View Full Version : June Purge
In case you are a minimalist who doesn't have much stuff but wants to join in our decluttering fun, I offer you:
5923
Gave four plastic storage milk crates to a coworker. She was thrilled to get them.
iris lilies
6-3-24, 9:42am
Hilarious!
ToomuchStuff
6-3-24, 1:57pm
Missing the Herford House gift card, but looks a lot like what I decluttered a bit ago.
I have someone coming to pick up a book this morning, and another person coming to pick up a box of gardening materials I gathered from Mom's house.
I’m mostly likely going to be selling my diving rebreather. It’s too heavy for my bad knees. Overkill for my diving now and selling it would clear about 3/4 of my remaining debt. My WI diving instructor has students (or friends of students) that are always in the market so it should sell fairly quickly. I have other gear I can still dive with (tanks on sides) that is easier on my knees.
Quick sweep netted...
A lint brush
An old user manual
Two bottles of cat milk
Old bottle of Ranch dressing
A ham and a jar of ham glaze
Tradd: that is great that selling the rebreather will make such a dent in your debt.
Klunick: those little things add up!
I took a large assorted box to Goodwill. The air fryer was taking up more space than it was worth and was included. As usual, the volume of things stacked up for sorting was incredible. Fridge went on the fritz after 11 years and the big box store can't deliver a replacement for a week. A lot of perishables had to go so it's a fresh start on food stuffs when the new one gets here.
iris lilies
6-6-24, 8:27am
In this recent declutter thread, 2 air fryers gone.
I’m still on the fence about getting an air fryer.
Our new stove has an air fryer function built in. It does indeed reheat french fries very well, but so far, I'm not seeing it as functionality we couldn't easily live without.
iris lilies
6-6-24, 10:19am
OK folks, to you all who have some experience with the air fryer, tell me do you also have a toaster oven?
We have never had a toaster oven. The reason why I’m thinking about getting one is that our stove oven takes so long to heat up. I think a little toaster oven might suit us.
I’ve had a toaster oven in the past. Worked well. Used it for toast and grilled cheese. I know others who use it for a lot more.
happystuff
6-6-24, 10:30am
We use our toaster oven alot. Probably more than the microwave. I will sometimes actually cook in it, but most everyone else uses it for toast, sandwiches, reheating things.
I’ve looked at toaster ovens as being functional. After getting rid of my foreman counter top grill, the veggie spiralizer, and the air fryer I’m about to the point that there’s not much the stove can do that the gadgets might help with, but are just another gadget to take up space. My kitchen space is small.
I’ve looked at toaster ovens as being functional. After getting rid of my foreman counter top grill, the veggie spiralizer, and the air fryer I’m about to the point that there’s not much the stove can do that the gadgets might help with, but are just another gadget to take up space. My kitchen space is small.
Yes, my kitchen space is small as well I’m sticking with an electric kettle and a food processor as my only small appliances. I only have the food processor as too much chopping hurts my hands. I have an over the stove microwave and a glass top electric stove that works fine. I’ve tried both an air fryer and Instapot. They did nothing for me.
We haven't had a toaster oven for years and years. When the one we had died, we decided to just go with a toaster which makes better toast, and we use the actual oven for cooking and reheating.
Not sure if this is quite a purge but got the last bucket of potatoes planted yesterday; we had so many from last year that were growing, and I had to get them in, and we've been at it for weeks now. I even gave my granddaughter a bag full and hope she planted them or at least gave them to other families at school. I like potatoes but never really wanted to be a potato farmer. They are everywhere in the garden, so it will be a challenge to remember where they all got to.
Tybee, You made me laugh, picturing the potatoes coming up everywhere!! Do you have trouble keeping them "fresh" over the winter? One year we tried canning them...not a success.
Toaster over- We use ours extensively to cook chicken, baked potatoes, bagels.
Tradd: that is great that selling the rebreather will make such a dent in your debt.
Klunick: those little things add up!
That is pretty much the stage I'm at. Finding little things that have crept in over a few months and getting rid of them.
Tybee: You turned out to be a good Mainer with all those potatoes! Now you just need to grow some blueberries and get a few lobster traps!
Tybee: You turned out to be a good Mainer with all those potatoes! Now you just need to grow some blueberries and get a few lobster traps!
I have been eyeing blueberry bushes but they are so expensive!
We store ours in the fall in 5 gallon buckets, wrapped in newspaper. So what we don't eat starts to sprout and by April, we have all these potatoes to plant. This year I guess we weren't eating many so now it's kind of exponential.
iris lilies
6-8-24, 9:04am
Tybee: You turned out to be a good Mainer with all those potatoes! Now you just need to grow some blueberries and get a few lobster traps!
Haha!
