October 100 Items

[fidgiegirl]

Hi all

I am feeling (once again) that we have too much crap.

Our basement is packed. It's nuts. Our upstairs is topsy turvy. Our garage is full of stuff we didn't even get out this summer.

Anyway, I'm going to do a new 100 items challenge in October. Cheating a bit since we still have a week of September, but meh. It's too much to think of finding 100 items in a week for me. So it'll be October + 1 week: A five-week challenge :)

Anyone in?

Count so far (don't laugh!)
1. Dryer lint I had been saving for firestarters
2. The can I'd been keeping the dryer lint in.

I also did the turn-the-hangers-backwards thing to help us see which clothes to cull later.

[Bastelmutti]

Hey Fidgiegirl!
I would like to do this, too. I think I could get almost all 100 out of my office, and that would go a long way to helping with that room, which is my worst. Is it 100 items each week or for the month, though?

[flowerseverywhere]

I'm in. I am trying to stay in the habit of decluttering, I today went through quilt books and found four to give to my friend who is doing that style of quilting and I never enjoyed it. Also, library book sale coming up so I am going to go through my bookshelves tomorrow.

Bastelmutti, I think it is one hundred items for five weeks, so about three a day which is doable for almost everyone.

[rosarugosa]

I have a question: do you also count the number of new things that are coming into your life/home? I just did my fall closet cleanout, and one of the things I'm looking at (although not really keeping a tally) is whether outflow exceeds inflow. I consider myself to be especially successful if outflow is unwanted, unused items, and inflow is composed of items that I really want or need.

[fidgiegirl]

Yes, I was thinking for the whole five weeks.

Rosa, it could be however you want. I plan to only count outflow, but if you need to balance inflow with outflow, go for it! I did need a few new garments for work and clothes tend not to be where I accumulate, so I'm not too worried about it.

Where I am stuck with clothes is that I have some somewhat expensive sweaters that haven't held up like I wanted and want to just give them away but can't bring myself to do it. Also, DH (bless him) buys me a lot of clothes as gifts and I end up giving a lot of that away, too. Boo.

[frugalone]

I am not laughing. My husband save dryer lint. My friend does too--she thinks I want it for an art project.


Hi all

I am feeling (once again) that we have too much crap.



Count so far (don't laugh!)
1. Dryer lint I had been saving for firestarters
2. The can I'd been keeping the dryer lint in.

I also did the turn-the-hangers-backwards thing to help us see which clothes to cull later.

[frugalone]

I would like to do this. Maybe someone can give me some advice though. What if, every time you try to get rid of stuff, your hoarder spouse goes through the bags and then picks stuff out he wants to keep? He's hardly ever out of the house, so it's not like I can sneak the stuff away while he's distracted.

[Marianne]

Hi all


1. Dryer lint I had been saving for firestarters
2. The can I'd been keeping the dryer lint in.



I cracked up laughing when I read that!! Besides dryer lint, I used to save toilet paper tubes to stuff the lint into for firestarters! But I had mine in a plastic bag. I finally pitched it when I realized it wasn't that big of a deal to gather up some twigs to use instead. I also scrounged dryer lint when I made some lint clay for a couple crafty type projects years ago.

My initial list starts with:
1. Scrap metal piles hauled to the recycle center
2. Construction wood that can't be used for anything in the future hauled to the burn pile
3. Start cleaning out the shop, making a decision on whether or not we actually need some of the stuff in there! That would be 100 items right there.

[Fawn]

I'm thinking that even me...miss 100 things can do this, esp if you let me note the things that the kids have outgrown that I am giving away: I start this week. :)

[fidgiegirl]

Woo! We're on a roll!! Side note, we might get our house we've been trying to get since April, though it's not 100%, but I'm even MORE motivated now.

ladyinblack, I really sympathize since my mother engaged in the same behavior whenever I tried to get rid of anything as a teenager and I never could make the stuff leave the house. She insisted on going through everything we wanted to get rid of and then wouldn't and then she'd make US go through it again several months later WITH HER, even though we'd already done our part. It was very, very frustrating, even as a child/young adult. I have read a few books about hoarding that you might find helpful for your situation:

Stuff (about understanding hoarding behaviors) (http://www.amazon.com/Stuff-Compulsive-Hoarding-Meaning-Things/dp/0547422555/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317209844&sr=8-1)

and

Digging Out (specifically about helping a loved one with a hoarding problem) (http://www.amazon.com/Digging-Out-Hoarding-Compulsive-Acquiring/dp/1572245948/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1317209844&sr=8-4)

[Gardenarian]

I would like to do this. Maybe someone can give me some advice though. What if, every time you try to get rid of stuff, your hoarder spouse goes through the bags and then picks stuff out he wants to keep? He's hardly ever out of the house, so it's not like I can sneak the stuff away while he's distracted.

I put the boxes/bags immediately into the car. That seems enough to keep the sticky fingers away (both dd and dh.)

[frugalone]

Good suggestions! I may have to do it when he's asleep. We only have one vehicle so it's kind of hard. What really irks me is that he'll pick up a garment and say, "What? You don't like this jacket anymore? I think it's really nice. Are you sure you want to get rid of it?" I mean, it's not even his clothing! Once he took a coat of mine and gave it to the next-door neighbor. Not that I begrudged her the coat, but it woulda been nice if he'd asked.

