<p>We have our Disney VHS tapes too. But we also still have a VHS player. My charity thrift shop doesn’t take VHS…except for Disney ones.</p>
<p>ETA…we tossed Barney, Curious George, Clifford, and all the others a long while ago.</p>
<p>The VHS box is the next one I am going to tackle. When I saw it yesterday, I said, ugh, I don’t know what to do with these. Now I have some advice! </p>
<p>I have reached one of the strata in our house that has old family items. Due to the screwball way . . . er, I mean, the no doubt very sensible and equitable way . . . that my mother and aunt divided heirlooms, I now have one antique leather spat, one carved wooden shoe from the Netherlands, and one Phi Omega candlestick–and no idea who in the family was ever in Phi Omega.</p>
<p>^^Re VHS tapes: I have a device that will convert them to DVDs–the device is unopened in its box. But sometime I will use that! Definitely! For sure! At least to convert the home video tapes. I am not alh’s “hoarding sister,” but I might be the sister-in-spirit of alh’s “hoarding sister.” I am working hard to overcome that. But I’m still buying plastic containers at present.</p>
<p>So, after Googling Phi Omega, I am baffled. The only reference to Phi Omega that I found by itself was a group founded in 1962–that would not explain the candlestick. Maybe another Greek letter fell off it. Or maybe one of the CC’ers has heard of a fairly old “Phi Omega” with no other Greek letters.</p>
<p>@QuantMech - Yes…we have that too. It’s really cool. I’ve converted lots of VHS family movies (and even figured out how to clip out little pieces to post on youtube or fb if I want). Someday I’ll finish that chore. Also I can play vhs tapes and dvds from that device…so it’s not like I can’t play any of my old vhs videos. Just not sure if I’ll want to watch Pocohontas or Rockadoodle or How to Build Bridges again. The ones that we WOULD watch, we own the dvd.</p>
<p>VHS tapes–one site recommends offering them to children’s daycare, homeless shelter, library , children’s hospital, school,and senior center. According to the Goodwill website I just checked, Goodwill accepts VHS tapes, but check your location to confirm. </p>
<p>My dad gave out small gifts at the holidays this year – they were VHS tapes of movies, etc. that my ostensibly mom liked (or was sufficiently interested in to buy them). I got three of them – none of which had ever been played. Wasn’t hard to donate them to the library. I will save that space for other meaningful remembrances.</p>
<p>OTOH, I cannot bear to get rid of the old 60s Disney musicals and the original Thomas the Tank Engine tales (with Ringo Starr narrating). Not that we have a VCR player any more…</p>
<p>I would call any of those places before schlepping VHS tapes there (ditto cassettes, and records). Some don’t have the equipment to play them.</p>
<p>Today I decided to get rid of my electric curlers. I mean really…I flat iron my hair! What am I doing with electric curlers?</p>
<p>Agree that you should contact to confirm the place plan plan to donate to DOES accept whatever you plan to give–save you and them aggravation. </p>
<p>My sister gave away her unwanted VHS tapes at a holiday party years ago. Smart girl! Now they’re cluttering our living rooms, not hers! I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth it to convert the VHS to DVD before donating. Suggestion? Thoughts. We do have a machine that looks like it would do it. </p>
<p>I’m not ready to face the VHS tapes yet! But I did discard a box filled with old Foreign Affairs Quarterly and Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society. Strangely, these are of little interest to the local Goodwill. :)</p>
<p>It is amazing how much the itemized donations of goods add up to, even using Goodwill’s price list or 30% of the purchase price. We have only been doing the donating for a few weeks and are approaching 4 figures in in-kind donations!</p>
<p>H bought two plastic containers with adjustable compartments he planned to sort odds and ends in but gave it to me to sort my silver jewelry and odds and ends in. It fits perfectly and is a nice way to organize without all the chains getting tangled. I gave him the undivided Rubbermaid container I had been using without much success. Seemed a good trade to both of us. ;)</p>
<p>I avoid storage bins, too. They are like black holes, even the ones with the clear sides. If it does not fit on the shelf - something has to make room. 
But the problem is that I am a Tetris Woman, so almost everything almost always fits!</p>
<p>This weekend I am trying to organize my shoes… I think it will be easier to legally change my name to Imelda than to get rid of any pairs I own. My collection grew by 2 pairs after the recent visit to the mall in Palo Alto. Now I need 2 that have to say goodbye to the shelf space, and none of them seem to want to do so. ;)</p>
<p>Next on the hit list… Mr B’s endless bankers boxes of articles. They are all now available in PDF from the American Chemical Society. Besides, he will never go back to any of the projects he worked on in grad school!</p>
<p>My neighbor had a strategy of taking everything from a set area out and looking at all of it at one time rather than piecemeal. It was easier to take only the must-haves and discard the rest that way. I am trying to follow a similar strategy. </p>
<p>It is important to work with a large enough but manageable corp of “stuff”. If it’s too much, it’s overwhelming. If it’s too small you don’t feel you’re making any progress. It is easier to discard things that are available electronically. Articles get dated so quickly. I prefer to sort only my things and have H sort his. Seems to preserve harmony in not micromanaging one another. </p>
<p>The best thing that has happened to reduce clutter in THIS house…electronic books!! No more paper backs multiplying. </p>
<p>We have a drawer in our kitchen where I out “papers” I think we might need. Since I have NEVER taken anything out of this drawer…NEVER…I’m pitching it all today.</p>
<p>I’ve been so bad about this bag a week thing, and it was my New Year’s resolution. Gulp. I should say that I’ve just taken some time away, since I started with such a head of steam. BUT i should admit to reality: it’s too cold out in the garage, and too cold in the basement. And darn, the worst part: the next phase is one that won’t be so easy: going through more of my mom’s stuff. Going through my kids stuff. Jeesh, I can’t even figure out what are all these wires/cords go to near my computer. And my computer: yikes! got rid of one, but have two more hard drives to dispose of. I might not have piles of books near my side of the bed anymore, but I still have piles of paper in the kitchen and piles of books nonetheless.</p>
<p>lima, you don’t really have to do a bag a week! Any progress is progress!!</p>
<p>Lima, you can catch up! Look at QuantMech! </p>
<p>I have DD in the loop now. She filled a bag for tomorrow too! Now…if I could only get DH to join!</p>
<p>A friend turned me on to the monthly pickup system. A local charity schedules a monthly pickup and all we have to do is set the donations out on our driveway. DH, lil kid and I have a donation bag stationed in our closets where we toss things as we go. Its amazing how quickly a bag fills up and with regular pickups, DH likes how they don’t accumulate in our garage waiting to be dropped off.</p>
<p>last night I realized, very late, that I had not started a new bag so I grabbed some tops out of my closet and a little nightie that I feel certain does not fit anymore and has not seen light for a decade. I love that I feel guilty if I don’t find 3 things or more every single day.
I do want to warn those who are documenting their donation to keep a better file than it turns out H and I have.
The problem we ran into is that I would only drop $250 a day and then save a bag until the next amount added up to $250. I should have taken better notes as the donation cards have taken some time to sort out. </p>