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

[Ephany]

Hello again! I sort of fell off the wagon around Halloween last year. I had surgery at the beginning of November and it really limited how much lifting I could do for longer than I anticipated. I sort of destashed myself (it was a breast reduction). I went from at least an H cup to a B/C. I was losing feeling in my hands and the constant pain was becoming unbearable. Best decision ever! I've been slowly going through my closet and getting rid of the clothes that no longer fit now that I'm mostly healed.

As for 'stuff', I pinned down DH and DD regarding a bunch of unopened Legos that have been sitting in a closet for way too long. They finally agreed to let me sell them as neither thought they'd ever get around to building the sets. I was able to sell most of them on Facebook right before Christmas, so that was a bonus. I also cleaned out my presents storage (toys/games/crafts for DD's friends and invites). All of the new items went to Toys for Tots/Teens so it was a win-win. Anything I had been trying to sell on Facebook or Craigslist for longer than a few months was donated. I had reached the point I wanted it gone.

I've also avoided all of the after Christmas sales, so very little has come into the house lately. I find if I don't go to the store searching for the 'deals', I'm not coming home with a bunch of items I hadn't planned on buying. We spent today organizing and putting stuff away upstairs, so at least we're starting the new year on the right foot. The garage is getting crowded again, but I'll have to wait until I have some time off and the weather improves. Looking forward to continuing to decluttering and destashing!

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I need this thread!!! My kids got way too much for Christmas (from extended family, we are blessed with many generous relatives) and our house is small to begin with. I feel like my skin is crawling and I'm so uncomfortable, there's clutter everywhere. I did a good de-cluttering before Christmas and got rid of 3 large boxes of stuff, and 2 full garbage bags of clothes that my kids had outgrown or had no use for. But I'm going to need to be merciless about the clutter in the coming months if I expect to find room for all these new things. I need a kick in the behind for motivation.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

How do you advertise a fb yard sale page? Sounds better than eBay but I don't know much about it. Is it worth it to list on Craigslist too? New to getting rid of stuff so I just don't know how to best go about it. Thanks. And wishes to all for a Happy New Year!

MY friend created an event page on her FB and invites all her friends. I think that's how it works, I haven't tried yet.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Oh, I NEED this thread! Our house is soooo cluttered I become overwhelmed at where to start. A friend gave me a helpful tip about clothing though. She said to turn all of the hangers in our clothes closets backwards. As we wear, wash, & put away clothes turn the hangers forwards. Anything that is still on the backward facing hangers within a few months - get rid of. We obviously don't wear those items & are holding onto them for no good reason!

 

[StephMK]

Yay, happy to see this thread again! Thanks for leading us into the new year again Buffy.

I love the feeling of wanting to clear out the old at this time of year! Things are definitely better than they used to be but I still have many areas to tackle again. This year, I'm going to try to set monthly goals. Here are January's projects. I know DS has outgrown a lot that can be cleared out of his closet. I will tackle that project with him one evening later this month. I also need to organize some kitchen cabinets again. I hate fighting to get things out or have things fall off shelves. It's so annoying but with some thought and planning, I should be able to fix those little issues.

This weekend, I'd like to take the boxes that I already packed up and just never got around to dropping off over the holidays. In November, I tackled the back corner and closet in the basement that holds the old toys. The closet is organized and I have a few boxes packed up to donate. Trash already went out and there are a few piles I still need to just make a decision and do something about them. Finally, I need to wash a big bag of stuffed animals that DD is going to take to a crisis center.

I also bought photo boxes - one color per kid and one for family pics. I have already sorted a few bins but now want to get the photos into separate boxes. I may need to go back for more boxes but would love to get that part organized. There is a basement dresser and closet I want to move them to and get everything out of the guest room. Once I clear out the piles of donations, I will actually have a little space downstairs to work on some photo projects. Also once it's nice in the basement, I hope to use it to work out on a regular basis. I hate being faced with it when I go down there now!

Looking forward to reading about everyone's projects this year!

 

[Eureka]

I've been using part of the long weekend to reorganize and I always find things to toss and donate. Feels good to lighten the load. Only trouble is I often lose motivation before the job is done. But I'm focusing on one room/area at a time to make it less daunting...and of course it doesn't all need to be done immediately either. Little by little....

 

[goodmorningbelle]

Feeling motivated! Threw away three bags of trash this morning and took a huge bag to recycling. I can see a spot on my floor I haven't seen in years! I donated two bags of items to the thrift store earlier this week--I'm on a roll!

 

[mom2t]

I need this thread!!! My kids got way too much for Christmas (from extended family, we are blessed with many generous relatives) and our house is small to begin with. I feel like my skin is crawling and I'm so uncomfortable, there's clutter everywhere. I did a good de-cluttering before Christmas and got rid of 3 large boxes of stuff, and 2 full garbage bags of clothes that my kids had outgrown or had no use for. But I'm going to need to be merciless about the clutter in the coming months if I expect to find room for all these new things. I need a kick in the behind for motivation.

My DS gets way too much to so our rule is to pick out 3 or 4 toys and put the others up. He gets a new toy each couple of weeks. We allow him to pick and it stretches out the fun. We started doing it when he was little and did not remember what all he received. We tweaked it when he was older to letting him pick.