[Fawn]

24 items out of my house today:

~2 clear plastic storage boxes (to single mom who needs them)
~1 package of 10 new washclothes (to same single mom)
~3 school uniform shirts (to school repurposing shop)
~book (to a friend who will appreciate the topic)

and the rest to Goodwill
~antique hand mirror (mom off-loaded this on me my last trip to her house)
~shower curtain
~brand new student planner for 2011-2012
~pair of leather gloves
~brief case
~4 women's blouses/T-shirts
~2 pair women's dress slacks
~2 women's skirts
~dress
~pair men's tennis shoes
~book cover (the kind the school requires for text books)
~new package of frog stickers

[Fawn]

28 total--I found 4 more before I made my Goodwill run.

~2 new pillowcases (set came with 4!)
~capris
~George Foreman grill (hand me down from my eldest)

[Fawn]

29 total

~boys BMX style bike

[domestic goddess]

I seem to have an over abundance of books and magazines (really, I'm what my dd calls a "magazine whore"), but a real shortage of warm sweaters and clothing for this cool weather. Can I just get rid of paper stuff and trade it in for warmer clothing?

[larknm]

The idea to subvert hoarding subverter is to put the stuff, while he sleeps, in the trunk of the car, which you can then dump out first chance. the more determined you get, the sneakier. After all, you're trying to get rid of stuff that's legitimately yours.

[fidgiegirl]

1 plastic pitcher
2 potato mashers
3 paperbacks
1 lunchbag
1 cross ornament
about 25 camera lenses and filters (I will count as 1 item, though, wasn't even ours to begin with, just kind of passed through here . . .)
1 pkg laminated maps
1 suitcase

Total so far: 13

I have some lawn items in mind. We also put up a bunch of stuff on eBay tonight and some already has bids. But I'll count that once it's shipped.

Lucky 13!!!

[flowerseverywhere]

big bag of books to the library yesterday.
I am using up my fabric stash, which kind of counts, and made two items this week. About six yards total fabric.
Sent a list of quilt books I no longer wanted for my friend to browse and she wants four of them, so I will see her next week and hand them over.
Our clothes are pretty much down to what we wear and a few dressy items for those times you need them- but next week I will tackle the kitchen, remove everything from all the cabinets and I'll find some things then.

So far 42 items total.

[fidgiegirl]

5 brand new albums to Artscraps

TOTAL = 18

[fidgiegirl]

I wish I had been keeping closer track as I decluttered our personal needs stash, like toiletries and medicines. I did pretty well, I baggied up similar items to make it easier to find them, and now that there is less, we will be able to see better and make better use of all of it. Will count some as batches.

1 batch of misc expired pills
1 ton of wrecked pantyliners (boo - could have used them if I'd stored them properly, but they got all dirty in an open top basket in the dusty basement). Now they are all in a covered container.
1 my old retainers!
1 Diva Cup. Never worked for me. Too bad, it cost a lot, but I bought it so long ago so I didn't even want to go there with the guarantee.
3 lip balms that neither of us like
1 so-close-to-empty bottle of lotion that I don't have any idea why I kept it
1 bottle Maalox

Much condensing and organizing. I found bandaids, which I was going to buy soon, and found a partial bottle of face soap buried under the mountain of pads and pantyliners (Are they reproducing on their own down there, or what?!). We also were on the cusp of buying face soap. Savings on both fronts. I moved some stuff around, and am going to give a shampoo I didn't really care for another shot now that the weather is going to be drier.

Pulled out some hair stuff to give away. A few of the sterling silver barrettes I will eBay, they seem to go well and I will never use them again.

Continuing:
1 small rake from garage

TOTAL: 27

Wow, feels like a lot more than that, but probably because I organized and thus got rid of Costco packages, etc.

Also, we were at my parents and they are always trying to give us stuff. We turned down wood for the fire pit since we're already set. However we did take a drill press stand where you put in a regular drill. We can use that, and if not, Dad gave us the green light to sell it for them. They need money. So it's a win-win.

I am noticing, while we're on that thread, how much of what goes through here was never "ours" in the first place. Take the albums I mentioned above. My sister recently brought them over to see if I'd want them. I wasn't sure, so I took them. I should have instead told her to keep them and let HER worry about getting rid of them, because if I wasn't sure, I likely didn't want them. My SIL always wants to give us the junk she doesn't want, too, and most of the time DH takes it from her. The stuff DH is eBaying right now is for my dad. That kind of thing. I would like to cut down on this. As much comes in as goes out.

[Fawn]

48 total

From work:
~file filled with old medical articles--in recycle bin
~file filled with old thank you notes from patient families--recycle bin
~file filled with work-related photos--recycle bin except for 2 favorites kept

From home:
~old watch threw away broken movement, took beads off the band and created 4 keychain Christmas gifts
~3 back-up CD s for a now dead computer--trash
~4 computer/phone cables--trash

rest all went to Goodwill:
~belt
~2 coffee mugs
~book
~photo frame
~pair of earings
~bracelet
~clear plastic storage bin

[leslieann]

Eek, Fawn! Are you going to get down to 75 total? this thread inspires....hopefully inspiration will lead to action before the end of the month. Do empty printer cartridges count? That's three...

[fidgiegirl]

leslieann, yes! You could choose to keep stockpiling them, meaning to recycle them, etc. but they are OUT of your life. Yeah!

