View Full Version : July purge
Finally got rid of the too big for me bike I’ve had for three years. Given to me during Covid lockdown. Person who gave it to me didn’t want it back. I put it near the dumpster. Someone will take it.
Took a cart load of Amazon boxes and two big trash bags out to dumpster.
So glad to have the bike gone.
Teacher Terry
7-2-23, 10:56am
Bag of clothes to the thrift store, sold an item and threw away 2 garbage bags of stuff. I asked my kids if they wanted me to make them a photo album from their childhood. I have 3 sons so made them each one. I probably threw away half of the pictures. Anything that was blurry, people had weird looks on their faces or were duplicates that I didn’t need.
When I was done I had 3 albums for myself. It took me 20 hours over 3 days. I am glad that pictures now are digital and don’t take up space. My last two trips I have on my phone and I’m the cloud.
Well the elephant in the room for me as far as decluttering goes, is - you probably guessed it - pottery! We now have boxes of it! My sister brought a box of mugs to work and sold 13 of them, so that was good. (I should add that she suggested doing this; it isn't anything I would have asked of her). We were going to get a table to sell pottery at our town Strawberry Festival last month, but it rained all day. Fortunately we don't need to sell pottery in the rain to put food on the table or anything, so we didn't. There is an upcoming crafts fair at the local Knights of Columbus and I might look into getting a table for that event, as much as I hate the evil K of C. At this point a lot of our stuff is pretty decent, and I think we could do quite well with our low "get it out of our cellar" prices. Then we could use the proceeds to buy more clay and make more pottery!
Can you post a picture of one of your mugs? Maybe you could open an Etsy shop.
I pitched some anniversary cards and letters. The computer desk is less messy!
Rosaruga - I'd love to see your pottery. Whenever I go to a art fair, I am compelled to visit all of the pottery booths - like a honing beam bringing me in!
Tybee and Beckyliz: DH is really the mug guy. I've been doing vases and plant impressions. I'll post a pic of some vases on my pottery thread and will try to get some plant impression pics on there soon. If I keep all the pottery pics in one place, it will be easier for me to keep track of what I've shared.
Tybee and Beckyliz: DH is really the mug guy. I've been doing vases and plant impressions. I'll post a pic of some vases on my pottery thread and will try to get some plant impression pics on there soon. If I keep all the pottery pics in one place, it will be easier for me to keep track of what I've shared.
Looking forward to it!
Got rid of a little plastic side table from our patio that never gets used. Also gave away four tumblers for a co-worker's daughters. The lids were colors my son deemed not manly enough for him. :laff:
DH put a 12 cube bookcase in a closet. I am thrilled. It holds all the books I brought and has ample room for other storage! I was totally bummed having to cull my book collection but am now thrilled to have my favs organized. I did copy a number of pages from books and will put them into my own binders.
Got rid of a bunch of boxes - took them to our church so the food pantry can use them.
rosarugosa
7-11-23, 5:52am
We have signed up for a table at a local crafts fair in August. We get a 12' x 12' space for $30. The organizer says they've never had anyone with pottery and he suspects we'll do well. If this goes OK, I could envision us doing 1- 2 similar events a year to offload our inventory and recoup a bit of cash.
iris lilies
7-11-23, 10:21am
We have signed up for a table at a local crafts fair in August. We get a 12' x 12' space for $30. The organizer says they've never had anyone with pottery and he suspects we'll do well. If this goes OK, I could envision us doing 1- 2 similar events a year to offload our inventory and recoup a bit of cash.
I think you’ll do well. Your pottery has pretty colors and patterns and it $30 for a booth you can’t go wrong!
8-10 garden pavers and two large planters. Been sitting unused between our two garages for a few years.
Just pitched 3 IKEA bags full of stuff - some clothes, dive bag I had been given and didn’t want, other stuff I should have gotten rid of a while ago.
Couple bags of clothes, quilt, pillow cases, bed skirt, decorative towels, jackets, winter vests, etc. 80% was from my wife! woohoo, she is starting to fill it. Her sister just retired and is doing a massive purge, so may be an inspiration?
We have signed up for a table at a local crafts fair in August. We get a 12' x 12' space for $30. The organizer says they've never had anyone with pottery and he suspects we'll do well. If this goes OK, I could envision us doing 1- 2 similar events a year to offload our inventory and recoup a bit of cash.
That is exciting! It's always so cool to see how hobbies evolve here--from Tradd with her diving to IL with her prize-winning floral creations to bae with his photography to you with your carpentry and pottery... Have fun and let us know how it went!
iris lilies
7-14-23, 10:55am
Ugh. We swung by the car dealership this week to pick up the incentive items ordered for our car, “free” they were.
The car mats and cargo pan—useful. But some sort of bag to store them in? And then, an extra bag with insulation for ??? food transport maybe?
ugh. I hate this shit. And then, the usual bags of crap from the Lily conference. Blech. The big stuff will go to Goodwill, but the conference bags o’ crap went to landfill.
