<p>Yikes, Silpat. Glad you found the envelope first.</p>
<p>I emptied out the over-the (built-in) huge cabinet that has become the repository for all sorts of kitchenware that I rarely or never use. Found that I’d managed to acquire not one but two springform pans of the same size. I’m sure I bought the second because I didn’t remember I owned the first. Aargh. Lots of stuff for the donation boxes, with a pickup scheduled on 7/31. </p>
<p>Also emptied out four large drawers in the island, and again found lots of little bits that I don’t use, including one thing that looks like a tiny, tiny melon scooper that I have no idea what it is for - like a melon baller sized for use on a halved grape. (Well, that took a couple of rewordings, since “balling” was not quite the word I wanted to use )</p>
<p>I think I’m going to bring up getting rid of the six champagne flutes we inherited from DMIL. They’re lovely, but A. We don’t like champagne, and B. We haven’t used them in 10 years. </p>
<p>Now I’ve got some boxes of china thingies MIL sent to us years ago. Got to figure out what to do with them – ten years of gathering dust on the box in the attic is entirely too long.</p>
<p>(Went to an estate sale Saturday at the home that had belonged to a 90-something lady I knew socially, more to touch base with her family than with the intent of buying anything, though I did buy a cute pair of earrings. But holy kamoly – the house was stuffed to the rafters with stuff acquired in fifty years of living in that house. And then I realized that in twenty-five years this could be my house. Gave me a heck of an incentive to get home and get rid of some stuff now. I do not want D sticking pins in efigies if I leave her a mess!)</p>
<p>I’m pooped. Spent the weekend trying to do final clean for sale aka “not that much left” on a friends mom’s house. OMG. And I helped the first go round! I thought we were close to done!
Bags and bags of trash and tons to go to charity. Wow. Just wow. And it’s not a big house, or messy in the least–just stuff left in all the nooks and crannys and desk drawers. And pix on the walls, deco, just STUFF!
The hardest part is the million decisions on keep, trash, or donate.
Easy for me–none of this stuff was mine or had memories attached. I know that was an important role for this scenario. I was the “trash it, donate it, keep it” guru. My friends gave A LOT of decisions over to me because it was too hard for them.
So we get get finished and brother says “how 'bout the shed out back?”</p>
<p>@saintfan I think that counts! @silpat After my mom passed, my brother and I were cleaning out her condo. I knew where she kept one envelope of emergency cash and promptly got that out and we split it between us. I had no idea that she had 6 different emergency cash stashes. Some was in a Legg’s egg (remember those?). Some was in a cigar box in her underwear drawer. Some was in a shoe box in the closet. She was dependent on a number of us as care givers but had a fear that some disastrous event (pandemic, blizzard… who knows what… Michigan doesn’t have that many disasters!) would hit and none of her caregivers would be able to get to her and she’d have to order food or have medications delivered. She was also fearful that some of the hired care aids would steal from her if they found one of the envelopes so she had many, many, many envelopes/stashes. Each one had several hundred dollars in 20s. I wouldn’t be surprised if we missed some and threw them in the dumpster or donated them unknowingly. </p>
<p>That chore of cleaning out her condo is what makes me motivated to pare down my own stuff. It was an awful chore to do- emotional and difficult. She was a borderline hoarder. She didn’t keep trash, but she did keep things that was she was sure had use, like glass jars with lids and coffee cans. </p>
<p>A new Good Will just opened by me. I think I can help them out a bit I love that they are super close. </p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom Your late mother and I would have much in common. ; ) We’ve lived through the aftermath of several hurricanes in various places and dealt with disruptions from other sorts of weather, too. Sometimes stores can operate thanks to emergency generators but their point-of-sale systems will be down so they can only do business the old fashion way with cash. I’ve told our kids to check everything that could possibly be used to store valuables. They know, for example, that there are Ziploc bags with $200+ in $10s and $20s in a couple of large coffee containers in the pantry. I didn’t use to go to such lengths to hide cash until someone I hired stole from us. </p>
<p>@arabrab You prompted me to check our kitchen, too. I found an organization that collects housewares and furniture to assist people who are moving into a place of their own from shelters, and they’re especially in need of kitchen stuff. Two boxes of extra dishes, Pyrex bakeware, cake pans, spatulas & spoons will be picked up tomorrow along with some furniture. </p>
<p>@saintfan - 'frig cleaning should count! I’m almost afraid to start clearing out the freezer in our basement. I think that’s one job I’ll delegate to dh. </p>
<p>2016 Barnard…My grandmother was very clean, neat, not a hoarder EXCEPT when it came to jars with lids, coffee cans and Cool Whip containers. Seriously, the first hundred Cool Whip containers weren’t enough??? She just couldn’t throw away something that she might possibly be able to use to send home treats with us. This was a number of years ago (when recycling not big) and was Many bags full to the trash…</p>
<p>I’m aware of a legal case where a house was sold that belonged to a recently deceased parent and the new owners upon remodeling located a large amount ($50k comes to mind) in cash hidden in the walls. </p>
<p>In response to ? about 1800Got Junk. Have used them 3 - 4 times in 2 different cities with excellent service. Easy to schedule pick-up online. They call once or twice to confirm and text or call when on their way. Beauty of this service is that they will go to any room in the house, backyard, wherever and haul the junk into their truck. You don’t have to lift anything - just be there to direct what goes! Have found pricing to be fair based on convenience.</p>
<p>Last few posts show the importance of letting someone know not only what might be stashed away but WHERE it might be stashed.
Maybe writing down all those hidden places and then putting it in a safety deposit box would be a good idea if you don’t want to trust either your memory or your relatives.
Years ago my boss and his family spent a night (by the light of the moon he said) digging up a backyard in search of 10K which had been buried by his dad…so be specific in locations.</p>
<p>^^MIL had the job of sifting through her father’s home after his passing. He, too, had stashes of cash around the house including 5k under his mattress. </p>
<p>Last week, I was motivated to clean out my walk in closet when I couldn’t find a specific shirt to wear. It turned into a 3 day task yielding 10 bags of clothing, purses, shoes, etc. I gave myself 5 seconds to decide whether or not to keep each item. (I did check the pockets ) I figured that if I could live out of a carry on suitcase for 10 days or more while on vacation, I certainly didn’t need a closet full of clothes.</p>
<p>lilmom–fabulous! I have also ourged my closet and now it looks like my H has more shoes than I do.
H and I did a sweep through S’s very large walk in closet and had 5 bags of boy toys that are now gone.</p>
<p>I just emptied a bathroom vanity and medicine cabinet. It’s amazing how many various shampoos and facial products we’ve bought over the years, only to find out we didn’t like them but still kept them!!!</p>
<p>I got rid of a ton of stuff a year and a half ago when we moved from our home of 15 years to a smaller home. It was very liberating and there is nothing that I miss. However, things are starting to creep back in so I need to get into this club…starting, most likely in my basement storage room :)</p>
<p>I was gifted a used nebulizer and already found a good home for it–a woman who really needs one for her workplace. </p>
<p>Gave a friend’s mom a nice small handheld nebulizer that uses 2AA batteries. She already broke something trying to use a nebulizer in the UK. I told the mom this unit would be SO much better for travel with no need for inverter or converter, just 2AA batteries. </p>
<p>Our basement has long been the place that everyone’s old computers went to die. DH finally finished the cleanout project. 7 computers sans their hard drives are loaded in the car and heading out to the electronic recycling center today. Monitors, keyboards and printers went earlier. </p>
)</p>
I love that they are super close. </p>