De-cluttering, the never-ending process

karmalady

would you recommend charity shop or salvation army bin for a very good quality rainproof warm winter coatwith a hood? It will be going but I am not sure who to

Sell it on eBay and donate the money instead

We take anything worth having to Headway. We get space and they get some income.

We chose Headway as they were fantastic when DS1 had a stroke.

Those CD cases look good, Karma. Dh won’t countenance them but I’d use them for my music. Where did you buy yours? I couldn’t find anywhere that sells them.

Decluttering is a perpetual activity nowadays, I suppose because it’s so easy to buy more things nowadays. We did a huge declutter to move last year and had to be quite ruthless as we were going to a smaller house. We’ve moved many times over the years, well into double figures, but that was the longest time we’d lived anywhere and had acquired a lot of stuff. It was a hard-core declutter!

In many ways, it’s a relief to have fewer belongings - decisions have been made and that’s that. I think from now on I’ll regard decluttering more as Spring cleaning, which to me seems less onerous. My mum spring-cleaned all year round so has never had to declutter. I didn’t inherit her minimalist genes.

Sue I got mine from amazon. read the measurements carefully. I had to send one back as it was too small. It is called caselogic cd wallet. I have 4 and they are good quality

I have lovely nordic ware tins, bundt tins, shortbread tins and several others. Once upon a time, I used them. I know they should go. I can`t do it, even though they sit unused in top cupboards in my kitchen. Grhh, it really is hard to let go

I am quite good at recycling things that are good quality; I have several charity shops I can take them to. But I have great difficulties with, say, chipped/stained/damaged items or clothes not good enough to donate. I have the ghost of the landfill sitting on my shoulder, filling me with guilt if I throw something away, even when it is no longer of any use! I do a lot of upcycling, finding ways to reuse things in the garden etc., but still keep far too much just in case I can use it one day. I just don't know how to get out of this mindset.

karmalady

MerylStreep

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

Arghhh, I have put a lot of good warm clothing and shoes into the local salvation army bin. That is gutting

I too did the "Arghhh" but have googled and found this link, so we can breathe again

www.salvationarmy.org.uk/clothing-bank

I hope I'm not going to sound morbid, but having been an executor 3 times (all very different circumstances), I am determined not to leave too much 'stuff' for anyone to sort out when I am gone.
It's so easy to accumulate things these days, isn't it?!

Thanks, Karma. I’ve gone down a CD/DVD storage rabbit hole now.

IKWYM about the nostalgia for items. I had a very nice Maslin pan which I dithered over even though I knew in my heart of hearts that I was most unlikely to ever make jam or marmalade again, or even really ever want to make them. It was still hard to say goodbye to it.

Rosie51
Don’t believe the people who want you to believe, dig a little deeper. I’ve been speaking to Rag collectors for 7 years.
There’s no point in me relating anecdotal conversations but here is an article from an ethical organisation who do know

what’s going on.
If you don’t wish to read the whole article scroll down to the picture on the left ( bales of clothing)
The paragraph that starts As the book Clothing Poverty

www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/what-happens-to-donated-clothes/

Humbertbear

I spent several years sorting out a lifetime’s photo albums. I saved photos of people and mounted them in chronological order in three albums, Every photo is labelled and the albums are accompanied by a family tree. I gave them to my DS and GD. I threw away thousands of pretty (and not so pretty) pictures of all the places in the world we have visited. I did also give away over a thousand books but it made little difference to the bookcases. We don’t buy Knick knacks but my collection of books on Polar Exploration is way out of hand.

I think I’ve got a book on Polar exploration that you need to have! I can’t remember who it’s by but it was a typical purchase made having gone to a talk given by the man who did it. I never got round to reading it I’m afraid.

I lay in bed last night thinking about this thread.

I mentally went through the rooms in our house, thinking about what it would be like for my family to sort if I died suddenly.

I still have a lot of stuff I suppose, but not much that is unused or unwanted really. The garage would be a worry if DH went. It’s tidyish, and he knows where things are, but so much ‘stuff’, tools, nails and screws, man type things.

It would be a nightmare.

Then thankfully I fell asleep.

😴

Rosie51

karmalady

MerylStreep

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

Arghhh, I have put a lot of good warm clothing and shoes into the local salvation army bin. That is gutting

I too did the "Arghhh" but have googled and found this link, so we can breathe again

www.salvationarmy.org.uk/clothing-bank

A million times thank you for that link Rosie. It brought tears to my eyes, all those warm hand made jumpers that I made for my husband and for me, wrapped and put into the bank. Now I will be able to let go of a nice warm practical coat with big pockets and a hood. To do this to the loved sally army, is a biggie for me

Calendargirl. it starts with sorting and recording paperwork and details in an accessible file. Lots of shredding of other papers. I think that is the basis to `dying tidy` and immediately the load starts to lift. My file is in a small handy case in my wardrobe and my executers know about it

