Who is destashing in 2010?

[sophie832]

Ever since we moved into our first home (Nov. 2009), we've been de-cluttering. I think I've donated 4-5 bags of clothes/shoes. This past weekend, we had our first yard sale, and made about $150. Now we're going to see what leftover items we can sell on Craigslist. If that doesn't work out, we'll donate those, too.

One question...we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation? We certainly would feel terrible about throwing anything out.

 

[mrsklamc]

Ever since we moved into our first home (Nov. 2009), we've been de-cluttering. I think I've donated 4-5 bags of clothes/shoes. This past weekend, we had our first yard sale, and made about $150. Now we're going to see what leftover items we can sell on Craigslist. If that doesn't work out, we'll donate those, too.

One question...we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation? We certainly would feel terrible about throwing anything out.

Nike recycles shoes (I believe) and they don't have to be Nike brand.
http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/
They make playground surfaces out of them.

I wouldn't donate holy socks, but I find them to make nice dustrags.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Ever since we moved into our first home (Nov. 2009), we've been de-cluttering. I think I've donated 4-5 bags of clothes/shoes. This past weekend, we had our first yard sale, and made about $150. Now we're going to see what leftover items we can sell on Craigslist. If that doesn't work out, we'll donate those, too.

One question...we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation? We certainly would feel terrible about throwing anything out.

If you have alot of socks you could list them on craigslist or freecycle, a preschool or daycare might want them for puppets.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We're hoping to be moving in the next couple of months so today I started decluttering my back yard. I listed a swingset, teeter totter, plastic preschool size chairs and some other toys on craigslist for free and put a couple things up for sale. I'm really hoping to get rid of all of it this weekend.

I cleaned out a rack of storage bins (I don't know what else to call them) that I use for the kids' craft and homework supplies, I filled a box with educational things that my kids have outgrown (and sadly some of them were never used). I filled another box with miscellaneous scrapbook supplies and other things from around the house. I will donate those two boxes to our Boy Scout yard sale fundraiser tomorrow.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Oh my goodness, people on craigslist are nuts!! I listed our wooden swingset for free because only some of it is in good shape, some of the boards will have to be pitched. I put all of that in the listing, came here to surf around the disboards for a couple minutes, checked my email again and had 23 emails for it!! From the sounds of the emails I don't think most of them read the entire listing and realized it was mostly for parts. I ended up giving it to a man that said what he was doing with it so hopefully he won't back out.

I have a love/hate relationship with craigslist .

 

[iheartnmr's]

Ever since we moved into our first home (Nov. 2009), we've been de-cluttering. I think I've donated 4-5 bags of clothes/shoes. This past weekend, we had our first yard sale, and made about $150. Now we're going to see what leftover items we can sell on Craigslist. If that doesn't work out, we'll donate those, too.

One question...we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation? We certainly would feel terrible about throwing anything out.QUOTE]

Why would you feel terrible about throwing out junk? Holey socks and past good shoes are not good things to donate.

 

[okeydokey]

Ever since we moved into our first home (Nov. 2009), we've been de-cluttering. I think I've donated 4-5 bags of clothes/shoes. This past weekend, we had our first yard sale, and made about $150. Now we're going to see what leftover items we can sell on Craigslist. If that doesn't work out, we'll donate those, too.

One question...we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation? We certainly would feel terrible about throwing anything out.

No it would be completely wrong to donate those. Nobody wants your shoes that are so worn out they can't be sold or your socks with holes in them. If you give them to Goodwill they will just have to throw them away for you and it will be a waste of their time.

 

[ginna74]

Ick!!!!! Do not donate your socks with holes in them!!!! And throw those old shoes that are beaten up ands unwearable away also!!! No one wants those!!!

 

[allyphoe]

we have a lot of old pairs of socks with holes in them. Would it be right to donate those? We also have a couple of pairs of shoes that are so worn out that we didn't think it would be right to try and sell them. Donation?

