Not quite a horder - decluttering
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Glennie - what is it about the darn coffee mugs? I really think they reproduce at night in the cupboard. I keep getting rid of more every year but the space is always full.
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My coffee cups do it too! Must be a feature. DH gets a bunch for supporting various organizations. One for each public broadcasting station, one from Poetry Today, etc. What we don't have are 4 matching cups to serve guests such as my book club. I keep threatening to get Fiesta mugs since I have a full set of old Fiesta from my great aunt. I don't know what I'd toss tho.
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For me, it's water bottles that breed when I'm out of the house. Every conference, every freebie at work, charity raffle, I always come away with another darned water bottle. Sigh..,,
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I am getting rid of all those odd lots of cups and mugs at my garage sale next month. I have a nice set of wine glasses, four nice champagne glasses, everyday glasses and coffee mugs in three coordinating colors. All other mismatched or logo'd or freebie drink ware is piled in a corner in the music room. Whatever doesnt sell, and I will price it cheaply, will go out to Goodwill immediately afterwards.
Now, we have two thermos containers. I never use them. I asked dh if he could get rid of one of them. He can't make up his mind which one to keep so they both sit on the piano. He sees them every time he goes in the room to play his guitar. He sometimes takes a thermos of coffee when he goes fishing. Poor guy. He has a $1,500 guitar. Can't bear to part with one of those thermoses, tho. You know, in case he picks the wrong one and it breaks or something. Like he could never buy another at the store. Smh
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Wren: I will send you my 4 matching sky blue mugs!! If you want them,,,,
Divine: eeney, meeney miney mo on the thermos? Keep the bigger one? The newer one?
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It's good to hear of everyone's progress. Thanks for sharing your insights, conundrums and solutions. It really is encouraging.
I will admit that I'm floored by how difficult it has been to even give away some of the furniture. So many agencies don't even return phone calls. We have donated a lot of it but it's been way more work than it should have been and, in some cases, left a very bad taste in my mouth. Now it's down to the Craigslist route, which I hope will finish the lot off.
I'm giving myself most of this weekend off for Easter, then back into the fray. The final step is transplanting a few favorites and that will be that. Of course, our weather's been so wet and cold that I can't see digging in the garden for at least a few more weeks...
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Hopeful: have you tried AmVets? I find they will take just about anything. I get calls from them all the time, and will hopefully use them to get rid of my entertainment center when I move.
http://amvetspickup.org/ there is a place where you can click to see if they pick up in your area too. Best of luck with getting rid of everything.
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My experience is that Big Brothers/Sisters takes any and everything, at least in my city. They took old TVs when I upgraded a few years ago when no one else would. Give them all call too?
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In my area, Salvation Army is the most responsive and takes the majority of items. Also they have the best reputation for funds actually going to the people who they're supporting instead of administration.
So it was finally time to have the pest control guy back again. It's been almost 10 years and i live in a climate conducive to tree roaches & wasps & fire ants & mud daubers, etc. I vacuumed the whole house, then unloaded everything from under all my sinks so he could spray there. And I got all the outside windows washed before he came. Only 50% of the things were replaced under the sinks. Also ditched a number of things in the garage so he could spray around the perimeter. More required but I feel good about this simple little thing.
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JAZZY, Thanks for the info about the TV's and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Will have to see if they want my old HUGE box one
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Glennie - I was having a new roof put on and offered my old boxy TV to the roofers. My son laughed & said no way would they want that. The roofers were thrilled to have it. My neighbor gave his old boxy TV to the guys who put in my new fence. Lot of folks might like a second TV for a bedroom or the kids and can't afford to buy a flat screen.
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I do have someone in mind to ask,, thanks, Minus!
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Glennie- asking friends is a good way to get rid of TVS too. I actually had two old TVS, a friend took one for a guest bedroom and the Big Bros/Sisters took the other. Trust me, someone will want them and many love free anything!
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Hopeful, I don't know where you live, but in my area, we have several agencies like Goodwill, Urban Mission and Salvation Army that take furniture in reasonable condition.
I have also from time to time posted a picture of some piece of furniture or other item I want to get rid of on Facebook and someone always jumps on it. Occasionally I will ask money for them.
Yes, box TVs are also sometimes scooped up by people who want them free for elderly parents who don't care if they have a big flat screen. We gave ours to my MIL. It isn't easy for some people to cough up a couple hundred dollars for a more modern tv. It is fun to give an item away that holds no value to you but that is a big bargain for someone else.
Minus, your housecleaning efforts sound awesome!
