2013 Destash- this is the year!

[rmom50]

I have also not made a don't, but I'll keep trying. I flooded our master bathroom last week, which ruined a bunch of things that went to the trash. I took the opportunity to pull everything out and have only returned about half the items. I decided that the trash pail was too small, so I swapped it for one in another part of the house that doesn't get used often. Decided to go through towels and give away the old ones that we don't use often.

I kind of think the best approach is to get it all out like MM (even without a flood) and then just put back what you use. It's just so hard to get it all out! I put several more items on ebay this week. I usually relist them once at a lower amount if they don't sell the first round, and then they go in the Goodwill box (which is full again). Seem to fill a couple boxes each month for donation, but I need to toss more.
Comic Guy... you are awesome!
Keep up the good work everyone .

 

[4 Ears]

Within the last year and a half we have moved to a part of the country where we need to have a Hurricane Plan. Last year I put together an emergency kit. If we had to "leave now" sort of thing.
A few nights ago I decided to work on "the plan" some more. Assigning tasks that DH would do and I would if we had a warning time.
Which led me to making a list of what we would HAVE to take to be as comfortable as possible, what would be NICE to take and what we could "leave behind".
Really thinking if I am fine "leaving it behind" and thus the great possibility of coming back and it being gone or destroyed, are those things I can destash?

Time for me to do some destashing

Comments, thoughts, feed back?

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

It's been a slow destashing week. Since school has started I haven't had as much free time.

I did manage to pull out 3 - 3 drawer plastic carts on wheels out of the attic and put those out front with free signs on them. They were gone in less than an hour. LOL

And the items I put on Craigs List didn't sell so I pulled those ads down again. I figure I'll try one more time in a month and if they don't sell, I'm going to donate them.

 

[rhonda_2003]

I have destashed a ton of stuff this year, but this summer's busy schedule really threw me off track! I still have a lot that I want to get rid of, mainly because I just don't want things looking cluttered and dusty!

Waiting on someone to come pick up a storage chest that I have been trying to get rid of. That will free up some space in my bedroom. I really want to clean out all my kitchen cabinets before the end of this week and get rid of what I don't use. Here's hoping.....

 

[ilovepete]

I've sold quite a few things this week. I have a donate pile all ready to go and I am hoping to drop it off on Tuesday. Slow and steady, still!

 

[Maddle]

This thread is a great inspiration. We will be putting our home on the market in the near future, and I want to get out in front of the decluttering while the pressure is light.

In the last week I cleaned out my bathroom drawers/undersink cupboard. I threw out a grocery bag and a half of old makeup, creams, etc. I'm afraid I kept back quite a bit, but I organized all like items into ziplock bags, and it is much more functional.

I cleaned out a shelf unit (just one!) in our master bedroom closet - it looked like an explosion happened when I pulled it all out. I got rid of old sneakers, packed three pair of "like new" shoes for good will. I gathered like items on the shelves - again, more functional.

I cleaned out two file drawers of tons of old papers and statements. Thank Goodness my DH was here to help with that - shredding, advising, etc.

I still have way too much in those areas, but the first layer of crud is gone and it will be much easier to determine "pack or pitch" when the time comes.

While those itty-bitty baby-step projects were happening, I have also had repairmen in to the house - had one oven fixed, one burner on the cooktop fixed, carpets cleaned and a tree pruned, (Yikes - that was a lot of cash going out in a short period of time) and made a couple more appointments for early this week.

DH found the legal property description so I can get a power of attorney drawn up sometime this week in case listing has to happen while I am away from town.

Thanks for this "support group" thread. It is nice to share with people in the same frame of mind.

Maddle

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My husband went home to MN to visit his Dad and StepMom last week.

He never told me that he'd been chatting with them about 1) the old stamp collection that he and his brother had and 2) the paintings his grandfather had done.

He had told his Dad he'd be glad to take the stamp collection and the paintings if no one else wanted them. Of course he didn't talk to me about it and 2 big boxes arrived yesterday from his Dad.

So now we've got a huge box of stamps - some just loose some in binders that can just sit in the basement and 4 of the ugliest paintings known to man that are considered family heirlooms.

Fabulous. Destashing just took a step backward this week.

 

[dpswift]

My husband went home to MN to visit his Dad and StepMom last week.

