Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

Gisel2015 · January 17

@cory17 (Thank you for your support, I needed that)
We used to go camping a lot when the boys were young and we had lots of fun, and now we have great memories. As we get older my husband and I treasure more the comforts of a hotel room or a condominium, while still having energy left to enjoy the surroundings.
Time to face and take our losses and admit that: "been there and done that, and not going back" is our new motto.
I may have to go shopping this spring to replenish my closet. No bad idea.
G.

RubyRed427 · January 17

I have a problem with clearing out well made clothing. Good quality, great fabric, nice seams.... Now, it seems some of the clothing I buy is just not the quality that I like. But I know I have to start letting go some beautiful dresses I no longer will wear.

I tried selling on Poshmark, but it's stressful for me. When I put some items on there, and time passes, I forget where I put the item that sold. Also, taking time to take photos and post it on Posh is time consuming. It's just not for me.

I would rather donate to Goodwill and get a tax write off. I know there are pros and cons to Goodwill but I can't seem to get more non-profit organizations to pick up and to show up. My bags will just sit there all day and the pick up never happens.

RubyRed427 · January 17

My husband move from another country to my house. He had to be ruthless with what he left behind and took here. I'm sure it was painful to leave behind some beautiful memories and items. He did sell a lot on Facebook Marketplace, but he learned to make the prices quite cheap. But a lot of big items like the couch and table and chairs sold quickly.

cory17 · January 18

@Rubyred427 " I have a problem with clearing out well made clothing. Good quality, great fabric, nice seams" Me too! I will love the color(s), or the beading, or the style of it. Never mind it hasn't been worn in forever. I just like to see them. Gave myself a deadline to lose weight because in the garage I have several bins from a smaller size (don't ask how long ago that was) - but those clothes are new condition and beautiful. So my deadline is this summer or the garage clothes will have to go.

@gisele2015 Maybe this decluttering can be viewed as giving greater "comfort" in our homes. I like that thinking.

LoveyChar · January 19

In a past post here, someone wrote "I'm mentally ready to go through my closet." That was me today. I am such a disorganized person and I loathe that about myself. So, I'm going to try to get organized this year and stay that way.

I got rid of a bunch of body sprays and scented lotions, mostly gifted to me and some a decade old probably that were under my bathroom sink. I don't typically wear stuff like that so these days if I get it, I just regift it to my daughters. I should have regifted it to anyone else a long time ago. It may have prevented some waste.

Gisel2015 · January 19

Today I dropped out at the donation center the bag of clothing that I mentioned few days ago. I also dropped another bag full of nice socks, and a pair of sandals that have been taking up room in my closet for a looooong time.
I have another couple of pairs of shoes to donate, but I will save them for my next trip to DSW. The store gives a $5 discount in any new pair of shoes when you donate a pair of used ones. it doesn't matter if the donated shoes were bought someplace else. Nice deal!
Good job everyone, it seems that we are all doing something positive organizing our lives and houses. Well done.
G.

cory17 · January 19

Went through some of my desk drawers as the layers were getting deeper. How many pens and highlighters do I need? So I took a big bagful into work for the front so the parents can walk off with them.

LoveyChar wrote: »

In a past post here, someone wrote "I'm mentally ready to go through my closet." That was me today. I am such a disorganized person and I loathe that about myself. So, I'm going to try to get organized this year and stay that way.

I got rid of a bunch of body sprays and scented lotions, mostly gifted to me and some a decade old probably that were under my bathroom sink. I don't typically wear stuff like that so these days if I get it, I just regift it to my daughters. I should have regifted it to anyone else a long time ago. It may have prevented some waste.

@loveychar Great start to your new you & new life! No regrets!

StayFITTer · January 19

@Gisel2015 Had no idea that DSW does that! Making me think twice about what I do with old shoes! Thanks for sharing!

Oh! And the "been there and done that, and not going back" motto. Is awesome!

So I’m new posting to this thread, but I’m grateful for you all sharing your victories and journey in this area.