Yesterday, I slightly organized the big mess of everything I had piled up on top of each other that I plan to garage sale in two and a half weeks. It helped me get a more clear assessment of what I have and gave me an idea of how I want to display the stuff (like items with like items) and what kind of prices I might ask (pretty cheap). That's what the back burner of my brain will be simmering till the sale. I wish it was this weekend, I would like to get to it and get it out of the way! But am glad we are having it and that I'm putting in the effort. I won't be having another garage sale as I don't plan to accumulate more stuff!
I am also doing a better job at not cluttering up my life with projects for myself, a big stride. I even wrote it down on my list of things to do: "Stop creating so many projects!" I want to have more time to do things spontaneously and not be bogged down.
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Still asking around about my big box TV. 3 weeks to move date!
Currently reading The More of Less: Finding the life you want under everything you own, by Joshua Becker. He has the blog called Becoming Minimalist. Great read so far. Getting more ideas.
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Glennie, I've read his book and some of his blog entries, too. It is good inspiration. Hope you find someone soon to take your tv.
Dh and I spent today taking almost all our yard sale items out to the garage. We hold the sale this Friday and Saturday. Dh was surprised at how.much.stuff. we have. I borrowed tables from my sister. Even they won't hold everything.
We've already sold a few things just casually letting people we know what we are selling; a wooden glider, a weed eater, some large flower pots.
It feels good to know we will be selling this big accumulation of things, but looking at all these items we never use any more, I can't help but feel a bit guilty thinking of all the money we spent over the years on *so much stuff*.
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I feel ya on the "so much stuff", Divine !! But we will feel better getting rid of the stuff and having it be useful to other people. That's my take-away today on Joshua's book,,, keeping stuff is selfish if I'm not using it, and someone else could! Big bag of toiletries,, many tubes of hand lotion, etc,, going to homeless shelter next!
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Divine,, I'm still reading the book, but got to a very interesting part. A woman named Ali Eastburn started a charity called With This Ring. She decided to donate her wedding ring to provide clean drinking water in places in Africa. Whoa! What a thought. I'm divorced, and I still have my engagement and wedding rings,,,, so I'm thinking,,,,,, After all, it's not like I will ever wear them again.
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Glennie- let me know what you find out about the clean drinking water donation. I am a big advocate of that, what a great idea.
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And Joshua Becker and his wife have a charity which provides for orphans,, and certainly there is no shortage of charities out there. Maybe I should take the rings to a jeweler and see how much I could get for them.
Divine, How was your garage sale?
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Glennie- gold is still high, I have cashed some rings and other things I don't wear. You might want to do that first to see the value of them. You could always use that money for charities you like too?
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yes, Jazzy, it would be better than mailing a ring,, and having to insure it and hoping it arrives safely!
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Like Jazzy, I took in a number of pieces I no longer wear or that were my mothers into the jeweler - including wedding rings from a previous marriage. I did learn that while (many) jewelers will always buy precious metals & diamonds, there isn't much market for "colored" stones. I was surprised, since rubies & sapphires & etc. often cost more than diamonds. I'm guessing the best outlet for jewelry with real "colored" stones will turn out to be on consignment at an antique jewelers.
But Glennie, I too would like to know more about the 'clean drinking water' donations if you pursue it. I read something recently to the effect that 'we don't always deserve love but we always deserve clean water.'
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I do try to check with a place like Charity Navigator to see what their ratings are before donating money. Not sure if With This Ring would be listed, but wanted to mention CN. WTR sounds like a great charity.
Our garage sale is next Friday and Saturday. We'd planned to set up in the driveway but Dh and I made a good decision to set the tables in a u-shape up in the garage instead. Chance of rain. We will park the cars outside until after the sale. This way it is set up, we are in the process of pricing stuff and can just open the doors Friday and Saturday and commence selling.
Its 89 degrees here today in Ohio!!! Too hot to stay out too long in the garage even with the doors open. It gets all afternoon sun. Nice thing is we still have four more days to get it all together and I'd say at least 75% of it already is organized.
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Oh, excellent idea to have it inside! I thought it was this w/e for some reason. I have used CN before, but do appreciate you mentioning it again! Your weather is as hot as it is here in FL. Yuck!
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Minustwo- I do straight gold only, or have them take the stones out and pay me for the setting. They have no interest in the stones, you are right about that!