Here:
Old moldy piece of plywood cut up for burn pile. +1

TOTAL = 28

[fidgiegirl]

+1 bottle of old Claritin. Used it up and working on another box. We prefer Zyrtec now but this is working; we won't buy more.
+1 sweater, sold on eBay for $15
+1 antique minnow bucket, sold on eBay for $21.50
+1 bike!!!!!, sold to a very enthusiastic college student for $50 (SO HAPPY that this one is out of the house this fall)

TOTAL = 32 (sure feels like more, though . . . . . . . . . . . .)

[fidgiegirl]

1 VHS to garbage
1 broken frame to garbage
1 frame to giveaway
1 set napkin rings to giveaway
1 old plate to giveaway
1 pair horrible tent pants to giveaway
1 barrette sold on eBay ($13.16, yippee)

+ a whole bunch to the eBay room, but won't count those until they are outtahere.

Most of this was DH's doing! I got out of bed to find him going through the buffet drawers! I'll take it! :D

TOTAL = 39

[fidgiegirl]

+1 fabric cutting table (YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE!)
+2 bike pumps
+1 beer from garage (old beer that DH was saving to spread on the lawn. He got rid of it.)
+5 kitchen utensil and knives

TOTAL = 49

Almost halfway there!! :)

[fidgiegirl]

We been busy!!

+1 fireplace tools set to alley for scrapper

= 50

[fidgiegirl]

Did all my fellow challengers drop out? :( This thread is looking more like a blog :)

Anyway, I won't count them, but we are going gangbusters on polishing off junk in the cupboards. Tonight I finally found a pudding recipe for which we had all the ingredients on hand and finished up cocoa and topped up the salt to finish off one of those. Woohoo! It might sound stupid, but DH and I merged households in 2008 and it's taken us a long time to use up some of that stuff. OK! I know it's 2011 and so it's not the freshest :) But it hasn't killed us yet so we just keep usin' it up. And now I have a good use for cornstarch!! :D

Oh! And one more barrette in the mail. Sold for $4.99 on eBay.
+1
=
TOTAL 51

[leslieann]

Kelli, you are doing a great job. I am very impressed.

I have been relegating paper to the recycling box but not counting. I should be counting as that does inspire more decluttering.

have moved magazines to recycling too.

Will work on being more systematic.

[fidgiegirl]

Thanks leslieann. Every little bit helps.

[cdttmm]

Go fidgiegirl, you are doing a great job! I was so inspired by reading your progress that I just pulled out all of my old gardening magazines and added them to the recycling pile. I'm never going to read them again...I'm more likely to re-read the gardening books I have, but even those could be culled by 50% and I probably wouldn't notice! Also gathered up some random tchotchkes and put them in a bag to take to the Salvation Army. I didn't count everything, mostly because I'm afraid that between the magazines and the tchotchkes I would already be at 100 - eek! Guess it's time to get serious about the decluttering around here!!!

[Fawn]

leslianne--no danger of me getting down to 75 things soon. This effort just keeps it near my target number.

kelli--you are doing great!

Today to Goodwill:

1 set Queen sheets
sweater
blouse
skirt
book
3 pair socks
necklace

to trash: 3 socks waiting ever so long for their mate to reappear

to recycler: large container of cardboard


Total: 61

[fidgiegirl]

Awesome, Fawn!

I got rid of two fat binders of worksheets my mother had painstakingly hole-punched for me from first grade. They were at least three inches thick each. My poor first grade teacher, all the correcting she must have done!! Poor us for doing all those worksheets! I clearly enjoyed worksheets, though, from the level of completion and quality. I was one of those kids who loved school.

So!

+1 huuuuuuge pile of paper to recycling
+2 binders to garbage
+5 boxes of beading stuff I didn't want anymore. I kept the higher quality stuff since I still like to do beading once in a while, and some of the findings like crimps and wire and clasps are multi-purpose and expensive. But I had accumulated a lot of junk beads that are no longer my style. My friend's mom likes to bead and has very little spare cash. Friend's Mom will enjoy them a lot so that feels good and made it easier to part with them.

Total = 59

[flowerseverywhere]

Kelli, thanks for keeping this going. Although I haven't posted here in quite a while I have been continuing along ridding our lives of extra clutter. Today DH asked if I would help him go through a closet in a spare room, we ended up emptying it out and only returning a few things. I have a box of old papers to go through this week, lots of kids papers. Then I took everything out from under the sinks and only put back what I wanted to keep, and DH did the same.
Today we bought 87 items to Salvation Army, and disposed of 18 items and a pile of paper. It felt so good.

Also, I donated 32 books to the library for their used book sale. I volunteer at their sales and they raise a lot of money. We have a thriving library due to a great friends of the library group, a woman who organizes nut and candy sales, and a couple who organize book sales three times a year.

Last week I gave four books and three pieces of fabric to a friend who is into a style of quilting I always intended to get into but never did. She was thrilled. We are doing a service project for Christmas of making placemats for meals on wheels volunteers to give out when they deliver holiday meals. I went through my fabric stash and made 22 kits for us to sew at our next meeting. About three yards of fabric altogether.

finally, after we came home I realized I have two really nice cast iron pans I never use. I have three others as well as a dutch oven that I use all the time, so out the two went. I know someone will be thrilled when they pick it up at Salvation Army. I personally love Salvation Army. They have a lot of programs that help those that are at the bottom of our society, those that have hit rock bottom and help them find a way to climb out.

