Destash 2019 Time to Trash the Stash!

comicguy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Posting a new thread for those that want to create a destashing / decluttering goal for 2019, follow along for fun and/or motivation, or just have some form of accountability. So who would like to follow along and have some fun

I have been participating in the destashing threads for something like 5 years now and each year I have gotten rid more than the previous year including last year where I was able to surpass my goal of 2018 items in 2018. This years goal is not going to be so dramatic but rather a bit more realistic because at times trying to hit last years goal felt more like a chore as opposed to being beneficial. That being said I am looking at 500 items in 2019 (about 1.5 items/day), if I do more (very likely) awesome!

0 items left the house

0 of 500 or 0% of goal
 
I’m in!

I’ve never done or read the previous year’s threads.

I always de-clutter every few months, but we are considering a major downsize this year so this will be more than the last few years.

Five years ago when we prepared to sell our previous home we got the house down to a “staged” level and found that we were good with just that little amount of stuff. We had a 3000+sqft home plus a garage/barn, but only moved one midsized truck worth of stuff.

Our current house is 2800sqft, but we are considering moving down to about the 1500 range. So even though we don’t have a lot of “junk/knick-knacks”, we will still need to choose what to get rid of to fit into a smaller space.
 
Hehe! My place is only about 1500sf to start with, and we have WAAAYYYY too much "stuff!"

I don't think I could reasonably get rid of a certain # of items, but my goal will be to declutter every room in the house, including closets and attic, at least once in the new year. First step will be getting down the Christmas decorations, because we filled the storage boxes with "hide that!" mess when we were decorating... I'm betting a lot of that stuff can go.

The biggest challenge will be getting H to agree that stuff can go. He still has textbooks from 20 years ago... BUT he DID finally agree to let me freecycle his old golf clubs before Christmas, so that was HUGE...
 
Hehe! My place is only about 1500sf to start with, and we have WAAAYYYY too much "stuff!"

I don't think I could reasonably get rid of a certain # of items, but my goal will be to declutter every room in the house, including closets and attic, at least once in the new year. First step will be getting down the Christmas decorations, because we filled the storage boxes with "hide that!" mess when we were decorating... I'm betting a lot of that stuff can go.

The biggest challenge will be getting H to agree that stuff can go. He still has textbooks from 20 years ago... BUT he DID finally agree to let me freecycle his old golf clubs before Christmas, so that was HUGE...

I told my husband yesterday that we need to pull everything out of the attic when we put away the Christmas decorations. Other than the Christmas tree, I'm pretty sure everything else has been up there in boxes since we moved in. If we haven't used it in 4.5years, we probably really don't need it.

In our family, I'm the one with attachment to books (and everything else). I know we have gotten rid of so many, but there still are bookcases full in several rooms of the house. My husband's textbooks were out in the garage and he just threw them all away without a second thought. I have to contemplate and reconsider every single one.
 


I'm in for 2019, 2018 was my first year and it was fun, even though I only got rid of 434 items.

I guess though maybe I'm not fully utilizing my destashing count though..... I do not count items that are food that is thrown away (because what else could you do with it, would you leave something rotting in fridge?). I don't count containers that are being recycled because the product is used up (such as a shampoo bottle). I'm not counting grocery bags that I recycle, etc. I just count items that at one time had a useful purpose in our house (or I thought they would) that no longer are needed.
 
Purging/decluttering is a big goal for us this year as a step towards living intentionally. We want our home to be a peaceful and calming refuge, not a cluttered energy sapper.

I'm not sure what a reasonable quality count is to start off with though. Maybe I will just add the items up as we go.
 
In our family, I'm the one with attachment to books
Right there with you on being attached to my books. I'm a huge reader and while I do the majority of my reading on my kindle, I do have a growing collection of books, including some signed first edition (indie) books. I won't be getting rid of any books in my collection that I keep out on display because they have been acquired throughout the past 3ish years and they are dear to me but I'm pretty sure I've got at least one box of books in my storage closet that I've been moving around since high school. I really need to purge that closet of all the many things that have been in there for 4+ years since I moved in. Honestly, besides our suitcases, camping gear, holiday décor, seasonal items like fan/space heater, and a box of keepsakes/heirlooms, the majority of it can all go.
I'm not sure what a reasonable quality count is to start off with though. Maybe I will just add the items up as we go.
I'm in the same boat as you. I think I'll just keep a running total instead of setting a number goal. I want to declutter each room and closet for sure.
 


I’m in!

I’ve never done or read the previous year’s threads.

I always de-clutter every few months, but we are considering a major downsize this year so this will be more than the last few years.