He never told me that he'd been chatting with them about 1) the old stamp collection that he and his brother had and 2) the paintings his grandfather had done.

He had told his Dad he'd be glad to take the stamp collection and the paintings if no one else wanted them. Of course he didn't talk to me about it and 2 big boxes arrived yesterday from his Dad.

So now we've got a huge box of stamps - some just loose some in binders that can just sit in the basement and 4 of the ugliest paintings known to man that are considered family heirlooms.

Fabulous. Destashing just took a step backward this week.

I know how you feel as much as DH loves to say I have too much stuff and our clutter is my fault over the years I have gotten rid of and stopped bringing things in and he has done the opposite.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Within the last year and a half we have moved to a part of the country where we need to have a Hurricane Plan. Last year I put together an emergency kit. If we had to "leave now" sort of thing.
A few nights ago I decided to work on "the plan" some more. Assigning tasks that DH would do and I would if we had a warning time.
Which led me to making a list of what we would HAVE to take to be as comfortable as possible, what would be NICE to take and what we could "leave behind".
Really thinking if I am fine "leaving it behind" and thus the great possibility of coming back and it being gone or destroyed, are those things I can destash?

Time for me to do some destashing

Comments, thoughts, feed back?

To an extent you can destash. Obviously you have to leave behind the big pieces of furniture but you still need a couch to sit on in the mean time.

We live in Hurricane country too, you most likely won't need a "leave immediately" kit. When Irene hit we loaded up the RV and took off to Buffalo, we watched the storm for about a week and in that time started prepping the must takes. My "must takes" were my photos, my computer, my jewelry box and my box of important papers. I basically had the kids and DH pack one tote each to put in the RV.
The "nice to takes" went into plastic bins and into our trailer and that was stored along with our antique cars and daily drivers in a storage facility that was on high ground. We also put one piece of furniture in it, a hope chest that belonged to DH's grandmother. Her father threw the hope chest out a window when their house burned down. It was the only thing that was saved in the fire.
Everything else in our house was "leave behind".

I remember after Katrina, they were interviewing a young college aged girl on TV. When she evacuated she packed her TV, computer and a few other things before she left. When she came back everything was destroyed. What really stuck with me was the fact that she said she regretted taking the TV and the computer and just wished she had her pictures.
I really thought about what she said when we were packing for Irene.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

There has been zero destashing here over the summer, with the exception of the motorhome. We have moved that to an RV park closer to DH's new job. It's nice not having that in the yard all the time. We have also moved into it part time. I have been pretty successful in keeping it clutter free except for DH's clothes (he went on a major spending spree). But he is taking the next 6 days off and is going to help me purge, starting with his clothes. He's had to upgrade the wardrobe from jeans to business casual so we are getting rid of a bunch of stuff.
I also hope to do another round of purging in the kitchen and books.

Now that school is back in session I can focus on getting ahead of the mess the kids make every day.

 

[seasheller]

I have never looked at the destash threads until now. Right now I happen to be doing just that and have been for the last three weeks. Decided after attending our third funeral in a month's time, we need to clean out so someday our kids won't have to do it. It is amazing what you collect and never use. Have organized a neighborhood garage sale and 10-12 families are joining in - all at our own houses. I'm too cheap to just give it all away so maybe we can make a few dollars in the process. It has felt so good getting this done. DH has finally joined in and is finding stuff that he never unpacked when we moved here 12 years ago.

 

[OhMari]

There has been zero destashing here over the summer, with the exception of the motorhome. We have moved that to an RV park closer to DH's new job. It's nice not having that in the yard all the time. We have also moved into it part time. I have been pretty successful in keeping it clutter free except for DH's clothes (he went on a major spending spree). But he is taking the next 6 days off and is going to help me purge, starting with his clothes. He's had to upgrade the wardrobe from jeans to business casual so we are getting rid of a bunch of stuff.
I also hope to do another round of purging in the kitchen and books.

Now that school is back in session I can focus on getting ahead of the mess the kids make every day.

Where does your dh work. My son will be working in Manhattan, right under Grand Central Station, his company won the bid tout in the new tunnel for the subway. He will be living with 2 other guys that are safety and they need to be able to get to the job site within minutes. It is crazy, I do not think the company was thinking about their employees.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Where does your dh work. My son will be working in Manhattan, right under Grand Central Station, his company won the bid tout in the new tunnel for the subway. He will be living with 2 other guys that are safety and they need to be able to get to the job site within minutes. It is crazy, I do not think the company was thinking about their employees.

