Purging the house

[vafoodie]

DH is due to retire in 2-3 years, so I’m giving myself that timeframe to purge my house. I’m something of a hoarder, so this will be a Herculean task.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Every week fill the trash cans. You'll make tremendous progress if you stick with it.

 

[Sanstar]

I was headed in a general declutter direction but with the current pandemic have kicked it into overdrive. Filling trash bin every day, trips to Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity, digitalizing photos and certificates, distributing family memorabilia to kids, ect...

Have read a couple books and watch YouTube vids for inspiration.

Someone’s going to have to do it. Might as well be me while we are in hunker down mode.

 

[Olbidness]

Watch an episode of Hoarders, it really motivates me.

 

[statsman]

Every week fill the trash cans. You'll make tremendous progress if you stick with it.

Yep. We (mostly me - DW was still working) did this along with donating and giving away household items over a two year period after our kid moved to another state. It didn't seem to make much of a difference until after the first six months when we noticed the clutter disappearing. Along the way, we found some items we thought we lost.

By the time we started packing up the house to sell it and move to join up with our kid, we were able to pack up 23+ years in this house, sell it and move in 60 days. No way we could have done it that fast if we hadn't started clearing out the clutter two years prior.

 

[davebarnes]

Fire is your friend.

 

[samm]

I was headed in a general declutter direction but with the current pandemic have kicked it into overdrive. Filling trash bin every day, trips to Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity, digitalizing photos and certificates, distributing family memorabilia to kids, ect...

Someone’s going to have to do it. Might as well be me while we are in hunker down mode.

+1. Well said.

Americans seem to be addicted to buying stuff. Its a big problem. What motivates the desire to buy?? How can we address this?

Its sad. A very rich friend told me that he can never move or travel because he has too much stuff to "look after".

 

[COcheesehead]

Last purge we picked up about $8000: eBay, Craigslist, rummage sale. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[O2Bfree]

You might even find some useful things you'd forgotten you had.

 

[Elbata]

Just visited a friend in another town. He told me when he goes, there's going to be a big garage sale for all his stuff.

I didn't say anything, and no offense, but most all belonged in the dumpster.

 

[vafoodie]

I need to figure out how to make this project an obsession.

 

[FIREd]

I need to figure out how to make this project an obsession.

The more progress you see, the more obsessed you'll become. It's a process. I went through 2 major purges in the last 10 years and I still fight clutter every once in a while.

 

[COcheesehead]

Start small. Set a goal of cleaning out a closest or something similar every day. Get help too. A job shared is a job half done.

 

[bclover]

Watch an episode of Hoarders, it really motivates me.

lol see that just made it worst for me. I watched hoarders and then patted myself on the back for not being "that bad"

I'm trying to declutter and get rid of stuff because I want to downsize. it's slow and tedious.

 

[Ronstar]

It's all about volume. Just make sure that more volume goes out than comes in.

We rented an additional garbage container for a year and got rid of an extra can's worth of stuff every week.

And I rented a big dumpster. I put a lot of remodel debris in it, but I topped it off with a lot of purged household items

We had a garage sale

We make frequent trips to Goodwill

Sold a bunch of stuff on Craigs List

Sold a car we didn't need

This has been going on for a few years. Should be down to bare minimum in 2 years.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

When we remodeled our basement, I must have made about a dozen trips to the dump with our SUV. It was cathartic.

I recommend Nextdoor even before Craigslist; the people are local, and (supposedly) have to use their real names and locations. It feels a little less like the wild west of the internet.

I also recommend giving yourself a time limit on items for sale, then reducing them, eventually (or even right away) to zero. You'll usually have takers for most free items. But after X number of weeks, free items have to be out of the house, either donated or trashed. A hoarder's impulse is to say that an item could be valuable, but if no one is willing to pay or take it for free, it's time to admit that it probably isn't worth anything, and it certainly isn't worth physical or mental space in your life.

