Destash 2022 Time to eject the dreck!

[DisneyHardin]

Last summer my cousin and I had a yard sale with all the stuff we had cleaned while staying home for a year. I told her there was no way I would have any stuff for a sale this year (her subdivision has a "neighborhood" sale that we participate in). We got some new furniture this past week and while getting things rearranged for it, I already have 2 boxes of stuff to get rid of. So, I texted my cousin that I might have enough to combine with what she has to still do a small sale this year. I swear that I don't shop that much - where does all this stuff come from??????

 

[piccolopat]

Last week I deep cleaned the kitchen. I threw away a few expired food items & put aside things to rehome. Over the weekend, I took a few things to the “free house“ & a bag of items to Goodwill.

4/40 times of rehoming items.

Just curious, what is your "free house"?

 

[piccolopat]

I have a lot to do this year. Our downstairs in law apartment has been a catchall for lots of stuff since my MIL died more than a decade ago. My DD, DSIL and DGS will likely be moving in there sometime this year so they can start to save money for a house. I've already brought up most of my holiday decorations and donated a lot of the Christmas stuff I no longer needed. Of course, this means cleaning out the closet in my office to make room for what I am keeping. Then there is all of the stuff that should be in the garage but that needs to be cleaned out first to make room. I feel like I am living in a perpetual game of Tetris. I'm working out a plan to address these in some sort of order just like when I planned projects at work before retiring. It's hard finding places to donate some of the furniture that is no longer needed but is too good to send to the dump.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Have a pick up scheduled for next Tuesday.
Mostly ds3 clothes. My contribution so far is 5 books.
So far it’s 2 bags with 31 clothing items.
I will see what I can find in my bedroom this weekend.
Slowly but surely.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Week 10/11: Have gotten lazy. This week is legitimately busy with other things, but next week I really need to buckle down and set some sort of routine for getting back into it.

 

[PollyannaMom]

It's hard finding places to donate some of the furniture that is no longer needed but is too good to send to the dump.

If you're comfortable calling around to churches, they sometimes know of people who can use things and also have volunteers who can pick the items up.

 

[Dashzap]

It's hard finding places to donate some of the furniture that is no longer needed but is too good to send to the dump.

List things for free on craigslist. I made an account there with an extra email address (for privacy), and it is so easy to list things for sale for free. When people reply, give them an address and leave the item on your front steps. Easy peasy.

I've had people come get the darnedest things. I listed a broken clothes dryer, and someone took it! It had a lot of parts broken, including the motherboard, as I noted in the listing.

I also had someone ride their bike 20 miles from the next county to pick up a Dr Suess book.

I'm just happy to have the stuff gone, and know it is not in a landfill.

 

[comicguy]

Well the first few months of this year have not been overly productive with my decluttering efforts. Must try and remedy that for April!

March decluttering:
2 books - donated

1 pair of broken pair of headphones - trashed

1 notepad - used up
1 Gift Card - used up and recycled

5 Items left this month
62 of 500 items or 12.4% of goal

 

[barkley]

It's hard finding places to donate some of the furniture that is no longer needed but is too good to send to the dump.

by any chance do you have any military bases in your general vicinity? if so call the main number and see if they have a need. we lived near an air force base and they had an 'airman's attic' which was made up of usable furniture and household items that newly relocated airman and their families could borrow while they awaited the arrival of their own belongings. we had a bunch of stuff when we were moving that they were thrilled to get. another option is to see if you have a vietnam vet's charity group-we've had them near us in 2 different states and they will come pickup any usable household goods.

 

[barkley]

btw-a big shout out of thanks to those who overbuy and are now destashing and donating to charity! i was with my kid at a couple of charity shops the other day and much to my surprise found 2 brand new/still in the unopened packaging good quality twin sized waterproof mattress covers. i was in the process of getting ready to order them at about $30 each when i discovered them for $3.99 each.

thank you so much!!

