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Cleaning up the Clutter

MeekMe

MeekMe

Literotica Guru
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Posts
5,105
I'm doing some hoarder control and finally cleaning out all the extra rooms and closets. The first thing I'm doing is getting rid of all of our old college books. I should have done this sooner, but something compelled me to put them in boxes and put them out of sight. :eek: So the first thing I did was find out if any of them could be sold and now I'm shipping those out to a buyback site that seems legit (if they aren't I'm not losing anything because they aren't worth much and I really just want them out of my space).

The big problem now is that what's left isn't really worth anything, and I still need them gone. What's the best way to get rid of them? Donate? Or recycle? ^_^

Another thing that seems to have caused a lot to just pile up is my MIL. I love the woman to death, but she decided that she wanted to clean out her house and gave my husband all of his old childhood memory stuff. o_O;; He accepted them and now they just sit in a container all gross from being subjected to the garage for too long. Any suggestions on what I can do with salvageable stuff? A scrapbook or a keepsake box? I prefer something that doesn't take a lot of effort or space.

What's the best way to turn down someone offering us junk? Last time I tried to tell him not to take it, and he caved. >.< He also hasn't gone through any of it or even given it a thought, so the memories really aren't that important to him. (;-_-)

I'm no longer looking at these things with sentiment, if it isn't useful or if it causes me anxiety from being messy or taking up too much space I'm getting rid of it. Any suggestions on the best way to dispose of old junk would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm dealing with a lot of the same issues. I need the space and the peace more than the 'stuff' now.

For stuff that is important to someone to remember, I've been taking photos with the digital camera and making memory 'books' and burning a cd. That freed up a lot of space of childhood art work, Mother's Day/Father's Day/Birthday cards (all handmade), concert ticket stubs, favourite toys, etc.

For refusing stuff, I'd love to hear suggestions. My sister does yard sales and thrift shops like they are a religion and always has something for me that she KNOWS I'll love. If I politely decline when she offers it to me, she gives it to me as a gift for some occasion. I'm afraid to donate it back and have her find it again. It's against my principles but some of it's gone to landfills.
 
GiggLeGasm said:
I get an email every week. Someone else sets up the schedule for clutter control and I only need to manage one task per week. It's actually been quite helpful. good luck!

http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. (*^_^*)

Dianthus said:
I'm dealing with a lot of the same issues. I need the space and the peace more than the 'stuff' now.

For stuff that is important to someone to remember, I've been taking photos with the digital camera and making memory 'books' and burning a cd. That freed up a lot of space of childhood art work, Mother's Day/Father's Day/Birthday cards (all handmade), concert ticket stubs, favourite toys, etc.

For refusing stuff, I'd love to hear suggestions. My sister does yard sales and thrift shops like they are a religion and always has something for me that she KNOWS I'll love. If I politely decline when she offers it to me, she gives it to me as a gift for some occasion. I'm afraid to donate it back and have her find it again. It's against my principles but some of it's gone to landfills.
Click to expand...

Taking pictures is a wonderful suggestion! That's manageable and I'll take a photo album over a big box of junk any day. :)

It's not even that we need the space. I just can't stand having it all. I figure, it's always on my mind to get it done and it's causing me anxiety to know that it's there to do. For the most part, the spaces I use the most in the house are cleaned and organized regularly. It's the spaces that we don't use that are out of hand. Two extra rooms and they're basically junk dumps.

It drives me bonkers when people want to clean out their house and trash mine. :mad: Which a lot of people tried to. I declined a lot, but some of the more pushy people unloaded their junk. I figure, they gave it to me to put in the trash/recycle because they felt too sentimental to just get rid of it. They'll never see it again so I won't feel bad about donating or recycling all of it. Maybe I should just tell them, "if you give this to me I'm throwing it in the trash." :rolleyes:
 
MeekMe said:
I'm doing some hoarder control and finally cleaning out all the extra rooms and closets. The first thing I'm doing is getting rid of all of our old college books. I should have done this sooner, but something compelled me to put them in boxes and put them out of sight. :eek: So the first thing I did was find out if any of them could be sold and now I'm shipping those out to a buyback site that seems legit (if they aren't I'm not losing anything because they aren't worth much and I really just want them out of my space).

