Too much or not enough stuff???? (relocate, move to, new location, price)
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So it sounds like most people posting here are fine with just donating or tossing things as opposed to selling them... That's long been a decluttering sticking point for me; I want to sell them to recoup the cost and value, but I can't seem to ever get around to doing it!
So it sounds like most people posting here are fine with just donating or tossing things as opposed to selling them... That's long been a decluttering sticking point for me; I want to sell them to recoup the cost and value, but I can't seem to ever get around to doing it!
You can hire someone to sell it for you. You'll get less money, but it will get done.
I did that for the photos of my family (my mother, father and siblings) before I separated them and gave each brother a box. My dad had 10 siblings and my mom had 5 so there were tons of aunts, uncles and cousins. I'm not even sure how I would scan the photos and keep notes about them at the same time. Scan the front and then scan the back?
What I did with the ones I had information on was, after scanning, before I saved it all I went back and put what info I had on each picture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere
So it sounds like most people posting here are fine with just donating or tossing things as opposed to selling them... That's long been a decluttering sticking point for me; I want to sell them to recoup the cost and value, but I can't seem to ever get around to doing it!
otterhere, I've posted about this before, but after a 6 year long distance marriage, my wife and I found a house to buy on contract. We had a lot of stuff from her mobile home and from my house, 60 miles away. We went through everything and took what we wanted to the new house. Then we advertised for a "free yard sale". I unlocked the door a little before 7 and locked up to go home by 9. Only had 2 things left that went to Goodwill. I know most of it was turned around and sold in other yard sales, but we just wanted to get rid of it and let somebody else worry about it.
You can hire someone to sell it for you. You'll get less money, but it will get done.
I'm not sure who you mean, exactly, but I don't think any such options exist in my small town...
No auctioneer will take stuff unless it's an entire estate; even the big city closed down their eBay outlets (where you could drop stuff off to be sold online on commission) years ago...
Kathryn, I too have followed your journey from your other post since last August. You've had quite the ride, but I am amazed how well you are progressing along and this move may be your biggest step yet! Once the actual "move" part is behind you, I think you will be free to continue on with your life and hopefully you'll keep writing about it so we can follow.
I'm still a caregiver for my mom, who turned 90 recently. My sister and her husband and youngest daughter moved in almost a year ago to help out. We split the time roughly into half so we each get a chance to sleep and have some down time. It's working out pretty well. Mom is doing relatively well (for 90) and seems happy and has her every need met.
I'm about to turn 63 in a couple of weeks, so I've accumulated a lot of "stuff" over the years! From books to coffee mugs (would you believe over 500 mugs?) I've spent some of my free time pairing down some of my things. By keeping only the books I'd like to read again, or that are significant to me in some way, I've been able to get rid of about 25% of my books, so far! Some have even sold in our garage sales, as well as other items. A lot of the books and mugs are packed away in boxes, but I see now how I can continue to get rid of some things that I just can't justify moving somewhere when the time comes that I will need a place of my own.
Wishing you the best as you get moved. Hopefully it will make a difference for you as you focus on your journey in the days and months ahead! So glad you have the truck situation in your "rear view mirror", no pun intended!
First, I am so sorry for your loss! I am not always on here so it's possible I missed it and I hope you accept my virtual hug.
Stuff:
I've been married twice, both guys were bad with money and there was hoarding going on. My second was the worst, probably because we were together 5x as long. And we're talking big stuff, we had car hobbies and car stuff takes a lot of room. I've been in my house 30 years, and I have some pack rat tendencies so it's been a battle.
When he moved out, he took what he needed to start his new life. Which was essentially his furniture and clothes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere
So it sounds like most people posting here are fine with just donating or tossing things as opposed to selling them... That's long been a decluttering sticking point for me; I want to sell them to recoup the cost and value, but I can't seem to ever get around to doing it!
That's called "Invisible Money". A year ago I listened to a podcast that mentioned it and THAT one phrase helped me get rid of a lot. I was a lot more ruthless on giving away or trashing things once I got it through my head that while that bin of stereos, or the 3 color printers I had in my office (that I replaced with one better one) had probably COST a lot 20 years ago, the chances of getting anything were slim to none.
Yes, I *have* made money on some stuff but you really need the time and space. You have to find "that person". Right place right time. I just listed a set of wheels. They should be worth a couple hundred to the right person but if that person doesn't come along soon, I will scrap them for $50.
I'd put things on Criagslist for a week or two. We overfilled our little truck last year for a scrap yard run, all those printers, office organizers, so much stuff. It felt great to toss it in the heap! Yet I come home and there is still so.much.stuff.