In my area, there are "donation" bins specifically soliciting that kind of thing (the bins actually say "for unwearable clothes and shoes"). The actual bins are managed by a for-profit company that sells to the rag trade, with some tiny pittance of the profits going to the non-profit whose name is on the bin.

Tossing them in there is fine. Giving them to Goodwill just means Goodwill pays to throw them in the trash.

 

[Tanzanite]

Ijust cleaned out 4 big black garbage bags of clothing enough to clothe at least 20 kids been in plastic containers at least 6 yrs .Igave them to a shop that only allows needy people to go there.i spent way to much on clothes my kids wore sometimes once some not at all baby clothes are so cute brought way to much. it was hard to let go but i felt good knowing it will help other kids.

 

[mafibisha]

No it would be completely wrong to donate those. Nobody wants your shoes that are so worn out they can't be sold or your socks with holes in them. If you give them to Goodwill they will just have to throw them away for you and it will be a waste of their time.

ITA.

Its also a waste of MONEY.

Goodwill type group pay big bucks for trash pick up. Much trash consists of stuff just like that.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I donated some toddler toys (hard to part with but not needed), clothes, and misc. items that are unused.

I'm on the bag a day program. I take out a bag a day to fill and gather things for my next trip. I keep the bag by the door for when I'm going out.

 

[mackeysmom]

I'm on the bag a day program. I take out a bag a day to fill and gather things for my next trip. I keep the bag by the door for when I'm going out.

I do the "bag a day" thing also. It is much less painless that way.

I'm planning on moving within the year, and want to make sure that everything I bring with me to a new home will have a place. (And a big plastic storage bin doesn't count as a "place" )

Right now, I'm tackling the basement. I had a friend who moved about a year ago, and she gave me all of her cardboard boxes for my eventual move. They've been in the basement - collecting dust. Since my move is still about a year off, I've decided to get rid of them. I just pulled them out to the curb and put a Craigslist "curb alert" out for them. I'm sure they will be gone before it gets dark.

Yesterday I de-stashed my medicine cabinet. Got rid of anything expired and consilidated duplicates.

Slow and steady wins the race, right?

 

[OceanAnnie]

I do the "bag a day" thing also. It is much less painless that way.

I'm planning on moving within the year, and want to make sure that everything I bring with me to a new home will have a place. (And a big plastic storage bin doesn't count as a "place" )

Right now, I'm tackling the basement. I had a friend who moved about a year ago, and she gave me all of her cardboard boxes for my eventual move. They've been in the basement - collecting dust. Since my move is still about a year off, I've decided to get rid of them. I just pulled them out to the curb and put a Craigslist "curb alert" out for them. I'm sure they will be gone before it gets dark.

Yesterday I de-stashed my medicine cabinet. Got rid of anything expired and consilidated duplicates.

Slow and steady wins the race, right?

That's my motto!

Eventually we want to move too. So if I work on it a little at a time, it will be less work down the road. It's easier to take it in small chunks. The bag a day works for me. What I really need to do is focus on one room at a time. The thing is I have to pull stuff out and have time to put it back. That is time that is hard to come by. I'll have to schedule some time for the real deal. Until then, a little progress is still progress.

 

[lilosurf11]

Just did, in order to move into my new apartment. Definitely glad I did!

 

[jadeblue13]

Just found a giant shredder at a neighboring town's recycling center. Got rid of a ton of stuff for free--need-- more --paper--must feed the shredder

Why did I keep fundraising pamphlets from PTA for 5 years? It's a sickness!