So I am not counting but we estimated that we probably have about half as many possessions as when we moved into this house. When we moved here it was a company move so we didn't care how much we had. Now we think, would we pay to move this, would our kids want this or be burdened with disposing of this, does this bring us joy and make us any happier? Asking these questions is a great help and I just love living with fewer items. So much easier to clean.

[fidgiegirl]

flowers, I loved reading about all your progress! Too bad we don't live closer (well, who knows maybe you're my next door neighbor - lol) or I would have taken the cast iron pans. Not that doing this would have gotten me any closer to the goal.

It's so interesting when people start thinking of their kids and how they may someday (hopefully loooong in the future) have to deal with the items they have collected. I can tell you that this is not on my parents' radar right now, and they are still youngish but retired, and it stops just short of terrifying me. So you are doing a good thing for them, and you are reaping the benefits personally. Thank you for the update!

[flowerseverywhere]

flowers, I loved reading about all your progress! Too bad we don't live closer (well, who knows maybe you're my next door neighbor - lol) or I would have taken the cast iron pans. Not that doing this would have gotten me any closer to the goal.

It's so interesting when people start thinking of their kids and how they may someday (hopefully loooong in the future) have to deal with the items they have collected. I can tell you that this is not on my parents' radar right now, and they are still youngish but retired, and it stops just short of terrifying me. So you are doing a good thing for them, and you are reaping the benefits personally. Thank you for the update!
I am way to far from St. Paul to have given you the pans! I visit there occasionally, though as I have a sister close by.

Actually what makes me really aware of my possessions is I had to clean my parents house out and we have one remaining parent who is living in a house packed to the rafters. Back attic, top attic, basement, cabinets chock full. You can barely sleep in one of the bedrooms for all the stuff and the other is so full the bed can't be set up. We know it will be inevitable that it will take months. I have suggested several times that she has so many things that others less fortunate could use, however she is afraid someone might want something.

[fidgiegirl]

Actually what makes me really aware of my possessions is I had to clean my parents house out and we have one remaining parent who is living in a house packed to the rafters. Back attic, top attic, basement, cabinets chock full. You can barely sleep in one of the bedrooms for all the stuff and the other is so full the bed can't be set up. We know it will be inevitable that it will take months. I have suggested several times that she has so many things that others less fortunate could use, however she is afraid someone might want something.

Sigh. I'm so sorry. It's much like my parents' place. Oh well, maybe that's why we're both in a thread about getting rid of stuff! :) Hugs.

[Mer05]

Here are my new contributions (as it were):

1 box clothes. I'm making inroads into the "perfectly good but" clothes. This session's breakthroughs were new(-to-me) shirts that turned out not to hang right, and the breaking up of the suit sets. I use the black suit jacket regularly, but the pants needed hemmed, and then I went up a size, and when I came back down I realized they're in a style that doesn't work on me! And I like my red wool jacket, but add a matching red skirt and it's totally Santa's-elf. I've got another half-box of clothes sitting in a closet while I ponder their fate.

My four-wheel rolling suitcase. (When I travel with a suitcase at all, I use a two-wheeler.) The last three times I've used this suitcase were apartment moves; in the meantime it stores off-season clothes. Fewer clothes, just re-upped my lease... farewell, suitcase!

I reorganized the living room, and the floor lamp lost out. Not a net reduction, since I added a loveseat-thing, but the seating is more useful. I paid $2 for the lamp about eight years ago, so I feel I've gotten my money's worth out of that one.

I also went through a box of 'stuff to keep but I'm not sure where it needs to go'. Turns out almost all of it needs to go to Goodwill.

[cdttmm]

I also went through a box of 'stuff to keep but I'm not sure where it needs to go'. Turns out almost all of it needs to go to Goodwill.

Oh, I think I have a few of those boxes, too! I should really just free myself of the clutter!

[Juds]

I would like to join. I have been divesting for a while, so nearly two thousand books are gone, with about that amount still to go.

I have been going through our spare room, which is my art and sewing room, also holding other creative supplies. All of my old teaching stuff is gone, including all of the materials that I kept for creative lessons and activities. I have kept just enough to entertain the grandchildren when they are here. Same thing for the children's books...just enough. I have most of that in a bookcase in the reading/play room, which used to be the dining room until the bookcases and cat furniture took over.

The kitchen, tiny, is mostly done and I managed to get all of my pots and pans into a pull-out basket in one of the cabinets. All of the baking stuff in in the little drawer under the stove. I do not have a pantry space, so two cabinets have to hold all of the staples, food-wise. There is a small cabinet, tall and narrow that hold all of my soap-making supplies.

For clothing, everything was put into another closet and moved back only when it had been worn. There are still a half-dozen garments left in the culling closet, and if they are not worn by the end of the year, they go to the charity shop, as well. The clothes I still have take about twenty inches in the closet and on shelves in a small wardrobe (no dressers). I have one pair of shoes, a pair of walking/hiking sandals and two pairs of flip-flops, one for outside and one for in the house.

I still struggle with books, but they just have to go. I am keeping, oh, maybe two hundred of the ones that I re-read constantly and the ones I mentioned for the grandbabies. The rest, no matter how much I love them, well, they have to go and this month is when they will finally leave.

