Destash 2017 The Year to Clear

comicguy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Since no one started a new thread for this year, I have gone ahead and done so.

Let's see how much we can clear this year

I have started today:

Donated:
2 hats
4 pair of sneakers (as I have to change them out every 6 weeks or so, bad feet)

Sold:
1 Team Banner
1 set of X-Mas lights

8 Items today 8 Items for the year

I am going to try and get rid of 2017 items this year
 
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We were doing great until we had our new baby and Christmas. I also have taken to upgrading a lot of our kitchen stuff which was the very very very basic things.

I have a load of stuff for my husband to take to the thrift shop and some stuff to sell. Has anyone had any luck with eBay?
 
I did the 2016 decluttering challenge from Nourishing Minimalism. I met my goal yesterday--with just hours to spare, but I did get rid of 2016 items from my home last year. :cheer2:
Trying to decide if I want to do 2017 items this year. I did get rid of a large dresser today. We gave away enough clothing that my husband and I now share a dresser for first time in over 20 years. Our bedroom looks so big now!
 


We've already made 2 trips to the Goodwill since Christmas. One full van load of toys but it's still not enough to make room for what my kids received. I love our generous family but a few went overboard this year. They even acknowledged that it's just too much fun to shop. We have the only little ones on both sides so I understand the excitement but the toy tornado that hit every room of our house is a bit much! My parents and sister did a 'regifting' holiday and it was perfect. We got 2 awesome toys my parents had saved from when my sister and I were kids (and of course my 4 and 1 year old are none the wiser). My parents also gave us a check for their college funds. Win-win!
 
We were doing great until we had our new baby and Christmas. I also have taken to upgrading a lot of our kitchen stuff which was the very very very basic things.

I have a load of stuff for my husband to take to the thrift shop and some stuff to sell. Has anyone had any luck with eBay?

My daughter is a December baby and between gifts and baby stuff I had over 50 deliveries that month. haha. Babies and Christmas do not mix well for someone trying to declutter!

As far as ebay, we sort of made the decision to just get it out of our house. eBay is great and we've sold things in the past, but none of the items so far have been worth the 'hourly wage' it would take to list it, pack it and ship it. I felt so much better with it being gone than the $7 I would have gotten for the random candle holders we donated. I reserve the right to change my mind as we continue going through things!
 
I really need this in my life right now.

We are going to try and sell our house in the spring and it IS going to take me months to go through our house and clean out, clear our, clutter out. I can't stand clutter and it's like it multiplies behind my back. I try so hard to keep it under control, but more and more it just feels like we're hiding it vs. actually addressing it.

We are a family of 5 and we live in our house. We don't have any of those empty pretty rooms that are for just because. It's going to be an uphill battle, but I really just need to make a list and start with one thing at a time instead of getting overwhelmed by the whole entire complete job.

DH & I are already at odds on how to dive in. He wants to get a storage unit and just take everything there, and go through it months later as we move into our new house. I don't agree with that method. I think we should clean the house out as we go, and only store what we need to get the house ready for market and not pay to store a bunch of clutter that we're just going to end up getting tired of "sorting" and will most likely either, stay in the boxes stored in the new garage, or just end up chucking the whole box without looking through it.

The good news is that DH did spend about 3 hours taking down Xmas decorations and putting things away and cleaned up the garage. An entire load of cardboard boxes went to recycling center and he found 3 trash bags full of boys clothes that went to clothing donation.
 


I really need this in my life right now.

We are going to try and sell our house in the spring and it IS going to take me months to go through our house and clean out, clear our, clutter out. I can't stand clutter and it's like it multiplies behind my back. I try so hard to keep it under control, but more and more it just feels like we're hiding it vs. actually addressing it.

We are a family of 5 and we live in our house. We don't have any of those empty pretty rooms that are for just because. It's going to be an uphill battle, but I really just need to make a list and start with one thing at a time instead of getting overwhelmed by the whole entire complete job.

