I am just getting rid of things because of age so I can downsize with ease when the time comes, and so my children do not have much to deal with when I pass on.
Second hall closet done and car trunk packed for visit to the thrift shop on Monday. Among the things to be donated are three nice outfits that were part of my work wardrobe. The shame is I have been retired for fifteen years. Going out is also the bread making machine. It works fine but I think I last used it two years ago. That means I can also donate my bread making cookbook.
Me too Piglet. As I am including instructions and cook books I am of the hope someone will enjoy it. I find we eat little bread now, and I have one good recipe that I enjoy making including the kneading now that I am at home all day.
I’ve cleared out the living room completely. Got rid of two bookcases and an old coffee table. Now we can get new blinds, curtains and carpet and re-decorate. It’s years since we did anything of the sort. 😎😎😎
Today I decluttered a bar of chocolate found when I was moving store cupboard items into new wall cupboards that I’ve just put into the utility room. I have plans to reclaim another cupboard by decluttering the jars of jam etc (going back 10 years or more) and taking one with me each time I see friends. Although already that I’m realising that more cupboards isn’t necessarily a total incentive to less clutter.
Now that’s my kind of decluttering.
Unfortunately my decluttering needs to be clothes, magazines, correspondence and books. I’m loathe to chuck clothes that can be worn for any purpose so keep them until they are beyond charitable giving - being the same size roughly from 14 to 34 probably hasn’t helped this. And the rest soaks up sentimental value. I’d have bookshelves instead of walls if I could.
G'day everyone! I was occasionally active on the old board, and now have decided to become active on the new one. As someone with a very real clutter problem, I'm determined to make this the year that I make inroads on the chaos. Have started on my bedroom, have done the top of the chest of drawers, just attacked my prayer corner, thick in dust (not sure what that is saying about the state of my spiritual life ;-) ) and will move on to the bedside tables next. Forgive me for not yet reading right back through the thread yet, will keep that as a reward for actually having achieved something!
I've started, but it is going to be a long, slow process. I've managed to organise my lounge quite a bit and throw several bags of rubbish out, and part with a bit of furniture. It's hard to see good things go to the tip, though, when freecycle and the charity shops have rejected them for really quite minor reasons.
But I guess I have the best motivator - ultimately my man and I hope to find a home together, either his home or somewhere new (not for a long time yet, mind, mainly due to incompatible pets!) and he is a minimalist with a small house and, living in London, anywhere we might buy together will still be too small for all my stuff.
The tough one comes next month when a local church have a mega second hand book sale to raise money for a charity I support. It is my plan to take a minimum of a hundred books to donate......... It will barely scratch the surface, but it's still hard.
If you're looking for me mid February, I am the one rocking in the corner with a duvet over my head.
My husband is still blaming me for “making” him throw out so much stuff when we last moved five years ago, after 34 years in the same 5 bedroomed house.
He still throws a duvet over his head from time to time.
We have still got too much stuff.
I have been washing down the kitchen and cleaning out the contents. Oh look 5 year old truffle oil. Mr Image and his six full 1994 Harley Davidson beer cans. "Oh No" he said," they will be worth something someday." My response " I better die first." Do people really collect old beer?
I suspect they do, but I imagine it might need to be even older than that - things like Coronation Ale (which in the UK would have to be over 65 years old). Not sure what the American equivalent would be.
Here in Oz some of the charity shops are rejecting further donations. Seems they've been inundated as a result of many people decluttering madly, inspired by the Kondo series on Netflix. January is always a big month for donations here, evidently.
Yes, same here Hebdom. I passed a charity bin this morning and there was a woman pulling clothes out of a garden sized rubbish bag and carefully folding the before she posted them into the slot. She didn't look as though the exercise sparked joy.
Here in Oz some of the charity shops are rejecting further donations. Seems they've been inundated as a result of many people decluttering madly, inspired by the Kondo series on Netflix.
Can I moan here? In my village we have a FB group for freecycling unwanted goods. Last week I put 3 lots of things on there. All were bid for, and I random name picked winners as we are bidden, and contacted them. So why are 2 of the lots still sitting in my porch? Why do people ask for things then not collect them?