 

[Ronstar]

I recommend Nextdoor even before Craigslist; the people are local, and (supposedly) have to use their real names and locations. It feels a little less like the wild west of the internet.

Good point. I sold my boat through Nextdoor and it was a great experience. Craigs List can be hit or miss

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Good point. I sold my boat through Nextdoor and it was a great experience. Craigs List can be hit or miss

Yep, I sold my dad's car with less than 5K miles for $3K more than Carmax offered via Nextdoor...and to a couple a few blocks away from me. I wasn't worried about their check bouncing, because I literally knew where they lived!

 

[SumDay]

We did this 5 years ago, when we decided to downsize after 30+ years in our huge house. We were still w*rking, and virtually every minute we weren't at w*rk or sleeping, we were purging. Several trips to Good Will each week, one big garage sale, and lots of trash cans and it was done in about 5 months, just in time for the house to sell and find a new one.

It all worked out, but it is exhausting, and also very liberating. You'll be glad you did it.

And, after 5 years in the new, smaller house, I took some time to purge more during the quarantine time. It's amazing how quickly you begin to accumulate again. #FirstWorldProblems

 

[brett]

We downsized and de cluttered our large home. We sold it and travelled. We kept what could fit into an 8x8x16 container. Best thing we ever did.

It took us about four or five months to prepare the house for sale and to de clutter.

A year later we unloaded the container and moved into a rental condo. There were things in that container that we did not want and gave away.

 

[Olbidness]

I donated a pickup truck to the Red Cross which had a value of 3k. My grandparents told the story of them surviving a tornado with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The Red Cross was there within a matter of hours and provided everything for their needs.
Donating the truck was a way to honor their memory.

When I moved into my RV in February I donated my furniture to the Salvation Army and my son.

My net worth is north of 2 million so getting money for these items won’t move the needle for me, but it might help someone in need.

I continually meditate on the concepts of gratitude and enough.

 

[sengsational]

Just got done helping clean out deceased FIL's house. It's finally empty as of a couple of days ago. This process helped me look at my own house's contents in a new light. I haven't begun a new "sweep", but I've got motivation now.

As for the FIL's house, tons of stuff that could have been put on NextDoor or CraigsList went to various charities because nobody on the team (DW, her brother, me, and SIL), wanted to take the time to sell stuff that was left over after family and friends picked through everything. I felt great if family and friends got something they were going to use and appreciate. I think a few items went with family and friends with the express purpose of turning it into cash, but not many.

So, because I'm loath to let something valuable go, I made my own situation worse: I brought a bunch of stuff home from the FIL's place. The stuff that I could really use, or stuff that might fetch >$50. But the many dozens of items in the $10 through $49 range that went to charities were difficult to dispose of, knowing if I took the time, I might have a thousand bucks or more. But nobody, including me, could muster the will to selling anything. Now I'm going to have to disposition this newly acquired stuff. Luckily the item count is pretty small.

 

[pacergal]

We did that right after retirement, one day each week for a while. Started with work clothes.
Its been about 4 years, time to start again. We really want all of our "junk" out, so much stuff I don't use anymore and kids don't want.
It always feels so good when we are done.

 

[brett]

Our attitude changed dramatically after we de cluttered, sold, and traveled for an extended period.

We stopped keeping things that we did not need or want. Perhaps it was because of retirement. Our focus gradually switched from 'things' to 'experiences'.

 

[Bram]

After I threw a conniption fit because my car wouldn’t fit in the garage, my DH is finally purging. The first 2week dumpster rental was picked up yesterday. He has also donated, “gifted”, burned & added to weekly refuse pickup. I’ve been after him for years to do this while he’s still physically able. I didn’t want him exiting with me having to handle all the carp, or inevitably to our only son/family. He still has a big garage/workshop to tackle which will require a second rental of a dumpster. He’s “finding” duplicates of things, tools, plus stuff he didn’t even know he had. Nearly 40 years of accumulations!