DH & I are already at odds on how to dive in. He wants to get a storage unit and just take everything there, and go through it months later as we move into our new house. I don't agree with that method. I think we should clean the house out as we go, and only store what we need to get the house ready for market and not pay to store a bunch of clutter that we're just going to end up getting tired of "sorting" and will most likely either, stay in the boxes stored in the new garage, or just end up chucking the whole box without looking through it.

The good news is that DH did spend about 3 hours taking down Xmas decorations and putting things away and cleaned up the garage. An entire load of cardboard boxes went to recycling center and he found 3 trash bags full of boys clothes that went to clothing donation.


As an Army wife with 4 moves under my belt and friends who move a lot too, let me tell you that the storage unit is a horrible idea. I would bet dollars to donuts that you will regret it when you are on the back end of your move. I've seen people do it and they end up cussing themselves when they have to unpack stuff they don't even want.

I definitely think you should start now and go room by room. Even if you don't get EVERYTHING on this end of the move, I bet you will save yourself around 4 or 5 boxes if you do a whole house sweep.
 
I did the 2016 decluttering challenge from Nourishing Minimalism. I met my goal yesterday--with just hours to spare, but I did get rid of 2016 items from my home last year. :cheer2:
Trying to decide if I want to do 2017 items this year. I did get rid of a large dresser today. We gave away enough clothing that my husband and I now share a dresser for first time in over 20 years. Our bedroom looks so big now!

I've never heard of this before, but I just signed up to get the free 2017 chart sent to me. What a cool idea!

DH & I are already at odds on how to dive in. He wants to get a storage unit and just take everything there, and go through it months later as we move into our new house. I don't agree with that method. I think we should clean the house out as we go, and only store what we need to get the house ready for market and not pay to store a bunch of clutter that we're just going to end up getting tired of "sorting" and will most likely either, stay in the boxes stored in the new garage, or just end up chucking the whole box without looking through it.

I also think the storage unit is a really bad idea. We used to move a lot and there were some boxes that just followed us around with every move but never got opened. I finally unpacked them and almost all of it went in the garbage. I'd hate to think of about how much extra was spent on fuel for the moving truck just to cart around stuff that should've gone in the trash to begin with. Maybe find out how much that storage unit would cost and use that to convince your DH that it's too expensive?
 
2016 was a bust year for us. For the last few months I was working about 65 hours a week, Since this is a slower time of year I hope to get a lot done
 
I'm in. Not sure about counting but I have four toddler beds and 4 cribs plus walkers, high chairs and other baby stuff on the list. Ready to make a little money and get some bunk beds bought or made. With 9 kids keeps things minimal or organized is priority to me this year.
 
Got some nice new interlocking and stack-able/rolling tool boxes as an early anniversary present from my wife.

I have been busy organizing my tools this morning into the new tool boxes. It is amazing how many duplicates you can have when things are not where they belong!!

Anyway I will be donating the following:

Donated:
1 small craftsman metal tool box
1 Plastic tool box
1 Craftsman tool caddy

1 wire brush
32 drill bits (got a nice new set for X-Mas) (will count this as 1 item!!)
12 assorted wrenches
1 pair of wire strippers
1 small hammer
1 small garbage can

additional items:
3 more hats (fishing, cowboy, and conductors) donated to local children's museum for their dress up area
1 Craftsman tool bag

23 Items today, 31 Items total so far of the 2017
 
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DH & I are already at odds on how to dive in. He wants to get a storage unit and just take everything there, and go through it months later as we move into our new house. I don't agree with that method. I think we should clean the house out as we go, and only store what we need to get the house ready for market and not pay to store a bunch of clutter that we're just going to end up getting tired of "sorting" and will most likely either, stay in the boxes stored in the new garage, or just end up chucking the whole box without looking through it.

Don't do the storage unit, it just delays the inevitable. Sort as you go. Start now.
 
Don't do the storage unit, it just delays the inevitable. Sort as you go. Start now.


