Not quite a horder - decluttering
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I have to say that it's nice to get to a point where I don't feel surrounded by a variety of unnecessary things. I don't think I would have reached this place until now because I am at the stage of empty nester. Having kids around, my focus and energy was elsewhere and that's okay.
I still have some things I can address, but it's like it's a different level now. I have a three drawer bureau in the living room. One drawer holds travel brochures and magazine and I can get rid of the outdated stuff. Another drawer has son's college info and forms, ect. and he's graduated now. I'm going to box the stuff up and put a date on it. Whatever isn't taken out of the box in a year from the date can get pitched,
I have a closet next to the kitchen I use as a pantry. It gets cleaned out at least twice a year and still manages to get refilled with all manner of congested miscellaneous catch alls. When cooler weathers hits, I'll tackle it once again. During the summer, I haven't done hardly any decluttering, focusing on being active while weather's nice. But I haven't felt the need as much to declutter because I've been effectively eliminating it and not replacing it .
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So glad I found you ladies on this thread! I have been preoccupied with simplifying since starting now Taxol (because finally got some energy after AC and not working for now). Ok, maybe obsessed is a better word. It's a lot more fun than being preoccupied with cancer. I feel like some good is coming from my time in treatment.
Finally had a HUGE garage sale last week. I sold the package of skewers that had been in my kitchen drawer for 2 years for 50 cents. Had always wanted to do kabobs but realized they were wasting space. Monday my sis asked if we could do a graduation BBQ for my nephew at my house. You guessed it - a kabob party.What are the chances? Guess I should have followed the THREE year rule!'
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Thanks Teka. That's a great rule. The trick seems to be how to get my husband on board. Any tip are appreciated
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My daughters cleaned our their rooms. Here are 5 bags of clothes going to charity.
Plus two bags of fancy dresses going to their cousins.
Hubby cleaned out my son's room. Here's one big box of Transformers, and an XBox game going to his cousin, plus some small clothes going to the youngest girl cousin.
It was a good week.
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Mominator - that is beyond impressive!
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Mominator, doesn't that feel good to clear that much stuff out? Great job.
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Wow Mominator - you're killin it! You've inspired me!
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Mominator- good job! I wish there were a way to send clothing to Louisiana for all the people who have lost homes,etc. Going to see if there is any charity here collecting things to drive them out there. That situation is like Katrina all over again with the flooding. I am going to look into it.
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I believe that the Salvation Army delivers clothing to people all over the country.
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Well, I finally went at it this summer. Had a huge garage sale! We want to sell our house so it was a great motivator. The house hasn't looked this good since the kids moved out! LOL! I am still going at it one pile at a time. Tonight it's the craft closet. Can't believe how much stuff we have accumulated in our lifetime!!! But it does feel soooooo good to clear it out. It is so much easier to find what I want and focus on the REALLY important "stuff".
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I keep finding new ways to declutter: Our local high school students need to do service projects as part of their honor society requirements.
One student is doing a Halloween costume collection drive for needy local families. Another is collecting books.
I cleaned out one box and donated a big bag of Halloween costumes. I have two more Halloween boxes to go.
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I've been cleaning out some shelves and bookcases. I found at least 4 boxes of Puzzlemania and Mathmania magazines which I gave to our elementary school. The math teacher, Mrs. S, loves puzzles. Coincidentally, she just returned from sick leave for breast cancer.
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We have a local FaceBook page of Buy/Swap/Sell. I was able to sell at half price a box of reusable coffee pods that almost but didn't quite fit hubby's iCoffee machine.
On the same site I found a teacher who takes my large, plastic jars to use as storage containers in her classroom; also found another teacher who wants all our play dishes, utensils, and food for a play kitchen for her kindergarten class.
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I gave our Boy Scout make your own clock kit to Lori's young son. Our son wasn't interested in it after we got it. Lori's son is just the right age for it. Lori died 5/25/16 of MBC.
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I donated a queen sized comforter to the animal shelter. It will be used for a mother and her new puppies.