 

[mom2t]

Went through DVDs today. A dozen went in yard sale tub and DS stash went into drawers in our new TV cabinet. Slowly emptying out our large computer armoire that holds our 13 year old desk top computer, movies, two printers - one does not work any longer - modems ect. I am hoping to get rid of it in the next few months. Have to find a new place for the printer and some books I have. Slow steady progress.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Today I went through papers and receipts. I hate mail, I really really do. I really wish there was a way to reduce the amount of mail that comes into the house. 90% of it is junk or credit card applications from credit cards I already have! I sweat Citi sends me 3-4 a day!
I also went through DD9's toy cabinet. She let go of a lot of stuff on her own while I tossed broken and missing parts toys.

DH went through CD's, Floppy disks and a few other things. Recycling ran today and the can is half full again. I need to start finding a place to stage it.

 

[Disneytam]

I really need this! My mom passed away a little over a year ago and since I have the big old farm house and was the nearest to her house almost everything came to my house to "sort latter". The problem is this big old house only has one closet and I have been staring at these boxes for far to long. Not to mention all the other clutter! So the tree comes down tomorrow (while watching football of course) and I will try to turn 8 boxes into a more manageable 4 of Christmas decorations. I'm just hoping for slow steady progress of at least one bag a day of clutter out the door. Thank you for starting this.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

Joining in! I have managed to avoid all of the after Christmas sales. Our house still looks like Christmas has exploded. Hoping to get the new stuff taken care if soon. My girls did go through their rooms and playroom to get rid of some toys. Now I just need to get the motivation to list on the FB Yardsale site. I also just need to donate some things that haven't sold.

Does anyone know what fo with old college textbooks? I graduated 10 years ago so I am sure none of them are in use anymore.

Happy New Year!!

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

ashley - In the past, I've brought books, even text books, to our local library. If they don't feel they can use them in the stacks, they sell them in their "bookstore". So I figure either way it's a win all the way around!!

As for me, I have another bag of clothes to give away started. There have been a few things I've gone to wear and either decided I just don't like them anymore, or they don't fit. So I'm keeping that going. Haven't started on the books yet - too much company from out of town!!! Maybe next week...

 

[Alexle2007]

I'm in! Took down the Christmas tree and other decorations today. Love my new 9 foot tree but boy that thing is huge and barely fit into the bag I bought for it. My sister had to do a double take, she thought it was real! Picked plastic containers to put all of the characters in for DS's new Skylanders, Infinity and Lego Dimensions games. So those are all labeled and organized. Went through DS's closet in search of too small shirts since I needed hangers for the new items. 22 items gone but 20 items added, so not so good. Went through DS's games and have a bag full to donate to his school for indoor recess. I bought new curtains so need to get those hung at some point. Still have a ton to do but slowly making progress.

 

[lttlmc3]

I'm in too, desperately need to get rid of stuff!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Took a bag full of video games to Game Exchange today, and got $45. It was $70 in store credit but I'd rather have the cash.

Also got another blind for the living room. Now to wait for Lowes to restock so I can get the other 4 and this room will be done.

Tomorrow I start with my this and that list. I have a little list maker book that has funny sayings and you have to write in 2 things you need to do each day. I think that will keep me on task. This will be for the specific jobs like files, the dreaded warranty box, the pantry, front hall closet, etc.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

My husband and I started our Destash.

We cleaned out the spare room closet and the office.

We placed all our DVDs into a huge binder (well all the movies up to the letter O - he is going to pick up a 2nd one next time he goes into work) so it could take up less space and throw out all the cases.

I went through the important document drawers (it got up to 3!) and consolidated them to 1.5 drawers now and in the process found a $200 check from our title insurance from when we bought this house in 2013! Going to call them tomorrow to make sure I can still cash it but unexpected money is always good, especially since we just had a hefty AC repair bill.

We need to get a real guest room set up so now its time to really clean out the spare room so it can become that.

To accomplish that, we need to throw out the spare couch in the office that takes up all the room that isn't the main computer desk and purchase 2 storage type desks (similar to the one below but with deeper shelves) so that I have room to do puzzles or legos outside of the dinner table and for my husband to have a work space for cleaning his gun. We'll also be able work on taking a lot of stuff in the rest of the spare room and put the books/craft suppliers/etc on these shelves. We're going to go shopping tomorrow evening for this. Once that is set up, we can get rid of a lot of the furniture in the spare room so we can get a bed and nice furniture in there that isn't my childhood stuff.



If I get that goal accomplished in 2016, I'll tackle the kitchenwares next.

 

[Disneytam]

This has to be a record for me but the tree is down and the 8 Christmas decoration boxes got turned into 5 boxes, not the 4 I had hoped for but it is a start. One tiny step at a time.

 

[hulagirl87]

I donated a bag of clothes and a box of miscellaneous things and kitchen items to Big Brothers and Big Sisters last week when the truck came through our neighborhood. Not much, but a start. I'm hoping to get more decluttering done this year. We have tons and tons of books but I have a hard time getting rid of books. I love to read and my kids do too, but there are sooooo many! Same with toys. With all the new toys we got this year for Christmas, I'm feeling like we are being overrun by toys. I've actually been watching some youtube videos for inspiration/help. When I see before and afters of decluttering, it makes me so motivated!

 

[neatokimmo]

I am joining this year. I have so much work to do, I need the encouragement. DH and I have only been married for three years and had our own households. We have a lot of duplicate stuff. We also have a lot of our fathers things. I have a 250 sf sunroom to clear out, a two car garage, several things on the back porch, a spare bedroom, and a storage room off the garage. I also have a business and my supplies have taken over our dining room. The only way to purge that stuff is to make it and transfer it to my store.

Typing all that made me a little ill lol