Its Simplifying Saturday!

[WhoDaresWins]

Yesterday I gave my bread machine to a co-worker along with some really big roasting pans. She cooks big family dinners and I am no longer into that sort of thing. If I make bread in the machine, I will eat the whole thing so I am doing myself a favor by ridding myself of temptation. I can pick up a baguette or loaf of whole wheat when out and about.

 

[kyounge1956]

I've missed a couple of weeks, but have gotten rid of several items this weekend and there may be more to come if I get ambitious.

Yesterday: donated two old, non-working stereo components to the Goodwill. I asked at the donation station if they could use these even though not functioning and they said yes, so bye bye to those. I also "got rid of" an old small TIRA (by rolling it into my Roth), and thanks to E-R's FAQ on Roth conversion I knew not to pay the taxes out of the account balance, so I won't get hit with the 10% underage penalty.

Today: took four large sacks of packing popcorn to a local mailing service for re-use. Discarded two tote bags that were completely worn out.

I don't recall if it was before or after this thread started, but I've also discarded a few clothing items recently that were too worn out to be worth repairing.

Recycled last year's prospectuses and annual reports from the sub-funds inside my Ameriprise VA. I never read them, and I'm seriously thinking of cashing it in now, because my new IRA custodian (Scottrade) is having a promotion—you get a cash bonus for transferring funds in from another brokerage. It won't make up for the surrender charge, which sems like it's never going to go away. Even seven years after I was sold the darned thing it is still well over $500 on a balance of less than $10K. The promotional bonus will at least partly cover the account-closing fee . Cashing in the VA will really simplify things...I'll only have two retirement accounts, my 457 at w*rk and my Roth IRA. And my association with Ameriprise will be at an end!

 

[Maurice]

So how do you "manage" them on your HD? I mean what sort of Database do you use so that you can access the individual songs properly?

No database, just the file system. I generally access them through itunes.


I should add, these are CDs I don't listen to anymore, the ones I do I haven't thrown away yet because I may re-rip them in a lossless format at some point. (they are now saved as mp3s)

 

[CuppaJoe]

On target, cleaned out a bag full of stuff this week, and doing a one a day pare down the underwear. TMI?

 

[xyz]

This week: Yet another large stack of magazines.. Even a money magazine from a few years ago saying how Apple was such a bad investment.. We had our electrical fuse box updated to circuit breakers a few years ago and finally threw out the old fuse box and fuses..

 

[W2R]

Many old instruction booklets, sheets, and installation instructions for computer hardware or software that is no longer part of my system.

An old, frayed pillowcase, the last that I had of that design.

A purse that has seen better days.

 

[freebird5825]

The bookcase is under full scale attack...

I'll confess...I still have 2 shelves to go to finish this j*b up.
I have set a goal of finishing the sorting/deciding process and transporting the books out the door, by end of this week.

 

[freebird5825]

I'll confess...I still have 2 shelves to go to finish this j*b up.
I have set a goal of finishing the sorting/deciding process and transporting the books out the door, by end of this week.

It's done!
Going for the bonus points with pics....

The boxed books are going away....and the final result. Woooo Hooooooo

 

[xyz]

Pretty good week here:

2 old window shutters I never put back up after painting the house
2 pieces of Lineoleum
2 Basketballs
1 bag of old lamp parts

 

[powerplay]

Today I took 7 gallon cans of paints and stains along with a zip bag of old batteries to a hazardous waste collection event.

Thursday I got rid of 2 old scanners and an old webcam on Freecycle.

Wednesday I took a bunch of household items and clothes to Goodwill.

This week and last week got the recycle bin nearly full of junk papers. Have a brown grocery bag full of paper that needs shredding, waiting the next shred event (too much to put through the home shred device.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

So how do you "manage" them on your HD? I mean what sort of Database do you use so that you can access the individual songs properly?

We ripped our entire CD collection to disk several years ago. We manage it with iTunes, and I must say that we enjoy our music collection much more now.

