2016 Destash - The more things you own, the more they own you

[sarahk0204]

Which group is it? Did you join the one hosted by whitehouseblackshutters.com?

When I type in 40 bags in 40 days, there are a lot of groups that come up.

Yes, White House Black Shutters. It is really filling up my FB feed, but it inspires me to get off the computer and do something, so that is helpful!

 

[ski_mom]

Yes, White House Black Shutters. It is really filling up my FB feed, but it inspires me to get off the computer and do something, so that is helpful!

Thanks!

 

[mrsabbott]

I have 5 garbage bags, 1 1/2 boxes, plus a few large items that I plan to take to goodwill this week. It is still a work in progress, so I hope to have even more stuff. We just happened to have a snow day today, so I thought I would spend the day getting rid of some stuff. The more I look around, the more I want to get rid of stuff. Things that I have held onto for years but just collect dust in cabinets.. what for?

A neighbor gave us a whole bunch of play station 2 and wii games and systems.. controllers, etc.. We don't use them. We have a PS3. I think I am going to take it all to Game Stop. Maybe I can get 1 or 2 games that we will actually use for that stuff. If not, I think I will just donate it. We could use the cabinet space.

We just have too much stuff. Way too much stuff. I have gone through and taken trunk loads of stuff to goodwill, but I am convinced that our clutter breeds and has babies when I am not looking. It all needs to go.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I have been derailed the last few weeks with sick kids and DS19's truck breaking down. But I need to get back on board.
I have all my goodwill/rummage sale stuff in my front hall and the top of the stairs. Today my goal is to get all that boxed/bagged up and labeled and put in the loft for the next delivery.
We also replaced our kitchen faucet yesterday and DH actually tossed the leaking one. Usually he holds on to it for "parts" or whatever, but he took it right outside to the can.

 

[pjlla]

Making baby steps...... FINALLY! I had an opportunity to sell a set of four chairs that I scrounged last summer.... for less than I was going to ask, but the buyer is a young mom in need, so I'll take less to help out AND because obviously I haven't taken any steps to sell them since last summer! Her husband is picking them up at 7pm tonight (woohoo I don't have to go anywhere!) and I will have $20 to add to my vacation fund! And school vacation is next week so I am hoping to do more of that kind of "clean-and-sell" activity!......P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Destashing 2 big things!!! Our mechanic wants a car we have that's been sitting for 10+ years. And another person is interested in a project car we haven't had a chance to do anything with in about 5 years. Fingers crossed they both come through!

 

[pjlla]

I was pulling out a basket last night to load up with apples and bananas and granola bars to send along to the robotics lab to help fuel the kids for these last long days of build season and I realized, as I pulled out my largest basket, that I cannot REMEMBER the last time I used about 95% of my baskets. The majority of them are strung on a bungie cord and hanging from the ceiling in the basement. They are (pretty much) out of the way, but WHY do I have/keep so many???? Many of them I made or my Mom made (we really got into basket making in the early 90's) and I DID use them/decorate with them at one point in time.... but as I struggled to get down the one I wanted and had to move about 10 others out of the way, I realized it has been a VERY LONG TIME since I used the majority of them! So you know what.....???? OUT THEY GO! Going to sort through them this morning, keep the most useful and the ones I like the best.... no more than 10 of various sizes/shapes.... and then the rest will get listed on the FB yard sale for a bargain price with the hope that they are GONE within 48 hours!

I also realize I have a small shelf of Disney "stuff" that I've been meaning to sell for a while and I haven't..... so those will be next.... but I will list then on the Disney FB yard sale to get the best target audience. I've had decent luck with that site in the past, but I have to price low to compensate for shipping costs. Oh well.

Anyone else on a roll this weekend?.................P

 

[Maddie2]

The more things you own, the more they own you ...

Boy, isn't this the truth? I am new to this thread. I was actually just taking a break from sorting "stuff" and saw this! Both of my parents have passed away in the last 10 months and I am in charge of cleaning out their house. I have a brother and a sister, but, my dad asked me to "lead the charge" and so I am. It is a slow-moving process, but we will get there. It is QUITE the project, but, I am glad to do it. I have discovered notes, gifts to be given in the next year (Mom always planned ahead), etc. It's has been quite emotional, and probably, a bit therapeutic too!

Both of my parents were born in the 1930s and were "keepers". I would not say hoarders as everything is very clean and orderly, but, most definitely, they were savers of things. We try to donate the items to non-profits who can use these items as much as we can. So far, we've donated to the VA (clothes & shoes for homeless Vets), soup kitchen (food & coffee), homeless shelter (bedding), 2 churches (fabric, thread, etc for mission quilts and more) and a domestic violence shelter (more bedding), in addition to a couple of thrift stores who raise money for non-profits. I know Mom & Dad would be pleased.

This apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree(s), but I am trying to turn over a new leaf. This experience is teaching me that I don't want my kids to go through what I am going through with all of my parent's stuff. Problem is, I seem to be getting rid of my stuff, just to make room for stuff from Mom & Dad's house! But, that's better than just piling it all together .... right?

Better get back to it! We took a dresser, a large box of misc and a bag of clothes to a local thrift store earlier today (all from our house). Goal for tonight is to fill one more box.

 

[Marlyn]

Oh boy.....m totally in on this. I've been trying to purge after reading Marie Kondo's book.

 

[pjlla]

Listed 28 baskets on my FB groups yesterday and I have a woman coming this morning for about 8 of them and I have another party interested in the rest! I priced them low, to sell quickly, and it worked! The cash goes STRAIGHT into my Disneyland fund and I'm off to find another batch of stuff to sell!...................P

ETA: My goal was to keep 10 baskets (in addition to any around the house that are currently in use) and I managed to winnow it down to just keeping 6!!

 

[PrincessKymm]

Welcome newcomers!

It's my cleaning day! We have beautiful weather so I cracked the Windows and am hard at work.

My mom is moving so she was giving me stuff that I had stashed at her house. Big mistake! All of this stuff smells like smoke! She is no longer a smoker but was for the 5 years she loved at her apartment. I am proud that she's gotten rid of stuff and I'm working on that too. I just got rid of a whole box of stuff and I've got another box ready to go to the dumpster. Plus one bag of trash so far.

I'm keeping the pictures from my moms and DS's handmade scarecrow costume. I have to wash it but omg it's adorable! I can't part with it, he wore it 9 years ago but really I can keep it right? She also had the tote of DS's baby stuff that I kept and I'm not parting with that. I parted with the other 7 we had so I'm allowed to have 1. It's all my favorite stuff from his first year including stuffed animals and toys and clothes even his preemie outfit! Adorable!!!! I would love to be able to give these to him when he has kids or have them made into a quilt.

I got DS's big heavy quilt stored away for next winter and I got rid of a bunch of stuff that came from my old job. I stuff I can use at my new job and purged the rest. I've got lots of laundry to do and of course we are down to one dryer on my floor. *major eyeroll*

It's on my list to get the 3 bags of clothes and 2 boxes of "stuff" to the Salvation Army drop off today. I feel like I can get rid of more since the day is early so I'll probably wait a bit before I head that way.

 

[pjlla]

WOOT, WOOT..... 10 baskets out of my life forever and $20 in my Disneyland envelope! It's a good day!.............P

Also have not one, but TWO interested parties in the remaining baskets..... just need to see who can arrange to pick them up first!

ETA: The lady came to pick up the rest of the baskets half an hour ago.... so that is $52 cash into the Disneyland envelope.... and I sold 4 items on a Disney FB yard sale! I sold them super cheap because the MAIN goal is to clean out the house, but the additional $8 will go straight into the Disneyland envelope as well!

Took photographs of about 30 more things to list to sell this week as well.... selling low to keep things moving out the door!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Maddie2 I hear you on the cleaning out a house. I was responsible for my MILs stuff when she passed. I got rid of the clothes and a few items right away but 95% of it went into storage. We paid to store it for 3 years then it sat in our car hauler for another 2 years. DH finally couldn't stand it being there so we took it to our school/church 2 years ago for their rummage sale.
I still have boxes of her stuff in the basement we need to go through but it's at least a little more manageable.

Pjlla good job on the baskets!! We get tons at the rummage sale every year. I take the big ones for the schools auction but the rest usually sell for about 50 cents a piece.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Today has been a productive day!! 409 items plus a mystery box I didn't open to sort yet (but it's labeled for rummage) bagged and tagged for the rummage sale. They are out of the house and on a storage shelf in the loft.
I can't wait to get those out of the house. I also have about 5 boxes of books in the car hauler that need to be added to that pile.

 

[pjlla]

Well.... got about 50+ small items photographed and listed on the Disney FB yard sale page between yesterday and today. I've successfully sold one (went postal today) have invoice out for another 2 (and other takers if she doesn't pay) and waiting to hear a "yea" or "nay" regarding shipping prices on about 20 more things! Most I sold for only $1 or $2 each, so I'm not getting rich, but at least the stuff it OUT the door! Also have a lead on a manual labor job for the weekend for DS and myself (helping someone empty a basement). I'm sure DS will balk at the idea, but if we can negotiate for $10/hr or better (under the table) I would jump on the opportunity!