What else is leaving this month? Oh, yeah, vinyl records, hundreds of them. There is a half-price book store in a big city near-ish to me, and they will take them, but the thought of loading all of them into the van and driving them up there in a couple of trips makes me feel ill. The landfill does not want them either, although they will take them.

For a couple of weeks this summer, I was making trips to the charity shops a couple of times a week, and it shows in how much less stuff there is here. Forty-five years of accumulating crap. What a horrible burden it has been, although I never thought of it as such before this year.

As for having a person who is not as invested in divesting as I am, well, I have one of those, too. He has two closets, three huge dressers and two enormous wardrobes full of clothing, and he will not even consider consolidating any of it. Frankly, I do not care, because it is not my stuff. He also takes items out of the trash and keeps them in the garage, which is so full that I cannot park a car in there. I saw a lot of my old display and shelving stuff from when I had my business out there, too. I thought that was trashed years ago.

Two weeks ago I was looking for the big ladder and found a dozen or more bags of trash, as in regular trash stuff, that he had hidden so that he could go through it to make sure that I had not thrown out anything remotely useful. I waited until the garbage guys were in front of our house and then hauled the bags...and a couple of boxes I found whilst removing the trash bags...out to the road and they are now gone. Yesterday I found the shelves from one of those plastic shelving units in the basement. The legs had cracked, the shelves have no possible use and, yet, there they are, stacked on top of some other stuff that is likely more crap, but I was too disheartened to even look.

All I can do is to get rid of the stuff for which I am responsible and hope for the best. If only one person is of the belief that stuff needs to go to people who need it, then the struggle never stops and all you can do is what you can manage to do.

I cannot bring myself to think of what is going to happen here when I try to get rid of my two bicycles. It is no longer safe to ride them because of joint and vision issues, so they really should go to someone who can enjoy them.

So, please let me join in this monthly getting-rid-of-stuff journey of yours. I really need the support of like-minded people.

[fidgiegirl]

Welcome, Mer05 and Juds!

Juds, I really feel for you. My mother and father are in the same dynamic, my DM being the one who wants to hang on to everything and DF being the one who wants to purge. Difficult to watch. We are here for you. Do you feel lighter? I always feel lighter after a purge. It sounds like it's been rewarding for you or you wouldn't be carrying on despite the challenges . . .

Here we went craaaazy yesterday. I put up a bunch of stored stuff on eBay and so did DH.

4 student teaching/internship binders from 10 years ago to the garbage
1 non-working chain saw given away on CL to someone who can repair it, hopefully

There had to have been more! Oh well, we also organized and labeled tools for easier access and washed all the laundry and consolidated/put away our Costco purchases. All that creates more space.

TOTAL = 64

[rosarugosa]

Mer05: What is the deal with those "perfectly good but" clothes? They are the toughest for me. I found a home for one yesterday! It's a long, indian, cotton casual black skirt from a really nice Portland, Me boutique, that I bought about 8 years ago and have never worn. It still has the $49.95 price tag on it (ouch!) Every year, I take it out and try it on, and say to myself, "this is perfectly nice, comfortable, cute, it fits, and there is no reason why I won't wear it this summer!" Except there obviously is a reason, even if I can't articulate what it is. If I haven't worn it for the past 8 summers, i'm not going to wear it next summer either. This year it dawned on me that it's something DMIL would probably like, so I brought it to her house and offered it to her. She loved it! I find that this type of good, new, fairly expensive, and unworn or hardly worn item needs a specific known and loved recipient. I have a hard time just donating this sort of thing to an anonymous entity.
Fidgie: On inherited stuff - I've recently gone throught a box of my late great-aunt's costume jewelry. There are a couple of nice things that I'll keep, and a couple of things that I'll keep for purely sentimental value, but most of it is junk. So I'm thinking maybe this could be my first foray into Ebay sales? But it also got me thinking about all my stuff, and about how I don't even have any kids, and where will all this stuff go when I die? I have a lot of pretty nice stuff too (yeah, maybe Auntie thought the same thing). Oh well, I guess it will be someone else's problem :)

[flowerseverywhere]

this weekend DH got into the swing of thing and worked on the garage and basement. You can now park two cars in the garage and the basement is usable as a workshop now, with lots of empty space. I only have a few more closets to go through and I will be almost done for now. I am hoping Salvation Army can come and pick up a few large furniture items that were in the basement that I am not sure why I saved.

Rosa, I also have a few items I have never worn similar to your skirt. I am making progress, as I pretty much have an organized closet with only clothes that fit, I wear and are in good repair.

The last pile of books goes to the library tomorrow. I lost count but this weekend if you add in the books we were well over 100 items. We want to move into a smaller space and I think we will be so happy we did all this. Plus the house looks so nice. Most horizontal spaces are clear.

My next project is to go through a pile of cooking magazines and only keeping recipes I have a very big chance of making. I only have kept one cookbook, my old Betty Crocker as there are so many recipe sites on the internet I don't need cookbooks anymore.

[mschrisgo2]

I spent some time Friday clearing out stuff again-

4 dog dishes
10 dog towels
16 small plastic dishes with lids --- all to the local dog rescue.
_____ 30

14 books sold to Half Price Books ($17)
_____ 44

8 smallish flower pots to my neighbor
2 pots the squirrels knocked over and broke --> garbage
________ 54

2 vases
3 shirts
3 pieces of fabric
1 bag full of new hanging file folders
1 bag of misc . office supplies
_________ 64

More to go, soon!