Westport, like Manhattan it's to expensive for us to move there. Plus DS17 is a senior this year so I'm not moving.
My friends DH lives in Manhattan, he works at some of the energy plants in NY. He got a studio basement apt and she stayed here with the kids for the same reasons as us.

 

[dsneprincess]

Ugh, it's September! I feel like I have destashed nothing all summer! (which to be honest, is probably pretty accurate!) I hate September and back to school and routine, but hopefully, I will get motivated on the destashed train again.

I think the worst part is that you do so much work but it takes soooo long to get/look better. I am trying to follow along Comicguys examples of getting rid of. I wish I could make his list work for me so I would at least see progress!

 

[dreamin_disney]

I've fallen off the destash wagon!!!! I really need to get back on because I the clutter is getting on my nerves!!! I have some of dd's clothes that I need to get rid of. My niece has been doing poshmark and told me I should sell
dd14 stuff on there. I'm thinking about it but I need to see what the mailing boxes look like. My garage is still full of stuff that I was trying to sell on CL but stopped due to being busy. I need to get my buttt moving so I can earn extra money

DD14 wants to redo her room so hopefully she goes through it and gets rid of more stuff. i just wish the weather would cool down .

 

[MinMouse]

I'm in. We moved DD#1 off to college. Spending this holiday weekend reorganizing, throwing out and donating to Goodwill. DH and I went through the house room by room today to review the projects that are needed in each room. Found that we need to have a sale on musical instruments no one plays right now!

 

[dreamin_disney]

I did some cleaning/destashing today. My Adult Niece has been bugging me to start a posh mark account for dd14. I had to clean my spare room so we can sort through dd's clothes. I need to find out if I can have two different closets through one account one for dd14 and one for me. DD will have a younger group of followers and well my clothes are for an older crowd. If anyone knows or does posh mark please let me know or PM me- Thanks . I have some slothes i need to sell and i'm tired of craigs list.

Tonight , I went though my shred pile and emptied 2 buckets of it , i organized my table organizer in the spare room. So for today I threw away 2 large black trash bags of trash and misc stuff and 2 grocery bags of trash I found in my bedroom. DD added another couple pair of shoes to the get rid of and a few more clothes items. I need to get on the wagon and declutter

 

[MOpGrad2013]

We have a continuously full basket of unmatched socks. It's easy to pull out the baby's socks to mate, but the white athletic and assorted black boot and dress socks seem to never have a TRUE match. They look similar, but when you hold them side by side, they aren't right. DD15 has all those mini ones in different colors and of course she doesn't care about those matching. Every 6 months or so, I buy brand new socks for everyone (pink toe, gray toe, gold toe...) we mark them with colored sharpies. And we toss what's in the basket. We don't know what happens, but it comes back!

So, here's the new solution. DH has his clothes with him on the rig so whatever is in the drawer can stay. Both DS are off to college. If they don't have socks with them, well, too bad. DD is mating up her socks in those lingerie bags. I don't care if she dumps them unmated in the drawer. I am only taking care of mine and the baby's socks.

Hasta la vista socks! And no, we are not keeping you "just in case" your partner comes back.

 

[mrsabbott]

Socks are an issue with my kiddos too! I cleaned the girls' bedroom over the weekend. Not kidding, it looked like an episode of hoarders in there. 2 1/2 large garbage bags full of stuff I carted out of there. A bunch of toys went into storage in hopes that they will forget about them and we can get rid of them. We kept out their favorites and the ones that get played with the most. I did find a TON of missing socks and clothes.
I also went through the kids books and am donating about half of them to the school library. I got rid of a lot of mine already.
When it is time to do the clothes switch out for fall, I will bag up and donate at least one garbage bag full of stuff.
I went through my clothes over the summer.
Sadly, even with all the destashing, we still have too much stuff! Lol!

 

[Maddle]

Ahhhhhh - It felt so good when it was done.

We went through closets and purged and purged and purged. Some of the stuff was trashed, some of it donated, some of it packed away into a storage unit. (We're getting ready to put the house on the market and we need to make closets and shelves look more spacious.)

I really do think that I am a hoarder at heart.

Maddle