I have to agree try hard not to do the storage unit for "stuff" Okay for the purpose of staging your home but just work on getting rid of stuff first!!
 
Instead of ebay you may look into facebook sell groups. There's a couple for the area I live in. Majority of the people choose a well lit, traffic area to make their exchanges (I typically use the CVS down the road from me for example). I already have a list of a few baby items that I know I should be able to make a little bit off of.
 
I'm joining in this year. We got married in February so while we got rid of a lot of old houseware items we also brought a lot in as wedding gifts (glad to be upgrading to better though). This year I want to focus on getting rid of things like spare chords and batteries that we are realistically NEVER going to use. I also want better storage for things like books and movies which clutter up fast! Finally, I need to get rid of some things in storage because we plan to move in may!
 
Looking for advise from those who have already done a lot of this. I am not drowning in clutter-but we do have a small "junk" room. We don't have attics and basements here in S FL so we use the garage and in our case this small room. I just feel we have too much stuff.

Where did you start? Was there an area you found to be the easiest / hardest? Tips for dealing with selling /donating items? How did you decide what to keep beyond the "need" category. I know a few lager items will go on craigslist-the light up keyboard,bmx bike...Ebay probably for a few colectable items. We donate a ton to a local charity in clothes, books, household, electronics... Has anyone used "letgo"? Trying to decide on best place for some books, disney memorabilia, alienware laptop, ...

It is me , DH, 2 DS(18,20) at home. We even have a second detached 2 car garage, that is where all the tools, golf cart, lawn mower, yard tools...all go. I also have the larger decorations, fishing gear , and a bunch of my sister's stuff in boxes there for about 5 more months. This is actually well used, pretty organized.

We are the home for all holiday and family activities so there is a ton of extra tables, chairs, dishes, serving pieces, ...they almost all get used several times a year. So again, How do you decide what goes?

We have ping pong table, free weights, bow flex, hockey gear, bikes, telescopes, guns(pellet, bb's are in Fla room-real ones in safe), bows, fireworks, blurays, cd's, lp's, lego sets(many still built on shelves), video games , xboxes, camera gear, ...Most of these things get used currently. The clothing and papers are the only easy stuff for me. Do you wait until the kids leave the house then toss/sell/send with them?

The junk room is a fair amount of books, a lot of scrapbook and craft supplies on the shelves, 1000's of family photos given to me when grandma passed and parents moved. They are boxed and organized by year. There are a couple of shoe boxes with discs from when things starting going digital-I have my mom's backups and she has mine. There are boxes of silver serving pieces, china, ceramic dishes, all have some value but I cannot seeing myself get rid of any of them while our mom's are still living. A lot of sentimental items in here. This is tough. I don't know how to let these items go.

I am going through the Christmas decs as I am putting them away. We have just 2 much there as well. That is not hard just time consuming.

Any area that made the biggest impact? Or helped to motivate you forward? I am definitely not going to be a minimalist ever, but I feel like I want my life a bit more simplified and not have to spend so much time caring for our possessions.
 
I am joining in for 2017. DH and I donated about 150 items on December 31 so that we could use the write off on our taxes, but my goals are much bigger. I want to declutter the entire house. There are many parts of our house that are in good shape, but target areas will be our study, my sewing room, kitchen, all closets, basement and garage. I really want to par down, eliminate duplicates, eliminate obsolete technology and get things organized. Hoping for a baby in 2017, so want to work now knowing we will have an influx of new things to deal with later.
 
I am joining in for 2017. DH and I donated about 150 items on December 31 so that we could use the write off on our taxes, but my goals are much bigger. I want to declutter the entire house. There are many parts of our house that are in good shape, but target areas will be our study, my sewing room, kitchen, all closets, basement and garage. I really want to par down, eliminate duplicates, eliminate obsolete technology and get things organized. Hoping for a baby in 2017, so want to work now knowing we will have an influx of new things to deal with later.

good luck in your quest for a baby. This is a great time to reduce clutter
 

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