Five years ago when we prepared to sell our previous home we got the house down to a “staged” level and found that we were good with just that little amount of stuff. We had a 3000+sqft home plus a garage/barn, but only moved one midsized truck worth of stuff.

Our current house is 2800sqft, but we are considering moving down to about the 1500 range. So even though we don’t have a lot of “junk/knick-knacks”, we will still need to choose what to get rid of to fit into a smaller space.

We are also planning to downsize from 2800 to around 1500-1800, still up for debate. I want to go smaller, DH wants around 2000. I think I can convince him if we find a really good layout.

I did pretty good last year because I was already thinking about moving. Now it's time to get ruthless. Do I really want to pack and pay to move this stuff? That is the question I will ask myself this year.
 
I’ll join too. Before Thanksgiving DH and I went through a section in the basement and got rid of soooooo much stuff; gawd it felt good! He’s a bit of a packrat and thinks even if he hasn’t used something in years, there may be a chance he will need it in the future whereas I think I could be a minimalist. I do think he’s coming around a bit though, we purged a ton of puzzles and games (still have probably 25-30 games, but we’re a game family) and he went through two big totes of cords and cables that I’d been dying to get rid of for years, and went through our seasonal stuff too. I gave my brother three totes of girl and boy outgrown clothes for his kids, and donated a large bag. I’m ready to work on the rest of the basement!! I would like to say that I will get rid of 2019 items for 2019, but that seems a bit high right now. I’ll start my goal for 1000 items and hopefully surpass that!
 
just a heads up if you are trying to declutter but want to help others in the process-

old sheets/blankets/towels (even very worn ones)-check with the local animal shelter b/c they are frequently on their wish lists for donations,

unused hotel and other size toiletries (all types)-local battered women's/homeless shelters,

household items (including still functional furniture and those odds and ends of duplicate utensils)-if you have a military base nearby see if they have what the air force calls an 'airman's attic'. it's a place service members can borrow household goods from until their own arrive when transferred from one base to another (and in my experience the organizers will arrange free pickup and transportation from your home),

baby/children's clothing-see if your local social services or foster care support group has a 'closet' that they store items for foster parents who get a last minute placement of a child w/little or no clothing.


i had to deal with cleaning out multiple households of loved ones when they passed so i'm constantly trying to purge things we no longer use. i also started a new project with 2018's purge-organizing the boxes of stuff (mostly paperwork) that are iffy on if i'll ever need them. it's not worth the time to scan thousands of pages but i'm not going to chance shredding something that might be important and irreplaceable down the line so i organized them by the type of record, boxed them-then double labeled. one label tells me at a glance what is in the box while the other label is a bright orange flame sticker that my adult kids know means that box and it's contents can be burned/disposed of upon mine and dh's death (much better than the alternative dh and i had of having to go through, paper by paper of 80 plus years worth on our parent's to ensure nothing of need/value was there).


The biggest challenge will be getting H to agree that stuff can go. He still has textbooks from
20 years ago

do a quick search on amazon to see if they will buy them from you esp. if they have anything to do w/ computers. there are old computer systems that were taught 20 years ago that while not taught anymore are still used-and finding textbooks on them is big score.
 
I'm in. I spent Christmas cleaning my Mothers house. I am now in major "get rid of all of it" mode.

I will probably help my mom with that at some point. Their basement is a ridiculous time capsule of years past! Lol That also helps me get rid of things. My kids won't know why I held on to a ratty 25 year old sweater!

I tossed some clothing items that irritate me and pitched most of a junk drawer. A stack of magazines and old blank planner pages are recycled. I'm looking forward to getting more done this week.

I don't follow most of the KonMari method but the idea of only keeping things that bring joy really makes sense.
 
I will probably help my mom with that at some point. Their basement is a ridiculous time capsule of years past!

a couple of tips w/ the 'time capsule'-

before you toss or donate any OLD appliances (even if they are missing parts)-do a quick google check b/c there's a market for them. some folks (like me) have appliances we inherited from family that are so superior to comparable items sold today (if anything comparable exists) that we hunt ebay and other sites to find replacement components (vitamix gives a $100 trade in credit on a new purchase for trading in an older model so it's worth holding on to one if you're ever inclined to get one or know someone who is). there is also a surging market for older crockpots (even just 5 years past) b/c of changes that have been made in the manufacturing of newer models (had no idea about it until i was researching a recent new crockpot purchase and came across all the sites with people complaining and seeking older used models).

if your parents have had multiple addresses over the years and you come across any old mail or bills that list them-keep one or two copies of each. reasoning is if something ends up years down the line on one of the state unclaimed property sites that isn't cross referenced with a ssn having proof of a prior address can mean the difference between collecting that property or not (there's some money that is absolutely my mom's on one state's site but there's no way i can prove an address she lived at 70+ years ago and that state won't budge).
 
