to a group that has some fairly new quilters. Every week I bring a book or a few pieces of fabric in for anyone who wants them or for our charity quilts. What I have left I truly love.

[Teacher Terry]

I knit and had a ton of yarn. I donated half of it to the thrift stores because of the space it was taking up. I am not going to buy any until I use it up. Then I will go to thrift stores to buy it. Yesterday I was looking for our small metal dog crate as we are going on a 6 week driving trip next month. I could not find it and in the process of looking I ended up with a trunk full of stuff to donate today. When I woke up this AM I immediately knew where I had put it.

[iris lilies]

Iris nearly in full bloom here.

I dug 100 iris rhizomes, removing them because they do not spark joy and in fact some of them just annoy me. NO MORE ANNOYING iRIS AROUND HERE is my new guiding principle.

The ugliest ones went to the compost heap. Two batches are offered to neighbors through Nextdoor.

much more dividing and moving iris coming up, this is just the preliminaries.

[Yppej]

I chopped down a bush that kept growing into the neighbors' driveway.

[herbgeek]

NO MORE ANNOYING iRIS AROUND HERE

Is this going to be your new username Iris Lilies? :devil:

[Tradd]

Got rid of a number of books today. Some going to friends, a few others went to my church for the library.

[iris lilies]

Is this going to be your new username Iris Lilies? :devil:
No, but it is my new motto!

[Yppej]

I ditched my alarm clock and will use my cell phone a!arm and also got rid of two worn out garden hoses.

[rosarugosa]

I completed the seasonal closet clean-out and clothing rotation and got rid of 2 coats, 1 skirt, 1 dress, 1 pr of shoes and a sweater. In the 3 years that I have been tracking, we've downsized our clothing collection by 125 items! The seasonal clean-out is now noticeably easier since closet and drawers are less stuffed. Feels good!

[Yppej]

The last of the forsythia brush has been hauled away. It filled 13 barrels.

I purchased new smoke/carbon monoxide detectors and once they are installed the old ones will go.

Long-range plans include having the rusted out garbage disposal removed.

Entropy is the enemy!

[Lainey]

Wondering if anyone else has local thrift stores with regular sales? Our local Goodwill stores have instituted Half-price Saturdays on every other Saturday. I can't tell if it's because they are just inundated with stuff or just want to generate more cash or what, but the sale days are very popular. People are lined up outside the store before it opens at 10 am. I think some shoppers are searching for items to buy and flip on Craigslist - it's a new side gig for them.

[happystuff]

We need a new shed and before the winter. Started looking at what was actually stored in the old shed yesterday (dh's domain - not mine, but guess who gets to clean it out???? sigh.) THREE weed trimmers!!! One gas, one rechargable(recharger broke) and the new electric one. Kept the new electric and put the two others on our front "magic sidewalk". Also found 5 razor-type scooters. Ds kept one and the others also went onto the sidewalk. Large water thermos - sidewalk. Old t-ball stand - sidewalk. Three shredded and worn tarps - garbage. Box for one of the trimmers - recycle.

The prize of this round of clean-outs was 18 bottles of beer! Apparently ds *put* them there during Senior week a little over a year ago. Still good - in the fridge. LOL,

I'm very happy to say that all the items designated to the magic sidewalk were gone by 8pm last night.

[rosarugosa]

That is a lot of brush, Yppej! Did you remove all the forsythia, or just prune it?
Lainey: Our local SA has sales on holidays. Savers does a seniors discount every Tues. I've seen sales at some of the smaller ones, but don't know the pattern/frequency.
Happystuff: I cleaned our shed a few weeks ago and got rid of an old tiller by putting it out front with a free sign. One woman's trash. . .

[Float On]

I'm impressed with your shed clean out and the way your magic sidewalk works happystuff! Does this mean a new shed will replace this old one or since you cleared out this one you won't need to buy a new one? We've got to get our studio cleaned out. I'd like to actually park my car in it!

[happystuff]

We don't have a garage, so we will need a new shed. The motivation for cleaning the shed is the fact that the current one has a huge rotted hole in the back. We are up against a thing strip of woods and a stream at the back of our property and the shed is right on the edge. I'm hoping to get a smaller shed and maybe relocate it somewhere else on the property lot. We'll see. Need to get it cleaned out first.

As for the magic sidewalk... we love it! The longest anything has ever sat on the sidewalk before being picked up was two days. Most items are gone by the end of the day.

[Yppej]

RR it was one of the five forsythia bushes I have.

A few years ago I tore down my rotting shed and now I keep everything that was there in the basement. Since I had nothing gas powered this works for me and city code.

[iris lilies]

I spent two hours, and DH spent several more hours, helping our friend move stuff from his house. 30 years accumulation of stuff. He is leaving it all behind, moving across the country with only items he can fit into his small pickup truck.

He had an estate sale that generated a total of $6,000 and he split proceeds with the company. Then, we came through his house to cherry pick from remaining items, taking vintage/collectible/antique pieces for the booth that benefits our Park Conservancy. Half of our garage is full with thus stuff.

Next in line will be the Methodist Church. Those representatives will grab useful, functional household items for their program of settingup households.

whatever is left, and that is a LOT, goes to the landfill. He has plans to take up to 3 loads in his pickup, using our address and the address of a neighbor to get his once-a-month bulk dump useage.

I am mad at the estate sale people for pricing items so high at his sale. Craploads were left.

oh, we took his nice quality futon for free for our Hermann house, and we bought his gas grill for Hermann, so we did get two items we needed.

He has an 8’ bookcase, antique with leaded glass doors, that they put $2200 as a price on. No bites. The thing is huge and so heavy. Now he will just give it away, but who has a truck and muscles to move this on short notice? He has 48 hours.
we didnt take this for our Park’s booth because we just did not want to wrestle it around.

[beckyliz]

At my mom's sale, day one was full price, day 2 was 1/2 price. Afterwards, they had someone they knew who would come and buy everything left. We didn't make a lot, but we got rid of it.

[Yppej]

I got rid of some plates, perfume (inspired by you all) and skincare and cosmetic products. I am reading Spark Joy and working on komono (nonclothes, nonbook, nonpaper items).