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I think I am more fortunate than many people because worry of recurrence doesn't interfere with sleep. But my cancer experience seems to have spurred almost frantic efforts to de-clutter that leave me feeling overwhelmed and frustrated when my gains don't reflect the time invested. Clutter has been an issue for me since childhood, but now there is an urgency to have an orderly home. I have read all the books for years (finally realized that the organizing books and planners were a part of my clutter!) and have not yet found a system that makes it easier to let go of my clutter.
Now that I am only dealing primarily with side effects from arimidex, I have the energy to attack the ever-accumulating clutter that has been ignored for 2 years while I got through treatment. It seems more difficult than ever. It is depressing to face the books I never read, cards I never sent, how-to videos I never watched, projects I never finished, photos I never organized...
I think underlying the difficulty is the notion that there is not enough time for someone my age (63) to "catch up" and so letting go of all this clutter (as good as I know I feel in a calm space!) carries a sense of loss that seems somehow joined with a cancer diagnosis. I remember my oncologist said on my first consultation "you have lost your innocence".
I can't seem to get past the "sorting" phase...any thoughts on how to let go of goals, dreams, connections (yes, my first dog's first toy!) etc. that are tied to these objects I keep?
And there is an entire new category of stuff: books, journals, motivational wall hangings, prayer shawls kindly knit by loving hands...is it disrespectful to my friends and family to give those things to an oncology center?
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Triplepostive- not sure what it is about a cancer dx, but have found not only here on this thread, but others in life I have known who have had any cancer dx have found themselves in the place to simplify their lives. I see the whole de-cluttering thing as just letting go of a lot of things we no longer need, and the energy that goes with maintaining stuff or finding places to store it. Things accumulated in a bigger way for about two years after my dx and with trying to feel better after treatment. I had to just focus on surviving for awhile, continuing to work and keep my biz going, and had no time to keep up with the greater purge. I did some home upgrades a year and a half after I finished treatment that year that forced some purging to happen and it continued since. but continuing since.
I think we all have a different feeling of what matters now. We have enough to deal with in life without the worries of maintaining all the stuff? Makes us value time in general as well as our own individual time as well.
I found in order to let go easier, I had to a) break it up in to manageable pieces and b) find places to take things that I feel good about passing things on to. I try to focus on an area (pile) or type of decluttering (clothing/closets). Oncology centers are a great place for spiritual books, quilts, etc. Senior centers can always use things like that too? The stuff can be very overwhelming, a lot of memories in those things too. I always feel better to see a clean surface, or to drop off something someone else can use.
It took me 12 years after cleaning out my mothers house to finally let go of some of the last of the things I have no room here for just this past winter. I found a place for those last items that felt good. Letting go of some of her things was not letting go of her.....
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Triple - welcome. Books are my first downfall. I pulled all those off the shelves that I had always intended but never read. There were many. 98% of those went to the library. Cards I never sent to people who are no longer even alive went to the Battered Woman's Home shop. Projects I hadn't done went to a Girl Scout leader I know and the rest to the Salvation Army. Some gorgeous material for clothes I was going to sew went to younger Moms who are actually sewing for themselves & their daughters - and what they didn't want went directly to Salvation Army. I keep a box in my study and drop things in there every day as I see them. How-to videos? Gone. I'll never do that stuff now. Pictures - I still have problems culling those. Clothes - lots gone to the Battered Women or Dress for Success. Lots more to ditch once I decide if I'm ever going back to work or not. No - the things made by loving hands need to be passed along. If your friends don't understand, you still have to move on & someone could use those. Really the only thing that works is an open box or basket that I add to consistently.
I understand the dog's first toy. My mother saved all the baby teeth of all three of her children. And every single piece of our artwork & school reports from nursery school on. I've done a pretty good job of culling my son's past paperwork, but he isn't even interested in seeing the one box I've saved so I need to start over & discard more.
I still have files with every back up data & every tax return I've ever filed since my first job. Whoa - over 50 years. I really wanted to go through all my Dad's tax files when he died, which he had saved from the 1920s. Guess what - I had two weeks to clean out an entire 5000 sq ft house in another state that they had been living in for over 60 years so there was no time to sort through or read those files. I brought home one box of their "momento" paperwork in 2007 and have yet to open it.
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I think giving the motivational things and gifts is a sweet idea. You can explain that they were so helpful to you and you want someone else to feel the love also. I think I have a similar problem of not wanting to get rid of things because of memories attached. I'll still have the memories without the object, but it seems like it would be harder. And there's always the bugaboo of it could come in handy later. It's true, but would I be able to find it?
I've read to enlist a friend or a professional, but have never done it.
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