2023 Decluttering Support and Motivation

[lreidgreen]

Vintage- it sounds like you are really keeping on top of things. I was fantasizing about starting over in a new place. Renting or buying then slowly moving in only the things I know I want to live with. Some day maybe.
Dawn, thanks for the reminder to keep a towel in my car. Like Anna I had one in there then it got moved during a cleaning and it never returned.

[Catahoula Cate]

Dawn, I have a hard time letting go of towels too, including kitchen towels which can have such pretty patterns. We do occasionally have guests so I have a couple saved specifically for then but otherwise, I have favorites and just keep using them until they're cleaning rag material. That is a great idea to keep a towel in the car.

Not much decluttering here...we got some cardboard boxes to the recycling center. I went through the Christmas cards and got some ready for St. Judes Ranch for Children recycling card program.

I've identified some things I'd like to send to Thred Up, just haven't gotten to it yet.

[Vantreesta]

I always keep towels in the car! Of course, D'Argo used to get car sick sometimes so I just figure dogs = towels in the car. But we also have been glad to have them for times like getting caught in an absolute downpour leaving a concert, sweaty feet after hiking and most recently, sopping up melted snow from our snowshoes on the cargo mat before we loaded up bags and packs.

I don't remember if I posted that I got all our movies organized and logged in my spreadsheet, except for some VHS that I will be going through. I set some movies aside that I want to watch but probably won't keep, so they'll be a priority to watch and pass on. I also have some VHS already in the donate pile.

I made a goal of reading 23 minutes every day in 2023 and have been doing well with that. I have two other books going but for my 23 minutes I am working through the books I think I can part with once they're read. I have already put two Mary Higgins Clark books in the little neighborhood library. I'm halfway through another book, but it's horror so I will donate it back to the thrift store when I finish it.

Last weekend I dropped off three small plastic sacks of clothes at the thrift store. They were mostly hubby's. He went through his clothes, without my saying anything, when he was packing for the snowshoe trip.

Decluttering is at a bit of a standstill for now but we have kept the office clean so far!

[Izzy]

I keep towels and blankets in the car just in case.

A big haul to Goodwill this past Sunday. 2 large boxes, 1 bag and a card table/chairs. I cleaned out two closets.

Keep up the good work.

Mary

[fanofladyvols]

I cut up and use for cleaning all towels, old tshirts, socks for cleaning if they're not donate worthy.

I had three boxes of kid books in my trunk for awhile until I had enough of clothing and random household items. Total of three boxes and three bags gone!

Enabled me to use the small bookcase inside a bedroom closet to organize the items in the closet neatly.

Keep slogging folks!!

[Vantreesta]

Originally Posted by Izzy

I keep towels and blankets in the car just in case.

A big haul to Goodwill this past Sunday. 2 large boxes, 1 bag and a card table/chairs. I cleaned out two closets.

Keep up the good work.

Mary

I have two small fleece throws, a scarf and hat, and a baseball cap in my car all year round. I have a very raggedy sweatshirt I'd like to throw in too, but I don't think there's enough room in the bag!

I've got some books and VHS movies ready to donate next time I go plus some stuffed animals and other random things.

[bzar]

the charity Cerebral Palsy picked up a box of donations from our house last week. They had called earlier about whether we'd like to schedule a pick-up.

good tip about keeping towels in the car!

Quilts and being practical:

my SIL is a very skilled and talented quilter. over the years she has evolved into making small frameable quilts, like maybe 12x18. reason is that she would make a bed-sized quilt, however the recipient would deem it too beautiful to use, let alone keep clean without falling apart. hence the current practice of making smaller ones.

it's also very expensive to frame large items because larger items require a custom frame.

for existing large quilts that you might want to frame/preserve - have it re-sized to be easier to frame.

[adawn]

Some animal shelters will accept old bath towels if they're in ok enough condition. You can often check their website to find out if they accept them. I forgot about that. Last time I got rid of bath towels (to make room for fewer, new bath towels), I donated the old ones to the animal shelter down the street and it made me feel better about it.

Old hand sized towels I keep because I use them to line the bottom of my cat carrier since kitty gets carsick (both ends sometimes!). I put a fleece carrier pad on the bottom of the carrier and then I put the hand towel down on that. If I have a bath towel in really bad shape, I'll cut it up into hand towel-sized pieces to get used in the cat carrier as well.

[bzar]

Originally Posted by adawn

I donated the old ones to the animal shelter down the street and it made me feel better about it.

+1

i did this a few times with the hawaiian humane society and the animal hospital that is closer to our house.

[lreidgreen]

I had scheduled a donation pickup with Lupus Foundation and they didn't show up! I called and they said they had no record of me in their system for that day and they don't have another one coming up soon. I will have to wait for the Vets to come around. Of course the boxes and bags are marked "LUPUS." They are back in the garage but I did toss a knick knack into one of the boxes today.
I tossed a few of DDs textbooks and tried to give away 2 on FB Marketplace. There was no interest after a week so I tossed them too!
My son came over yesterday and he took some clothing and sentimental items I set aside for him. Surprised me actually.
I sent DD photos of the quilts and she said she liked 2 of them. So back they went into the closet. Hopefully she will take them with her to grad school next year. DS was going to take the other quilt but he already had enough stuff to bring back so did not.
I was planning on going through my work papers today but ran out of steam.It's a task I am dreading.