<p>I hope I win the prize this week!! We have been waiting to redo the family room until D went off to college. Couldn’t get to it first semester, but the day after D left after winter break the demolition began. But, before we could do anything we needed to go through every cabinet and shelf in that room. Donated dozens of juvenile board games, videos, computer games and craft sets (that were given to her as presents and never even opened - how sad!). That was 4 bags of kid stuff and school supplies.</p>
<p>Then there were mounds of trash. On top of everything else we had to start cleaning out the garage this week. Finished second trip to the dump today with full truckloads of stuff. Have only made a dent in 18 yrs worth of pack ratting by my husband. </p>
<p>So, I am 6 bags of trash, twelve large furniture type items left in alley (picked up by scroungers immediately), 4 bags to church thrift store and 2 truckloads to the dump this week!!!</p>
<p>This morning, dh said something that nearly left me speechless. Out of the blue, he announced that instead of breaking down the boxes in my garage for recycling, he thought we should use them to box up all of the light fixtures and assorted hardware “we” saved from the recent remodeling project since we’re not likely to ever use them. He suggested that I plan to drop them off at the thrift store next week. It was very tempting to ask, “Who are you and what have you done with my husband?” Instead, I just smiled and said, “Sure, honey. That’s a great idea!”</p>
<p>I threw out a couple of pairs of old sandals that were beyond salvaging to make room for my new shoe box in the closet. FIFO, baby, FIFO! Why the heck did I even save those sandals in the first place?!</p>
<p>Silpat…call your thrift store first. Ours does not resell used light fixtures that need to be wired into a ceiling or wall fixture. Too much danger of it not working (we can’t test those) or causing some kind of electrical issue. We end up sending those to the dump…at OUR expense. </p>
<p>It’s a charity thrift store, and we have to pay for such things to be dropped at the dump.</p>
<p>Actually…for any thrift store, call first to see what they actually TAKE. Otherwise, you are strapping THEM with the costs of disposing of these things.</p>
<p>Many do NOT take old TVs (some don’t take any), computer equipment, VHS tapes, cassettes, vinyl records, magazines, baby equipment (because of safety and recall issues), etc. </p>
<p>That’s a good idea, Thumper1. I called them this week to ask about some still shrink wrapped toiletries, but hadn’t thought about calling for the light fixtures. I don’t want to cost them money by my donation. If they can’t use them, there is a Habitat store not too far away. They’ll be my next call. Our new trash service will take them if all else fails, but I don’t think I’ll tell dh if that’s how I dispose of them. I’m still too amazed that he’s letting go.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner, I like your FIFO idea. I just bought a new pair of sneakers and now I won’t feel guilty about tossing the 5 yr. old pair.</p>
<p>I’m through about 1/3 of my kitchen cabinets and drawers. I put a bag of old, plastic, promotional waterbottles and cups in recycling. I can’t believe we saved all the plastic cups my kids got with their meals at places like Chili’s. </p>
<p>I also disposed of expired OTC and prescription meds. I even came across the painkillers given to my 7yo when he broke his arm that he never needed. That 7yo is now 23yo. It’s amazing what we find at the back of cabinets.</p>
<p>Silpat, In many areas Habitat for Humanity has ReStores that sell old hardware, light fixtures, etc. Our local store was happy to have our old corian kitchen counters and the 80s cabinetry from our bathrooms.
[Habitat</a> for Humanity ReStores ? A good deal for you, your community and the environment. | Habitat for Humanity Int’l](<a href=“http://www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx]Habitat”>Habitat for Humanity ReStores)</p>
<p>I’ve been following this thread for a while and cheerfully purging bags of clothes, books, and excess kitchen gadgets. I was so happy that DH took cans of leftover paint to be recycled today! An unexpected bonus.</p>
<p>I confess I still have lanolin I got when I gave birth to my two kids who are now 24 and 26. Did get rid of quite a bit of the bottled old Rx meds though. Was afraid someone might use them by accident. Amazing how they get out of date when you feel like you purchased it “not too long ago.” I only buy small sizes for everything but allergy meds now. Those are the only things we use fairly rapidly. Sadly we are all allergic.</p>
<p>I am impressed by how much everyone is accomplishing. I will have to join the group when I get back home–can`t sort while I’m traveling. Will have to toss things to make room for our new gorgeous couch!</p>
<p>Going through linen closets for old comforters and decorative pillows sure fills up bags quick. Those are the bulky things that I always feel like should be saved, and sometimes I do go back and reuse/for change of season but there were too many.<br>
Also, sock drawer. Less big, but still…progress. </p>
<p>Regarding old paint still lingering in the garage. I discovered (at least in California) that the local paint stores are required to take back old cans of paint.</p>
<p>Pour all the old paint into a single can and consolidate. Put out the empty paint cans to dry. Dried out paint cans are allowed to go into the trash. At our local paint store (Dunn Edwards) you can bring up to 20 gallons of paint. With consolidation, I was able to get rid of 40 cans of paint out of the garage.</p>
<p>Now to figure out how to get rid of the ‘hazardous’ waste lingering all over the garage. Old cans of oil, cleaning supplies, stuff like that. I think we have to drop at certain locations only on certain days. Very inconvenient.</p>
<p>I was surprised this weekend when DH gave me a bag of his old clothes as his contribution to “a bag a week”. I didn’t think he was paying attention when I told him and DD what I wanted to start doing.</p>
<p>It is easy for me to get rid of stuff, but amazingly stuff keeps appearing! </p>
<p>When my older sons came back from college, merging our households added to enormous amounts of stuff. </p>
<p>Getting good at paring down. Tired of so many things. We went through easy stuff over last year. Now it is the harder stuff. A ton of picture frames filled with pics - I need to go through them and change photos. Trying to sell house and not really putting any of them back up, right now. But which ones stay in frames, and which frames go away? I will stash photos not on display. </p>
<p>Samurai, when we moved, I wrapped up all the family photos in frames in bubble wrap and put them in boxes. Almost a year and a half later, they are still wrapped in bubblewrap and still in their boxes. </p>
<p>I guess I’ll have more time to declutter since I won’t be spending as much time on CC, at least until the issues with background, font size, time of post, etc are taken care of. Maybe not such a bad thing.</p>
<p>I am hoping that you all are still at this in April… I am working two jobs now through the tax season. I want to start decluttering when I have more time after the tax season is over and I am back to working just one job.</p>
<p>I guess I am decluttering the bill box right now, taking care of bills that will no longer be there in April. :)) </p>
Will have to toss things to make room for our new gorgeous couch!</p>