Not quite a horder - decluttering
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Today I took a few papers to the bank to put in the safe deposit box. Getting to the point of doing that meant, of course, sorting through papers at home to find or create the ones to take. Once at the bank, I spent about 45 minutes sorting through the box. I pulled out a bunch of things no longer needed, a few things to deliver to son (his birth certificate, etc,) and reorganized the rest. When I left the bank I felt great, because I was able to check a big-ugly off my list.
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Way to go Mia. Papers are my downfall. I think it's hereditary. My Mother saved every drawing or painting or report that all three of us made from age 3 through high school - not to mention report cards and all of our baby teeth. My Dad had file folders with every tax return he ever filed since the early 1920s - along with his check stubs (first W-2s were issued in 1944). I'm not quite that bad, but sorting paper will take the rest of my life if I only work an hour a day.
My ex-DH came to look through the vinyl records today just in case he might want some before I sell them (or donate them as the case may be). Nope. But I got a good lunch out of the visit.
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Mia, ha, ha I love your term big-ugly.
Minus, gosh, your mom was busy saving all that stuff!
Its nice to get rid of small loads. Decluttered the pantry closet, its a once a year thing as its a catch all because of its three roomy shelves. One bag filled with old utensils that I never used but couldn't get rid of last year so I put them in there; well this year I didn't even untie the bag, just chuckled as I chucked them into the trash. Felt good. Got rid of a old small never used anymore blender and a chopper thingy and a couple more items.
Earlier this summer I was able to unload some old cans of paint, fertilizer and 12 of those long fluorescent light bulbs (we use them in the garage). There was a hazardous waste drop off at the mall. I used it once before a couple years ago for similar items and amazing how more stuff pops up to drop off in a short time. Glad for the resource.
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Took 100 vinyl records and 50 CDs in on Monday. They only wanted to buy about half, but I just left all the vinyl there. I didn't want it back in the house, or to have to re-think it. Interesting note - while we all knew there was a vinyl resurgence, apparently there is a growing demand for cassette tapes by the younger crowd. What they don't want is CDs. Supposedly they think those are for 'old people', or they remind them of their parents. So he didn't keep all the CDs.
BUT - the library was happy to get the box of CDs along with 3 more boxes of books. Also got another 5 bags/boxes to the resale shop that supports battered women. Clothes, small electronics, household goods, cameras and costume jewelry. What a riot going through the costume jewelry!!! There were so many years of stuff that I usually forgot that I had things and wore the same one or two pieces. Most of it's gone now and my top dresser drawer is sooooo tidy.
And I've found an eclectic book store that is interested in the collection of Tom Swift books from 1933 - 1980. Some were my Dad's, some my brother's and some my son's - but I will be glad for this box of 38 books to be gone to someone who is at least aware of Tom Swift.
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minustwo, that’s very impressive! i wouldn’t know where to start ... we have tons of vhs, vinyl records, cassettes and cds.... my husband doesn’t want to get rid of any of them... I don’t even know if we have a vhs or cassette player anymore.. ugh
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April - My vinyl records are all accessible on lower book shelves. I just sat down, flipped through quickly and quickly pulled out 100 that I figured I'd never miss. There are others that I'm more emotionally attached to & those will require another pass (or two). But in spite of insisting that I have a new turntable 2-3 years ago to replace my broken one - in all honesty - I've never played even one record. I'd hate for my son to find that out after the work he went to helping me purchase & hook up everything.
My ex-DH came and looked. While he was here I had him look at the other 300+ records too and he doesn't want any records or any CDs. He now has all his music on a flash drive that he carries in his pocket & plugs into his car or workstation anytime he wants.
I have collected a lot of VHS tapes too. Everything from Disney to musicals like Oklahoma to Top Gun to Nat Geographic specials to suspense mysteries. Since I don't watch TV, I haven't already seen them a hundred times - or even once since they were in the theaters. My plan is to re-watch them when I can no longer read. But if they all went away tomorrow, I don't have the same attachment as to my vinyl.
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minus, I understand the connection to the vinyl... brings back memories
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Minus--wow, you really worked to find places for all those books and CDs and vinyl to go!Good for you!
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I sold my vinyl when I moved out here in 1996. I had some regrets about that through the years, but i just had to draw the line somewhere. Don't laugh, but I have a Partridge family VD CD and a bunch of 45s too from when we cleaned out our parents house back in 2005.
Some of you will be very familiar with David Cassidy and the Partridge Family from the show in the 1970s. Ah I am dating myself......
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Hello, world, hear the song that we're singin'
C'mon get happy!
A whole lot of lovin' is what we'll be bringin'
We'll make you happy!Oh, yeah! Me and my siblings loved the Partridge Family. My mom did, too. I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of? Hey, who didn't want a school bus painted all those groovy colors?
I didn't have much vinyl and had no problem parting with any of it. I embrace new technology and perhaps the best gift I ever got was my ipod back in 2005 and I still use it all the time, We don't have or want a record player and instead often listen to Spotify, a music app, on the ipad through a wireless Bose speaker.
Dh of course can't part with his albums but they don't take up much space.
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Jazzygirl - I'll date myself and go you one better - Bobby Sherman was hotter than David Cassidy!
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hehe!! my husband loves Shirley Jones! I’m sure we have partridge family stuff somewhere... probably under a pile of “my mother the car” stuff... boy, was that a bad show... makes partridge family look like Shakespeare
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Mary, i love, love that song!!!! for some reason when it first came out I thought it was john denver! ... thank you for sharing it🌺!