God WHY must people pile unwanted crap on me??!I am now taking it personally. STOP IT UNIVERSE!!!
sweetana3
7-14-23, 11:20am
I even got a "goodie" bag of stuff from our Arkansas tour directior. She had collected it along the way from various sites. I gave all of it to someone who has young grandkids. They at least like it and find it easy to throw away. I am no longer going to flea markets, auctions, garage sales, etc.
iris lilies
7-14-23, 11:49am
I even got a "goodie" bag of stuff from our Arkansas tour directior. She had collected it along the way from various sites. I gave all of it to someone who has young grandkids. They at least like it and find it easy to throw away. I am no longer going to flea markets, auctions, garage sales, etc.
There is someone in my plant societies who is absolutely obsessed with physical objects and We MUST always have bags o’ crap at these conferences according to her. This year she actually FUNDED the custom printed cheap fabric bags of a non-useful size. Ok whatever, her money and she can do with it as she wishes.
The ironic thing was that we picked up our bags o’ crap at conference registration and went to our hotel room, and only then found the one thing I wanted wasn’t even in the bag o’ crap: the conference program. I didn’t know exactly what time things started, what room were speakers were in, etc. But boy did I have a folded map, hand sanitizer, cheap mask, bookmark, etc. Thanks for nothing!
flowerseverywhere
7-15-23, 2:32pm
I spent the last few months giving away lots of craft and sewing stuff. I belong to a few organizations that do a lot of sewing and knitting for charity so when I went in with some bags of free stuff it was scooped up to clutter someone else's home. I did that a half a dozen times the last few months.
I get so much fabric, yarn and craft stuff given to me as people know I have the resources to rehome it. Now all my craft stuff fits on a small bakers rack. My closet is totally neat and clean. I feel liberated yet still have plenty of fabric to last for a few years.
rosarugosa
7-16-23, 6:19am
Good work, Flowers. Isn't it eye-opening when you give away lots of something and still have plenty? I guess that's a pretty clear sign that there was too much initially.
We went to a party last week and brought a whole cooler full of assorted canned cocktails. The hostess sent one of the attendees home with the leftovers. We just don't drink very much anymore. It's amazing to me how much alcohol I've given away in the past year, and there is still more than enough of it in the house.
iris lilies
7-16-23, 8:50am
At the Lily conference I was able to give away several containers I had collected specifically for the design competition. I had picked them up at Goodwill and we ended up selling the floral arrangements for a couple of bucks. Win/win.
Netting that didn't stop the chipmunks anyways went to my parents for their blueberry bushes, which I think chipmunks don't climb.
Just posted a box of laundry detergent I didn’t use on Buy Nothing. Someone coming to get it shortly.
Also got rid of some extra spiral notebooks and pens, as well as some pasta and canned goods I’m no longer eating now that I’m doing WW.
Plastic toolbox gone, too. Pitched some stuff that was truly trash. Man, does it feel good to get rid of this stuff!
Just a thought with school starting next month - go through your office supplies and see if you have anything that would be appropriate for school supplies. Offer it on your local Buy Nothing group or donate directly to a local school.
Our school system has a Fill the Bus materials raiser and several businesses around town collect items as well as organizations. Mainly paper, pencils, pens. it provides many materials.
happystuff
7-18-23, 5:51pm
Three full boxes and two full big bags of "stuff". So glad to see it all go!
I'm slowly losing weight and am loving being able to declutter my closet and donate or sell bigger clothes. I list items on Poshmark. If they don't sell after a few months, I just go ahead and donate them to a local non-profit thrift store.
Trashed a floor lamp that my husband bought when he was in his early 20's. He is almost 60 now so it more than served its purpose. It was tarnished and looked like it had seen better days.
happystuff
7-19-23, 5:24pm
I'm slowly losing weight and am loving being able to declutter my closet and donate or sell bigger clothes. I list items on Poshmark. If they don't sell after a few months, I just go ahead and donate them to a local non-profit thrift store.
Congrats on the weight loss!!!
rosarugosa
7-20-23, 6:36am
Yes, Congratulations Beckyliz!
I finally sold a novelty t-shirt I had listed on eBay for a couple of months.
Thanks, happystuff and rosaruga! Amazing what a difference even 5 pounds can make.
mschrisgo2
7-21-23, 9:52pm
Traded in my 2014 Kia Soul - that quickly developed problems, the repairs of which would amount to $9K- for a new 2023 Kia Soul.
Several days of mixed emotions- I loved my green Soul! And, how could so many things fail all at once, and, worse, they could be fixed, but at 178,956 miles, how long before other problems cropped up?
Finally made peace with my decision to sell and buy new, and have been planning how I can pay it off in 2 years.
happystuff
7-22-23, 7:10am
Traded in my 2014 Kia Soul - that quickly developed problems, the repairs of which would amount to $9K- for a new 2023 Kia Soul.
Several days of mixed emotions- I loved my green Soul! And, how could so many things fail all at once, and, worse, they could be fixed, but at 178,956 miles, how long before other problems cropped up?
