View Full Version : October Purge
Watched a decluttering video and got inspired to do a quick sweep of the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Netted 22 items.
Kitchen..
3 ant sprays
1 umbrella
8 paper bags
Living room...
2 cat toys
Bedroom...
1 men's undershirt
1 tank top
Bathroom...
1 prescription medicine
2 tubes of prescription toothpaste
1 organizer
1 foot spray
1 shaving cream
Found something else in the bedroom this morning to declutter. I had forgotten to check one of the nightstands where I keep medical devices like ace bandages and knee and ankle braces.
When my oldest was 9, he broke his elbow and needed a cast and arm brace. I kept the arm brace just in case any of my boys ended up getting hurt again.
Hadn't gotten it out since and my boys are between 21-24 years old.
Looked at it this morning and realized it was a kid sized brace and wouldn't fit anyone now so it got decluttered.
Got rid of a rocking chair I bought 25 years ago when I got pregnant with my first. Never used it with him or his brother.
Am I the only one decluttering this month? :laff: Got rid of a battery operated can opener. I never reach for it anymore and just use the manual one. It started being a pain and I would have to try multiple times to get it to work correctly so I bought a manual one.
While Christmas was on my mind going back and forth whether to buy stuff at Hobby Lobby, I ended up decluttering a Santa that can be used as a tree topper or table decor. Cleared out a big space in the box of Christmas decor.
rosarugosa
10-11-25, 6:31am
I have decluttered and given away a bit of Halloween stuff from my mother's house. There are one or two items I may try listing on eBay. When I go to her house on Sunday, I plan to bring home the last of her Halloween stuff to give away.
I haven't done much in the way of decluttering at home recently. I guess I'm not feeling too "cluttery." I tend to get into this more in the winter months.
My house never gives off the cluttered feeling. Really only think about doing a pass through when I get inspired by a decluttering YouTube video or something jumps out at me and I wonder why I still have it.
I just deleted 388 emails from the MSN email! Now to do the other 2!
iris lilies
10-13-25, 6:14pm
in the past two weeks I’ve been on a little kick about purging things, little things I run across, the irritate me. these are things that I might use again but maybe I won’t, or I don’t know what it is exactly so I’m gonna pitch it.
Already I went out to the garbage can to dig something out when I Figured I could use it in a sewing project. It’s not something that I HAD to have, but it came in handy.
but usually, I don’t regret pitching things
littlebittybobby
10-13-25, 7:58pm
okay---last month, i drove ta Nixsa, Zurras fastest-growing city, and bought a chevy engine block that a guy wanted to get rid of. Then, i stopped at a junk dealer, who buys scrap and places some of it out front for people like me to purchase. So yeah---i got two pieces of junk, and hauled them home. they are laying out in the side yard. the engine block is in a garbage bag in my house garage. how do you kids like that?
rosarugosa
10-16-25, 6:20am
I completed the semi-annual closet cleanout/organization. We dropped off a large bag to the fabric recycling bin, and sent two large bags of clothing to the local non-profit thrift store. At this point we are both ahead of the game with more going out this year than coming in.
rosarugosa
10-20-25, 6:31am
I offered the last of the Halloween stuff from Mom's house as a batch on our local FB free page and no takers. I photographed and offered it separately and had much better success. I'm just waiting for one last pickup from an annoying and unreliable person I've given stuff to in the past. On the one hand, I feel sympathetic because I think she is poor and maybe has some mental illness, but on the other hand, it shouldn't take a lot of work on my part to give someone stuff for free. It's going to the thrift store Thurs if she hasn't gotten it by then.
It was go through the glass jars day. I have always used random glass jars for food storage (dry beans and grains, etc) and for freezing stock and soups. Space is limited though and they seem to procreate when I am not looking. I found quite a few without matching lids or of limited use so some success was made in thinning the herd. I have seen glass jars showing up at the thrift store as of late when most people used to just toss or recycle.
rosarugosa
10-21-25, 6:42am
"go through the glass jars day" sounds like it could be a SLF holiday!
