Step 1: Goodwill for anything decent. Nice deduction BTW. There's easy ways to value donated goods. Step 2: Dumpster.
Yeah we actually sold most of his crap on eBay (he had collectibles) and Craigslist. So that stuff is thankfully mostly gone now! It's just part of the chain of clutter buildup that started with one kid bam 2 kids then pile of Uncles crap LOL. We are getting there! The last of it pretty much went in the garbage just before Thanksgiving.
ETA Tax deductions are no good unless you have enough to itemize (we never do!).
I seem to be collecting/hoarding vehicles lately. I can't sell a car to save my life.
If anyone needs some good $2500 transportation or a $3000 beast of a work truck, hit me up.
I can offer you 19 pairs of sneakers in varying shapes, colors, and conditions for it. I can't seem to part with them otherwise.
LMAO my husband just cleaned out his closet Sunday and stared lovingly at his collection of Vans and Adidas for a while, deciding which ones he could part with. For a guy who isn't normally that attached to *things*, parting with sneakers and sports T shirts really pains him. At least he purged that Sanchez jersey...
Was it one of those really old grungy ones that never really looks clean even after it's freshly washed? That's good. A dirty Sanchez isn't a good look for anyone.
---
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Was it one of those really old grungy ones that never really looks clean even after it's freshly washed? That's good. A dirty Sanchez isn't a good look for anyone.
Good one
But Sanchez wasn't good enough long enough for him to get this jersey grungy. All the "Santastic" and "Sanchize" fervor gave way to "Bench this (expletive) guy!" in a relatively short time frame.
@Katt, you might want to Google dirty Sanchez. You may change your mind about that lol.
Ben, I love a joke that is designed for just the minority of people that will "get" it. 300 people in a room, the best joke is the one 10 people laughed at.
No I got it just fine no google search necessary . I learned that one back in high school because there was a local band by that name. It was a traumatic thing to learn at 17.
My wife and I are in a constant state of donating. I have no idea where we get all the stuff to send to the various places (canadian diabetes and big brothers pick up donation boxes from us all the time). Seems like an endless stream of stuff at times yet my home looks as full as it always does no matter how much we donate.
Y'all just need to invite me over to go all Neicy Nash on your mayhem and foolishness.
I suffer so much from chronic declutteritis that most of our closets are empty and the rooms unfurnished. Any time people come over they ask if we are too broke to own anything. I'm just commitment-phobic, and it include committing to things.
Do you have enough to meet your needs? Do you ever wish you had more stuff? It's not a bad thing to not have possessions unless the lack of possessions is negatively impacting your life.
Modern society has a distorted view of what is appropriate when it comes to possessions. Did you ever read the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls? Do you remember the description of the wonderful Christmas where Laura was showered with gifts -- an orange, a peppermint stick, and her very own tin cup so she no longer had to share with her sister? And she was from a well-off family of landowners who were active in their community. The had nothing.
If your closets and rooms are mostly empty there is nothing wrong with that so long as your surroundings meet your needs. A great many people have the opposite issue -- they are owned by their stuff! They can't have people over because the house is messy. They can't keep up with the laundry because they have too many clothes. They can't put things away because they don't know where to put all their stuff. They can't park in the garage because the garage is full of bikes and lawnmowers and baby toys and boxes and mystery items.
We do NOT have all we need to function comfortably. However, I am slowly fixing that. I'm being very choosy though since I don't like too much stuff. Lying around on the hardwood floor is getting old, lol. Our one semi furnished room is in the basement where the tv resides. We actually downsized from a house twice the size of this one. Now that house was empty!
Yesterday a local park was having an outdoor festival. Many booths offered free promotional goodies: tote bags, fridge magnets, ball-point pens, frisbees, and more. We are inundated with free things. Free water bottles, calendars, free gift with purchase. But what happens to all of this "free" stuff? Does it accumulate in your junk drawer? Do you actually play with that frisbee? Do you really use the notepads and pens and pillboxes?
Challenge yourself to not take the free thing. Don't add junk and clutter to your life. Those "free" things come with a cost of your time and energy and storage space.
I have one, and every time only one sock comes out of the washing machine I put it there and match it with its partner as soon as it turns up. Only, some never do. And my sack is full of odd socks that will stay single forever.
Once in a while I take a heart and throw them away (and unfailingly, the next day the other one materializes, but that's another story).
I need to do that again.
This is my life too......you are now m y sock sister
I have one, and every time only one sock comes out of the washing machine I put it there and match it with its partner as soon as it turns up. Only, some never do. And my sack is full of odd socks that will stay single forever.
Once in a while I take a heart and throw them away (and unfailingly, the next day the other one materializes, but that's another story).
