2015 destash - Purge Purge Purge, Purge is the word

[Narnia_girl]

Oh my goodness. Do you miss anything? I sold our dog kennel, and my dd recently got a puppy and she sure could use it. She got one that was too small. But then I thought, she wanted the puppy and I will never get another dog.

When it was winter, I didn't want to go thru items, because it was too cold, and this summer we had a ton of lawn work to do.
I have to get to the basement. The masons came back and did cuts to the cement floor and everything has dust.
I need help getting rid of sentimental items. I keep looking at things and putting it back, because either it belongs to one of my kids, or they made it for me, or gave it to me as a present. I have been looking on pin interest and I think I need shelves built and I have to sort what is important to me and what isn't. Right now, everything is just scattered in boxes, totes, etc. I am seriously not a hoarder-but why is it so difficult to get rid of sentimental items.

So far I have not missed anything. I am approaching this not just from a practical angle but from a spiritual point of view also, but that's a whole 'nother post.
I've been motivated by reading several bloggers who practice minimalism. It's not my goal to become miserly or have a bare bones house just a house less focused on stuff, ya know? There are several on Pinterest if you search minimalism, or do a google search for "the minimalists" (they have an awesome TED talk), also "becoming minimalist" is a favorite. He has great tips on going through the sentimental stuff.

 

[OhMari]

So far I have not missed anything. I am approaching this not just from a practical angle but from a spiritual point of view also, but that's a whole 'nother post.
I've been motivated by reading several bloggers who practice minimalism. It's not my goal to become miserly or have a bare bones house just a house less focused on stuff, ya know? There are several on Pinterest if you search minimalism, or do a google search for "the minimalists" (they have an awesome TED talk), also "becoming minimalist" is a favorite. He has great tips on going through the sentimental stuff.

Thank you, I am going to look that up. This afternoon, I googled the topic, and I had a discussion with my dh and he promised to help. I started by going in the basement and vacuuming the cement floor and getting as much dust up as possible. But get this, I took the dog outside and ended up working an hour on our lawn and garden. Adult ADD at its finest.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Just a quick bump. Still not much going on in the major purging department, but today I took several water bottles, soda bottles, and beer bottles. That got 6 trash bags and a few boxes out of the basement and $14 in my pocket.
Also got all the firewood stacked and ready for winter.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

When it was winter, I didn't want to go thru items, because it was too cold, and this summer we had a ton of lawn work to do.
I have to get to the basement. The masons came back and did cuts to the cement floor and everything has dust.
I need help getting rid of sentimental items. I keep looking at things and putting it back, because either it belongs to one of my kids, or they made it for me, or gave it to me as a present. I have been looking on pin interest and I think I need shelves built and I have to sort what is important to me and what isn't. Right now, everything is just scattered in boxes, totes, etc. I am seriously not a hoarder-but why is it so difficult to get rid of sentimental items.

If it belongs to the kids, start putting it in totes for them. I've started gathering items that will go to the kids and putting them in totes. Each kid is getting a section of shelves. So far my oldest has a tote with files, a tote with his books from his childhood, a tote with Christmas ornaments, and a tote with toys he wanted to keep.
All of that will go with him when he moves out.
As for the presents, maybe put those in groups by gift giver and select one or two items from each child.

 

[Eureka]

I went through my closet and bureau and have another bag to donate. Need to go through the kids' winter clothes next and see what's too small on Ds12 and what from Ds14 I can put away for handmedowns. Sold a couple more things on EBay last week. My sister is here this weekend so I did a major cleaning of the kids' bathroom for her to use (long overdue) and cleaned out all the junk that was in the vanity under the sink. Did the same with our bathroom this summer. Feels so good to de-junk. Not sure what my next area will be but I'm still motivated so need to act quickly before I lose it!

 

[Debbie]

Decluttered under 2 bathroom and kitchen sink this week, as well as the laundry room shelves. Got rid of 2 garbage bags of outdated products, empty bottles etc. It's more this month than last.