DH is growing potatoes for the first time in many years. We shall see how they turn out. We’ve not had good luck in the past.
iris lilies
6-8-24, 1:49pm
I tried to purge a piece of furniture that needs to go, but I cannot. I love it too much. It is a Victorian era round table that served as our dining table for several years. I think it is made of Chesnut. I am going to jam it into the tv room for a while.
Now we need a dining table of entire different shape to fit in a space.
I got rid of "snibbles" of paper with list, websites, inspiration, jottings, handy people, book titles- they all were placed on a proper piece of paper then put in the right folder or thrown out or completed! From now on I use a WHOLE sheet of Good on one side paper for each day's jottings. Less messy!
iris lilies
6-10-24, 10:41am
God. Just when I think I have finished an organization job…more shows up!
last week I organized keys to our condo after organizing all of the keys for our Hermann house.
I just found YET ANOTHER KEY RING with condo keys including TWO front door keys. WHY????!!
rosarugosa
6-10-24, 12:53pm
IL: Do you have a large foyer where you could put the round table topped with a majestic flower arrangement?
NSWEF: I too have snibbles, and I'm glad they have a name! I weed through them periodically and toss, file somewhere, or keep in a designated spot in one of my desk drawers.
iris lilies
6-10-24, 12:57pm
IL: Do you have a large foyer where you could put the round table topped with a majestic flower arrangement?
NSWEF: I too have snibbles, and I'm glad they have a name! I weed through them periodically and toss, file somewhere, or keep in a designated spot in one of my desk drawers.
oh no, I am well past the age of having houses with grand entry foyers. I’m just pleased that my Hermann cottage has an entryway because my old Victorian house did not, you stepped from the front door right into the living room.
happystuff
6-11-24, 8:41am
snibbles - I like that!
I have to give credit for the word snibbles to my college friend (of 55 years!) who shared it with me.
Did a declutter of clothes, mostly my husband's and oldest son's. Shirts and shorts for the son and some dress shirts for the husband. With the removal of the shirts, I was also able to get rid of more wire hangers. I prefer the plastic ones now and only have a few more wire hangers to go before they are all gone.
Took a carload of "collectibles" to the local Restore. One of their locations does a good job on such things. We both said the reduction in stuff felt good.
Burned some more old papers belonging to my parents, things like bank statements from twenty years ago. Not all, but maybe half of what I still have. Down to two and a half bankers boxes for all the papers, including all the court papers from last 3 years, which are still accumulating.
Two boxes of cord sleeves. Those things that you can gather cords and cables together to make them look neater and more organized. Bought for my youngest to use for his desktop cords but apparently they bothered me more than they bothered him so he never used them and I have no use for them.
rosarugosa
6-16-24, 6:44am
Sis and I gave the garden bench she had made in carpentry class to my Sis-in-Law. It had been living in Mom's garage. SIL was delighted and has already painted it and bought a cushion. It's just what she needed for her enclosed front porch.
SIL is also going to take one of the storage stepstools we had made in carpentry class. We're keeping the one by the bed, but the other was used for Oggie to get up to the kitchen sink where his water bowl was located. That was the only place where he would drink, no idea how that got started, but we could never get him to drink from another location. Definitely not a tradition we wished to continue once he was gone; water bowls are now on the floor.
Sis and I are trying to made ongoing decluttering inroads at Mom's house since it will all be our headache to deal with some day, so chipping away at it now will only be a good thing in the long run. Tybee's post reminds me that I should start going through Mom's filing cabinet. I'll probably have more time for that stuff in the colder months.
Definitely start going through the file cabinets a bit at a time! I do mine lying in bed watching tv so it's not so intense. That's what I do with the files I already have, and I wish I could have had the time to do with with Dad and Mom's files--I just had to throw some in boxes and eliminate others and I never got to 1/2 of my dad's because I had such limited time, and my brother was destroying everything, all the files. In retrospect I should have let my husband bring a truck down like he wanted, but it was a very bad situation and I didn't want to get him involved due to his heart issues. It wasn't worth him getting hospitalized.
I found lots of important stuff and I hope you can start in on the file this summer, in a more leisurely fashion, just so it's not looming, and you may find things that help with the last part of your mom's life and with what comes after.
Even if you just get things in boxes to your own house, then sort through in peace, that is hugely helpful. I did that with as much as I could.
I felt that Dad was helping in this process, from beyond. I know I did the right thing, which comforts me a great deal.
Decluttered from the kitchen counter, two small canisters. One held honey mustard packs from restaurants because that is my and youngest's favorite dipping sauce. The other had sauce packets from Arby's and Taco Bell for my husband. Decided to throw everything into one large ziploc bag and stick in fridge drawer. I will wash the canisters and stick them in a cabinet just in case a current one breaks so I won't have to buy a whole new set when I only need one.
iris lilies
6-16-24, 9:02am
Sis and I gave the garden bench she had made in carpentry class to my Sis-in-Law. It had been living in Mom's garage. SIL was delighted and has already painted it and bought a cushion. It's just what she needed for her enclosed front porch.