We have several playlist set up: some "smart" and some manual. For example: the light classical playlist includes all CDs whose genre is classical but excludes anything with "symphony" or "requeim" in the title or album name. This prevents having things like the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th symphony come on while you are having morning coffee.

When you rip a CD, iTunes contacts the Gracenote database, gives is the code from the CD, and gets the album name and track information in return. Some esoteric CDs are not included in the database, but not many. If you run across one, you can add the track info to the database if you want.

The analog output from our Airport Express feeds our amplifier, and we stream music from one of our laptops wirelessly. iTunes runs in the background and you never know it is there.

We gave the CDs to our friends, according to what kind of music they like.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Took it easy this week but did toss out about 10 things including that dull knife with the handle that falls off at first cut.

 

[freebird5825]

I took a short sabbatical on decluttering because it was nice out.
Dress clothes leftover from c*reer days and misc from heavier body weight days are next up on deck...

 

[bruce1]

During the nice weather I cleaned up my garden shed. Took a couple of garbage pails of old broken stuff including some old pots and some outdoor Christmas decorations to the road for the garbage pickup.

 

[Ronstar]

I only got rid of a few minor things this week. But now I'm watching "Hoarding:Buried Alive" on TLC, and I've got a whole new appreciation for the "simplifying" that I've done.

The people on the TV show have such a problem that they have to walk on top of their stuff to go from room to room - incredible.

 

[kyounge1956]

This week, I discarded or recycled lots of empty margarine tubs and their lids, plus many other jar lids. I use the jars for food storage and freezing, but I had many more containers than will fit in my freezer at one time, and many more lids than I had containers.

I threw away a lot of old droppers from cat medications.

I threw away four boxes of superannuated instant coffee packets, also from my flopped MLM business. I also have pre-packaged ground coffee, equally ancient, in individual packs to put in a coffee maker. Those I am going to open and dig the coffee grounds into my garden, and give the filters to my parents—they have a four-cup brewer and I think these will work. If not they can go in the yard waste bin.

I loaded a bunch of items into the back of my car for donation to a thrift store or Goodwill, but I won't count them until they're out of the car.

I think there have been several other things but I didn't write them down as I went so I don't recall what they were.

I cleared up a problem with garbage collection. Last summer, my recycling bin disappeared out of the alley, so I requested a replacement. Two replacement containers were brought. I started using one for recycling, leaving the other at the curb. Eventually, person or persons unknown filled the extra recycling bin with garbage. I took the garbage from the recycle bin and put it in my trash can (I didn't want to get hit with the extra charge for putting non-recyclables in the recycle bin, or the other charge for having more trash than the size can you are paying for.) Then I put recyclables in the bin and left it in the alley, but made the mistake of not putting it away immediately after pickup and it ended up full of garbage again! Once was enough on moving someone else's trash from can to can, so I called the customer service line and they told me how to get rid of the extra garbage and the extra can, and it's not going to cost me any extra. So this week, in addition to physical space wasters, I "got rid of" an irritating problem.

 

[RonBoyd]

We ripped our entire CD collection to disk several years ago. We manage it with iTunes, and I must say that we enjoy our music collection much more now.

(

The reason I asked was I "ripped" my CD collection and quite a number of vinyl albums on to HDs -- filled a 1TB disk and about 400GB on a 500GB drive.

That's as far as I got before life took me by the shoulders and accused me of "wasting" my time. Well, I did go one step further, I printed out the directories on the HDs so, at least, I know where each song is. (Yeah, a hundred and some pages.) Karen's Directory Printer

I am looking for some database program that does not involve a subscription to something like iTunes.

And maybe I should ask. Does something like Pandora or Slacker make iTunes less valuable?

 

[FUEGO]

We actually received a compliment from SIL this weekend that our library/computer room/office looked really nice. I'm sure she didn't know why it looked nice, but we got rid of 300-400 gallons of old papers, junk, old computers etc! Thanks to DW's persistent cleaning efforts the room is mostly clutter free.

