<p>Hahaha… I’ve been single for 14 years but I don’t think my children care to think about my dating life or what may be in my lingerie drawer. I’ll just leave it at that. </p>
<p>Oh, BunsenBurner: A 3-car garage with 3 cars parked in it! Wow! That is the stuff of dreams for me. We have the 3-car garage, all right. I have been feeling so pleased that we worked our way up to 2 cars parked in it!</p>
<p>After a long interruption, I got rid of 10 of those large banker’s boxes–about 24" long today, plus one smaller box.</p>
<p>This thread is a really valuable source of support for me! </p>
<p>Also, best wishes for a speedy recovery from your surgery, 2016BarnardMom!</p>
<p>Worked on garage this weekend. Woohoo! More bags and more open space! </p>
<p>Did the coat closets, rack, mud room. Don’t care how good the coat is… If ever get that small again I’ll get a new one :)</p>
<p>@Singersmom07 - love that. I should really clean out the coat closet too.</p>
<p>Looked at the old filing cabinet on Saturday. I had bank statements from 1998 for the kids’ accounts. Happily shredded them! Also found old mortgage payment statements - those also made it to the shredder. What do folks about tax records? Apparently, we have everything saved for over 20 years!</p>
<p>I’d always been told 7 years of tax records. I have a file where each year, when I put in the newest, I take out the oldest and shred it. </p>
<p>Oh those stinking tax returns! I needed my tax returns from 1979 and 1980 when I applied to buy back retirement years. Miraculously, I had them inside a seldom used desk…32 years old! Guess it was good that I kept them!</p>
<p>I’m doing coats this week too. Tonight I did scarves. I mean really, who needs a gaggle of outdoor scarves? I saved the ones I use that match the coats I intend to keep! Ditto mittens!</p>
<p>Even though I have not been following this thread, I want to thank you all for the inspiration. Whenever I see the title pass by it does remind me to declutter. T</p>
<p>oday the monthly ARC charity truck came. It was a small bag this time… but hey, the main thing is to always think about “mass balance” (give away more than you bring into the house).</p>
<p>The basement is a mess. And the garage is not great. But per above posts it’s good that we have always been able to get 2 cars into the 2 car garages. </p>
<p>I have a HS reunion the Saturday before Thanksgiving and instead of making a 500 mile RT on 95 2x in a week, I thought it would be a good use of the 4 days to get my 86yo mother to consider cleaning out her basement. I will need lots of strength for this. It’s a 3br ranch with walkout basement. She’s been in the house 56 years and my dad died 22 years ago. There are boxes in the far corners of the basement that I don’t think have been touched since they moved in, which I believe includes their college textbooks. Plus junk in every nook & cranny of the basement. There’s one area that I thought was too spooky to spend much time in when I was a kid. </p>
<p>Spoke w mom yesterday and she’s lukewarm on the idea. For her it’s out of sight, so out of mind. </p>
<p>I did some research on her county recycling site and think all of the books will qualify for recycling, so I’m not going to need to rent the dumpster like I thought.</p>
<p>Get the dumpster. It is a LOT easier to have a dumpster where you can toss just about anything…than going to the county recycling site over…and over…and over…and over! Yes, I understand you want to recycle, but I think you need to set a priority here…clean out…or recycle. If there is that much “stuff” a dumpster will be a lot easier for you. And YOU will only need to move the stuff one time.</p>
<p>This advice comes from my own personal experience. I could never have done the cleaning I did without access to a dumpster. And it would have broken my back to load up my van and go to the recycling center…where I would have needed to unload it as well…over and over…and over again!</p>
<p>Just my opinion.</p>
<p>She gets weekly recycling pickup, so anything we put to the curb will be taken. Also, she can get free bulk pickup 5x/year. This may be an initial recon mission, as I’m not sure what I’m getting my self into. (I’m an only child, so I will need to deal with this at some point and might as well start now). </p>
<p>nj - If she won’t agree to clear the junk away with you, maybe you can convince her to move anything good upstairs… so you can junk all the basement crap at once in the future if needed.</p>
<p>Colorado mom…if she is like my mom, she will want everything moved upstairs. </p>
<p>Before I moved my mom here, I made five trips to her place to try to purge things. Luckily it was summer, and I could suggest she and her dog sit outside on the patio. I just tossed things…the reality was…she didn’t even know what was in those boxes…which had been packed up for years. Just junk.</p>
<p>Even with that…we moved 44 boxes of “stuff”…and none of it was furniture. Just stuff! </p>
<p>After she died, we got another dumpster here…and at least 30 boxes of stuff went in that purging…maybe more. Of course, we had to search every cranny of every box…things were hidden in the strangest places. </p>
<p>We also went through 5 shredders. Don’t forget to take a good one with you!</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>A few things you might think about:</p>
<ol>
<li>Some of those textbooks from 60 or so years ago might be very interesting. Seriously. Chemistry, when there were like, what – 35 elements? 
Geography, when Africa was one big wasteland? American history, relatively close to WWII and before Vietnam? Some of these could be pretty neat.</li>
<li>BUT, if she doesn’t know what’s in the boxes, you could probably just get rid of some of them without even telling her. </li>
</ol>
<p>Be careful to at least check the boxes. I had an elderly woman patient who hid her jewelry in a box in her garage before going to the hospital, then could not recall which one. In FL we don’t have basements, so not too many for her family to look through.</p>
<p>I managed to get the linen closet done before surgery but the coat closet is going to have to wait. It’s so nice to have these closets, cabinets and drawers so neat and clean. I can find everything I need 
</p>
<p>Agree that it’s important to check pockets and boxes. Elders and others can hid things in the dardenest places–GOOD jewelry in luggage and handbags and in a box of junk. It’s maddening but it is good if you (and/or others) have the patience to at least look thru to make sure there is nothing of great value amongst the “stuff.”</p>
<p>Yep. My mom told me to look in everything. So I did. I found a diamond pendant in an envelope…I didn’t even know she owned a Diamond pendant!</p>
<p>It’s not just elders who mislay good stuff. In the move before last, Happykid handed me a box of things for Goodwill. When I opened it up, there was a pile of silver jewelry from her grandmother that she’d forgotten she even had.</p>