Finally made peace with my decision to sell and buy new, and have been planning how I can pay it off in 2 years.
Congrats and good luck with the new car!
Productive morning and I haven't eaten breakfast yet! Decided to clear out some of the few items on the floor of my closet.
Tossed... 4th of July pillow, two sleeping bags, and two WeatherTech floor liners
Relocated... a telescope and two rifle cases.
Now the only items on the floor of my closet is a box that contains my husband's paint booth that he uses for his trains and a trash bag of decorative pillows. But I have been getting rid of the pillows after the intended holiday lately so maybe those won't be there by January when all the holidays are over.
Also decided to get rid of two lamp shades. Been holding onto one of them for several years as a "just in case" for the one lamp that uses that sort of lampshade but realized it's probably too big for it anyway. The other one was from the floor lamp I got rid of earlier this week.
iris lilies
7-22-23, 6:34pm
Traded in my 2014 Kia Soul - that quickly developed problems, the repairs of which would amount to $9K- for a new 2023 Kia Soul.
Several days of mixed emotions- I loved my green Soul! And, how could so many things fail all at once, and, worse, they could be fixed, but at 178,956 miles, how long before other problems cropped up?
Finally made peace with my decision to sell and buy new, and have been planning how I can pay it off in 2 years.
I think Kia Soul cars are cute and it was at the top of my list. But when we rather suddenly replaced our 2009 Mercury SUV, to get DH on board quickly it would have to be a Ford product. And because I like the Ford Bronco Sport well enough, and it’s just a daily driver anyway not a car that I have to LOVE, that’s what I went with.
But I still like Kia Souls and the way they look. I wonder what the vertical space of the cargo area measures. I couldn’t find that measurement on the Internet since everything is described in cubic feet for the cargo area. I need maximum.
I've been pleasantly surprised at how roomy the Kia Souls are and how much stuff they can hold. However, our insurance agent told us recently that they're starting to not insure Kias and Hyundais because it's so easy to steal the catalytic converters from them. We traded our 2009 Kia Sportage for a newer car for our daughter and the agent was glad we got rid of the Kia.
So far this month I've gotten rid of 6.2 lbs. One more week of our annual-ish diet, so I hope to lose a couple more by Sunday.
Teacher Terry
7-25-23, 9:38am
Congrats Becky and Sioux Q on the weight loss. I wouldn’t own either a Kia or Hyundai as they changed the model a few years ago and now they have lots of issues once they hit 100k miles as well as being really easy to steal.
Threw out a bottle of perfume that was a brand I liked as a teenager, but either I changed or it changed over the years.
Decluttered from linen closet:
Spring tension rod that had never been used
Owner's manuel for vacuum
Things to put under furniture to help move easier
One of the vacuum attachments that isn't useful
From downstairs storage room:
Stack of college textbooks
Key box that never was used
Productive morning and I haven't eaten breakfast yet! Decided to clear out some of the few items on the floor of my closet.
Tossed... 4th of July pillow, two sleeping bags, and two WeatherTech floor liners
Relocated... a telescope and two rifle cases.
Now the only items on the floor of my closet is a box that contains my husband's paint booth that he uses for his trains and a trash bag of decorative pillows. But I have been getting rid of the pillows after the intended holiday lately so maybe those won't be there by January when all the holidays are over.
Ended up having to get the sleeping bags out from my trunk because we are getting unexpected guests next week and need blankets for those sleeping on the couches. Don't really have anything extra besides a comforter that my youngest sometimes uses on his bed so I needed more options. Will donate the sleeping bags after our guests depart. Also ended up trashing the telescope. Since relocating it, I realized it was just gathering dust in our closet and it's not in the best shape and isn't worth keeping.
Old intake vent cover... got a new "flip down" one that uses a filter
Vent filter that is the correct size but too bulky
Might have to call 1-800-gotjunk for a pickup because our truck isn't working and won't be fixed for a while. I have a rocking chair and two twin sized mattresses that I've been holding onto for no reason and want them gone.
I passed on 20 pieces of my daughter's clothing (with her permission) to another mom on Buy Nothing.
It always amazes me what I can turn a blind eye to and how long I can do it. Was dusting the family room and the dehumidifier my husband probably bought in the 80's caught my attention for some reason. It has been sitting in the same corner for probably 15 or so years. Unused and dusty as heck because there was a box on top of it. Wondered why I kept that and decided today was the day it was going into my trunk to get put into the dumpster on Monday.
DH got a bee in his bonnet and cleaned out the shed. Much of it will have to go to Habitat, some in trash and other stuff rearranged to be less cluttered. Now if I could just get him to address his man cave closet. Not likely...
rosarugosa
7-29-23, 5:56am
I dropped off a bag of stuff at the thrift store Sis and I had discovered last week. It's a really nice one run by a secular charity. I save my good stuff for places like that.
The day before I went on vacation in July, I returned 10 items to stores and took 10 items to Goodwill. Total for month: 30.
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