SIL is also going to take one of the storage stepstools we had made in carpentry class. We're keeping the one by the bed, but the other was used for Oggie to get up to the kitchen sink where his water bowl was located. That was the only place where he would drink, no idea how that got started, but we could never get him to drink from another location. Definitely not a tradition we wished to continue once he was gone; water bowls are now on the floor.
Sis and I are trying to made ongoing decluttering inroads at Mom's house since it will all be our headache to deal with some day, so chipping away at it now will only be a good thing in the long run. Tybee's post reminds me that I should start going through Mom's filing cabinet. I'll probably have more time for that stuff in the colder months.
we have a booster box for cats to get up on counter. It didn't start out that way but now it is a thing. The cats here do get special treats and when they are up on the counter, our dog cannot grab their food.
rosarugosa
6-16-24, 10:41am
Tybee: I probably have most of Mom's most important documents already, since I've been handling all her affairs for a few years now, and I have my own set of "Mom Files." However, she does have a couple of file drawers full of stuff. I suspect that much of it can be tossed or shredded, but of course I will go though it first. Maybe I'll start bringing home a folder or two a week.
IL: The things we do for our furry little overlords!
Klunick: We keep the condiment packets in a baggie in the fridge as well. Every once in awhile we need to declutter that collection too, and we don't even get takeout very often.
iris lilies
6-16-24, 12:03pm
Condiments go in the Packet drawer!!!!!!!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O7VaXlMvAvk&pp=ygURU25sIHBhY2tldCBkcmF3ZXI%3D
see Black Jeopardy at 1:16
rosarugosa
6-17-24, 8:12am
No packet drawers in Rosa's cottage! All drawers neatly organized with little bamboo dividers, lol.
Tybee: I probably have most of Mom's most important documents already, since I've been handling all her affairs for a few years now, and I have my own set of "Mom Files." However, she does have a couple of file drawers full of stuff. I suspect that much of it can be tossed or shredded, but of course I will go though it first. Maybe I'll start bringing home a folder or two a week.
IL: The things we do for our furry little overlords!
Klunick: We keep the condiment packets in a baggie in the fridge as well. Every once in awhile we need to declutter that collection too, and we don't even get takeout very often.
We kept them in the fridge for a long time but thought it would be "more organized" in a cannister on the counter. Didn't really work out because new packs would get thrown on top and there was no way to distinguish between new ones and ones that may have been on the bottom of the cannister for far too long. I think I might just get rid of all of it. I have several bottles of Taco Bell Mild sauce that I got at Walmart so husband doesn't really use the packets anymore. I can buy Honey Mustard sauce and Arby's sauce at the store too so that's probably what I'll start doing.
HappyHiker
6-17-24, 2:47pm
Cleaning out old screens from the shed today for town bulk pick-up. However, it was like excavating an ancient burial tomb. In order to get to the screens, I had to remove some old, bug-infested lumber & plywood and then remove some styrofoam insulation panels that were disintegrating, then..then...so the simple task of getting rid of old screens changed into a major shed-clearing process..including a toilet tank cover and an old wooden toilet set (complete with fanny-irritating splinters). So now the shed is pretty well organized, sort of, and I called back the town to add to my list and the nice lady just said she'd put down "Misc." items as I started listing the various things in the pile. Whew! This felt good to do--now we can get out bikes in and out with ease instead of the obstacle course we faced before...
Yay! Happy Hiker!!! Frustrating to start but oh so satisfying once it is clearer than you expected.
early morning
6-18-24, 4:07pm
You all are impressive! Just got around to this thread. If anyone still cares, lol..... I advocate for a toaster oven! It makes lovely toast, and so much more. My grandmother gave me one when I first set up housekeeping, and wouldn't be without. My current one also has an air-fryer setting. It does make nice fries! there are four adults here, and I can put in a large enough pan for a shepard's pie dinner, or a dozen bratwurst, etc. obviously, YMMV. :) I have a bag of stuff pulled to drop at goodwill or similar, and yesterday we priced/packed 4 boxes of glassware to take to our antique booth. Not that it made much of a dent, but hey, it's still outgoing, right?
iris lilies
6-18-24, 5:12pm
You all are impressive! Just got around to this thread. If anyone still cares, lol..... I advocate for a toaster oven! It makes lovely toast, and so much more. My grandmother gave me one when I first set up housekeeping, and wouldn't be without. My current one also has an air-fryer setting. It does make nice fries! there are four adults here, and I can put in a large enough pan for a shepard's pie dinner, or a dozen bratwurst, etc. obviously, YMMV. :) I have a bag of stuff pulled to drop at goodwill or similar, and yesterday we priced/packed 4 boxes of glassware to take to our antique booth. Not that it made much of a dent, but hey, it's still outgoing, right?