Intentional Decluttering is one of my goals this year—but I just started hacking away at it last Sunday. I’ve read/listened to Dana K. White books and found her approach helpful/complimentary to Marie Kondo and Flylady.

I tackled the book category on Thursday and her container concept/mindset is a game changer—hard, but I have to confront myself and my stuff.

I’m excited to see the day when stuff actually leaves. But right now I got 5 boxes and 3 bags of books to donate and still more to purge in that category—not to mention a few bags of stuff ready to go too. Just hoping to the momentum. But I really feel like I’m “decluttering at the speed of life” and enjoying the process.

I’m excited about our futures.

StayFITTer · January 19

@RubyRed427 Sorry to hear about your issues with pick ups. I’ve only done it once in my lifetime and typically only did large furniture items.

Nowadays it seems like they are 3-5weeks out for scheduling pick ups so I never think to bother.

Anything else I’ve just loaded up the car.

I’m fortunate to live less than a mile away from a thrift store. Plus there are others to choose from.

StayFITTer · January 19

@cory17 I know it’s hard to release clothing you’ve never worn. I’ve got a couple of pieces in my closet like that. But while Decluttering, I’m trying to think about how I’m creating an opportunity for another person to experience joy from using an item or a find because of me. I know I’ve been grateful for times I’ve thrifted a found donated shoes and clothes for my toddler son that fit him perfectly in times past. I now get to pay that feeling forward.

And my library only allows donations 2 days a week and 2 bags or boxes a day—curious if it’s per person or household 🤔 That fact will be a game changer for me.

StayFITTer · January 19

@LoveyChar being mentally ready to tackle something is true. It really is a mindset when it comes to Decluttering but I’m learning how to reconcile the past self, current self and future self

We don’t have recycling in my city and it broke my heart that I declutterred a lot of glass jars I WAS going to repurpose and reuse. My future self was going to do some cool amazing things but I couldn’t continue to let her rob my current self the joy of freeing up drawer space for my husband, so I can reclaim and free up other areas in my home.

Gisel2015 · January 20

So sad to hear and know that recycling is not available to everyone. How are we supposed to protect and clean Mother Earth without that program?
A couple of months ago I searched online for places to recycle undies and garments that are not good or accepted for donation. In the process I learned that there are programs that allow us to donate underwear, so I printed some information.
FAB Scrap, located in NY wants to reduce fabric waste and can pick up the scraps/undies from your home. I live in California, but it would be a good thing for some of you living in that state.
The North Face's Clothes the Loop has a recycling program for clothing and shoes, but since they also sell good clothing, you need to be part of the "club" to get $10 reward for the donation when you purchase $100 or more worth at their store or online. Not convenient for me since I don't wear heavy winter clothing.
Knickey also has a recycling program for underwear, socks, bras, etc. and for $5 we can purchase a recycling and shipping label. I need to get more information about it, because I would like to take advantage of this offer.
SOMA (sister of White and Black Market and CHICO), accepts gently used bras and you can get a discount on a new purchase.
But I need to find a place where I can donate any used items for recycling only. I think that is called “textile recycling.” I don't want any coupon or money; I just need to keep some items that are no longer wearable away from the trash can, bur so far I haven’t found anything in my area. Keep you posted.

Sand_TIger · January 20

[quote="StayFITTer;

We don’t have recycling in my city and it broke my heart that I declutterred a lot of glass jars I WAS going to repurpose and reuse. My future self was going to do some cool amazing things but I couldn’t continue to let her rob my current self the joy of freeing up drawer space for my husband, so I can reclaim and free up other areas in my home. [/quote]

We don't really have glass recycling anymore either. We have rather inconvenient public bins that collect the glass to be made into sand, which is better than nothing I suppose, and still probably better than shipping the recyclables across the ocean to foreign countries to recycle, which is what most cities in the US currently do. Therefore reusing and donating is better all the way around.

