2016 Decluttering Thread

[disneysteve]

We are on our way home from a 10-day vacation to Disney World. It is one of our favorite places, as most of you know. As you also know, we have a large collection of Disney memorabilia and typically add to that collection when we visit Disney World. This trip, we both found ourselves admiring things and then thinking, "Do we really need this in the house?"

We didn't come home empty handed but we did come back with a lot less than usual. DW got some new jewelry which isn't really clutter (charms for her charm bracelet). I bought a few pins, which we have a display for so no added clutter there. And we got a souvenir glass (well more of a drinking vessel) from our favorite bar. That could go in the "clutter" category but my goal is to get a full set from this place and I'm willing to make space for them in our collection .

We have not yet started to declutter the collection but doing so is definitely on our list to do once we've gotten through the normal stuff in the house.

[SavingSteve]

Yesterday I got into my file cabinet and found a LOT of old bank and credit card statements. It was kind of interesting to look at the old credit card statements and realize how much my attitude and behavior has changed in the past couple of years. This site had a lot to do with that so thank guys!

Anyway I shredded a ton of old credit card statements, bills and car payment receipts going back to 2011. It filled a large kitchen trash bag when I was done.

[creditcardfree]

Yesterday I got into my file cabinet and found a LOT of old bank and credit card statements. It was kind of interesting to look at the old credit card statements and realize how much my attitude and behavior has changed in the past couple of years. This site had a lot to do with that so thank guys!

Anyway I shredded a ton of old credit card statements, bills and car payment receipts going back to 2011. It filled a large kitchen trash bag when I was done.

Nice work. Shredding can sure can some time!

[disneysteve]

I decided it was time to thin out my t-shirt collection. I have two full drawers of t-shirts in my dresser plus another 2-3 dozen hanging in the closet.

I took all of the shirts out of the closet and folded them.
Then I sorted the shirts into 3 categories - Disney (the largest grouping), Casual/Other, and what I call my "bum around" shirts. Those are the ones I'll just wear lounging around the house, working in the yard, etc., but I won't go out anywhere in them.

I didn't do this entirely according to Marie Kondo as there are a number of shirts in the laundry at the moment so I'll have to deal with them when they are back in the bedroom, but I did it anyway.

I had a total of 91 t-shirts. After going through them all, I was able to discard 24 of them. Most will go to Goodwill. Some are too worn out and will get trashed. That's a really big deal for me as I've been something of a t-shirt collector since elementary school. It used to be a challenge to me to see how long I could go without wearing the same shirt twice back when I wore a t-shirt to school every day.

The end result is that all of my t-shirts are now contained in the dresser drawers and none remain in the closet (there were 31 there when I started today). I'm sure there are some others that ought to go but for the moment I'm good with getting rid of 24 of 91, or 26% of them. It certainly opened up some space in the closet.

[JoeP]

Funny about t-shirts, I found a bunch from boy scouts that I want to keep for sentimental purposes, but also to check with the local council to see if they want any for their museum.

I also found a couple concert t-shirts from 1987 and gave them to my daughter to wear at school. She loves 80s music and recently identified Def Leppard as the artist for a song the teacher was playing, and got participation points for the day.

[disneysteve]

Funny about t-shirts, I found a bunch from boy scouts that I want to keep for sentimental purposes

I also found a couple concert t-shirts from 1987 and gave them to my daughter to wear at school.

I've also tended to keep shirts for sentimental reasons. The problem is that they've gotten so worn out that I couldn't possibly step outside of the house in them.

I have shirts in my drawer going back to at least 1985. There may be some older than that but I can date those because I bought them in Israel that year.

[creditcardfree]

Def Leppard

That brings back memories. I made my girls Bon Jovi fans. My daughter was so excited when they played Living on a Prayer during marching band!

[disneysteve]

I had 9 ebay auctions set to start last week and end last night. Two items sold for a total of $21.75. These are both items that turned up as a direct result of working on clutter (both were in the garage). I've relisted the other 7 items, adjusting the starting bid on a couple of them to hopefully attract more interest.

[creditcardfree]

More cards and letters recycled today, maybe 30-40 pieces. Spent just 15 minutes or so going through them. A lot left to do. Many of these are from when my husband deployed, so the letter from the kids saying them miss him tug at our hearts. We decided they didn't all need to be saved, just the best ones!

There were a few small notebooks my husband discarded, too. It all counts!

[disneysteve]

It all counts!

Absolutely. I constantly remind myself of this. Everything that leaves the house is one less thing in the house that we have to deal with. Piece by piece, item by item, we're getting a handle on this.

[dawnwes]

We are listing the house in April!

I am getting SERIOUS!

Yesterday I listed several things for sale.

I also have decided to get rid of duplicates......2nd set of dishes, 2nd set of pots and pans, it all needs to GO!

We are very seriously considering downsizing and this stuff WILL NOT FIT in a smaller house.

In fact, I plan to list almost all of our furniture for sale if it is in any condition to sell. We will keep our bedroom furniture sets, but our office furniture is bulky and falling apart, our dining room set is huge and bulky, our sofa and recliners are old and bulky.

I am on a mission!

[creditcardfree]

We are listing the house in April!

I am getting SERIOUS!

Yesterday I listed several things for sale.

I also have decided to get rid of duplicates......2nd set of dishes, 2nd set of pots and pans, it all needs to GO!

We are very seriously considering downsizing and this stuff WILL NOT FIT in a smaller house.

In fact, I plan to list almost all of our furniture for sale if it is in any condition to sell. We will keep our bedroom furniture sets, but our office furniture is bulky and falling apart, our dining room set is huge and bulky, our sofa and recliners are old and bulky.

I am on a mission!

Good luck! Moving is great motivation. I was in your shoes last year getting ready for an April listing as well. Duplicates is a great place to start, too.

[disneysteve]

We are listing the house in April!

I am getting SERIOUS!

LOL. Everyone always says the best way to declutter is to move (assuming you don't just pack up all the crap and take it with you).

I mentioned earlier (it might have been in the 2015 version of this thread) that my wife and I might be looking to locate 3-5 years from now. That's part of our motivation although we were already fed up with the clutter before that.

[dawnwes]

LOL. Everyone always says the best way to declutter is to move (assuming you don't just pack up all the crap and take it with you).

I mentioned earlier (it might have been in the 2015 version of this thread) that my wife and I might be looking to locate 3-5 years from now. That's part of our motivation although we were already fed up with the clutter before that.

We moved our entire 1,500 sq. ft. house contents from CA to NC almost 10 years ago. Some of those boxes were never opened!!!!!!!! :roll eyes:

And we have filled up our more than double sq. ft. home here in NC already.

We are now moving to something in between the small house and the large house.....so we have to get rid of stuff.

I found a place that helps refugees and I am happy to donate to them.

[snafu]

Good on you to seek a place where your donations will be used and appreciated. I sent a PM