OK. This is good to know. Like for instance, I I bought these little frozen appetizer thingies and I don’t want to heat up the entire oven to cook for them and plus it takes so long for the oven to heat up. So this would be a job for a toaster oven, right?
early morning
6-18-24, 6:57pm
yes indeed! :)
rosarugosa
6-19-24, 6:19am
I gave away a set of hand weights that someone had passed on to me, but I never used them. Hopefully this next friend will get some use from them, or else she can eventually pass them on to someone else in the future, lol.
We have a window air conditioner on the way out the door once my husband contacts someone to see if they can use it. We got new windows and have central air, but kept this just in case- well the ac when out and there's no way we can get it in the window...so finally out it goes! AC is fixed Quickly.
A tank top that got a tear underneath the arm hole. Also a can of hairspray that isn't being used anymore. I don't mind flyaways as much as I used to. Haha!!
Mattress protector. Nothing wrong with it. Just didn't want to use it anymore.
rosarugosa
6-25-24, 6:47am
A tank top that got a tear underneath the arm hole. Also a can of hairspray that isn't being used anymore. I don't mind flyaways as much as I used to. Haha!!
I gave away my hairspray when I retired in 2017.
rosarugosa
6-27-24, 6:42am
I'm in the process of giving away two sweaters, and some nips and premixed cocktails via FB gifting page. We barely drink anymore, so decided we might as well pass it on. I've given away quite a bit of alcohol in the past couple of years, and I get a big response when giving it away, lol. Everyone wants free booze! We still have a lot left; apparently we were well stocked for the zombie apocalypse or another period of prohibition or something.
CompulsiveGardener
6-27-24, 8:10pm
Toaster oven: Yes! I never use it for toast, but I bake in mine all the time... especially when it's hot in summer, when I plug it in outside. I bake all kinds of things in it... far more efficient than heating up the big oven (I think most are 1500W vs something like 2500W for typical electric oven). I mainly use the big oven when baking multiple loaves of bread or doing a big food prep session.
Decluttering: I am going through the entire house and purging things (even though I do this throughout the year and always have a box in progress). I spent significant time this month getting a relative's house ready to put on the market; this branch of the family kept everything and had been in the house for about 90 years. So I guess I'm on a decluttering bender after sifting through so much stuff. The mosquitoes are too fierce and numerous for much gardening right now, anyway.
Husband is continuing to clean out the storage room. Restore picked up 6 boxes+ of leftover collectible toys. There is an employee that helps them sell such things on Ebay so they were willing to take them. Might now have finally cleaned out all the collectible toys. Then they discussed the shipping material we had from Ebay business and they want it all so another car load is leaving this weekend.
I am again going thru craft books and getting real about what I am going to make in the future. So far a copy paper box full of books ready to go.
Posted a nice tote/computer bag, note cards, smart scale, and some canned soup I don’t like on Buy Nothing group. Will all be picked up this afternoon.
Just posted some other canned goods and pasta on BN group, plus a small electric kettle I no longer use and a couple of mixing bowls.
I’ve also posted a skillet, 6qt pot, battery pack for jump starting your car, a small cooler, extra BBQ lighters.
Pair of dumbbells. Foot pump for bike tires and air mattresses.
Someone requested a food processor and I’ve asked if they want my rarely used one.
You are really moving (or should I say "removing") stuff, tradd!!! Congrats!
Three garbage bags of clothes. I’m just pitching most stuff now. Did give away a few things on Buy Nothing group: fountain pen and a few bottles of ink to someone who wanted one, plus two meal bowls and silverware to someone with a new college student.
iris lilies
7-2-24, 9:54pm
Tradd you must have some lovely empty shelves by now.
I love empty shelves!
Not quite! I use the shelves in my closet for lots of stuff as I don’t have a dresser. There are two lower shelves, half the length of walk in closet on one side, below the clothes bar/head height shelf. I have canvas bins on one with folded clothes.
Four 13 gallon bags of clothes packed up to go In the trash. Lots of jeans I haven’t worn since about 2019. When lockdown happened and I was laid off for 4 months and then working from home for 8 months, I went to leggings full time. So much more comfortable. I wear non wire sports bras all the time since then. Trashed my wired bras. I’m so much more comfortable now.
iris lilies
7-30-24, 2:42pm
Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences with a toaster oven. I finally bought one and have been using it. The first experiment was wrong with overcooked food. The second one was just right.
Because I’ve become one of those old persons who buys a lot of frozen foods, the toaster oven is coming in handy. For instance, I would never have purchased frozen garlic bread or frozen onion rings. But but now I’ve tried those.
I have given up on ever being a decent cook.
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