 

[Dashzap]

This week:
- Sold an old desk chair.
- Did a lot of digital clean up of files and old tax documents.
- Decluttered and organized file cabinet
- Cleaned out the kitchen spice drawer, tossing lots of old stuff.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

It's tax season here, so I'm SUPER busy trying to get things done for people. But some are waiting on their last slips to arrive, so I managed to carve out a bit of time.

Worked on organizing some digital files... I know that's not really the same as decluttering, but it's something that needs to be dealt with. It's a BIG job, and will likely take years.

I'd tossed a handful of clothes into to "to-go" pile, but today I went through a packed drawer and threw a dozen more shirts into the pile. Everything else went into the laundry, because it all smells awful from sitting in the drawer. I have a terrible habit of never letting go of clothes because my weight goes up and down so much.

I recycled a few flower pots that had cracked (the plastic kind the plants come in) while I was planting some seeds. I realized I really need to go through my gardening stuff, but that'll be a huge project that I don't have time for right now.

Ditched a surround sound speaker set for a computer, complete with sub.

Sorted through some pens/highlighters and got rid of stuff that didn't work.

Packed up a kitty-litter sized box of books to go, plus another bag full.

Went through some candy and put aside the stuff I won't eat to pass along to people who will like it (yes, it's still good).

Went through one bag of geocaching supplies, and sorted through what to keep/give away/trash. I think there's more around here, but this was a start.

The cat knocked over a couple things and broke them, so a couple knick-knacks went away because they couldn't be fixed.

 

[Dashzap]

The cat knocked over a couple things and broke them, so a couple knick-knacks went away because they couldn't be fixed.

What a helpful cat!

I had other plans for today, but I dropped a Pyrex leftover dish on a crowded granite counter. Pyrex is sturdy until it breaks, and then it is a million tiny, almost invisible slivers. On a granite counter that is very busy with colors and has tiny bits of sparkle in it. I miss my old Formica-like counters.

A bazillion slivers of glass everywhere.

Therefore, I am cleaning my kitchen today, getting rid of the insidious glass and clearing the counters. Need to make room in cupboards by decluttering.

I vow each time I break something to keep the counters empty from now on. Fail.

Decluttered so far today:

in the trash due to glass bits:
a potholder
a cloth placemat
2 kitchen towels
a pair of Crocs (I walked on some glass in them)

In the donation pile:
two mugs
one casserole dish
one bamboo storage box

I'm procrastinating the second half of the kitchen by being on disboards.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

What a helpful cat!

I had other plans for today, but I dropped a Pyrex leftover dish on a crowded granite counter. Pyrex is sturdy until it breaks, and then it is a million tiny, almost invisible slivers. On a granite counter that is very busy with colors and has tiny bits of sparkle in it. I miss my old Formica-like counters.

My cats are tiny terrors. But they're mine, so I put up with it. I also had the joy of disinfecting my kitchen table today, because there was cat litter on it (again).

I feel your pain with the glass. Seems like every time something breaks I'm finding little bits weeks later, no matter how thoroughly I clean.

 

[cheryl.UK]

I am going to destash 500 items, starting today.

 

[goofytinkerbell]

5 shirts and 3 pairs of pants went into the pile

I'm up to 85 items counted since I started, but I'm certain I'm well over 100 (definitely more than that). So we'll round down and say I'm at 100 and keep track from there

 

[goofytinkerbell]

Books - 2
Clothes - 4
Tea tins - 8
Business cards (because my old employer didn't care enough to get my name on them correctly) - 2 boxes (so 1000 items? )

Total: 116 items

I also finished some taxes for people, which will get their paperwork out. Hopefully this weekend I can find some time to do some more.