In regard to jars, if any of us have a lot of them it might be worthwhile advertising them on a swap forum or neighborhood site like NextDoor. I recently had some stuff to get rid of and didn't want to haul it all the way to the local Goodwill so I described what it was in the free section, set it neatly by my alley, and it was gone within an hour. Some people look for things to upcycle so it might be worthwhile checking to see if anyone can use the jars.

StayFITTer · January 20

@Sand_TIger

My husband tossed the bag of jars the same day I collected them.

Freecycle type sites sound great, and as much as I desire to “save” potentially useful items and the planet—I’m in a season where I need it gone and coming to terms I value space. There is a cost to keeping stuff—sometimes it’s emotional, mental and physical. Letting go is a practice. I’m here for it.

I will say this I AM trying to recycle crayons. I read that Staples accepts them—but the locations near me are 30 mins away! So I’m trying to redeem myself on this play—might have to box them up and ship them.

@Gisel2015 Thanks for the resources but I’m with you, I need someone who can take any clothing…I’m getting to the point that I’m gonna give thrift stores everything and trust that they will dispose of items that can’t sell ethically (like it says on their website.) Some places actually wants the clothes no matter the condition for recycle purpose—just wish I knew for sure what the places are.

Sand_TIger · January 20

StayFITTer wrote: »

@Sand_TIger

My husband tossed the bag of jars the same day I collected them.

Freecycle type sites sound great, and as much as I desire to “save” potentially useful items and the planet—I’m in a season where I need it gone and coming to terms I value space. There is a cost to keeping stuff—sometimes it’s emotional, mental and physical. Letting go is a practice. I’m here for it.

I will say this I AM trying to recycle crayons. I read that Staples accepts them—but the locations near me are 30 mins away! So I’m trying to redeem myself on this play—might have to box them up and ship them.

Oh I completely hear that! Sometimes items just need to be gone. I figured I'd put that suggestion out there in case anyone hadn't thought of it, or was trying to declutter things that are a pain in the butt to get rid of but still have use.

Gisel2015 · January 20

To all of you:
I found the link posted below online I want to pass it around. I didn't read the article in detail but it may have some useful information and hopefully solutions in relation to what all of us are going thru.
As some of you wrote, sometimes I just send everything to the donation center hoping that they have an ethical way to trash/recycle what is not needed, or I put it in the trash bin with other recycling stuff. When good deeds get to be so complicated people lose interest.
Enjoy your weekend everyone. G.

Where To Recycle Old Clothes: 20 Textile Recycling Drop Off Locations (almostzerowaste.com)

LoveyChar · January 20

I have a TV that I need to recycle. It's ridiculous. I wish it was a free service. I'm in Texas. It's $35 to recycle a large TV at Best Buy, paying for labor, and I'm probably going to pay it and trust that it will get done properly. I've done it once before.

LoveyChar · January 20

@StayFITTer I love that you're trying to recycle the crayons!!! I was a long term substitute teacher in a kindergarten classroom last school year and five-year-olds love to throw away crayons for any reason to include even laziness, that's it easier to toss it in the trash can than it is to actually put it in its designated spot. I often dug things out of the trash. Sadly, older kids are not often much better.

My son's preschool teacher melted crayons into hearts last year as gifts to the kids. I'm sure she collected broken crayons, super cute idea and good use of "waste."

StayFITTer · January 20

@LoveyChar
Honestly—that’s why we had so many! I even bought a reverse alphabet mold because we did it once with a regular mold and some letters came out backwards. I swore my kids were going to do it again. It was so fun and rewarding. When the pandemic hit they were 3 & 6 at the time. So the PERFECT age to do that. Now my youngest is in 2nd grade and they are into all things video games and /YouTube—but he’s also artsy🤔. Keep you posted. We might have a Valentine’s Day project on our hands 😆

And sorry to hear about your TV situation. I have to deal with mine eventually. And the city doesn’t offer anything? I’m close to Detroit. I’m going to investigate—I know thrift stores only take flat screen.