[fidgiegirl]

Welcome, mschrisgo2! Excellent progress!!

[Mer05]

Rosa, congrats on finding a home for the skirt! I have also noticed it's much easier to re-home nice/valuable things than to flat-out discard them. I've been trying to get over that, because things hang around so much longer when they need to go to the right place. I'm 'downstream' from my parents, who also declutter by re-homing, and have had to learn to not take things I don't want (to keep forever argh).

I think the next big hurdle will be the box-and-a-half of books. I was thinking of having a book-swap party, but then I'd just have different books to occupy the same (non-existent) shelf space.

[iris lily]

oh yeah, vinyl records--that reminds me that this winter I've got to clean out all of my recrods, but I doubt that DH will give up his. He likes keeping things forever.

I have one that needs to go to a collectors, but the rest are junk.

[frugalone]

I have a VW New Beetle. The "trunk" is totally visible. But maybe he'll take a nap some afternoon and voila! tee hee



The idea to subvert hoarding subverter is to put the stuff, while he sleeps, in the trunk of the car, which you can then dump out first chance. the more determined you get, the sneakier. After all, you're trying to get rid of stuff that's legitimately yours.

[frugalone]

So far, I have listed six magazines on Etsy, and sold one. I have a pile of books that just may go to the library tomorrow. (considering selling them instead but they've been sitting for six months).
Also, put some clothes in bags to go to the Army while doing the semi-annual closet switch.
Used Wite-Out on old prescription bottles to obliterate our personal information and threw them in the recycling bin.
Composed one of those brown cardboard-y plant holders.
Shredded last year's medical and utility bills.

While volunteering: Threw out tons of old correspondence dating back to the 1970s. They don't have enough people to run the place as it is (museum), much less go through the file drawers.

Question: Does anyone know what you're supposed to do with old prescription bottles? I asked my DSis (pharmacist) and she said either peel the labels off (impossible) or obliterate your personal info.

[frugalone]

Oh, we have tons of vinyl records and CDs--but even if they "stink" and we do not listen to them, he won't get rid of them. I keep trying to convince him that we'll never listen to the Rufus Wainwright CD. Every now and then he puts it on to prove me wrong, then yanks it out of the CD player...because he doesn't like it any more than I do! LOL



oh yeah, vinyl records--that reminds me that this winter I've got to clean out all of my recrods, but I doubt that DH will give up his. He likes keeping things forever.

I have one that needs to go to a collectors, but the rest are junk.

[kitten]

Ha ha, that is so funny - hubby and I have arguments about Rufus Wainright too! It's possible I like the idea of him more than his music. I do love his voice...

Gorgeous guy too! Now if only he weren't playing for the other team (sigh) Them's the breaks! ;)

[mira]

Decluttering is so invigorating for me. It fills me with renewed energy and a new appreciation for my surroundings. Everyone who has contributed is doing so well! Doesn't it feel great? I particularly like decluttering when the stuff that's removed is not replaced. How does it feel for everyone else?

So far:
1. I've put into the recycling one small "archive" of professional association magazines and newsletters dating back to a year and a half ago (when was I ever going to trawl back through them to re-read??). Thinking about it now, I could have saved some to use as giftwrap for fellow librarians... hmmm, oops.

To do:
- Sell a pair of shoes and one pair of pants on ebay
- Dye a second-hand jacket I got, then either keep or sell on ebay (depending on the dye outcome!)
- Filter through all the greetings cards I've saved and keep only the ones most important to me

[Fawn]

Low Hanging Fruit--This almost feels like cheating....but DS #2 and I went through his room and one of his two walk-in closets. We recycled a bin full of paper, including some of his 1st grade artwork that he was ready to let go of. Also, sent to Goodwill:

jacket
Tae Kwon Do outfit (he had outgrown, he kept one and sparring gear)
2 DVD movies
folder of sheet music too easy for him now
key chain
Bob Dylan CD
3 pieces of original art in
3 matching frames
6 misc toys
7 misc balls
3 religious necklaces and
1 decorative cross
I-pod shuffle (he got a I-pod for Christmas last year)
book
and 6 glasses we don't uses anymore (4 oz juice, kids used when little)

plus, we found and returned to their rightful owners:

3-D toy
keyboard
blanket
3 books

That's 44 plus my previous total puts me over the 100.

Plus I found a Barnes & Noble gift card in my son's room that he gave me thinking it only had a few cents on it. I caledl tonight and it has $9.21, so I will give it back to him.

Woo Hoo!

[leslieann]

Just back from dropping off stuff that had been accumulating in the "donate" pile:

2 window blinds, just removed with the new window installation
folder rack
letter rack
pair of sandals that were a good idea but a poor actual incarnation (word?)
Three paperbacks
Fabric that isn't going to get made into anything any time soon
Shoulder bag that fit the laptop but the straps kept slipping (annoying)

What else can go????

[frugalone]

I think we mostly bought it because we are big fans of his dad's. Lucky enough to see Loudon in concert back in about 1996!


Ha ha, that is so funny - hubby and I have arguments about Rufus Wainright too! It's possible I like the idea of him more than his music. I do love his voice...

