<p>Something I learned–look for the BIG items you don’t need first or the most bulky–artificial Christmas tree, unused sports equipment, old tires, bulky sweaters, never worn coats, old TVs, games, old furniture for example.
Totally gratifying to get instant space. The “little” stuff–jewelry, accessories–unless they are really cramping your style–can wait (unless you just gotta do it!)</p>
<p>Don’t do what my aunt did to my cousin while he was away–she threw out his baseball cards without any idea of their worth (around 10K).</p>
<p>I got an estimate one time from a company that adds racks etc to your garage for storage. Pretty hefty. Considered storage units–even at 25 bucks a month thats $300/year! I decided there was nothing I was storing that was worth that–I could go buy new cheaper than store it. So OUT IT GOES!</p>
<p>Books–I’ve gotten rid of two bookshelves. Granted, it’s taken a while. I wean myself off some of them. But my grandfather who must’ve had a thousand books (man, I loved visiting him when I was little!) gave away a lot of books and basically stocked the library in their little town. Good to donate! Let someone else get knowledge. And don’t end up with moldy, or deteriorated books that aren’t usable because a book invokes a good feeling for you–it’ll invoke a good feeling for someone else also.</p>
<p>Gotta go room by room, gouf. We’ve already donated the obvious things- it’s the little things in the backs of closets and sitting in cabinets that need attention at our house. I like to see the progress in having the whole room, including closets and things in drawers, completely gone through and purged of unusable or unneeded items. I’ve just finished 98% of my bedroom. Still need to finish the top, rear quarter of my closet. Then I get to move on. ;)<br>
The kitchen will be the next on the list because we’re planning to remodel and I need to find some space, as we’ll be losing a large cabinet. Some hard decisions are ahead. Freecycle is my friend.</p>
<p>I call them the imaginary grandchildren and have an attic full of things saved for them. I will not be venturing up there until the temperature is at least in the double digits. (There is actually a small window of time when the attic is neither too hot nor too cold to spend any length of time there.) I have no basement so that will be my biggest project. </p>
<p>Cleaning out the liquor cabinet was one of my more entertaining jobs. A decade’s worth of wines gifted to us that we wouldn’t drink (generally very sweet). Some weird cordials that maybe came from my mom’s. A bottle of Midori that I bought for a sorbet recipe. I did notice that at some point they quit putting paper seals on liquor bottles. When did that happen?</p>
<p>I just went to file my first medical receipt of the new year and was moved to take a look at what else is in that file. What a bonanza! Kids’ (and husband’s) physicals from scouts (Philmont, National Jamboree), summer camps, school. Ancient receipts and mailings from old insurance. Was tempted to throw it all in the recycling until I remembered-- a lot of it has SSNs as identifiers. :p</p>
<p>I’ve been trying to get things out of our house off and on for about 18 months. I’ve donated bags of clothes, cleaned things out of the garage, attic, pantry etc. and honestly we still have piles of stuff everywhere. Granted, the place was a mess when I started - not quite “hoarder chic” but headed in that direction. The problem I have is my husband refuses to part with things. Now, I’ve been able to make some of his stuff disappear and he hasn’t noticed, but we’re to the point now that he needs to get involved but won’t. My other poblem is my son, but he will graduate from college and move to his own place this summer and he’s not leaving until he cleans out his room. As I said, he’s graduating from college and I don’t think he has really cleaned out his room since he finished high school. If you’re thinking yuck, I’m right there with you. </p>
<p>So my question is, what do you do when it’s time to get the rest of the family involved - and I’m talking about people who refuse to throw things away. As I find myself taking less space, they are expanding.</p>
<p>tired already, I understand your pain. My husband told me that what I consider clutter was anything that belonged to him.</p>
<p>Making things disappear that you know they won’t miss is one step. If you think they might miss it, just hide it for six months or so and see if they ask for it. </p>
<p>I discovered I occasionally had to tell a mis-truth when DH was looking for something that I had discarded. The way I put it was, “I don’t know where it is.” Which, at the time of his asking, was true.</p>
<p>ETA: Your discarding junk of your own may have an influence on the other members of your family. DH did eventually come around, at least with clothes that he hasn’t fit into for years.</p>
<p>What DH considers junk is different from what I consider junk. I’m starting with the rooms where he won’t object to what I get rid of. Of course, we’ll have to eventually get around to the basement and garage…that’s when the real fun will start. Oh, and half his dresser drawers are filled with memorabilia, or, at least what he considers memorabilia.</p>
<p>I’ve been clearing out and organizing - closet by closet. Today’s closet was in my son’s bedroom. I had already cleared out some, but today’s included clearing out the wire shelving. None of the stuff in there now is his; it was just storage. I can see the floor now! At least one bag, plus more books to add to the bag-'o-books that’s going to Goodwill.</p>
<p>VeryHappy, I didn’t ask the question about what bag do you use, paper grocery or big black plastic bag, as a contest or a challenge. Sorry if I came across as anything but curious.</p>
<p>Like VH, this year I want to become a net exporter of goods (bads? Lol) - from my house to the dumpster. I am also adopting a FIFO accounting sustem for my clothing: today, I got 2 new dresses from the recent Neiman’s super sale. I threw out a couple that were hanging in the back of the closet. They were too big for me and too “different-era-trendy” to see the light of day again.</p>