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

Has anyone else read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I just read it and was inspired to start (or restart...) decluttering and purging. She recommends going by category, rather than by location, and trying to do it all in one shot. I don't have as much time as I'd like to devote - so it's been slow going, but so far I've gone through several categories of clothes, (including the abundance of t shirts!) and I've managed to donate 3 full garbage bags of clothes and shoes. Still a few categories of clothes left to do, and then it will be on to the next category. I wanted to try to do a little each weekend, but that's proving to be to much of a time commitment. So now I'm just trying to get through one category per month.
I also gave my brother 2 totes full of clothes for his baby. He's grateful, and it's good to have that space back!

 

[Debbie]

Has anyone else read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up?

I put a hold on this book from the local in JULY and got it 10 days ago. I've been busy and began reading it yesterday. It is due on Tuesday, and I can't renew it because of the holds that are on it! It is a good thing that it is an easy read. If I am excited, may end up buying it again. I'm hoping to be inspired, the way you were, to get some clutter out of my life!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Got 5 bins of things that belonged to the school out of my house now that we have a PTO dedicated space in a big closet.
Also tossed decorations from DS15's class night, from 2 years ago. They were big and bulky and I don't think there will be another Hollywood theme for a while.

Mom and I are doing a dump run tomorrow too. Time to get stuff out of the shed so I can put the chipper away for winter.

 

[Debbie]

I finished reading Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Way of Tidying Up, and have KMed my tops, bottoms, dresses (not hard since I only have a few that I ), and yesterday my coats. I also had a day of cleaning up a mess of my documents when my storage dresser broke. THAT was a lengthy (40 years worth) shred/recycle time. I am setting aside about an hour a day to work on it. What I have noticed, though, is that I have more of a notion to put things away, even if that area hasn't been KMed. I'm liking the minimalist that has begun.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Officially started moving stuff to our new house and clearing stuff out! Got several bags of clothes out for goodwill the other week. I also pulled a couple books off the shelf that I might try to trade in for Amazon credit. DH and I both got rid of a couple pairs of old boots (we're horseback riders) and I set two pair aside to try to sell. I feel like I don't even know where to start for packing stuff up though!

 

[tink9702]

Hi! I'm joining in on this thread! We are planning on listing our house in the spring and we need to purge before that can happen!!!!

So far last month I threw out all the broken sand toys from the sandbox, organized and threw/donated a couple things from 8 kitchen cabinets including a bunch of cookbooks I don't really like & purged my sock drawer. I've been quite disorganized about what I'm purging, just tackling whatever seems good at the moment. I started tackling a couple furniture items I don't like yesterday, but need to actually move them out.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I finished reading Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Way of Tidying Up, and have KMed my tops, bottoms, dresses (not hard since I only have a few that I ), and yesterday my coats. I also had a day of cleaning up a mess of my documents when my storage dresser broke. THAT was a lengthy (40 years worth) shred/recycle time. I am setting aside about an hour a day to work on it. What I have noticed, though, is that I have more of a notion to put things away, even if that area hasn't been KMed. I'm liking the minimalist that has begun.

See if any of your local banks do shredding days. My bank has one 2 times a year, I took 5 boxes of shred stuff 2 weeks ago.

 

[StephMK]

It's so great to find this thread and read about everyone's progress! I'm on my big push for the end of the year clear out, before family comes after Christmas. I am trying to set up projects for each weekend we are around between now and then. Last weekend, I finally tackled most of the garage! Now we can probably get DD's car in there if we need to. DH has also ok'd donating an old bike that his DB gave him, one that MIL gave DS, and one I will probably never ride. We are just not bike riders, let's just own it and get rid of them! A non-profit has a pick up nearby tomorrow so I'm planning to take them there. They give things to needy families so I hope the bikes will be helpful.

Clutter just really does me no good and I'm reminded of it time and again. I tossed a Christmas tree this summer because I couldn't find the top and thought I'd already thrown it out. Last weekend, I found the top, grrr.

I donated a trunk full of miscellaneous stuff after clearing everything out. There was also a trashbag of stuff, tons of recycling cardboard, and 2 bookcases that were falling apart. I tried to take some electronics to recycle but since Best Buy near us is remodeling, they aren't recycling now. I still plan to drive to another one to drop them off.

