More decluttering

I've made a bit of an attempt at decluttering but so many of our charity shops are being used as dumping grounds for so much stuff that they've had to limit donations.
At the moment those charity bags which come through the door are handy but they're mainly for clothes. Few of them take books or bric-a-brac which is a shame. As for old clothes - I'm still wearing them!

sodapop

rosecarmel is everything ok with you ? I was a bit worried when you said you had no furniture etc.

Reading her post again I get the impression she was about to rent/buy a new house which h as fully furnished

Well DD1 cleared out a load of toys; she brought them round to us so I sorted them out into sets. Sent photos of some to DD2; her younger children would like them but no idea when we’ll be able to see them again! So they’ve gone into the loft for now.
Then went to local Hospice (big) shop; queued in car for an hour but donated remainder of toys.
Then onto nearby tip with mountain of cardboard of ours and local DD-result of online purchases. V satisfying.

composted, not completed

My business is loosely tied to the school year. So I have decided this summer that I will get rid of one thousand things before Michaelmas term starts. Some will be large, like coats, and some will be small, like old postcards. Had a good day yesterday and already over 70 on my tally chart. Two of our local charity shops have drop off points where you don't need to go inside, and a lot of paperwork will be shredded and completed in layers with garden waste.

rosecarmel is everything ok with you ? I was a bit worried when you said you had no furniture etc.

Hadn't realised that this thread was going again!.
Where have I been?

I did manage to re-home a large welsh wool blanket and a brand new cot mattress, via Freecycle, last week.
It does make such a difference how people respond to your freecycle posts.
A please and thankyou is nice, rather than just a blunt, I'll have it.

Anyway I've made a start, and a few things have gone to a charity shop.

So a 19 year collection whiff. Impressive !!

Juliet27 that was from when we brought the house 1985 until he died 2004. Which makes it sound worse.

DH retired at the end of June and has wardrobes full of suits, shirts and ties. Yesterday he made a start on the ties, 36 in the charity bag and 20 left in the wardrobe !!!! He also added 5 shirts to the bag. At least he's made a start. He actually realised that he had a pile of polo shirts not yet worn. I mustn't 'nag' but we will get there in the end.

It strikes me it will be the charity shops needing to declutter when they reopen and we all descend on them with our ‘goods’.

MissA did you ever find that missing coat?

Whiff - an amazing amount to have ‘collected’ in just 47 years!

This is still on the theme of decluttering but in no way sad. A year after my husband died the children and I decided to clear out the garage as it was full and the loft. At the end of the week we had filled 3 medium skips of rubbish ,20 large boxes and 15 large bags for the charity shops. The children announced that their fathers legacy had been rubbish. He was 47 when he died dread to think how bad it could have got in the last 16 years.

Like I said it's not a sad post but could be used as a warning of what could happen lol. Happy decluttering everyone.

I'm still decluttering here, bit by slow bit.

I'm being hampered by the idea that I'm going to have to throw stuff that may "do someone a turn".

That aside, I have cleared everything off my big old bookcase and shoved it under my bed sold the bookcase for a princely £5, and now have a bit of wiggle room to carry on.

Well.. I got my plain Jane wardrobe from charity shops, so we must be legions .. ?

HAZBEEN my husband is exactly the same. He's made some effort I suppose, but the difference is unnoticeable. I have told him I shall be really cross with him if he dies first and I have to cope with the garage and his indoor office/workshop.

Every time I decide to declutter I come up against all the stuff my DH is hoarding and all the DC's stuff which they have left here until they move to a bigger house.
My stuff is now sitting in the garage waiting to go to tip, charity shop etc.
I pity my DC when we are gone!

I'm fine if I know it's going to help someone else out, or that they may get some joy out of my more quirky clothes.

Most of my stuff, though, is cheap end, boring clothes.

Where do you all keep your shoes?

*It is, and you're in!
I'm going to have to have a hard think about my clutter.

I queued for almost an hour to post off those shoes; it's not going to work for me, considering I have nothing that's likely to sell for much more.

It's a matter of not letting it go to waste, mostly.*

Thank you!

I'm the same. I have some clothes that were expensive, and seem 'too good' to get rid of, but my daughter won't want them, and I just don't go anywhere to wear them these days. I can't be bothered with eBay, and anyway, I think more people will be clearing out than buying more - nobody will be dressing up to go out for quite a while.

I might think about taking some to a dress agency, and the rest can go into two piles - one for Oxfam and the other for the textile bin when both are open.

The other big thing is going to be coats and shoes. I have a lot of both (as does my husband), and realistically, we don't need them now. In normal circumstances, if it rains we go out in the car, or just stay in. We no longer need a different coat and different footwear for all the different weather situations that living in the UK involves. We don't have room to store them all, so they need to go.

I think the trouble is that neither of us was brought up to dispose of things that still had 'life in them'. It feels wrong, but it is going to have to be done.

We have scanned in about 350 photos so far, many more to go. It's been lovely seeing them on screen. OH has cleaned up really old ones that had white spots etc. He's emailed some old family ones to his siblings, who'd not seen them all. They've all added info on names and history of pics, they've enjoyed chatting about their memories together. It's a job for a wet day. Most actual photos will then be binned apart from some specials to go on albums, or very old ones. That will be hard but needs to be done.

Yes I m another who had very good intentions and time at start of lockdown and it’s not happened I am lucky enough to have a spare room or two so my clutter goes in there
and everywhere else I have sold a couple of pair of shoes a shower curtain and some girls scootering stuff off the local fb selling page (no post office queues, they put the money on the doorstep and knock you open the door grab money and put item down say thank you and close door) I have a money box where a hand comes out grabs the money and the lid closes well a bit like that
I also decided to sort all my millions of photos out They are all on my front room bed now and have been for a month I do visit them and move them around now and then

The living room is practically empty now, having scaled back to favorite things- Having gotten rid of the furniture, there's no place to sit other than the floor and as a result watch less tv and devote more time to the outdoors and decluttering-

I'm currently sorting through toys- Keeping anything that any age can play with and several things that makes the older GK say, "Awww, I remember .. "- But with the future being so uncertain, and some of us considering hitting the road, I've no idea when we'll all get together again-

It had only been a matter of months since having last seen them and their growth was SO considerably noticeable!!!

Tomorrow is July- Which is when protective Covid-19 legislature ends for tenants and evictions notices will begin- Homes have already been going into foreclosure- The last house I submitted an offer to was being left fully furnished by the owner- How's that for decluttering? It gives a whole new meaning to it ..

They're anticipating millions will be homeless by summers end-

It is, and you're in!
I'm going to have to have a hard think about my clutter.

I queued for almost an hour to post off those shoes; it's not going to work for me, considering I have nothing that's likely to sell for much more.

It's a matter of not letting it go to waste, mostly.