The winds of change are a blowin'

Pacion

Pacion

New Member
Anyone thinking about or contemplating a New Year clearout? Is anyone who has done it before, willing to share any of the joys/tribulations - without necessarily giving specific information, just tips/hints of stuff you wished you knew in advance or if you could undo, what you would undo in terms of how you did it.


I have been procrastinating in giving my clothes cupboards a loooong overdue clearout and came across an article recently that suggesting getting six large boxs and labelling them:

- keep
- maybe
- donate- keeping but in need of mending
- dump
- fix
- archive (for the pieces you haven't worn but feel sentimental about)

Instead of boxes, am going to use bin bags for the initial and post initial clearings :lol: Now, I just need to schedule some total "no interuptions unless it is George Clooney calling time" and dive in!
 
In 2006 and 2007 I just made sure to move at least once every 15 months, which involved clearing out everything anyway. :) Gave away/threw out a LOT of stuff each time. And even with that, I'll probably clear out stuff again next October when I get home (take the alreayd thinned pile of boxes that I threw in storage and clear out half of it again while unpacking).

Anything you haven't worn in a year, toss

Be nice, wash everything before you donate (Depending on where you donate it to, they may wash it again, but it will give them a better idea of condition of stuff if it comes clean, as first step is for them to go through and toss stuff that's not worth keeping).

Don't donate stuff that isn't worth keeping. Put it in rag bag, throw it out, whatever, but if you have a shirt that's full of holes and you won't wear, don't donate it. Just rude.

That bein gsaid, Don't fall for the ideas of our disposable society. Lots of things can be repaired/fixed for less than it would cost to replace, and saves you from addin gto landfill. Dance shoes can be resueded. Dress shoes can be resoled if they're leather soled and properly welted (and you can save money in long run by buying shoes of this quality, though it involves an investment up front. Companies like Allen Edmonds are a great choice for shoes of this quality without spending 500-1500 like some people I know).

Lots of times people you're friends with may not want to accept used cltohing (with exception of jackets and other outerwear, and why this is the case, I've never been able to figure out). So these can go to something like goodwill. But other items (furniture, etc) friends seem more willing to accept. So see if any of your friends might be able to use them.

Sure other people will ahve better advice. I tend not to be very good at any of this. one advantage, I had a loot of clothes I no longer wore back home, where I'm more concerned with how I look, that I brought here to Kuwait (since I tried to only bring along things that I didn't care if they were lost/ruined). So in that case, my unwilling to clean things out helped me. :)
 
I have way too much stuff, in wardrobes, kitchen cupboads, linen closet, you name it. What I am trying to do is get my outdoor shed (2o' x 10') cleaned out. Then I can sort through the stuff in the house. Some things can be kept for the boys for when they, one day, have a place of their own. So,

1. Clean out shed - rubbish out and stuff for donation put aside. Put things away in shed neatly.
2. Clean out house. Remove some things to the shed, some to the rubbish bin, some for donation.

I have ornaments, linen, old towels (great to donate to the animal shelter), kitchenware, clothes, books, shoes, furniture.....Frankly, it is driving me crazy. And, it is my own fault as I find it hard to throw stuff away. You know, 'hey, I might need that one day.' So, I will have to be very disiplined. Just hope I can as I find throwing stuff out hard.:smile:
 
Heh, I managed to get rid of one box of stuff I'd been similarly bad about throwing out. Was oncoming traffic when I was making turn into storage place. Took it a bit fast to make it in front of traffic rather than wait, and lost a box off back of truck, which then got run over. :) Luckily, it wasn't anything important.
 
I guess it then had to be thrown out. Glad it wasn't important. See, maybe that is a sign that it really 'had to go.'
 
etp777 said:
Heh, I managed to get rid of one box of stuff I'd been similarly bad about throwing out. Was oncoming traffic when I was making turn into storage place. Took it a bit fast to make it in front of traffic rather than wait, and lost a box off back of truck, which then got run over. :) Luckily, it wasn't anything important.
Click to expand...

Even more lucky that you didn't kill someone maybe.... :car:
 
I have managed to get the shed cleaned out. I have stuff to go out in the 'large waste collection' that will be run soon by the city council. Took a bag of stuff to the Animal Shelter - had a look at the doggie's but didn't find anything I wanted. At least I am getting some stuff done, though.
 
Heh, nah ED, it was a small box of light items, and traffic was moving slowly. Nothing but stupidity on my part, no danger to anyone else.
 
Would love to go through the house and toss stuff. DH prevents me from doing so. I'd throw out waaaaaay too much. I consider it one of the benefits of moving, which we have no plans to do for several years. (When we do move, though, it's going to be painful.)

About the only thing I'll do at this time is go through our file box and get rid of the year of bills and whatnot, and properly file the stuff I'm going to keep. (I have to keep a lot more records for my job, and for a lot longer, than most people.)

I'll make a stab at the huge pile of house contract and loan/refinancing paperwork and see if I can get that organized. Not much luck any of the times I've tried, but maybe this time it will work.
 
My garbage bins are soooo full I can hardly move them. Can't clean out any more stuff until they are emptied. Thank goodness they go out tonight for the morning collection. Then I will have to decide which cupboard/wardrobe to attack next.
 
Sounds like you're really cooking through the cleaning, meow (hrmm, not best choice of words, probably). :) Way to stick with it.
 
Hi ETP. Yeah, but I have only done the shed and the linen cupboard. Can't do much else until the bins get emptied. And, honestly, I will have to get 'in the mood' again :rolleyes: for cleaning.
 
Heh, that's perfectly understandable. I would have found an excuse to stop long before bins were full though, that's what impressed me, you actually stuck with it until you had to stop. :)
 
Well, I am glad someone is impressed by me. At the moment, this cat is in the dog house - I can't seem to say or do anything right, according to the kittens.
 
Darn kids! Parents and I go through same thing, then cycles of being great. It'll blow over. Course, that doesn't help now, i know.
 
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