StayFITTer · January 21

@Gisel2015 Thank you for sharing. I kept back a bag of jeans today for the hope that maybe—somebody can upcycle them—

@Sand_TIger
This might be high time for me to give freecycle a try. Thanks for sharing the idea and let’s keep the resource sharing coming 🙏🏾

Ugh! Today was a productive day in the land of Decluttering—I came to the realization that I came face- to-face with a book That was actually a sentimental item. As we were preparing to pull away from the library (I remembered ONE BOOK)…..ONE….an autographed copy of Winona LaDuke Last Woman Standing. I interviewed her in college for the school newspaper when she same to do a lecture. But…it’s been over 20 years and I have yet to read the dang on book and didn’t feel like I was going to 🤦🏾‍♀️

I forgot to take a picture of the 6 boxes and 2 bags of books I dropped off. But I took a picture of the 10 bags I took to the thrift store.

My only other regrets is that I didn’t seriously track the 2024 items tracker from Nourishing Minimalism—printed it. Don’t know where it is—but I think it would’ve been nice to see my progress—-and actually see how much stuff I had. I gave a way a LOT OF crap and just thought that the boxes and bags would feel rewarding?? It kinda doesn’t. I’m just celebrating that my home is slowly looking the way I want it to be. I’m hoping that it will be a noticeable and inspiring difference when my sisters come over for our annual Super Bowl party so Feb 11th is my deadline for at least the visible spaces (living room, kitchen, bathroom -minimum) but I got a plan—I really feel it will a noticeable difference in the bedrooms too.

Today I also tackled a portion of the entry/living room closet and managed to find a hat that my husband was looking for. He was happy to see it and I happy he didn’t have to try to buy another to replace it.

Found a jacket that belonged to my sister! didn’t know it was in there. AND I color coded the hangers for each family member—and found 6 coats/jackets and a pair of snow pants to get rid off.

I know that was a lot. Thank you for allowing me to rant/process the day!

Gisel2015 · January 21

@StayFITTer
Wow, you did a lot! I got tired just reading your comments. Good job!
I am taking a break from declutering and organizing for a couple of weeks. My husband and I are taking a 12-day trip so I need to concentrate in that. I will make a list with my priorities when we get back. But, since it is tax season that will make the top of my list.
I have a closet in the office dedicated to papers (lots of them!), notebooks, pencils, envelopes, and all office stuff. Many things need to go so it may be a good time to address the mess. I will check the Stapler store that I have about 10 miles miles from my house to see if they recycle office items in my city. Maybe I will check on-line first.

StayFITTer · January 21

@Gisel2015

Traveling mercies to you and enjoy your time away! Look forward to your return. We’ll keep the light on for you

Gisel2015 · January 21

StayFITTer
Thank you!
I did check Staple online and they do accept many office staplers. That is good.

StayFITTer · January 21

@Gisel2015 Awesome! Staples helping us “be great” and Win!

Ok, Decluttering Family! I’m pleased to report that I took items to church today to bless specific people with and I’m happy to report that they were well received and appreciated.
--2 bags of books and a bib to a family with young children
-3 Brand new decorative filling folders for the church secretary
-a canvas painting set and two books geared toward teenagers to a high school freshman
- brand new in box 2 piece Corning ware roaster to a newlywed couple
- Jewelry making supplies to a volunteer who enjoys making jewelry

I checked with everyone before giving to make sure it was something they wanted and needed and gave an out for them to donate to a thrift store if they don’t want or need it.

Today was a win—and just gotta get a game plan and work it for this week.

cory17 · January 22

@loveychar regarding your TV - Where I'm at (Ca) there's a city place that takes hazardous waste (like paint cans, pesticide containers) and it also collects E waste. Check w/your sanitation, also Salvation Army - free.
@stayfitter Enjoyed reading all that you have done - it is inspiring!
@gisele2015 Enjoy your trip!!

I've got to get going on preparing for taxes too. Trying to use that to get my office cleaned up.