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I took 3 very lovely, strapless, special occasion bras (that no longer fit) to the consignment shop where DD bought her prom dress. I don't really expect to make any money from them, nor were they taking up that much space in the drawer. However, they were taking up too much mental space. I'm hoping three young ladies will wear them in good health.
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Jazzygirl: I think Red Cross also delivers clothes to folks emergency situations.
Artistatheart: I bet it feels so good to walk into a room and find what you want! I would have trouble cleaning out my craft room, which is why I have been saving that for later.
DivineMrsM: I haven't been able to tackle the many boxes of school stuff yet. My youngest two are still in high school. Maybe I need a little distance like you and your son's school stuff.
ShetlandPony: I'm definitely saving the hardest stuff for last. I'm hoping that by then I will be better at "letting go" or at least culling.
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Mominator - age may help with sorting our kiddo's stuff, but it's still hard. I thought I could go through the photo albums and condense 10 into 1, which is about all my 46 yr old son will want. Nope - the picture with the thumb is the only one that shows Grandma's special hair cut. The picture that is crooked is the only one that is a good picture of my son's special little friend. He personally cleaned out all of the things he saved from high school & college. Even at his age, I'm still having a problem tossing things from his nursery school & elementary school. It's just not easy.
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Mominator, I have a pretty hard time with the craft room too. Problem is I also have a stained glass studio in the garage and sewing stuff. But little by little I am able to admit that I will NEVER get to all of the projects. The hardest part is my beads. Millions of pretty baubles.....
The kids stuff can be hard but this generation is so much less into accumulating than ours. Minustwo, I totally get the photo reluctance. Sometimes we see an important detail that just tells a sentimental story.
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I noticed our VCR player is broken. That will be going to the electronics recycling this week. I talked with hubby and we decided not to repair or replace it. So that means our movies on tape are now useless.
I was amazed at the number of movies we have on tape: Sesame Street, Little Bear, Arthur, Blue's Clues, Madeline, and so many more. It seemed like my children's childhood was all spread before me. I bagged them up and counted them: 109 movies. I took them to the library for their next book sale in a few weeks.
The three bags were very heavy, so I put them on the sidewalk to save carrying them across the parking lot. A girl started going through the bags while I was parking the car. Turns out she's autistic. Dad takes her into the library, and I noticed they were returning an Angelina Ballerina tape. I went through my bags, found our Angelina Ballerina tape, and gave it to them.
Releasing the movies for the next generation.
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Good afternoon friends- been working on taking things to consignment again!
And then, here is something I read today in the ABQ Journal that is also from other papers that you may enjoy!
Happy almost autumn for those of you in the northern hemisphere, and almost spring down south!
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Jazzy - nice article. Thanks for posting. I've actually "trimmed" some people who were negative influences in my life.
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MinusTwo- me too, and my rule of thumb these days is to trust how I feel around people. If they are too much work, they go or I deal with them in small doses as best I can.
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I haven't made as much progress with giving things away as I had hoped. I'm working a lot, in anticipation of having surgery in Oct, so there's not a lot of time for that stuff. I just take one closet at a time. My clothes closet is my next big project and it's huge. The only thing I collect is cardboard boxes. I have about 20+ on my closet shelf, ready for Christmas gifts. I also have about 40 shirt boxes and gift bags under my bed in a large plastic container. Boxes are my downfall and I HAVE to let them go. It's not like I can't find another box, right?
But on the flip side, DH has decided to get rid of his motorcycle! Yay! Don't tell him I said that, though. It would hurt his feelings. DH has been disabled with heart/lung disease for about 12 years. He loves his motorcycle, but at this point he cannot drive it. He doesn't have the upper body strength to control it anymore and he is very sad about that. So it's been basically sitting, taking up space in the basement. Once I get that out of there, I plan to start on the old camping gear, freezer, and the hundreds of stray wires that DH has been saving for 30 years. I will sit tight on the power tools and such. DH will have a LOT of difficulty giving up those things.