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

I am looking for some database program that does not involve a subscription to something like iTunes.

Puzzled look.

Subscription? As far as I know, iTunes does not require any subscription. If you have a Mac, it comes pre-installed. If you have a PC you can download it for free here:

iTunes 9.0.3 for Windows (64 bit)

You just import all of your song files and then make use of its categorizing features. Of course, they would like you to visit the iTunes store and buy some songs, but you don't have to.

 

[RonBoyd]

Puzzled look.

Okay, okay. I will try it out when I return to my main computer. Perhaps there is a little Applephobia happening here.

 

[freebird5825]

I finally transported those 3 boxes of books to the public library and a few odds and ends to the church for their rummage sales. It's been raining for the last 2 days and I've been goofing off for the last week and [insert any excuse].
I'm re-evaluating my desire to launch into the clothes closets. Maybe tomorrow...

 

[two4theroad]

Last Friday or Saturday it rained. So I took everything out of our closet, everything! at once!! Stacked it all over the living room. Including all the stuff that had accumulated in corner shelf unit. I put everything back that fit, that we liked and had worn in the last year or so. Everything that did not fit, needed repair (I dont' sew) was worn or faded or just things we did not like and use went into a pile in the living room. Also most of our old work clothes went but kept a few coveralls for mowing and crawling under cars. That afternoon the weather cleared and we took 4 large outdoor garbage bags full of stuff to Salvation Army. Makes me want to quit shopping.
I am also watching the Hoarding Nightmare shows. I have to be careful as both my mother and paternal grandmother are afflicted. I find it very hard to part with clothing unless I find it a good home due to the purchase costs. I also have a hard time with books. I will tackle them next rainy day.
Also gave an old laptop to my grandma's caretaker as hers had died and she cannot afford to replace it right now. It was not really worth selling as the battery was kaput and the power connector had to be jury rigged to work but it was still working so too good to throw away so I am glad to see it used.
I feel better now, my closet is tidy and I can hang up clothes without first herniating a disk trying to push some clothes over so I can get more in there.
2fer

 

[Nords]

The reason I asked was I "ripped" my CD collection and quite a number of vinyl albums on to HDs -- filled a 1TB disk and about 400GB on a 500GB drive.

I haven't done anything about our vinyl yet, but I find that the LP album covers are quite useful for showing a teenager what we were thinking in the 1960s/70s/80s. She was also shocked to discover the utility of the concept of "liner notes".

I am looking for some database program that does not involve a subscription to something like iTunes.

iTunes rocks. Last year for our Christmas present, our teen tracked down all the various bits of music scattered on our hard drives (and our CDs) and organized them under iTunes.

Instead of digitizing our vinyl, I'm probably just going to look online for my favorite tracks from those albums.

But we still have a turntable connected to our (1980s-era) receiver and our speakers (back when "big speakers" were a good thing), so we'll have to show our teen how to "drop a needle"-- she finds it all horribly fascinating.

If we ever have grandkids then I'm going to surreptitiously make them classic-rock music fans. I think I'll start with KISS...

 

[SecondCor521]

4/9 - 4/11: Donated three books to the local library.
4/12: Donated a used printer toner cartridge to the local library.

2Cor521

 

[freebird5825]

...I'm re-evaluating my desire to launch into the clothes closets. Maybe tomorrow...

I hit the jackpot! My housecleaner is here today. She is SO HAPPY to get my no longer used w*rk clothes. I have a collection of dress suits and blazers and pants that I will never wear again. I'm keeping only 3 that fit well. The rest are toast.
She and a class full of young women, just starting out, are going to take their LPN Boards in about a month and then start going on formal j*b interviews. What does not fit her is going to be brought to her nursing classes and set out for these young women to pick out what they want.

This feels WONDERFUL!