November Purge

[oakandbee]

​This is my first thread so hopefully I'm doing it correctly...

Yesterday was a great downsizing day. I sold one of my bikes, and I gave away a desk and bureau on Freecycle.

Next up is the bookshelf. Hopefully I can sort/pack/donate the contents and post the bookshelf by Friday.

[iris lilies]

Yay, that is a lot of bulk gone!

[Tybee]

Great start for a November purge thread! I will post when I restart my declutter mission this month. thank you for starting this.

[rosarugosa]

Good work! I don't think there is really a right or wrong way to do this; it's kind of free form. :)
I got Mom to go through her scarf collection with me today which took over an hour. Lots of scarves out, maybe 30 - 40, but I did not count them, oddly enough. She probably kept about 20.

[Yppej]

Worn clothes, a worn sheet, and paperwork. I burned a binful of papers now that we are in fireplace season.

[beckyliz]

The bank branch I work at is having a clothing drive this month for the local shelter. Good excuse for DH and I to go through the closets and drawers and find some gently-used items we don't wear.

[Yppej]

Some paper plates gathering dust and dingy plastic utensils. I think at some point these items actually looked fine.

[oakandbee]

Nice job, everyone!

Thanks, Iris! You're so right about the bulk. It's amazing to see space instead of furniture.

I cleaned out the bookshelf. My MIL wants it so it'll wait till the end of the purge, but at least it's empty.

[oakandbee]

I gave away an over the door shoe organizer via Freecycle. I boxed up the shoes it contained to be donated. Also in the donation bag: my down coat, snow pants, and a fancy interview shirt.

I realized that my driver's license will be expiring 6 months after we move. I'm letting it expire. One less thing :)

[rosarugosa]

I spent a productive 1.5 hours in the cellar today. Cleaning our cellar is like shoveling sh*t against the tide, but at the moment I have at least the illusion of progress. :laff:

[iris lilies]

I got rid of several newish hand towels that must be mostly polyester because they are completely non-absorbent. What is the point of having towels that are non-absorbant?

[rosarugosa]

I got rid of several newish hand towels that must be mostly polyester because they are completely non-absorbent. What is the point of having towels that are non-absorbant?

I think towels must be 100% cotton.

[Yppej]

A bunch of papers, starting to fill up the bin again for burning.

[iris lilies]

I think towels must be 100% cotton.
agreed.

[oakandbee]

I spent a productive 1.5 hours in the cellar today. Cleaning our cellar is like shoveling sh*t against the tide, but at the moment I have at least the illusion of progress. :laff:
Nice! I know what you mean. I clean out a section of a room and when I look at the other section it feels like it has accumulated more items, but I swear I'm actually removing items from the house.

[rosarugosa]

Nice! I know what you mean. I clean out a section of a room and when I look at the other section it feels like it has accumulated more items, but I swear I'm actually removing items from the house.

Funny how that works, isn't it?
I think the key to our cellar issue is to stop using it as a purgatorial way station for things that just really need to go out the door. Easier said than done!

[Tybee]

Funny how that works, isn't it?
I think the key to our cellar issue is to stop using it as a purgatorial way station for things that just really need to go out the door. Easier said than done!
Boy, the purgatory issue is so true. I am going to spend a half a hour a day down there for the next month, see if I can't reduce the sheer number of stored things.

Ugh, it's so cold down there.

[iris lilies]

At work I used to have a purgatory status where I deliberately kept paper documents for what I thought would be a short time like six months to a year. If I didn’t need that information in it’s handy form after that time, I pitched it.

This was for some key documents not for everything.

[Teacher Terry]

We had a basement in Wisconsin where things went to die. After 14 years we moved and what a job. Now my husband has a huge shed and small garage. Luckily he goes out of town occasionally:))

[happystuff]

We have an old, unfinished stone basement which is currently housing unused workout equipment. I think I'm going to start suggesting a clean-out in the spring. Gives me time to get people used to the idea.

[Teacher Terry]

Happy, you can sell the equipment. I bought a carry on called travel pro that is small but expands so it holds a lot. I bought one for DH and also one suitcase to check in light of our trip. I am going to take the unwanted luggage to the thrift store today.

[happystuff]

Happy, you can sell the equipment. I bought a carry on called travel pro that is small but expands so it holds a lot. I bought one for DH and also one suitcase to check in light of our trip. I am going to take the unwanted luggage to the thrift store today.