Gorgeous guy too! Now if only he weren't playing for the other team (sigh) Them's the breaks! ;)

[frugalone]

I just threw a bunch of old prescription bottles into the recycling bin. I finally ended up using White Out on the sensitive info.

Oh, and I found a couple of "what to do in the area for fun" magazines from '06. They were in a plastic bag hanging from something in our kitchen. DH again!

[fidgiegirl]

Hi all! Great work, ah, don't we all feel lighter :)

Here we shipped five items today from ebay.
+1 lamp
+1 sleeping bag liner
+2 doorknobs
+1 vintage minnow net

Several more items sitting upstairs waiting to get picked up, so won't count them until they are out of the house.

We are going gangbusters on the pantry and other consumables, though I am not counting those individually.

TOTAL = 69

[flowerseverywhere]

went through a big stack of cooking magazines and cut out any recipes I might actually make. Most of the recipes looked great but had a huge list of ingredients that I don't have on hand. So I went from about 40 magazines to a folder of recipes and cooking tips.

Found a few more pieces of fabric that I will never use but I know my friend will so I gave them to her.

Had some food that I had gotten with coupons on sale that I put into the food bank box.

This week I hope to clean the kitchen cabinets.

[Tradd]

If you've read my thread in the Open Forum, you'll have seen that I'm having to get totally out of my place for at least a week within the next month or so, due to the fact that my building is sinking and work has to be done inside through my BR & LR floor, in addition to from the outside.

70% of my stuff is packed up. I cannot tell you how much stuff I have gotten rid of. I've lived here for a little more than three years, and boy, did a lot of stuff accumulate! I'm still much more minimal than most people, but man...

I've gotten rid of clothes, books, some kitchen stuff, TONS of paper. I've gone back to paperless billing after trying the paper variety for a while. Man, all that paper! <shudder!>

I'm just getting rid of as much as I can. I'm sure it's been well over 300 items, just within a little more than a week. It feels fab to get rid of all this stuff.

I had brought my micro out of my storage closet after putting it away for a while. I prefer not having it. Not only does it take up a lot of counter space on the one bit of counter that isn't the breakfast bar, but food just tastes better reheated in oven (pizza) or stove top (pasta). And I don't have to worry about burning myself on the danged bowls that are too hot! So the micro will be going the way of the doodo, too!

[Juds]

A trip to Goodwill today:
Bathroom cabinet, tall one
Contents of a 6-foot bookcase (only ten more to go)
Three older sewing machines
3-shelf rolling cart
4-shelf wire cart
Wicker wall shelf
Bag of clothes
Box of assorted crafting stuff

It is amazing how little stuff I am finding that is going into the garbage. I have to admit that removing most of my crafting supplies and tools has left me with a huge regret hangover, and I removed two small zippy bags of large wooden beads and things to use with my grandsons. It felt like an enormous step backwards, but I do have to have some things here for them.

I can hardly believe the tonnage of stuff that is gone, especially since there is still so much left in the garage and basement. Unfortunately, those areas do not have my stuff in them and I have no say in having any of it cleaned out. I did find more stuff that someone had 'rescued' from the trash, but if I can keep track of it, it will be put out again this week.

[frugalone]

3 old bras to the trash can
4 plastic plant containers off the front porch and into the recycling bin

[Tradd]

Passed micro along this evening and got rid of a bunch of other assorted stuff - papers, half-used toiletries I didn't like, etc.

[frugalone]

I always have trouble with the half-used toiletries myself. Also, I never know what to do with the freebie toothbrushes the dentist gives us after a check-up. Salvation Army? Soup kitchen? Homeless shelter?


Passed micro along this evening and got rid of a bunch of other assorted stuff - papers, half-used toiletries I didn't like, etc.

[fidgiegirl]

I always have trouble with the half-used toiletries myself. Also, I never know what to do with the freebie toothbrushes the dentist gives us after a check-up. Salvation Army? Soup kitchen? Homeless shelter?

I would think some kind of food shelf would be happy to have them. I believe they also stock personal care items.

[Tradd]

LIB, yes, the homeless shelter is probably a great place.

[Dhiana]

I always have trouble with the half-used toiletries myself. Also, I never know what to do with the freebie toothbrushes the dentist gives us after a check-up. Salvation Army? Soup kitchen? Homeless shelter?

Some of those half-used toiletries can be used in other places such as using shampoo to clean your toilet :) While I do super clean the toilet once a week, it's the in between days that need a small swish w/a simple soap. And my toilet bathroom smells so much nicer.

I use toothbrushes to scrub on those super hard areas to get clean like a bit of baked on cheese in the oven or hard water stains around the faucets.
You could also just say 'no, thank you' to the dentist :)

[frugalone]

Just say no to new toothbrushes! I like that idea best of all.

Believe me, I have enough old toothbrushes to arm a platoon.


Some of those half-used toiletries can be used in other places such as using shampoo to clean your toilet :) While I do super clean the toilet once a week, it's the in between days that need a small swish w/a simple soap. And my toilet bathroom smells so much nicer.

I use toothbrushes to scrub on those super hard areas to get clean like a bit of baked on cheese in the oven or hard water stains around the faucets.
You could also just say 'no, thank you' to the dentist :)

[fidgiegirl]

We're in the home stretch, all!! One week to go!!