I have started five stacks -- one each for three thrift shops, one for my local library, and one for our city's household recycling (old electronics, hardware, batteries, etc.). Next step is to start delivering them when I go in the various directions.
Can I moan here? In my village we have a FB group for freecycling unwanted goods. Last week I put 3 lots of things on there. All were bid for, and I random name picked winners as we are bidden, and contacted them. So why are 2 of the lots still sitting in my porch? Why do people ask for things then not collect them?
We too have a community freecycling group, and people complain of the same problem. It seems to me if you bother to say you want something you should pick it up, and if you change your mind let the person know. I have given up on it and take my things to the thrift store instead.
Can I moan here? In my village we have a FB group for freecycling unwanted goods. Last week I put 3 lots of things on there. All were bid for, and I random name picked winners as we are bidden, and contacted them. So why are 2 of the lots still sitting in my porch? Why do people ask for things then not collect them?
Because, sadly, people value what they pay for. We have given up on freecycle and the like for that exact same reason.
Mrs. S, whose favourite charity shop has closed own
I have been a clutterer - especially paper. I love paper and stationery and craft. I also love books. I have long given up on hoarding paperback novels; poverty meant that the only way to keep up with my reading habit was the library and revolving credit at the 2nd hand bookshop. I'm not poor any more (thanks be to God), but the experience has helped me to break the book hoarding habit. Also, moving 5 times over three countries in the past 14 years has put paid to my desire to accumulate loads and loads of lovely papery things.
So circumstance, rather than willpower has turned my home into a less cluttered place. Once you've gone through the trials of downsizing precious things, it is surprisingly easy to avoid getting back into the accumulation groove.
Please indulge me while I blow my own trumpet:
A while ago, some friends travelling overseas came to stay with me as part of their world tour. I'm not the kind of person to give guided tours around my modest home, but friends are welcome to wander around, and if they're staying a while, then obviously, they are going to become familiar with my surroundings. So there we were, K and I, in the back scullery where the drinks fridge is. K was looking around the tiny room with the big fridge, a small cabinet, a dresser, the step ladder and my collection of empty boxes, polystyrene packing and plastic bags. I was feeling more and more uncomfortable as K's eyes roved around the room clocking all my clutter: "My God, Crunt" she said "your home is so ... minimalist!"
I've since got rid of the empty boxes and the polystyrene, but the plastic bags are still there.
I watched an episode of the Marie Kondo show last night; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and I'm going to take her tip and start folding my clothes in a way that lets you see everything when you open the drawer.
I made a trip to local thrift store yesterday. It felt so good to come home with an empty car. I am now talking myself into working on the lower kitchen cabinets. I find it easier to stand on a step stool for upper cabinets then to sit on the floor to clean out lower ones. Well the sitting down is not the problem of course it is the getting back up again. That being the case, I took the dog for a walk, decided what to fix or dinner, and I am now on the Ship, delaying tactics all.
If it is any help, Graven Image, when I need to get something from a lower cabinet, I sit on the step stool with a chair beside it. When it is time to get up, I put my arms on the seat of the chair to boost myself up. I have extreme deficits in one of my legs and if I didn't do this, I would be down all day. Now, I do realize that it is easier to say it is hard than to do the work but if you are thinking of getting down there, this tip may be helpful.
It’s done, two bookcases and many bags of books have gone to charity. I’ve also got rid of piles and piles of old curtains, clothes, shoes and bits of ‘stuff’ which we’ve never used in years. The large porch was full to bursting when the charity van arrived.
(If you are in the U.K. I recommend the British Heart Foundation - they are friendly, punctual and will take anything. Just phone them and agree a morning for them to pick up.)
Not quite anything, Boogie - a friend of mine tried to give them two lovely big sofas (with years of wear in them) which they refused to take because of some pulled threads in the upholstery. They insisted that the furniture needed to be in 'perfect' condition.
In the end, the sofas went to survivors of the Grenfell fire
Not quite anything, Boogie - a friend of mine tried to give them two lovely big sofas (with years of wear in them) which they refused to take because of some pulled threads in the upholstery. They insisted that the furniture needed to be in 'perfect' condition.