I'm doing another cull right now. I am determined to get everything off my basement floor. I'm pretty close. I had hoped to get rid of a shelving unit but that may not work. I've eliminated 3 over the past 10 years, plus another out of the garage.
I had 2 bins of rags. I didn't know I had them. I do know I have a large round barrel full of rags. I have cats and I'm messy, rags are good. But I DON'T need that many. In the trash they went.
Buy Nothing FB groups are great. "Front steps pickup". Someone no-shows? In the trash. Some stuff I just put at the curb, it usually goes in a day or two. Trash if not.
Magazines: Know anyone that wants cat magazines from late 90s-2001 or so? Sheesh! I have others where I was mentioned for things I did and I want to scan those in.
Childhood stuff: Mom has given us all of our report cards as they clean their house. Those I will keep. I'm going to get an archival bankers box and in there I want my most prized possessions.
I've moved most of my photographs to a couple of boxes in one room. More stuff to go through. I am starting to toss doubles and blurry ones. I also bought a cheap film/slide scanner.
I too have kept most of the cards I've ever gotten. Over the winter I pulled those boxes out and tossed a lot. Do I need 10 cards from a friend I used to work with? Not really. From my parents? Well, I still have those.
CDs: I still have my childhood albums haha! For 20 years I didn't buy any CDs because of iTunes. It was great! Then one of my favorite bands started doing box sets. Gotta have those!
Books are tough for me too. Like someone else mentioned, I've been reading more the past few years and it's been great. I was using libraries again till covid. A few years ago I setup 2 shelving units in the attic and one is full of books. They are easier for me to go through and decide what to do with that way. I used to be in IT and have a number of computer books that can probably all go. I have a builtin bookcase in one of the bedrooms and I will be going through that shortly, all I want in there are books I enjoy reading, and What Color is Your Parachute circa 1993 is not on that list.
I have to giggle about the wedding dress. I still have mine. I was supposed to bring it to a consignment shop years ago but still haven't gotten around to it. It's in an "out of sight out of mind" place but it's on the mental list. I don't think I'd store anyone else's though! I sold all my wedding rings and some anniversary jewelry after my second divorce, too many painful memories and I was broke.
Honestly I don't have that much for furniture, just your normal things and no extras. Really! 3 bedroom house with one bed. It's just the STUFF that is so draining!
-Keep. Often I have trouble finding homes for everything but eventually, a home will be found. Of course my keep pile is usually the largest.
-Sell. This is where the bulk of the stuff I want to get rid of. We are done with eBay and our antique mall booth, so the only venue left are yard sales. I TRY to have one every year. If there comes a time when I don't really want to have another yard sale, there is a woman I know in town who has a second hand store and she said that she would buy all that we have for one price. She probably wouldn't give us as much as we could make at a yard sale, but we wouldn't have to do all the work, either.
-Donate. The only stuff that I donate is clothes. Most places have so much crap...er...stuff that they have to deal with anyway. But clothing is different.
-Free. This is stuff that I don't think it worth anything but maybe someone would want it. I put boxes on the front yard with "Free" written. Most of the stuff goes.
-Trash. This is usually the stuff that doesn't go after I put it out with a "free" sign.
When my parents "emptied the nest" (my brother and I finally out on our own) they moved out of the house we grew up in. It wasn't really downsizing, since there wasn't a lot of difference in size, but Mama said they moved because my dad couldn't find anything else to work on. In the old house, he'd built 2 patios, a screened porch, then expanded it, tore out a wall and put in a nice brick fireplace...I could keep on for a while. But a few weeks before they started packing, he called me and my brother and told us if there was anything we wanted out of the house, we'd better come and get it now or it was gone. We both figured he was talking about things like our chest of drawers we'd both used since we were babies, or posters or something like that. We later found out he mean ANYTHING. I had a whole set of Hardy Boys Mysteries books. Gone! I had a scrapbook I put together as a Cub Scout project showing important activities we'd taken care of. Gone! My brother had a whole shelf of model cars he'd put together and painted himself. Gone! We asked what happened to it all and my dad told us that we had been warned to come and get it if we wanted it. It all went to the dump! We weren't the only ones to lose things. My mother said we wouldn't have believed all he threw away from his work bench. Said she asked him if she should hide all her knitting and sewing so it wouldn't get thrown away. lol
I threw away a juicer today. It was fine, but dang it, I don't remember the last time I used it.
Your thoughts?
Why are you throwing away items that can be donated to help people less fortunate?
Sure you are going to find things no one would want, so some should be recycled, and others be thrown in the trash.
But even old clothes, appliances, pictures, books, toys, etc., etc., etc. can be donated to worthy causes.
I started tossing months ahead, but I was still moving trash that didn't fit in the rented dumpster. My back was sore for a while. I thought of buying a pallet jack for organizing the garage.
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