I have been kind of quiet on here but still slowly purging.

2 more items shipped on eBay
6 phone books to reuse/recycling (and 2 that I won't count because they were not allowed to pass the threshold and instead went directly to recycling in the garage)

TOTAL = 77

I actually am probably up over 100 but haven't been counting all the items that have made it into the Epilepsy Foundation pickup bags . . . before the challenge is done I'll count them all, you know, just to make sure :)

Maybe tonight if I'm motivated I will organize the scrapbooking/sewing stuff. If not in the mood for that, perhaps I'd enjoy cleaning out the file cabinet. Well, "enjoy" probably isn't the word . . . but it might end up done, anyway.

[Bastelmutti]

I haven't actively worked on this lately, but today I signed up to donate 10 bags of stuff to a curbside pick-up program for charity. I know I want a scanner to go - that's one box already. I should be able to scrounge additional clothes and books in addition to the stuff waiting in the basement to go.

[kitten]

I haven't been actually counting, although I should - I'm probably close to 60 items for the month. This past week I've gotten rid of clothes, mostly - things I ordered online that didn't fit, that I wasn't organized enough to return. (I wonder if this pain around getting rid of things I paid good money for is some sort of self-imposed penalty for impulse buys - am I subconsciously punishing myself? OTOH - no, I'm probably just too disorganized and exhausted to contemplate jumping through the hoops to return them)

So lots o'clothes, and tons of papers, cards, letters.

Things it's hard to get rid of:

My hubby's friends just love him to death. He has a friend who sends him elaborate homemade birthday cards with pictures he clips out of magazines and colors - there are characters with dialogue boxes, and it's all about their ongoing in-jokes and stuff. Super cute, but - I don't want to stick these things on the fridge. I mean, Garth is our 35-year old friend, he's not our kid! But the file cabinet (I think of it as the morgue, I never seem to look again at anything that goes in there) is already full to bursting. I don't want to store this stuff, and don't want to display it. But it's sentimental.

Jewelry. I have jewelry I don't like, and I could probably get something for it on eBay. The thought of what it would take to start selling on there again (I've done it before) just exhausts me. So trying to do some sort of cost/benefit analysis there in order to decide. I could just donate it and be done with it.

I have some fossils given me by a former boyfriend. We went on a fossil hunting expedition.He turned out to be a major douche and we parted horribly, but I haven't thrown these fossils out for ten years. They could hold napkins down, I guess, but I somehow don't want them to be something my hubby is seeing and using regularly. Just a violation of propriety there. I don't want to be keeping something sentimental from this guy. But a fossil! It's millions of years old! Can't throw it away!

I haven't thrown out a cat scratcher thing that the cat refuses to play with. I need to.

We live in an apartment with a super tiny freezer. No room even for an ice tray (hubby is on Jenny Craig, and his frozen food takes up all the room in there). So we went out and got a humongous ice maker. I haven't used it yet. It's taking up all the room on our tiny kitchen table. Don't have a clue what to do with it. And we still don't have ice!

Here's to the inspiration I get from this thread every day! I'm confident that my stumbling blocks will be overcome soon. Thanks for your support!
Kitten

[fidgiegirl]

Bastelmutti, that's quite a bit of stuff! It'll be a challenge in and of itself.

kitten, nice to see you! It's hard to part with those weird items. Would a local school like the fossil? I also vote to just get rid of the jewelry. I alternate between enjoying and hating eBay, so I hear ya there. Right now I'm in an enjoying moment, but in a few weeks, might hate it again. If you hate, just donate! See, it rhymes!

[jsmadge]

Kitten, you might want to try selling on ebay through a seller. I did that with a ton of stuff a few years ago, and it was worth sacrificing the commission (usually 25-40%). I found my seller by going on ebay and searching for a reseller in my area.

For the cards, can you store them in an unused piece of luggage or box under a sofa or bed? They sound like worth keeping. Or take pictures of them and keep the digital files, tossing the originals.

Donate the fossils or put them in the garden. Don't carry extra baggage:)

[Bastelmutti]

Bastelmutti, that's quite a bit of stuff! It'll be a challenge in and of itself.



Embarrassingly, my DH thinks we already have more than 10 bags waiting in the basement. And I still need to go through books and jewelry again. I have not completely developed my let-it-go muscle, although I'm better than I used to be. Sentimental things just get me. Or things like foreign-language books I can't easily replace. But if I haven't cracked them in 10 yrs.? As I said, working on it!

The rest of you are doing a great job!

[fidgiegirl]

I have been waiting for tomorrow's pickup to total up the rest of the items.

5 items shipping on eBay
2 bike pumps
3 knives
1 pair pants
1 set napkin rings
1 vintage plate
1 frame
1 butter knife
1 measuring spoon
1 set wood pegs
1 set travel locks
1 paperback
1 jacket
2 cloth bags
2 Mexican embossed items
1 blazer
1 women's shirt
1 jar
1 bike seat
1 set C batteries
1 set greeting cards
2 pr vintage skis
1 pr sandals
1 set solar yard lights

TOTAL = 111 YEAH!!!!!!!!! I knew we would reach 100 items!!!! Thanks all for playing!!!!!!

[Tradd]

Good job, Fidgie! :)

I listed an expensive book on Amazon today. Put aside a bunch of books to donate to library. Pitched some stuff that no one else would want.