Not quite a horder - decluttering

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  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • OncoWarrior
    OncoWarrior Member Posts: 5,234
    edited May 2015
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited May 2014

    Clearing out the linen closet was on my agenda this weekend, including dealing with those old, sad, towels with thin spots and shredding edges (really, how many cleaning cloths can I use in a lifetime?!). Thanks for the idea to give them to an animal shelter or rescue organization, and the inspiration from members here who are getting so much decluttering done!

    Up next, there's a charity pickup scheduled in a couple of weeks, and they're glad to take clothes, linens, kitchen stuff, even books and magazines.

  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited May 2014

    Teka - you made my day!!  Thanks

  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • OncoWarrior
    OncoWarrior Member Posts: 5,234
    edited May 2015
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited June 2014
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2014

    Oh I got so sidetracked after the socks.  Purses are still sitting on the cedar chest waiting for sorting.  Lots of stuff is stacked in the TV room for packing & donating.  Now my son is coming in 10 days.  Ooops, his bed is still sort of covered with things I've been sorting.  My goal - to get all the 'loose' things processed and moved out before he comes instead of just shoving the stuff back in closets & drawers. 

  • OncoWarrior
    OncoWarrior Member Posts: 5,234
    edited May 2015
  • Teka
    Teka Member Posts: 10,052
    edited September 2017
  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2014

    Took my son to the airport at 5am yesterday for his trip home.  We had an intensive 3 days interviewing roofing & gutter contractors AND he helped me pull more boxes out of the attic that I couldn't move before.  I now have 12 boxes stacked in the garage to sort through.  Also got rid of tons of old metal, wood, plastic, construction materials, etc.  One of the gutter guys took it away.  He'll recycle the aluminum and the rest goes to a friend who ships it to China for recycle.  I'm just glad it's gone.  Son tossed all of his old science fair projects that were in the attic.  Some were quite large & extensive.  Got rid of 10 pillows.  Some were old, but several were new that neither of us liked & those went to a neighbor.  We went through 20 carousels of slides (80 per box).  I kept about 30 slides and bought a small, inexpensive scanner to put slide & negative pictures into my computer.  My 'ex' wanted all the rest, since he was the primary slide taker.  He also took the slide projector, screen & old movie projector.  I need to start working w/paper piles but I hate to stop on the other stuff while I'm on a roll.  Going to go through boxes & stacks of framed pictures next.  Then the 8 Christmas boxes - most of which haven't seen the light of day in 20 years.

  • Mandy1313
    Mandy1313 Member Posts: 1,692
    edited June 2014

    Minus Two:  you are amazing. But I have a question--what kind of scanner did you get?  I have long wanted to put my slides onto my computer (and maybe onto a CD after that).

  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2014

    Mandy, I've read that CD's are not good storage for photos because they deteriorate over time. Flashdrives are supposed to be more secure. I would check with an expert before using a CD.

  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2014

    Mandy - I had a VuPointSolutions that my son gave me several years ago, but I dithered too long before trying it.  It only works with Windows XP and I've moved to Windows 7.  (big sigh from son - "you're never going to do it").  We went to Best Buy and picked up an ION - Film 2 SD Plus, Ultra High Resolution Slide & Negative Scanner on sale for approx $85.  It is a small "stand alone" unit about the size of the old hand held single slide viewers.  You can sit anywhere there's a plug and look at slides or negatives, then push a button for those you want copied to the SD card.  After that you just plug a USB cord into the scanner & your CPU and copy over.

    Wren - you're probably right, but I'll be using CDs to send pictures to other people.  The files are way to big to email.  They can transfer to their hard drives or flash drives.  I know I should post on a cloud album, but I'm not ready to tackle that technology yet.

    My goal is to take 50 years of pictures and come up with a small "best" sample that someone in the future might actually look at - rather than 30 albums with hundreds of pictures saved, many of which should have been tossed in the first place.  Yes, I even put snapshots in the albums that were crooked or had a partial thumb in front of the lens with the first baby.  Duh!!!  This will be labor intensive but why pay someone to put them all on discs that I'll still have to sort.

  • Mandy1313
    Mandy1313 Member Posts: 1,692
    edited June 2014

    Minus Two:  Thanks for the info about the scanner.  I have long wanted to be able to email some of my old slides to people and that surely will do it.  

    Wren: Thanks for the warning about DVDs.

    Have a wonderful day all!