The big problem now is that what's left isn't really worth anything, and I still need them gone. What's the best way to get rid of them? Donate? Or recycle? ^_^

Another thing that seems to have caused a lot to just pile up is my MIL. I love the woman to death, but she decided that she wanted to clean out her house and gave my husband all of his old childhood memory stuff. o_O;; He accepted them and now they just sit in a container all gross from being subjected to the garage for too long. Any suggestions on what I can do with salvageable stuff? A scrapbook or a keepsake box? I prefer something that doesn't take a lot of effort or space.

What's the best way to turn down someone offering us junk? Last time I tried to tell him not to take it, and he caved. >.< He also hasn't gone through any of it or even given it a thought, so the memories really aren't that important to him. (;-_-)

I'm no longer looking at these things with sentiment, if it isn't useful or if it causes me anxiety from being messy or taking up too much space I'm getting rid of it. Any suggestions on the best way to dispose of old junk would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

what kind of memory stuff is it? Clothes? Toys? Stuff from school days?

If it's toys and they're in good condition, donate them to an orphanage or hospital playroom.

Clothes you can cut scraps from and make a throw. That way you have useful thing that has some memories.

Stuff from school, I'd put in a scrapbook or toss it depending on how he feels.
 
One thing not to days to buy more bins/containers/organizing supplies. It will just make it easier to keep things.

Sounds like you, like I came from a waste not want not family if you feel compelled to donate rather than just trash. Not a bad sentiment. Tax write-off too. Get a receipt.

Another idea is to place a bunch of stuff curbside with a free sign on it and place a Craigslist ad in the "free" section. If scavengers find no value in any of it you can trash it with a clean conscience.
 
Que said:
One thing not to days to buy more bins/containers/organizing supplies. It will just make it easier to keep things.

Sounds like you, like I came from a waste not want not family if you feel compelled to donate rather than just trash. Not a bad sentiment. Tax write-off too. Get a receipt.

Another idea is to place a bunch of stuff curbside with a free sign on it and place a Craigslist ad in the "free" section. If scavengers find no value in any of it you can trash it with a clean conscience.
Click to expand...

A similar option is called The Freecycle Network. You put ads for things you want to give away on a local freecycle website and then it's first-come-first-served to take away your unwanted things.
 
Que said:
One thing not to days to buy more bins/containers/organizing supplies. It will just make it easier to keep things.

Sounds like you, like I came from a waste not want not family if you feel compelled to donate rather than just trash. Not a bad sentiment. Tax write-off too. Get a receipt.

Another idea is to place a bunch of stuff curbside with a free sign on it and place a Craigslist ad in the "free" section. If scavengers find no value in any of it you can trash it with a clean conscience.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the plan. I don't want to buy bins to store it. I don't want to keep any of it.

Curbside wouldn't be allowed here. Our neighbors in the complex might get pissed off. Rules and all, it's either in the dumpster or you have to make special arrangements for pick up. If my neighbors see me doing that they'll report me and I'll have to pay a fine. >.<

I'm bringing old phones to be recycled at an electronics store. I'm bringing old cables and wires to the local station for hazardous materials. All the old clothes, books, and items we don't use will probably go to some kind of donation.

I have some good condition items that I may try to sell. Truth be told I don't want to hold on to them that long so I might just donate everything for a quick and easy fix. This is a project I want to finish quickly. If I draw it out too long, I'll give up and it'll just happen all over again. I need to clean in one go and than control any junk that might come into our home.