I went downstairs last night to evaluate what needs to be done in the basement. It's baaaddd. Worse than I remembered. Ugh. I'm going to drop off those bikes, get a giant Starbucks and go in with a ruthless mindset. I read the KonMari method and may flip back through it tonight to get pumped up.

What is everyone planning to tackle before the holidays?

 

[OhMari]

We moved into our new home in March and I just cleaned our drawers, shelves in our bathrooms and laundry room. I purged old medicine, old cleaning supplies, rags etc. I opened a bottle of low does aspirin and it knocked me off my feet. It was old. It made me look at every expiration date and if it was old it got thrown out. I threw out two large bags of garbage of odds items.

 

[StephMK]

I have stuck to my timeline and worked on the basement yesterday. The kids were good about going through their things. DD21 is doing an internship at a domestic violence non-profit. She is going to take 2 totes of stuffed animals after I wash them up. I am keeping one closet for toys and the rest is going. I need to box up the donations now.

Today, I loaded up 3 bikes, 6 balls, 4 Frisbees, 4 screens to windows we replaced, 2 razor scooters, 3 broken electronics, and 2 bags of packing peanuts. Goodwill took all of it. Recycled some plastic pots, collected a huge bag of Styrofoam (wish it could be recycled), and threw out another bag of trash from the garage. DH stacked a bunch of pavers in the backyard to get them out of the garage. They were free and we plan to expand the patio in the spring.

 

[PrincessKymm]

DS won't throw anything away! I finally unpacked his last box (it's only been a year since we moved in!) so I got rid of some very small stuff but not nearly enough. He isn't ready to part with his toys (understandable!) so we moved them to his closet and freed up some much needed floor space in his bedroom. I told him he's going to have to make some decisions in the next 6 months because we will probably move next October/November unless I get a hefty raise. I need a lower monthly rent payment.

I did get rid of one box (dumpster!) and some of DS's outgrown clothes but I've just created a new pile of his outgrown clothes that he wasn't done with until a month ago. So now I have new piles to sort and find homes for. It seems never ending! I also have another box that needs to go to the dumpster now (from DS's room). I also need to go through my storage locker. I haven't been in it in months so I'm sure I can get rid of some stuff.

I think my winter project will be to get rid of craft stuff. I've got a ton of supplies but not nearly enough time so if I get rid of that stuff I think I'll have more space to breathe.

My sister is moving in with me next month for a while (divorce is starting) so I will be purging my closet so she has some room. I will also be purging my dressers so she can have some drawers as well. She can only bring a bed with her (my apartment is big but not THAT big so she will probably rent a storage unit until she gets her own place). The plus side to all of this is she is purging a toxic marriage, I'm purging stuff I don't need and she will be paying me a very low monthly payment which I'm hoping will help fund my Disney trip. Win-win-win! I'd let her live rent free but I'm afraid that will destroy our relationship. She is the type that will take and take and take until you put your foot down, which I'm not good at. So here's to new beginnings!

 

[sarahk0204]

I found out this week that I will be hosting Christmas Eve brunch for DH's side of the family. I need to keep on the decluttering so that our downstairs is presentable and safe for the kids to play. I hope that having a deadline will help.

 

[Debbie]

Dropped off winter coats and travel toiletries to the local My Sister's Place, today. I have other clothing-pants, tops and dresses to go to another charity later this week. Tonight, I am hoping to KonMari my shoes. Hubby is looking gleeful at that thought, since he feels that people should get along with 3 pairs: 1 running shoe, 1 dress shoe, 1 sandal Sigh. Pretty sure that I will end up with a whole lot more than that that spark joy in me!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've sold another 14 items on ebay and have 2 things listed on Craigs list that I hope will sell. I've got to get back in the attic and pull out the last big dollhouse to get on Craig's List.

It won't be long before I start pulling out the Christmas decor to go through. I'm looking forward to that. I'll be asking the teens what they may want and putting what they choose into tubs for them to take with them when they move out - my oldest is 20 so I'm sure it'll only be a couple of years for him.

I'm starting to get busy around here again so my decluttering will be slowing down for a bit - probably through the holidays unless the inlaws decide to come in which case I'll have to speed up the main floor of the house cleanup. LOL