I need to do that again.
This is my life too......you are now my sock sister
Oh how timely for this to get bumped now. I had just decided that my goal for the week is to pare down on books so they actually fit on the 5 (five!) bookcases in the living room. Instead of being piled up in front of them because they don't fit. Like, we seriously have so many books it isn't funny. There are more in the garage, but I'm not worrying about them now. I was getting to where I just couldn't get my living room to clean up nicely, and realized the books need to go. So partly it's a decluttering project and partly it's a day-to-day cleaning project.. I can't ask my kids to straighten up a room if there's a crap ton of stuff in the room that literally has no where to go.
First step though was pitching a falling apart couch and replacing it, and rearranging all the furniture to give a more spacious feel.
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HildaCornersWinter? You call *that* winter?Gold WomenPosts: 3,377
After all the purging stuff I did last summer, then putting 90% of everything I'm keeping in deep storage, I thought I had no junk left.
But I cleared one dresser drawer and found two items for the trash and one to give away. In ONE drawer!
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
We finally unpacked the stuff lurking in the garage! We can actually park 2/3 of our vehicles in the garage! We justify using the 3rd space for storage mostly because my sister is a terrible, horrible driver so she would probably tear up the garage frame and the other cars if she attempted to park in there.
I have done the Marie Kondo method with my clothes. It does to take some effort to keep up with the strict folding rules! But it sure looks nice.
With other stuff, we are relatively uncluttered in most of the house. It's not quite at Marie Kondo level, though. I don't think I could do that with two kids and a dog in the house.
Comments
Step 1: Goodwill for anything decent. Nice deduction BTW. There's easy ways to value donated goods.
Step 2: Dumpster.
How will you live well today?
Was it one of those really old grungy ones that never really looks clean even after it's freshly washed? That's good. A dirty Sanchez isn't a good look for anyone.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
My wife and I are in a constant state of donating. I have no idea where we get all the stuff to send to the various places (canadian diabetes and big brothers pick up donation boxes from us all the time). Seems like an endless stream of stuff at times yet my home looks as full as it always does no matter how much we donate.
*shrugs*
I suffer so much from chronic declutteritis that most of our closets are empty and the rooms unfurnished. Any time people come over they ask if we are too broke to own anything. I'm just commitment-phobic, and it include committing to things.
Do you have enough to meet your needs? Do you ever wish you had more stuff? It's not a bad thing to not have possessions unless the lack of possessions is negatively impacting your life.
Modern society has a distorted view of what is appropriate when it comes to possessions. Did you ever read the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls? Do you remember the description of the wonderful Christmas where Laura was showered with gifts -- an orange, a peppermint stick, and her very own tin cup so she no longer had to share with her sister? And she was from a well-off family of landowners who were active in their community. The had nothing.
If your closets and rooms are mostly empty there is nothing wrong with that so long as your surroundings meet your needs. A great many people have the opposite issue -- they are owned by their stuff! They can't have people over because the house is messy. They can't keep up with the laundry because they have too many clothes. They can't put things away because they don't know where to put all their stuff. They can't park in the garage because the garage is full of bikes and lawnmowers and baby toys and boxes and mystery items.
We do NOT have all we need to function comfortably. However, I am slowly fixing that. I'm being very choosy though since I don't like too much stuff. Lying around on the hardwood floor is getting old, lol. Our one semi furnished room is in the basement where the tv resides.
We actually downsized from a house twice the size of this one. Now that house was empty!
Yesterday a local park was having an outdoor festival. Many booths offered free promotional goodies: tote bags, fridge magnets, ball-point pens, frisbees, and more. We are inundated with free things. Free water bottles, calendars, free gift with purchase. But what happens to all of this "free" stuff? Does it accumulate in your junk drawer? Do you actually play with that frisbee? Do you really use the notepads and pens and pillboxes?
Challenge yourself to not take the free thing. Don't add junk and clutter to your life. Those "free" things come with a cost of your time and energy and storage space.
First step though was pitching a falling apart couch and replacing it, and rearranging all the furniture to give a more spacious feel.
But I cleared one dresser drawer and found two items for the trash and one to give away. In ONE drawer!
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
We finally unpacked the stuff lurking in the garage! We can actually park 2/3 of our vehicles in the garage! We justify using the 3rd space for storage mostly because my sister is a terrible, horrible driver so she would probably tear up the garage frame and the other cars if she attempted to park in there.
Has anyone here used the Marie Kondo method?
http://tidyingup.com
With other stuff, we are relatively uncluttered in most of the house. It's not quite at Marie Kondo level, though. I don't think I could do that with two kids and a dog in the house.