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm

If anyone is interested in things to do with old electronics I found the EPA.gov site to be useful. Apparently, e-waste is a problem. :(
 
With books, it kind of depends on how old the information is. If it's a book about classical literature, it probably still has some decent information in it and could be donated or sold/given to a used book store. If it's a science text full of outdated and incomplete information, it's likely of little use to anyone except as a curiosity. I'd recycle those.

You can rent dumpsters.... but I hope for your sake you don't have that much stuff...

When donating clothes and such, keep in mind that a lot of Salvation Army's and Goodwill's - the "name brand" thrift stores - often get many more donations than they can sell. Consider giving them to a locally run store, women's shelter, etc. If any of it is fashionable and in exceptional condition, or if you have children's items, consider a consignment store.

What kind of items were you able to salvage from your husband's childhood stuff? Papers can be photographed or scanned. Save them to your computer and burn a back-up disc. Get a nice box for trinkets or other things you really can't part with, or if you're crafty, make a nice shadow box to hang on the wall. But only make ONE. If it doesn't fit in one box (size at your discretion), it needs to go. I have a lot of old t-shirts from different activities and stuff I was in as a kid. I have saved them intending to make a t-shirt quilt out of them - though I haven't had the time... Luckily, there are a number of people on sites like Etsy that will take shirts and make quilts for you - just search "custom t-shirt quilt."

As far as refusing future "gifts"... it depends on the person. If it's that the person is just trying to preserve the items, even though they don't want to actually keep them, you could offer to help them photograph the items, etc. If it's things you do/might want, you can try something like, "Let me go through them first, and I'll take what I want to keep and help you get rid of the rest," rather than taking the whole thing without paring it down first.

Often times, I just put my foot down. "No, you don't want it, why should I?" But then - I am sometimes overly blunt...
 
midwestyankee said:
A similar option is called The Freecycle Network. You put ads for things you want to give away on a local freecycle website and then it's first-come-first-served to take away your unwanted things.
Click to expand...

This is really cool. I looked if anyone in my area needed any of the things I'm getting rid of, but doesn't look like it. Hm... Maybe I'll sign up an make and offer?
 
Last edited:
feistyrose said:
With books, it kind of depends on how old the information is. If it's a book about classical literature, it probably still has some decent information in it and could be donated or sold/given to a used book store. If it's a science text full of outdated and incomplete information, it's likely of little use to anyone except as a curiosity. I'd recycle those.

You can rent dumpsters.... but I hope for your sake you don't have that much stuff...

When donating clothes and such, keep in mind that a lot of Salvation Army's and Goodwill's - the "name brand" thrift stores - often get many more donations than they can sell. Consider giving them to a locally run store, women's shelter, etc. If any of it is fashionable and in exceptional condition, or if you have children's items, consider a consignment store.

What kind of items were you able to salvage from your husband's childhood stuff? Papers can be photographed or scanned. Save them to your computer and burn a back-up disc. Get a nice box for trinkets or other things you really can't part with, or if you're crafty, make a nice shadow box to hang on the wall. But only make ONE. If it doesn't fit in one box (size at your discretion), it needs to go. I have a lot of old t-shirts from different activities and stuff I was in as a kid. I have saved them intending to make a t-shirt quilt out of them - though I haven't had the time... Luckily, there are a number of people on sites like Etsy that will take shirts and make quilts for you - just search "custom t-shirt quilt."

As far as refusing future "gifts"... it depends on the person. If it's that the person is just trying to preserve the items, even though they don't want to actually keep them, you could offer to help them photograph the items, etc. If it's things you do/might want, you can try something like, "Let me go through them first, and I'll take what I want to keep and help you get rid of the rest," rather than taking the whole thing without paring it down first.

Often times, I just put my foot down. "No, you don't want it, why should I?" But then - I am sometimes overly blunt...
Click to expand...

No renting dumpsters, it's not that much stuff. But it's enough crap to make me angry that we still have it all.

You're probably right about some of the books. Perhaps just taking them to the station for recycling would be best.

All of the stuff his mother gave us is just old cards, reports, and other paper items. Why she wanted to give us those memories I have no idea.