Then a bit at a time, maybe just a drawer or a kitchen cupboard, I intend to do that today. Not a lot but the upside is that it is also tidied and cleaned and yes, like a mini spring clean every time

I rest assured that my clothing to salvation army will be sold for re-use

www.salvationarmytrading.org.uk/donating/what-happens-to-your-donations

KarmaLady
This is the second link put up that is from the Salvation Army.
Of course they are going to paint an ethical picture. They aren’t going to tell the truth of where the vast majority of their clothe donations go.
It might look as if I’m singling out the Salvation Army, I’m not, they all do it.
As I said above: I’ve been talking to rag collectors for years in the charity shop where I sort clothing.
People need to take the rose coloured glasses off where charities are concerned: it’s business.
Not that it means anything to anyone here but no one gets in our shop.

Do you think there is a better way to donate clothes to ensure they are re-used MerylStreep? I think a lot of us would be interested if there is.

Casdon
I’m afraid there isn’t an answer. We have a HUGE problem with too many clothes being produced and thrown away.
Charity shops just don’t have the room to store a large amount of clothes.
My friend is a manger of a very well known charity. At the end of every day all remaining clothing is bagged up for rag, why? because they know the next day more and more donations are coming in.

I meant to say, the rag industry is estimated at 5billion £/$ worldwide.

I do love the sally army and their collectors, ever since they used to appear in the pub across the road where I lived in the 50s and their bands, so full of goodwill and cheer.

No doubt they get a lot of rags but not all charities can be tarred with that brush of yours Meryl. I will continue to use the salvation army bank for all my good and useful wearables. I make sure that they are folded and neatly bagged

I am back now, only a 15 minute round trip, walking

Coffee now and then a kitchen cupboard, I think I will start to release all my sourdough equipment, bannetons etc. I have a lot but I need to go with the flow of getting older. She who bends does not break

MerylStreep

Casdon
I’m afraid there isn’t an answer. We have a HUGE problem with too many clothes being produced and thrown away.
Charity shops just don’t have the room to store a large amount of clothes.
My friend is a manger of a very well known charity. At the end of every day all remaining clothing is bagged up for rag, why? because they know the next day more and more donations are coming in.

That’s quite depressing, I’ve never got into EBay, Vinted etc., but it does make me think the good stuff I want to get rid of would be better sold than donated now.

I am on my tenth move. This is a small new build house and, be warned, they usually have poor storage and sockets and radiators that are all in the wrong places in terms of placing furniture.

So, I gave away furniture, books and clothes to charities.
I suggest taking it slowly, in case you realise you've given away things that you now regret.

Examples: The Complete Works of Shakespeare, a collection of clothes with Biba and Mary Quant labels, embroidered tableclothes
and 'brown' solid furniture which was snapped up by dealers the next day because there is still a market for it in cottages/country houses. It didn't go to the needy.

I kept all my photograph albums because there are difficult choices still to be made.

The cost of postage and worry over delivery/payment put me off trying to see things via Ebay.

We've lived in the same house for 48 years, so you can imagine the amount of clutter we have accumulated. During lockdown we sorted out the utility room and the cupboard under the stairs and since September we have attacked the attic.
We have general rubbish collections once a fortnight and, because we recycle so much rubbish, we have room in the bin. We go up to the attic once a fortnight and find enough rubbish to fill it up, plus more cardboard boxes to recycle!
It has made a big difference, you can now see the floor in places, and it spurred us on to make a trip to the tip with a mattress and a few bigger items.
Photos are my DH's biggest moan, I inherited albums and loose photos from both grandparents, my DH the same. I have some of our own on CD but I worry that this form of storage, like the floppy disc, will one day become obsolete. When I last bought a new laptop there were very few models that had a disc drive in them and I do enjoy looking back at old photos. Also I have some of the really old plate photos that can't be exposed to bright light or they will fade- how could I ever reproduce those?

I am decluttering. My wonderful husband was a great help. Sadly he died last week so it’s all down to me now. We always donated clothes to the Sally Army and other stuff to our local hospice. I’m carrying on but have a dilemma- I don’t have anyone who would clear the house when I die, or would even know that I have died. I have a daughter but we’re estranged ~ her decision. I don’t know where she is anymore. Tony and I wanted all of our assets (including the house) to go to the RNLI.
In Scotland you can’t disinherit a child, so they get a proportion of any monies left behind.
I am seeing a solicitor about a will next week, perhaps she will be of help.
What do I do about next of kin? Is there an organisation that will phone every day or so to check that I am still alive? I have a funeral plan so that is taken care of.
I don’t have any health concerns but who knows what the future holds. I would hate to think that the cats are left to starve if I couldn’t feed them. I will sign up to Cat Guardians, but they would have to be informed.
Any suggestions welcome.

We have had a massive clear out as we are moving. The worst area was the garage, why do we keep things "in case". It has been exhausting both mentally and physically but we are looking forward to going back to what we know as home.