In the end, the sofas went to survivors of the Grenfell fire
Ah yes, I was talking about the bags of ‘stuff’ not furniture. They are more fussy about furniture.
We are lucky, there’s a place at our tip for furniture items which you can take stuff to or rescue stuff from. People who like to ‘upcycle’ get useful things from there.
My DIL is a keen upcycler. She makes some lovely things out of old furniture.
Thank you Lilly Pad, I had not thought of the chair up part. I shall give it a try. I am putting it off until later in the week. I have other things to keep me busy. ( Thank goodness)
[...] If you are in the U.K. I recommend the British Heart Foundation - they are friendly, punctual and will take anything. Just phone them and agree a morning for them to pick up. (Italics mine, WJ)
[rant start] Can someone please send them to Downing Street and assorted places, and remove the heartlessness there? [/rant over]
I've purchased a new shredder, and of quite different design than anything I'd ever seen before! Instead of you standing there, feeding it with only a few single sheets at once, this is actually fully automated! And in my version takes up to a whopping 90 sheets of paper at a time! (Video link - sorry for slightly misogynist role models there, but it shows well how it works.)
The thing is spectacular, and although at that price not perfect - meaning, not a top notch top-speed professional machine -, it makes an amazing difference to my assortment of no longer needed single or stapled A4-size papers. The manufacturer's main selling point is the huge amount of time saved by just filling it up, and then letting it get on with its job, all by itself. I find it marvellous.
This will clear some shelves and cupboards or so, which I'd never got round to doing because of the so totally dull and time-wasting feeding sheet-by-sheet technique of a convenstional shredder. - Just as my little contribution to a less cluttered home, in my own setting, and to this thread.
We had one of those shredders at w*rk and it didn't. Kept overheating and failing to feed the paper. Worse than the feed the pages in shredder for shifting stuff.
Well, it's got a two-year-warranty, so we'll see. I'm hopeful! Everything still fine. (I've had smaller Rexels before and sort of knew what to expect.) - Sorry to hear of your misfortune, Ck. I hope you could return it, with money back.
Off to the dump (recycling centre) with various things that I have managed to get my other half to agree to part with. His philosophy is that it might come in handy, and if stacked "neatly" or laid out (preferably) where he can't forget he has it, that is fine. So he likes lots of things all jammed in together and all surfaces covered in unlovely tools or bits of things. Real dust magnet..... But today, some of it goes, agreed to because it is not his or his late mother's ex-stuff.
These are resources I post from time to time. Some focus on practical steps, or on the emotional stress and backstory. Others on both. They have e-mail newsletters available for free. ...
Thank you, GK. I've been working on some things (like papers), but I need to get serious as my time runs out. I have noted the sites (and the book), and will check them out.
I have a lot of family things, and I do tend to get sentimental about them. I need to get tougher. (I'm leaving most of my enormous collection of books and CDs to my executor/trustee, though - he can sort through them all!)
Started on bottom kitchen drawers. Ready for the thrift store, dumpling press, one cup size flour sifter, pizza cutter, and cheese knife. Into the trash, church directory to church I have not attended in 12 years, instructions for mixer I have not had for 8 years, a plastic tie, lid to coffee maker I no longer own. and guidelines for building an outdoor children play tent. Grandchildren are now 12 and 15. Kept, address to electoral repair service, information booklet for dishwasher, and paint color chart for kitchen cabinets. This was only one drawer.
I am trying to turn a junk room into a bedroom for a visiting grandchild. Unused bags and china went to the charity shop last week. Today's haul comprised 14 lengths of coaxial cable, 8 extension leads and a box full of ethernet cables. What was DH planning to do with them?
Comments
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The Respectful Mrs. S
Same here - bought bread gives me tummy trouble, my own doesn’t. No additives 🙂
In other news - I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!I’ve done it!
I’ve cleared out the living room completely. Got rid of two bookcases and an old coffee table. Now we can get new blinds, curtains and carpet and re-decorate. It’s years since we did anything of the sort. 😎😎😎
Unfortunately my decluttering needs to be clothes, magazines, correspondence and books. I’m loathe to chuck clothes that can be worn for any purpose so keep them until they are beyond charitable giving - being the same size roughly from 14 to 34 probably hasn’t helped this. And the rest soaks up sentimental value. I’d have bookshelves instead of walls if I could.