 

[ferrytale]

So I guess I have been destashing for a couple months without realizing thats what I was doing! Been home on maternity leave and trying to get things sorted, cleaned, organized, etc. I have tossed out a bunch of things that were not donate-able; I have 5 trash bags full of clothes, and 2 boxes full of misc. housewares to donate to goodwill, 1-2 bags got handed down to family, and I have 2 bins full of kids clothes for the consignment sale with more to go. While we have clutter in every room(not tons in every room, just some in each), there are 2 rooms that are the main problem - our pool/game room and the spare room/office/room-where-everything-gets-put-when-we-need-to-clear-the-living-room. Things accumulate here and just tend to get shifted around. I can't seem to muster the motivation to tackle these.
I think our biggest problem is paperwork/mail. I try to go through and toss the junk, but I still seem to wind up with stacks of paper everywhere. I just don't know how to keep that under control.
Reading through a bunch of these posts though, I really like the idea of doing a bag a day. I go back to work full time next week, and am worried about keeping up the momentum. If I try to do a bag a day, I think that will help!
Keep up the good work everyone, and keep ideas coming, cause I sure can use them! Thanks!

 

[StephMK]

Progress is slowing down here since my classes have started. However, I wasn't able to work from home for 1.5 weeks while systems were updated so it gave me time to do projects.

All of our closets have been de-cluttered. DH & I both got rid of a bag of worn out shoes, plus 3 huge bags of clothes. The kids are all organized & I went through the coat closet too.

I can't get DH to go through his huge CD collection but at least that's behind cabinet doors. I am pretty much down to the garage & basement. I desperately need to go through my numerous boxes of photos & mementos but realistically, that may not happen til next summer. Maybe I'll try the box a day & see if that helps.

My best accomplishment was going through my files. I got in a bad habit of just throwing stuff in the file cabinet drawer. Now a big stack is ready to shred & all the files are organized by category again.

The issue now is that things are decluttered, but could probably stand to be pared down further. If we moved, I don't know that I would still want to take everything we've kept so far. I hope to move in 2 yrs so trying to keep that mind and want to go back through the areas in a few months to get rid of more.

 

[delmar411]

I'm planning on moving within the year, and want to make sure that everything I bring with me to a new home will have a place. (And a big plastic storage bin doesn't count as a "place" )

Well there goes my destashing plan!

I've been trying to get back on track. Just day to day stuff was piling up again so I had to take a step back and deal with all of that. I tried setting aside yard sale stuff but since our house is so tiny, that stuff was in my closet. Therefore I can no longer access my closet. Not the best plan! LOL

So I'm giving up on the hopes of a yard sale and taking everything to the women's shelter where I know it will get good use. My parents are coming to visit in less than a month so that's my deadline to get all the 'yard sale' stuff out of here.

 

[comicguy]

The last 3 years I had to share a classroom with another teacher. As a result I had to keep a lot of my school stuff at home!!! But he retired at the end of the school year. I brought all of my school stuff from home and it emptied out a nice corner of the spare room

5 photocopy paper boxes of books(reading, reproduceables, workbooks, etc..)
4 clear plastic file boxes with various items (one had lesson plans, another had plastic frog and human bodies for anatomy lessons, the other 2 had misc. science supplies)


Slight rant ahead!!!

Of course, I had to clean out all the crap that the other teacher left, most of it was really outdated books, outdated testing supplies, outdated food (a box of saltines with a use by date of Jan 2006) all sorts of construction paper that was totally squished and ripped. Unfortunately that is just the tip of the iceberg of what I had to dispose of!!! Some of the items went to other teachers but a lot of it had to be trashed!!

The up side: I will not have to order index cards or paper clips for a while. From cleaning out his side of the room I now have 24 packets of index cards in 3x5, 4x6, and 5x8 as well as 12 boxes of 200ct paper clips!!! I barely use a box a year!! 8 boxes of chalk,which I never use as we have dry erase boards!! and 8 rolls of scotch tape, again I use about 2 rolls a year. I guess I can save the district some money on supllies next year!!!

Oh!! I forgot when I placed my supply order this year I ended up tripled with glue sticks and pencils(I ordered 12 got 36 glue sticks ordered 5 boxes of pencils got 15) and I finally got the rubberbands that I have been ordering for 3 years!!! and guess what also got tripled the rubberbands!!!! I was also double shipped on Dry Erase markers!!!Institutional ordering at it's finest!!!

Rant over!! back to your regularly scheduled household destashing!!!