Flaky person picked up the Halloween stuff yesterday, so I'm pleased about that.
littlebittybobby
10-23-25, 8:19pm
okay----a cautionary tale. So anyway----i saw this news article and clipped it to post here. (see photo) but yeah---it's sad, and it could happen to YOU! Yup. Hope that helps you some. Thankk mee.6581
rosarugosa
10-24-25, 6:12am
Lol Bobby, I never get rid of any of my husband's stuff without his OK. Not because I fear violence, but because it would just be rude and disrespectful. Thankk youuu for the warning, anyway.
I've been on a roll for decluttering. I have trouble getting rid of things and have tried to lighten up on a few things every week rather than a big purge. Today, aluminum accumulation went to the metal recycler, dropped off a few boxes of things at Goodwill, and cardboard boxes and five gallons of old paint top the local recycler. I have a few old batteries in the car to take to Home Depot next time I'm close and last week was a run to Habitat with some tools in a garage purge. It's nice to have places to take all that stuff, but sometimes a challenge to figure out where it all should go.
happystuff
10-25-25, 8:10am
I agree that finding a place to take/donate things is often have the battle, Rogar. It's nice you have so many options.
rosarugosa
10-26-25, 6:44am
I actually mis-spoke, because I had another flaky person who was supposed to pick up 2 small Halloween decorations from me and never did. I have given her a lot of things in the past, and I was willing to cut her more slack because she bought a lot of pottery from us at the fair last December! But bottom line is that I sent her 3 messages and got no response, so I dropped the items off at a thrift store yesterday. Seems crazy to get ghosted by someone when you are trying to give them free stuff (that they actually said they wanted)!
iris lilies
10-26-25, 10:52am
I actually mis-spoke, because I had another flaky person who was supposed to pick up 2 small Halloween decorations from me and never did. I have given her a lot of things in the past, and I was willing to cut her more slack because she bought a lot of pottery from us at the fair last December! But bottom line is that I sent her 3 messages and got no response, so I dropped the items off at a thrift store yesterday. Seems crazy to get ghosted by someone when you are trying to give them free stuff (that they actually said they wanted)!
After going through several instances of that I gave up and I no longer even try to give away free stuff. Not worth my time.on FB. There WAS two instances before we moved where I put up items for free of real value on our neighborhood FB page. And even then, the first person flaked but but the second person came to get it and was thrilled. She sent a photo of how it fit into her collection.
the second item was a 30 year old KitchenAid mixer that hasn’t been used all that much and would last many decades, and I just dropped that off at someone’s house because I didn’t want to make special arrangements for her to come and get it because by that time we were spending most of our time in Hermann.
DH, on the other hand, sells things on FB. For me that also isnt worth it but he an old retired guy with lots of time, so he can do what he wants.
rosarugosa
10-27-25, 7:05am
IL: Well I am an old retired lady, but I still seem to be trying to fit an awful lot into my days, so it never really feels like I have lots of time. Fortunately, I've had much more good experiences than bad with giving away stuff, so I'm willing to keep it up.
A dear friend came up from RI to visit with me, Sis and Mom yesterday. Mom just wanted to sleep and not interact, but Sis and I had a great visit with the friend and we sat and talked for over 4 hours. We had pulled together a modest collect of Mom's better quality jewelry and asked her if she would like to choose something. She chose a pearl ring and seemed appreciative. I like being able to thoughtfully disposition things without any urgency.
littlebittybobby
10-27-25, 6:40pm
okay----they have these bins down at the groc store that are return merch from department stores and they price it according to the day. Those people dig like dogs through everything and paw thru the stuff but anyway, i went in there on the $5 day and there was a box that they pried open and there were 5 powdered coated black steel brackets that were bent into right angles and holes drilled. I reckoned it was a kit to make a garage shelf using a 2 x 8 board. So, yeah----worth every penny. Today, was 1$ day, and i grabbed an empty box, filled it with black powder coated tubing parts and other misc stuff and scored it all for 3$, including an unopend full pack of mailers. Yup. So, yeah---got more "useless junk" , as you kids would say. Alla that, in addition to a pair of fairly good El Camino doors (from upta Strafford). So anyway, gotta deal with that, before the battery runs down in my old, junk economy car---one of THE cheapest new cars you could buy at the time. Oh---here's an El Camino(not mine) and a Subbbarrroo Brat for comparison.(see photos) Never see any Brats anymore---guess they've all been "recycled". Yup. 6589
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