As for the shelters, I would prefer to go that route as I don't like the Salvation Army and Goodwill because they both have questionable practices.
 
MeekMe said:
Yeah, that's the plan. I don't want to buy bins to store it. I don't want to keep any of it.

Curbside wouldn't be allowed here. Our neighbors in the complex might get pissed off. Rules and all, it's either in the dumpster or you have to make special arrangements for pick up. If my neighbors see me doing that they'll report me and I'll have to pay a fine. >.<

I'm bringing old phones to be recycled at an electronics store. I'm bringing old cables and wires to the local station for hazardous materials. All the old clothes, books, and items we don't use will probably go to some kind of donation.

I have some good condition items that I may try to sell. Truth be told I don't want to hold on to them that long so I might just donate everything for a quick and easy fix. This is a project I want to finish quickly. If I draw it out too long, I'll give up and it'll just happen all over again. I need to clean in one go and than control any junk that might come into our home.

http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/index.htm

If anyone is interested in things to do with old electronics I found the EPA.gov site to be useful. Apparently, e-waste is a problem. :(
Click to expand...

Although every little bit helps, and we all need to do our part about waste and the environment do not let that paralyze you. You can "donate" to the Earth with another in kind donation another time. Best thing you can do for the Earth is look for opportunities to utilize things other people do not want. So buying used, repairing rather than trashing and the like is a much bigger impact than a cubic yard or two into a landfill that will hardly notice the difference.
 
midwestyankee said:
A similar option is called The Freecycle Network. You put ads for things you want to give away on a local freecycle website and then it's first-come-first-served to take away your unwanted things.
Click to expand...

Oooh, I LOVE Freecycle! We've gotten rid of tons of junk (like boxes of really old computer parts and cables), clothing, firewood, and also picked up some very cool items (e.g., someone just gave my son a really nice parafoil kite) on there. I tend to recall what I get on Freecycle, and I put it back into the system when I'm done using it.

The other site I'm loving is Nextdoor (it's a forum for your neighborhood/very local area). Check it out and PM me if you want a referral...we'll BOTH get a $25 Amazon gift card! The site is well-funded, pre-revenue, and seems to be hoping to become a more trustworthy Craigslist that allows super local businesses to post paid ads; thus they're doing a big push to gain members right now.

I'm in the same position as you, MeekMe! We have quite a ways to go still, but I'm trying to do a little everyday, and it feels so good to clear out the clutter!
 
Last edited:
SweetErika said:
Oooh, I LOVE Freecycle! We've gotten rid of tons of junk (like boxes of really old computer parts and cables), clothing, firewood, and also picked up some very cool items (e.g., someone just gave my son a really nice parafoil kite) on there. I tend to recall what I get on Freecycle, and I put it back into the system when I'm done using it.

The other site I'm loving is Nextdoor (it's a forum for your neighborhood/very local area). Check it out and PM me if you want a referral...we'll BOTH get a $25 Amazon gift card! The site is well-funded, pre-revenue, and seems to be hoping to become a more trustworthy Craigslist that allows super local businesses to post paid ads; thus they're doing a big push to gain members right now.

I'm in the same position as you, MeekMe! We have quite a ways to go still, but I'm trying to do a little everyday, and it feels so good to clear out the clutter!
Click to expand...

Sounds really cool SweetErika! (*^_^*) It's hard work. The plan is to get it out and be more careful with what comes in. Most of the clutter is hand-me-downs or 'gifts' we felt pressured to take.

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far! I learned about a lot of neat methods for passing on stuff to those who might have more use for it. :)
 
Dianthus said:
For stuff that is important to someone to remember, I've been taking photos with the digital camera and making memory 'books' and burning a cd.
Click to expand...

Just remember that CDs, DVDs, etc have a limited life span. In addition to being considered unreliable for long term storage, there's no guarantee that tomorrow's computers will even have CD drives.
 
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