<p>This thread has inspired us to help our folks make some changes as well. The room my mom reads in and has as “hers” has bad mold and mildew in it and is very bad for her (or anyone) to be in. It has a TON of junk in it. Originally, we considered trying to get someone to clean it out but the path of least resistance seems to be to move all the unneeded stuff into that room and let mom nest in the other room that has much less clutter and isn’t a health hazard in the way the other room is.</p>
<p>H is wiling to help declutter the room for mom to move into instead of the one where she currently reads and lounges and it seems like a win-win. The other room is pretty bad and needs to have all the furniture taken out so the carpet (and perhaps tile underneath) can be stripped, but we figure we will go with the path of least resistance and having her nest in the other room seems like something she and we can agree upon.</p>
<p>I still need to clean our house as well, but will feel better if we know she isn’t in that nasty other room.</p>
<p>Oh, limabeans, don’t worry about it. I was just concerned that some people were viewing this requirement of one bag a week as having real rules. And in my book, there are no rules for this; progress is the name of the game, not the number or size of the bags!</p>
<p>I am still on my “shopping” from the lesser-used parts of my closet. If I try it on and hate it: out it goes. If I try it on and think “this might work with better jeans/pants” it goes in the wear or die by next week pile. I’m wearing my third “new” shirt to work this week. Ha.</p>
<p>bag of cleaning supplies I don’t/won’t use due to too much perfume (trash)
bag of various half-empty toiletries the children have left here (trash)
bag of unused sanitary napkins - Hooray!!! loving menopause! (trash)
box of books to the library (all new releases within last 18 months)
box of colored shoes to goodwill (only going to wear/acquire black in foreseeable future)
box of spring/summer clothes to friend who sells for me on ebay</p>
<p>We made a major downsizing move a few years back so I’m pretty organized and pared down. The challenge is not acquiring more than makes sense. Or hanging on to something “just in case”</p>
<p>eta: I hung out on the flylady site when I was doing the major purging</p>
<p>What a great thread, abasket! And it’s nice to run into a lot of my CC friends on this site.</p>
<p>I can really relate to the imaginary grandchildren and the “just in case” motives for hanging on to stuff. In fact, my general situation is bad enough that I really need to belong the to “Bag a Day” club.</p>
<p>Just a suggestion for VeryHappy, in connection with the Limoges china with small chips: Google can direct you to a man in Connecticut who does porcelain repair. For a comparatively low price, you can obtain a repair kit from him, to handle the chips. This might be worth looking into. I too have my grandmother’s Limoges. We use it about 3 times a year on special occasions, so washing it my hand is not very onerous. The sentimental memories and tradition make it well worth saving and using, for me.</p>
<p>I just didn’t think I needed to join the Bag a Week club. I am very anal about keeping my house clutter free. Every time you look at the home magazines, I drool over some gorgeous rooms and realize that those rooms are ‘clutter free’. </p>
<p>But, I realized that I have some secret zones in my house that are a mess. Today I decided to clean out my bathroom drawers. I created TWO bags of trash. Let’s see, prescriptions dating from 2002, dozens of impulse buy Anti Aging skin products languishing on the shelf. None of them worked! Disgusting dirty makeup bags that have been saved forever, I really only need one for travel Four old toothbrushes… I can go on.</p>
<p>So, today I am joining the club. This weekend I might tackle my clothes closet.</p>
<p>QuantMech, thank you for the tip, but I’m way ahead of you!! I visited that man (he’s in Stamford) when something was broken in moving. He very kindly suggested that it wasn’t worth it to repair it! so I have a great deal of respect for him. Truth be told, the Limoges is not all that valuable – it’s quite common, and the pattern I have is nothing to write home about.</p>
<p>I do, however, have a unique mechanical fork. (Yes, really – you squeeze something and the tines move forward; you release it and some piece pushes the food off the fork.) It has a porcelain handle that is broken, and that I do want repaired.</p>
<p>I think what to do with inherited things is always an issue. I’m about to replace knife blades in a couple of sets of inherited silver, for an amount that is probably well beyond what the sets are worth at auction. And then I may pay to have it professionally polished because after three tries it still has quite a bit of stubborn tarnish. It comes from my husband’s family. (In my family we take better care of things :)) I talked it over with my husband (who originally had the “it’s not worth it” pov) and asked what we were going to do with it? He couldn’t imagine donating or selling it. I’m not going to pass it on to the kids unusable. So we might as well just go ahead and take care of it now. </p>
<p>I just filled another bag: music CDs the children have given me the last two years so I can be a little more current. shuussh - don’t tell anyone. </p>
<p>I really feel “saved for imaginary grandchildren” and “just in case” are very distinct and different categories. The former is in deep storage.</p>
<p>QM: one of the books I just donated was Invisible Man ;)</p>
<p>eta: veryhappy -another idea. A friend displays an inherited set of china in a cupboard in his dining room. He explains it was “retired” by his grandmother about 50 years ago :)</p>
<p>I went through a stage where I felt disaster was impending (kind of a personal story) and I needed to buy as many things as possible to be self-sufficient. I have ended up with lots of things that I now know I won’t necessarily need. Also, lots of things I am holding onto for unknown reasons. Lots of books, and are we really going to use those kids’ sleeping bags again? (and it’s a lot more, trust me)</p>
<p>I will volunteer that I will sign up for monthly charity pickups and have at least 4 bags ready to take by that time. Next pick up is in February. Wish me luck!</p>
Four old toothbrushes… I can go on.</p>