Not quite a horder - decluttering

Mominator- good job! I wish there were a way to send clothing to Louisiana for all the people who have lost homes,etc. Going to see if there is any charity here collecting things to drive them out there. That situation is like Katrina all over again with the flooding. I am going to look into it.

I believe that the Salvation Army delivers clothing to people all over the country.

I keep finding new ways to declutter: Our local high school students need to do service projects as part of their honor society requirements.

One student is doing a Halloween costume collection drive for needy local families. Another is collecting books.

I cleaned out one box and donated a big bag of Halloween costumes. I have two more Halloween boxes to go.

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I've been cleaning out some shelves and bookcases. I found at least 4 boxes of Puzzlemania and Mathmania magazines which I gave to our elementary school. The math teacher, Mrs. S, loves puzzles. Coincidentally, she just returned from sick leave for breast cancer.

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We have a local FaceBook page of Buy/Swap/Sell. I was able to sell at half price a box of reusable coffee pods that almost but didn't quite fit hubby's iCoffee machine.

On the same site I found a teacher who takes my large, plastic jars to use as storage containers in her classroom; also found another teacher who wants all our play dishes, utensils, and food for a play kitchen for her kindergarten class.

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I gave our Boy Scout make your own clock kit to Lori's young son. Our son wasn't interested in it after we got it. Lori's son is just the right age for it. Lori died 5/25/16 of MBC.

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I donated a queen sized comforter to the animal shelter. It will be used for a mother and her new puppies.

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I took 3 very lovely, strapless, special occasion bras (that no longer fit) to the consignment shop where DD bought her prom dress. I don't really expect to make any money from them, nor were they taking up that much space in the drawer. However, they were taking up too much mental space. I'm hoping three young ladies will wear them in good health.

Mominator - age may help with sorting our kiddo's stuff, but it's still hard. I thought I could go through the photo albums and condense 10 into 1, which is about all my 46 yr old son will want. Nope - the picture with the thumb is the only one that shows Grandma's special hair cut. The picture that is crooked is the only one that is a good picture of my son's special little friend. He personally cleaned out all of the things he saved from high school & college. Even at his age, I'm still having a problem tossing things from his nursery school & elementary school. It's just not easy.

I noticed our VCR player is broken. That will be going to the electronics recycling this week. I talked with hubby and we decided not to repair or replace it. So that means our movies on tape are now useless.

I was amazed at the number of movies we have on tape: Sesame Street, Little Bear, Arthur, Blue's Clues, Madeline, and so many more. It seemed like my children's childhood was all spread before me. I bagged them up and counted them: 109 movies. I took them to the library for their next book sale in a few weeks.

The three bags were very heavy, so I put them on the sidewalk to save carrying them across the parking lot. A girl started going through the bags while I was parking the car. Turns out she's autistic. Dad takes her into the library, and I noticed they were returning an Angelina Ballerina tape. I went through my bags, found our Angelina Ballerina tape, and gave it to them.

Releasing the movies for the next generation.

Jazzy - nice article. Thanks for posting. I've actually "trimmed" some people who were negative influences in my life.

I haven't made as much progress with giving things away as I had hoped. I'm working a lot, in anticipation of having surgery in Oct, so there's not a lot of time for that stuff. I just take one closet at a time.  My clothes closet is my next big project and it's huge. The only thing I collect is cardboard boxes. I have about 20+ on my closet shelf, ready for Christmas gifts. I also have about 40 shirt boxes and gift bags under my bed in a large plastic container.  Boxes are my downfall and I HAVE to let them go. It's not like I can't find another box, right?

But on the flip side, DH has decided to get rid of his motorcycle!  Yay! Don't tell him I said that, though. It would hurt his feelings.  DH has been disabled with heart/lung disease for about 12 years. He loves his motorcycle, but at this point he cannot drive it. He doesn't have the upper body strength to control it anymore and he is very sad about that. So it's been basically sitting, taking up space in the basement. Once I get that out of there, I plan to start on the old camping gear, freezer, and the hundreds of stray wires that DH has been saving for 30 years. I will sit tight on the power tools and such. DH will have a LOT of difficulty giving up those things.

mustlovepoodles, please don't exhaust yourself before surgery! )

I now recycle more and save less cardboard boxes for X-mas gifts.

Blinkie,

I declutter to spare Son and Daughter the misery! ;o)

Teka - I keep thinking that's what I need to do - spare my son from having to deal with the mess. I think it's genetic. My mother had a piece of paper taped to the back or bottom of almost everything thing in her house stating who it should go to on her death. The way the world has changed, it makes more sense for me to give my son the things he might like now and quit worrying about the rest. A vase that was my Mother's treasure was the ugliest thing I ever saw all the years I was growing up. I did not keep it after she died. I should expect that the things with the most 'sacred' memories for me won't matter to him in the least. I've read too many recent articles about how the younger generation has no desire to collect & save "things".

That said - last night I cleaned out all the bathroom cabinets. I have a huge box of new, un-opened shampoos & lotions to go to the battered women's center, along with lots of cosmetics from various hotel stays. And all the old meds have been mixed with kitty litter for disposal (I don't drink coffee so don't have the grounds that are recommended). Not much, but it's 3 bags of garbage.

MinusTwo - that makes me think of the saying, "Your mind is a dangerous place; don't go there alone." haha

DS has said he will remove all the photos and drop a match on his way out. I'm thinking I'll take all DH's poetry books back to the poetry bookstore and see if they'll take them.

Hi friends- I spent time yesterday helping a friend do a small estate sale around her mother's recent passing. My friends mom lived in a studio apt and therefore, not much stuff so getting things cleaned out was relatively easy.

It made me reflect on my first apt I ever had while in grad school in the 1980's that was the same size as the place yesterday, and then seeing what will likely be a similar future for me someday when I need to downsize and living in some sort of senior living. I live in a small 3 bedroom house now I built 12 years ago and know in the next decade if I make to retirement, that type of senior living apt will be in my future. But eeek, how much stuff will need to go between now and then?

So today I was out in the garage where I have some bags and boxes to take to donations and will get those dropped off this next week. I am taking more things to consignment too, mining the closets for jewels that have been never or hardly worn for cash. It is always a treat to come away with one nice thing from the credit. Yesterday it was a beautiful long sweater coat just perfect for the fall.

Let's keep at it friends! I think I have more Xmas stuff to take to Habitat for Humanity too!

I don't know any specifics, but there are organizations who send books to prisons and to schools in poor countries. Around here there are little libraries. People build a little house on a pole and put books in it. They are free to take and you can also donate books. It's fun to walk by one and see what's in there.

I've come for inspiration. So many times I've passed over this thread, afraid to visit because that may mean I need to take action, but I had surgery on Friday, so I'm home for the week and at least hope to tackle my closet.

Scrolling through the posts I noticed a lot of good ideas. One post described donating puzzles, games, containers, etc to teachers and used bedding to animal shelters. That really made me chuckle. I'm a teacher and I have 4 big rescue dogs. I'm the one everybody gives their crap to! Lol.

It's time for a purge. I'll check in more often and try to keep on track with decluttering.