  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2014

    One year for Christmas, DS gave us one of those photo frames that shows photos from an SD drive. Then he took a ton of family photos and put them on the SD drive. Great gift!

  • BUNKIE10
    BUNKIE10 Member Posts: 733
    edited June 2014

    Wow you ladies have been busy. I had to have a complete plumbing job for my main bath and a few other issues from this past winter storms fixed. What a mess and the plumbing is still not complete.

    I just started to tackle that photo album thing. OMG who keeps photos of a tree on vacation from 1990. Me apparently. So I have been going through trying to dump all that stuff. I am way behind on the newest way to keep stuff. Maybe I can find a shop to do it. I went through all my clothes again and all my size 14s that are not fitting are going to a friend who just lost weight over the winter. She is so excited and me too. I want to be down to 1 closet. For all seasons. I wear the same stuff over and over it seems. Towels and sheets are good. I am going to get a small storage unit and clear out the rest of the basement stuff in plastic bins after I go through them again. That way any work that has to be done down there will not get in the way of my stuff. I have about 3 more projects and then in the later winter it can finally go on the market. I may have to look at an as is sale but I have addressed all the stuff I know about. Seems dumb to sell a home and get an apt in the same city but it will have to do till I decide where I am going. I can not wait to make the decision to put it up for sale so .....

  • BrooksideVT
    BrooksideVT Member Posts: 2,211
    edited June 2014

    So glad you're getting so close to listing!  Moving all your keepable treasures to a storage unit will help "stage" the house.  They say buyers think if they see stuff, that the house therefore does not have enough storage.

  • BUNKIE10
    BUNKIE10 Member Posts: 733
    edited June 2014

    Hi Brookside - I heard that. I wanted to list this year but there were issues.  I really need to get rid of most of it but there are a lot of donations I have to wait on. My family reunion will get most of my ceramics to auction in August. Can not believe I had all this stuff in a 2 bedroom apt out in Cali.

  • bc101
    bc101 Member Posts: 1,108
    edited June 2014

    Hi - I just found this post - what a great idea. Decluttering is something I've been thinking about doing for a long time, so I hope to get some inspiration here!

    I have 2 guest bedrooms that are no longer that. My house is small with no really good closets, so one bedroom has become a walk in closet. The stuff that's there is stuff I no longer use or want. Mostly clothes. I started filling large trash bags and hauling them downstairs and into the truck. Shoes, purses, belts, linen and towels to follow. Problem is, I got distracted midstream by the basement - we've had lots of rain and while our basement isn't flooded, it's a constant trickle. All the stuff down there is piled in the middle and I'm thinking that should go first so I can at least clean up the floor. Now I'm debating if I shouldn't just get a large dumpster. I wanted to recycle some of this to the Goodwill but it's too overwhelming. Wish I could just call in a crew...!! Yuck!!!

  • Wren44
    Wren44 Member Posts: 8,585
    edited June 2014

    Hi BC 101, Welcome aboard. Just want to let you know that animal shelters need towels constantly, so any you don't want would be a welcome donation. Know what you mean about the crew. I wouldn't mind one myself.

  • MinusTwo
    MinusTwo Member Posts: 16,634
    edited June 2014

    Bunkie - re: the tree pictures - we went to Colorado just about every summer from 1973 to 1993.  And we have tons of pictures of the exact same mountains & trees from every year!!  Ex-husband didn't take pictures w/people.

    Today my front door is being refinished w/new hardware.  I haven't been able to close it correctly for a number of years due to subsidence in the Houston gumbo.  Really a problem w/the neuropathy from chemo.  Hooray I'll be able to answer the doorbell.  Also side of the garage has some rotten wood since there's no overhang.  They're replacing that wood & putting in new hardware that will be the same key as the front door.  I can go through the key box & safely throw away a ton of keys that don't work anywhere.

    bc101 - check w/Salvation Army.  They pick up two days a week at my zip code so I've been scheduling 15 boxes or bags every other week.  I know they're coming so I have to get the bags & boxes out.  And it's nice to have them disappear as I go instead of sorting everything first.

  • BUNKIE10
    BUNKIE10 Member Posts: 733
    edited June 2014

    bc101 - You and I have the same basement. It is frustrating to say the least. Not a full flood but areas that need the wet vac and the dehumidifier runs constant. I have everything down there in platic bins. Planning to take it all to a storage unit. This is what is left after last years downsize. You really do want to get it up off the floor if you can.

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