 

[focusondisney]

I have continued to be busy caring for my elderly mother, so busy some weeks I barely find time to do laundry or basic cleaning. But I retired on Saturday. Yea! Since I’m done working, getting rid of work related items seemed a good place to destash. I brought a few things in for the other consultants: 6 ID badge holders, a notebook with Power Points & scripting for a class we teach and a few small hands on teaching aides. In addition, I cleared out 2 canvass bags of articles, materials from classes I took, our union contract book, miscellaneous papers, lots of pens & markers, paper clips, scissors & lots of little bits of this & that. Papers got shredded or recycled, the scissors & a few pens went to DH’s office supplies. The rest of the stuff was trashed. One of the bags went to work with the things I brought there, the other needs to be washed & can be used for shopping. It was just 2 bags, but it gave me back a corner in my bedroom & the guest room. I also got rid of a binder of papers related to the family leave I had last year to care for my mom. Again, shredded or recycled. Already talked to a family member & will be giving her my work uniforms next week after they’re all washed.

Oh, and while cleaning yesterday, I went they a junk drawer in my nightstand. Trashed 4 partial rolls of gift wrap ribbon, recycled old hotel stationery, some cards bought over the years & never used & a pad with 2 yellowing sheets of paper.

None of this seems big, but it felt good to do something.

 

[hsmamato2]

Ok I'm in. in the past month or so I decided to list and sell many items throughout the house. since February I've sold a giant peacock chair, A leatherman multi tool, some Disney parks Lego mini figures,a couple of movie memorabilia items,2 large plants. I have a large bin I'm filling with more unloved items...will try to remember to get back here and report! (listing and selling is time consuming but I'm determined,how do I have so many unloved things?)

 

[goofytinkerbell]

I have continued to be busy caring for my elderly mother, so busy some weeks I barely find time to do laundry or basic cleaning. But I retired on Saturday. Yea! Since I’m done working, getting rid of work related items seemed a good place to destash. I brought a few things in for the other consultants: 6 ID badge holders, a notebook with Power Points & scripting for a class we teach and a few small hands on teaching aides. In addition, I cleared out 2 canvass bags of articles, materials from classes I took, our union contract book, miscellaneous papers, lots of pens & markers, paper clips, scissors & lots of little bits of this & that. Papers got shredded or recycled, the scissors & a few pens went to DH’s office supplies. The rest of the stuff was trashed. One of the bags went to work with the things I brought there, the other needs to be washed & can be used for shopping. It was just 2 bags, but it gave me back a corner in my bedroom & the guest room. I also got rid of a binder of papers related to the family leave I had last year to care for my mom. Again, shredded or recycled. Already talked to a family member & will be giving her my work uniforms next week after they’re all washed.

Oh, and while cleaning yesterday, I went they a junk drawer in my nightstand. Trashed 4 partial rolls of gift wrap ribbon, recycled old hotel stationery, some cards bought over the years & never used & a pad with 2 yellowing sheets of paper.

None of this seems big, but it felt good to do something.

Congrats on the retirement!! And small steps are still steps, so take the win

Ok I'm in. in the past month or so I decided to list and sell many items throughout the house. since February I've sold a giant peacock chair, A leatherman multi tool, some Disney parks Lego mini figures,a couple of movie memorabilia items,2 large plants. I have a large bin I'm filling with more unloved items...will try to remember to get back here and report! (listing and selling is time consuming but I'm determined,how do I have so many unloved things?)

I feel your pain. When you don't have a lot of money you tend to hold onto things "just in case". I have a LOT of "just in case" items, things that maybe I could repair, or I might need later, or whatever. It's hard to let stuff go, but I'm running out of space. And if we can sell some stuff off, all the better. Who couldn't use a few extra bucks these days?

Today I loaded up my car with recyclables, and hauled them to the dept. I'll count by bags (6, plus some old electronics and batteries and the like) but according to the receipt there were around 600 items Then I cleaned the area where I store that stuff, so I can start "fresh". I also sorted through a small pile of junk that I'd set aside to go through. That was my big to-do today, but I have plans to do some photos for sale items and maybe go through a dresser drawer. I also have a bunch of half-finished projects I'm working on and some to-do items for family so that may or may not happen. Next on the list is actually making a list for the rest of the weekend.

Total: 138 items