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Certainly the same type of sound that John Denver produced, but before his fame.
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OK - yes I remember the Partridge family, but to top your dating back further - I remember 'Leave it To Beaver' even better. I have 45s of "Rock Around the Clock" and "How Much Is that Doggie in the Window", not to mention a 45 of "Hound Dog" and 'The Little Lennon Sisters'.
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My Dad brought home Rock Around the Clock from a trip to Wash DC. It was the first R &R where I lived.
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Oh I hate paper.... Finally finished sorting all the paperwork I'd put into the safe over the last 45 years. Some goes back to 1975 - like one of the outdated wills, of which there were several. I had credit cards for stores that are long closed - like Hudson's in Detroit and a Pan Am Airlines reward card. I had a Living Will for my brother dated 1971 - long before his 1st marriage, so certainly before his second marriage. And a term life insurance policy that my ex paid on until my house was paid off. That policy expired in 12 years ago. I had all of my expired passports - and driver's licenses. I thought this would be a quick job but it took most of the afternoon sorting through all the envelopes & shredding a ton of old stuff. All current relevant paperwork now neatly filed in matching manila envelopes and lined up easy to retrieve.
I was too tired to tackle my "trip" files - all the paper collected before a trip and saved during a trip. I haven't sorted/filed those piles since 2011. So I finished off tonight with hole punching the Civic Club newsletters from 2004 -2019 and putting them properly in binders with year separators. I also tossed duplicates. More piles gone.
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MinusTwo--Great job! Well done! Getting rid of piles is big progress!
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what's amusing is that once I get started, I am annoyed by everything else in life that comes along to interfere.
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LOL!
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Minus Two: I, too, always loved the AAA Books and the cool guidebooks I got on trips. I just moved one special travel book and set it with just two of my favorite photos from the same trip. It is in a high visibility place that's appropriate ( not table, not floor any more.) Now I feel happy when I look over at that book.
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So I did get the piles of "trip" papers & maps sorted before I left & threw away a ton of stuff. Now that I'm back, of course I've collected new stuff. So far it's all sitting on my guest bed. I'm determined to sort & file before just dumping in a drawer. Luckily my 5 year old grand-nephew is fixated on maps. I'll be mailing off a batch to him.
I unpacked suitcases the first night at 2am because I was wired with a time change traveling East, but it took me 3 days to get them moved from the guest bed out to the garage. Then another two days before I lugged them up to the attic.
Another benefit was inadvertently cleaning out food. I worked to get the fridge fairly bare before I left. I came back on 9/8 and finally went to the grocery store just today 9/17. That meant no milk or fresh salad, but I had cream & eggs & cheese & sour cream and a TON of things in the pantry and veggies & meat in freezer that needed to be used anyway. I had to get a little creative about meals by last night, but feeling good about using up supplies.
Oh - and the only souvenirs I bought two T-shirts. One is too small so I will give away. That means I spent 9 days touring w/o bring home a ton of new "STUFF".
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Good Job, Minus!!!
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I think I need to go back and re-read to get my motivation back up.
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Happy holidays ladies! I saw this on social media this morning and thought this was something handy to have for the future. Maybe a bit late for this Xmas, but certainly many great ideas here for all kinds of gifts.
Wishing each of you a lovely season and a healthy and clutter free new year!
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Good ideas, Jazzy.
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My sister is a great organizer. She says to organize a room just take everything out of it and then clean it well and return only the items you will use/want. Sounds good. (I do know that works on drawers and in smaller spaces.) And I say for every sack of something you bring into the house, then take out a sack of stuff to get rid of. That way you never accumulate much. Yeah, right.
After my mother went to heaven, I worked for 2 hours every morning getting rid of her stuff (she had actually done a pretty good job of it herself) and it only took about 4 weeks to get the job done. I didn't want to have to dread it forever so I limited my 'work' time and stuck to it so I wouldn't feel too guilty. Oh how I miss my mother.
In January I'm giving something very valuable to me to a PA I know will love it and use it. Not easy to do though. But we do realize that nothing we called 'mine' in this life will go into the next one with us.
I kind of like the OP's #13 suggestion... call in a professional. lol
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thisIknow, my condolences on the loss of your mom. You made good use of your time, going through her things and it seems like a good idea to stick with it so as not to dread it forever.
Jazzy, I’ve subscribed to the clutter free gift idea for a number of years now, both for myself and to give others. I remember a while back realizing how I dreaded finding a place for all the gifts after Christmas and that’s when I started approaching it differently. My son is in a small apartment, so I definitely keep that in mind when gift buying for him.
The extended family is good for giving all that piddly little crap that makes no sense and acting like they’re really giving you something special. This year I got a clear cookie jar filled with fake cookies. Not even sure what that was all about but it’s already in the trash.
I did a good job this year keeping clutter to a minimum and sent numerous bags to Goodwill over the past 12 months. I still see and hear so many relatives and friends buying so much stuff and we’re not getting younger! I’m not sure why they want to keep buying all the marked down Christmas decor, but I think it has to do with not being able to pass up a bargain.
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We managed to get our son to accept a large salad bowl. We gave him his choice of our 5 large salad bowls. Yikes! Why do we have so many? We should pare it down to one to use for potlucks. For the 2 of us, a large mixing bowl is plenty big, even for main dish salads.
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