I did some scrapping today (woohoo... been a long time since I made time for that!) and will be listing a handful more items to sell tomorrow (probably random household stuff, not Disney). Also FINALLY got a woman to pick up the milk cartons I've been saving for her (apparently she needs 100 for a project). I don't know if I'll save any more for her because she wasn't super receptive to coming here to get them..... I had to meet her in town. I figure if I'm doing her the favor of saving these, the least she could do is stop by to get them!

BB tomorrow to post more progress!...............P


ETA: Woot, woot.... invoices out on 5 more items!

 

[pjlla]

How is everyone doing? Since I am on school vacation this week, I've been relatively productive. A handful of the Disney items I listed on the FB group have been sold and shipped and several are pending (although as usual, people are being wishy-washy).

I answered an ISO posted in a local FB yard sale group today of a woman looking for a purse and wallet and sent her pictures of four purses and two wallets that I was thinking of getting rid of.... and she is buying two of the purses today! And then, on a whim, I grabbed a Fuel Belt (holds water for running/walking) that I NEVER use (bought it at a thrift store a few years ago for $2) and took a picture and posted it on a local FB group and it was sold within 10 minutes for $5! Meeting the woman today at the same time I am meeting the woman to buy the purses! Ka-Ching.... $19 into my Disneyland fund! Pricing things to sell and getting rid of them quickly is MUCH more fun!............P

 

[hulagirl87]

I donated 1 bag of clothes and 2 boxes of miscellaneous stuff to the Volunteer Veterans of America this morning. That felt good! I'm trying to clean up for DD's birthday party on Sunday so I'm taking the opportunity to declutter a bit too. Next week I have to get our paperwork ready to get our taxes done, so I'm sure I will be able to get through a lot of paperwork then. It just accumulates through the year and I put everything into a big bin so this will be a challenge!

 

[PrincessKymm]

I threw away some very worn clothes and I got rid of one bag of trash out of my room (mostly shopping bags and shoe boxes lol) but less stuff in my room! They fixed the window sills in my room so there was dust everywhere again. My room looks phenomenal now!!!!! I only have to make my bed with clean sheets and do the laundry. My room hasn't been this clean since before the holidays. Yay!

I have to purge the fridge this weekend. Gonna be a lot of trash gone. I am going to start cooking two days a week again. I bought a lot this past week and I just can't afford it if I want to splurge at Disney!

 

[StephMK]

Way to go everyone!! It feels like spring here today and I'm inspired by reading about what everyone has accomplished! DD graduates from college in May and I'm trying to tackle a list of projects so the house will look great by then. She is moving at the end of the summer and taking most of her furniture so I'm planning what to do with her space. I think we'll look for a daybed/trundle set up since younger DD likes to use it for sleepovers and DD will have a space for visits.

Last weekend, I went through my school shelves and purged a bunch of things I don't think I'll use. It cleared almost one shelf and I organized the rest. Yesterday, I had a day off and went through my junk/mail drawer. Some bills were paid, papers recycled, and it looks pretty good again.

Our spring break is next week so I should have lots of time to work on projects. We are finally replacing our old, beat up tile kitchen floor and I am so excited!! I will have to clear off kitchen counters next weekend because they show up first thing Monday morning. While they are working, I will be busy in another part of the house. I always feel guilty sitting around when workmen are here so I usually get motivated to tackle some kind of work.

DH finally put the holiday boxes back in the attic so that cleared out garage space again. I have a pile out there I should probably donate or put away. That will get added to my spring break list.

I am painting a metal bench and want to work on that today. Then I can get that onto the front porch and out of the garage too. After that, I can donate the front porch chairs. They were a goodwill re-do that I have had several years. They are hard to keep clean and it's time to move them on.

I found out an old, unopened lego set is worth about $50 on ebay. I plan to list that next weekend and see if there are some other things I can sell.

Anyone have any spring projects planned?

 

[Corrine 1973]

Count me In!!!! I love this idea and though I might be a little late to the thread I already got a jump start on the decluttering. My landlord did not pay his taxes so now I have to find a place to live which is a little hard with 4 kids on my budget. Right now things are going into storage and I am only storing what we need. I am donating a lot, giving away things on Facebook, and also selling a few things on Facebook. I just got rid of 3 huge bags of cloths that was all my 8 years old. Who really needs 50 t-shirts. I was able to sell them for $30 that went to my Disney Fund jar. I got rid of a few movies but that is really hard for me especially since a lot of them came from my brother who passed away in 2013. Another hard thing for me to get rid of is books but I am trying my best to get rid of at least 1/3.