I'm in! I'm the Monica from Friends with the tidy house but the closet busting with junk. If I can't see it, it doesn't bother me. Buuutttt, it drives Hubs crazy! I just cleaned out (mostly) one of our closets and got rid of bags of old games, hats, clothes, books, etc. It felt good, but I need to keep going! I always say I'll keep things for a garage sale some day, but that day never comes. It just needs to go...now!

I think I'll try keeping a box somewhere and adding things as I see them. This will make it less of a "big job" and something I can do whenever I have a few minutes.
 
I'm in. Our house is out of control with stuff. The garage is bad and my husband won't do anything unless I agree to rent a dumpster. I just feel like I'll rent one and it'll sit in our driveway for 8 weeks. Most of the stuff to toss can't go in the dumpster (old paint, etc) so why am I getting a dumpster for a couch and some cardboard boxes?

But I'm getting rid of what I can control!
 
Barkley-thanks for the tips! I'll definitely look out for older items. Their garage is another storage area and I know there are tools from my grandparents in it. My 70s banana seat yellow bike is still hanging from the ceiling. Ha

Adding progress from today- went through 2 bookshelves of kid books since all 3 are home. They did a great job making a big stack of books I will take to school. Their favorites will go with us. I may be able to pare down to one bookshelf. It was funny seeing which books were the sentimental favorites.

Also gave DD24 a mini chopper for SIL and her HP book collection. I may also give her a spare suitcase to get it back home.

From the kitchen, there is a cake decorating tool kit, bundt pan, and stack of plastic promotional cups and koozie to donate.

I looked back through the dining room and only found a small bowl. The rest I already sorted and still want to keep. It all fits in the furniture so I feel ok keeping it all.

Tomorrow we are tackling the saved toy closet under the stairs!
 
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I’m in for this year too . I just gave my great nephew my 17 DS’s Lincoln logs, A dinosaur and a remote control dinosaur.
With DS also going to college this fall, I am going to stock pile less in the pantry, it will only be DH and me. I’m also going to empty a freezer. We have a fridge upstairs and downstairs, a small upright freezer and a chest freezer ~eek . Maybe empty the other fridge too.
 
I’m in for this year too . I just gave my great nephew my 17 DS’s Lincoln logs, A dinosaur and a remote control dinosaur.
With DS also going to college this fall, I am going to stock pile less in the pantry, it will only be DH and me. I’m also going to empty a freezer. We have a fridge upstairs and downstairs, a small upright freezer and a chest freezer ~eek . Maybe empty the other fridge too.

This is a great opportunity to do a “no buy” month. I have done that once or twice a year when our freezer(s) and pantry are overflowing. I take a writtten inventory of everything and use that list to come up with meals that require little or no additional ingredients. Then you can take whatever you saved that month and apply it to a goal. (The goal is key otherwise you won’t be as motivated and will be tempted to pick up a few extra items at the store.) Ex. If your grocery budget is usually $600, but you only spent $40 this month then you have $560 to transfer into your vacation fund.
 
Our closets are a mess! I need to go through all of them and be ruthless. It is getting hard for us to put Christmas items in the attic so I need to make room for them in closets. At least that’s my goal as of today. I have one closet, DS’s old closet that I have collected some wedding items in that won’t be cleaned out til after the wedding in May, but that will help.

Also, I need to slack up on food buying until freezer and pantry isn’t bursting at the seams! :rolleyes:
 
a couple of tips w/ the 'time capsule'-

before you toss or donate any OLD appliances (even if they are missing parts)-do a quick google check b/c there's a market for them. some folks (like me) have appliances we inherited from family that are so superior to comparable items sold today (if anything comparable exists) that we hunt ebay and other sites to find replacement components (vitamix gives a $100 trade in credit on a new purchase for trading in an older model so it's worth holding on to one if you're ever inclined to get one or know someone who is). there is also a surging market for older crockpots (even just 5 years past) b/c of changes that have been made in the manufacturing of newer models (had no idea about it until i was researching a recent new crockpot purchase and came across all the sites with people complaining and seeking older used models).

if your parents have had multiple addresses over the years and you come across any old mail or bills that list them-keep one or two copies of each. reasoning is if something ends up years down the line on one of the state unclaimed property sites that isn't cross referenced with a ssn having proof of a prior address can mean the difference between collecting that property or not (there's some money that is absolutely my mom's on one state's site but there's no way i can prove an address she lived at 70+ years ago and that state won't budge).

You may be able to prove your mom's address if she is listed on the 1940 or older census at that address, a telephone directory or other resources available on sites like Ancestry.com.
 

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