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Mustlovepoodles- that is great your husband is letting go of the motorcycle. I know how hard that is based on watching two friends who want and perhaps need to do the same with their Harleys, but won't. They need the money and the husband was in a bad accident that disabled him with time as a result, never ridden since then (15 years). Whether it is stuff that has memories or stuff that no longer fits in our lives, letting go of things is letting go of the past, our feelings of youth, etc.
Hope your surgery goes well. The de-cluttering will always be waiting for you.
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Ooh - what a great thread.
People who visit us call our style minimalist. Or they used to. We've lived in our house long enough that it has become cluttered. Well, to us it is cluttered; to a hoarder it would probably feel empty. As soon as I get some energy back, I want to go through everything - clean, toss, sort, etc. I want to make sure all my affairs are in order and that when I die (please, god, not now) my executor will know what to do with everything. Getting my stuff in order is something I can control; everything else in my life feels horribly uncontrollable. i have a fantasy that when my house is back to it's minimalist state that I will be more able to relax, even when faced with dread & despair. Might not work, but I'm going to find out, once I'm back on my feet. (please, god, anytime now)
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Blinkie, I feel your ambition and your frustration.
One day at a time, hunny bunny.
Teka, you are a kind soul.
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Teka - I keep thinking that's what I need to do - spare my son from having to deal with the mess. I think it's genetic. My mother had a piece of paper taped to the back or bottom of almost everything thing in her house stating who it should go to on her death. The way the world has changed, it makes more sense for me to give my son the things he might like now and quit worrying about the rest. A vase that was my Mother's treasure was the ugliest thing I ever saw all the years I was growing up. I did not keep it after she died. I should expect that the things with the most 'sacred' memories for me won't matter to him in the least. I've read too many recent articles about how the younger generation has no desire to collect & save "things".
That said - last night I cleaned out all the bathroom cabinets. I have a huge box of new, un-opened shampoos & lotions to go to the battered women's center, along with lots of cosmetics from various hotel stays. And all the old meds have been mixed with kitty litter for disposal (I don't drink coffee so don't have the grounds that are recommended). Not much, but it's 3 bags of garbage.
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Just read a pertinent quote in an Orson Scott Card book, attributed to John Adams in the story Heartfire:
"My brain is a museum and I am the only visitor..."
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MinusTwo - that makes me think of the saying, "Your mind is a dangerous place; don't go there alone." haha
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DS has said he will remove all the photos and drop a match on his way out. I'm thinking I'll take all DH's poetry books back to the poetry bookstore and see if they'll take them.
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My DS says he plans to call a company to do the sorting & hold an estate sale. Apparently the term "estate sale" applies to regular people & average houses now. What we used to think of as a garage sale or yard sale. Anyway, they take a fair percentage but the house gets cleaned.
Wren - you're right about the books. I think I would die if they were just dumped at a landfill. Oops, I'll already be dead. So my goal is to find people now who might like some of this stuff.
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Hi friends- I spent time yesterday helping a friend do a small estate sale around her mother's recent passing. My friends mom lived in a studio apt and therefore, not much stuff so getting things cleaned out was relatively easy.
It made me reflect on my first apt I ever had while in grad school in the 1980's that was the same size as the place yesterday, and then seeing what will likely be a similar future for me someday when I need to downsize and living in some sort of senior living. I live in a small 3 bedroom house now I built 12 years ago and know in the next decade if I make to retirement, that type of senior living apt will be in my future. But eeek, how much stuff will need to go between now and then?
So today I was out in the garage where I have some bags and boxes to take to donations and will get those dropped off this next week. I am taking more things to consignment too, mining the closets for jewels that have been never or hardly worn for cash. It is always a treat to come away with one nice thing from the credit. Yesterday it was a beautiful long sweater coat just perfect for the fall.
Let's keep at it friends! I think I have more Xmas stuff to take to Habitat for Humanity too!
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About the disposal of meds: many communities have collection sites for old meds, both prescription and over the counter, plus supplements. In my town the police station takes them and just recently CVI is also taking them. I think they have special ways of dealing with them so that they do not get into landfills or ground water. Not sure what exactly - - maybe they throw them into the nuclear waste canisters ! lol.
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