E43V15C · February 10

I donated some stuff to charity which I couldn't sell online- it's unlike me- I wanted to get some clothes altered- the place I normally go to where they don't charge much had shut down- everywhere else, when I asked it seems it's cheaper to buy new clothes

I have no idea why the online market so slow at the moment/no one was interested- I also bought some clothes online and some of them didn't fit/were too big- it was an overseas label/brand, I didn't know what their sizing scheme was like- there is usually some variance- I am pretty worried about work/money and income at the moment- some of the fear/panic is triggering more unnecessary spending- I clean/sort through drawers/cabinets etc in bits and pieces so it's manageable- if you try to do everything at once it's overwhelming/you can't think clearly about what you want to keep and what you don't- the shoes/clothes etc I have remaining and have kept- everything looks/feels like it's been worn to death- I think for some reason you can get caught up in analysing/criticising everything you own and wanting to fix/replace stuff, and feeling directionless/confused- also you might not have time/money to go to the shops to replace it immediately- it might happen organically/over time- you'll be drawn to new things/stumble upon whatever you need- in terms of my body image/self esteem etc I feel like crap atm- on the positive side, I'm not tempted to spend money on clothes until I felt better/sorted my head out- but there's still food, random stuff/impulse buys- I've been over spending a bit lately/trying to cap it

Celesteme · February 10

Yay !!!!

I got rid of facebook connections that I didn't need so I could have deeper connections with people that I can actually see in person or we've developed a great connection. I took off coworkers and people that I would have edited myself for.

I got rid of my guitar. That hurt because my sweetheart was going to teach me to play. He played beautifully. After he passed away the guitar, a kind beautiful gift, felt like a guilt trip of never learning, just standing there in my closet. I gave it to his kind friend who played for the funeral. Great news he is using it to teach his girlfriend to play. I will never get rid of a photo of the guitar and memories of John. He was an amazing human.

I gave clothes to the local shelter. Many clothes also went to Goodwill.

Decluttering computer files. I don't need my work schedule from 2 years ago or so much info of things I might do someday that I can not go through them all. Interesting stories from 2020 will remain unread as I delete them.

I got rid of a school jacket that I had since high school. I never wore it after 1985

Sand_TIger · February 10

LoveyChar wrote: »

I have a TV that I need to recycle. It's ridiculous. I wish it was a free service. I'm in Texas. It's $35 to recycle a large TV at Best Buy, paying for labor, and I'm probably going to pay it and trust that it will get done properly. I've done it once before.

I've encountered that too! The really sad thing is, many times recycled electronics will go overseas where the metal is extracted by.... burning off all the plastic so the gold and such can be reclaimed. I really wish someone would find (and use) a better way than that.

Gisel2015 · February 11

I am back!
Obviously not time to clean or organize much yet. However, a couple of days ago one of the drawers in the kitchen got off the track and my husband took it out to fix it. I noticed that the inside needed cleaning (cleaning the kitchen drawers is in my to-do list), so while he was fixing the problem I cleaned and wiped the bottom of the drawer and the lining and rearranged all the utensils. Not a big job, but something else that has been taken care of.
My desk is full of the snail mail that I got while we were out. I already shredded many envelopes and brochures and I am now going thru the rest. I hope to be done this weekend. My husband is already working on the taxes, so next week I will have more paperwork to do. Ugh!!!
Good job to everyone already taking care of donations and/or selling. I took a bag to the donation center last month, but if I decide to clean my closet more I will not have anything to wear. I am very small/petite so buying clothes online is a never-ending frustration followed by returns and going to the stores (sale racks!) is not fun either.
@Celesteme I am very sorry for your loss and it was very nice to donate the guitar to his friend. I am sure that your sweetheart would be very happy watching him play from above.
Happy Sunday everyone!
G.

SweetPeasMom55 · February 12

In December I got rid of one large black bag of clothing. Last week I did another bag of the things I thought I couldn't give up. I'm allowing myself to purge slowly. It's not a race to get rid of everything. I am trying not to have any regrets. So far so good.

Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

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