TT, that would be my hope! But the ultimate goal is to be rid of it. LOL. The carry on sounds interesting. Is Travel Pro the name I can google to see it?

[Teacher Terry]

Yes it was developed by a airline pilot and stewardess. It holds so much stuff. I got my first small carry on at Ross for half price at 50. He wanted one plus another one to check. I found that they have a outlet store online so got both pieces for 111. So besides Craigslist also try Letgo, OfferUp and Facebook marketplace to sell your items. It’s quick and easy and I have sold most anything posted. Just remembered you can sell on Nextdoor.

[happystuff]

Thanks for the info, TT.

I've been having an "in house" day. I have the living room cleaned and holiday decorations out of the closet. I did put our simple, single string of lights up outside, as the weather is decent and I don't know how long that will last. Anyway, in all the cleaning, I've also been purging/shredding "trip" stuff, from two separate trips taken in 2010 and 2018.

I'm counting that as "purging". LOL.

[happystuff]

Just finished cleaning a closet! All our in-house tools are in there and they were such a mess; I finally got fed up looking at it. Reorganized the entire tool shelf - several things ended up in the garbage, and a bag of duplicate tools, nuts, bolts, etc are now in the donation piles; and a couple things are in the "yard sale" stack. I can walk the length of this closet now and find what I want/need!!!! I'm so happy!!! LOL,

[iris lilies]

This is embarrassing: we pulled down all of our fake greenery from our 3rd floor storage area. Here’s the inventory:

4 Christmas trees
12 garlands
4 wreaths

That is some Xmas hoarding there. I already jettisoned several wreaths last summer, after offering them free on .craigslist with no takers. That does not address ornaments and lights, still have to pull those out.

Yesterday I offered the tall (10’) tree to my immediate neighborhood and someone is coming to get it today.

I offered garlands to my immediate neighborhood, no takers yet.

The other stuff, not so wonderful, I will drop off at Goodwill.

I decided to keep the very tallest tree, 11’ and very skinny, because I like tall skinny trees, they are easy to fit into a small space. I’ll decorate it this year, but may not keep it beyond January 2020.

I dont always set up onemof these fake trees and in recent years I have been using real trees. I used two of the fake trees in 2016 whenI decorated my friend’s house for our neighborhood Holiday House Tour, so they do get used for i portant events.

But the fake stuff isnt moving to Hermann with us.

[Teacher Terry]

I ditched the fake Xmas tree 5 years ago. Too much work to decorate.

[happystuff]

We got our first ever fake tree last year - invasive insect species in our area and warnings went out about trees. I actually like it as putting up and taking down is easy and I can do it whenever I want. I think, however, that this may be my next "tree":

https://www.engineeryourspace.com/giveaway-wall-mounted-christmas-tree/#.Wfrzd1vWyUl

LOL.

[Tybee]

IL, I am impressed you are moving along the Christmas stuff, especially the fake trees.
I have a fake tree and last year I didn't even put it up, as we like real trees better. But the prelit fake is very easy.

I will give it another year but maybe, if we move, we won;t move it.

I have very happy memories of all the real trees we've cut/bought over the years, including a free one on Christmas Eve when I was driving home from working at IKEA all day.

[iris lilies]

As a one time Christmas decor queen, both kinds have advantages.

The fake trees can be up for an unlimited amount of time since they dont get old and dry. They are very easy to hang decorations on, you can use the bendy parts to hold ornaments and lights. Downside is: they take up storage space.

Fresh trees are nice because they smell nice and you can jettison them at the end of the holiday season. They also look nicer than the fake stuff. Downside is they drop needles everywhere and they get old and brittle, and they stick me when I decorate them. Also, at the moment, I am fighting A plant allergy so I do not need any more plants in my living room.

[iris lilies]

I got rid of 5+ cubic feet of artificial Christmas greenery.

Next up: Xmas ornaments and fri fur.

One of my tall trees went to a mansion in my neighborhood. 12 garlands went to a woman in an adjacent neighborhood who will drape it on her wrought iron fence, just as
I did with it.

I like thinking about how these crappy petroleum products will enhance my Victorian neighborhood.

[rosarugosa]

IL: What is fri fur?

[iris lilies]

IL: What is fri fur? i mean fru fru or froo froo or chotchkes

[Yppej]

A container of table salt with a broken spout is going on the snow and ice we got the last couple of days.