Selflessly I will, at great personal risk, send my snail mail address to anyone wanting to declutter dark chocolate.
Huia - martyr to the decluttering cause.
I’m a keen photographer but was never an organised one. Of course, all my photos are digital now and rather more organised.
I’m going to get new photo books printed of the special ones - but sorting them out will take about ten years!
I think I'll start on the cleaning so I'm not left too far behind. Thanks for the push.
And welcome (back) aboard!
But I guess I have the best motivator - ultimately my man and I hope to find a home together, either his home or somewhere new (not for a long time yet, mind, mainly due to incompatible pets!) and he is a minimalist with a small house and, living in London, anywhere we might buy together will still be too small for all my stuff.
The tough one comes next month when a local church have a mega second hand book sale to raise money for a charity I support. It is my plan to take a minimum of a hundred books to donate......... It will barely scratch the surface, but it's still hard.
If you're looking for me mid February, I am the one rocking in the corner with a duvet over my head.
He still throws a duvet over his head from time to time.
We have still got too much stuff.
The library has this and I am next in the queue for it on my ereader. Thanks for posting about it GK.
Either there’s a Netflix glitch or Marie Kondo’s methods have escalated.
Because, sadly, people value what they pay for. We have given up on freecycle and the like for that exact same reason.
Mrs. S, whose favourite charity shop has closed own
Hurrah! I've learnt how to use emoticons on the new board!
So circumstance, rather than willpower has turned my home into a less cluttered place. Once you've gone through the trials of downsizing precious things, it is surprisingly easy to avoid getting back into the accumulation groove.
Please indulge me while I blow my own trumpet:
A while ago, some friends travelling overseas came to stay with me as part of their world tour. I'm not the kind of person to give guided tours around my modest home, but friends are welcome to wander around, and if they're staying a while, then obviously, they are going to become familiar with my surroundings. So there we were, K and I, in the back scullery where the drinks fridge is. K was looking around the tiny room with the big fridge, a small cabinet, a dresser, the step ladder and my collection of empty boxes, polystyrene packing and plastic bags. I was feeling more and more uncomfortable as K's eyes roved around the room clocking all my clutter: "My God, Crunt" she said "your home is so ... minimalist!"
I've since got rid of the empty boxes and the polystyrene, but the plastic bags are still there.
I watched an episode of the Marie Kondo show last night; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and I'm going to take her tip and start folding my clothes in a way that lets you see everything when you open the drawer.
(If you are in the U.K. I recommend the British Heart Foundation - they are friendly, punctual and will take anything. Just phone them and agree a morning for them to pick up.)
In the end, the sofas went to survivors of the Grenfell fire
Ah yes, I was talking about the bags of ‘stuff’ not furniture. They are more fussy about furniture.
We are lucky, there’s a place at our tip for furniture items which you can take stuff to or rescue stuff from. People who like to ‘upcycle’ get useful things from there.
My DIL is a keen upcycler. She makes some lovely things out of old furniture.
I've purchased a new shredder, and of quite different design than anything I'd ever seen before! Instead of you standing there, feeding it with only a few single sheets at once, this is actually fully automated! And in my version takes up to a whopping 90 sheets of paper at a time! (Video link - sorry for slightly misogynist role models there, but it shows well how it works.)
The thing is spectacular, and although at that price not perfect - meaning, not a top notch top-speed professional machine -, it makes an amazing difference to my assortment of no longer needed single or stapled A4-size papers. The manufacturer's main selling point is the huge amount of time saved by just filling it up, and then letting it get on with its job, all by itself. I find it marvellous.
This will clear some shelves and cupboards or so, which I'd never got round to doing because of the so totally dull and time-wasting feeding sheet-by-sheet technique of a convenstional shredder. - Just as my little contribution to a less cluttered home, in my own setting, and to this thread.
Me, I love space.
I have a lot of family things, and I do tend to get sentimental about them. I need to get tougher. (I'm leaving most of my enormous collection of books and CDs to my executor/trustee, though - he can sort through them all!)