Anyone else give away 90% of your worldly goods? Anyone WANT to?
And need help? Ideas? Want a breakdown, room by room?
We really simplified, and gave away most of our things and it still feels great to have done it.
If you are thinking of it or need advice or info, post here and I'd love to chat with other mamas who have pared down to the extreme. It's very liberating!
PS our families had collective spazzes when they saw what we were left with and now we are noticing they have done their own purges and speak with envy when they mention how nomadic we have become-and it was a real kick in the pants for the materialistic members of our extendeds~
You better make a formal post. I am interested too. I have five boxes (actually I think that number is higher as of last night) of toys in the garage, that I just cannot get myself to go through. When I do, I always want to keep the toys. 'This is a great learning toy, I should keep it.' <sigh>
__________________ ~Sheri~ mama to
Kyle 8/97
Gillian 3/99
Lots of interest! Terrific! What I will do is a group of posts, one for each room/area of the house and then you can ask questions or add yours and we can brainstorm if you need extra help.
First things first: keep an open mind-rome wasn't built in a day, and you can't be too attached to 'stuff'! We sold and gave away so much, and our goodwill is very active-everyone shops there so nothing was destroyed.
Nothing usable to someone went in the trash.
#1 THE STORAGE ROOM/GARAGE/ATTIC
Ours was full of old junky furniture, plant pots, a washer & Dryer the ILS had given us that needed repair that we were going to fix and 3 boxes of bedding from when DH was a teen and briefly shared a house with some other friends-nothing in this room had been touched for 12 years so we called the local junk collector and paid $120 for them to take the contents away.
Last edited by Surfer Girl : 07-18-2003 at 04:18 PM.
This was fun. We had a couch, chair and matching loveseat that we hated (a handmedown-nice but not our taste). I called the local furniture bank and they sent three guys and a truck and took the items away, plus I threw in 2 bookshelves while they were here.
The books we took to the used bookstore up the road after calling around to see who would buy the lot. We sold 600 paperbacks for $300! We did each keep 4 paperbacks we LOVE and read over and over and we kept our reference books, cookbooks and hardcover collection (20 books or so)
Records went to the record shop (we don't have a record player) for 15 Albums we got $120. Tapes we gave to friends, as we have most of them in CD. CDs we went through and picked out maybe 20 that we loved and gave away the rest.
We drank all the wine, and hard liquors that we had been collecting, over a 2 month period. Burned all the candles I was 'saving'. Weeded out artwork we loved and pictures that needed to be displayed vs. ones that could go in albums.
Picture albums-burned all pics onto CDs-one in safe deposit box, one at home to enjoy-one big box full of prints-it held 9 albums worth of pics!
Knick knacks: Honestly I'm not a KK kind of person, but if you have a collection, put it up and display it!
#3 KTICHEN/DINING ROOM
I have a china cabinet that was full of mismatched collector teacups and beer steins. I gave them all to goodwill. I gave my mom all our tableclothes and placemats, and I only kept 2 sets of cloth napkins so we can rotate.
We kept our favcrite handmade stoneware and enamel dishes as follows:
6 dinner plates
6 dessert plates
6 salad plates
6 soup bowls
2 serving platters
Utensils:
6 knives, 6 forks, 6 spoons
2 large cooking spoons
1 spatula
1 whisk
1 funnel
1 rolling pin
Glass measuring cup
measuring spoons
corkscrew/can opener/veggie peeler
knives and knife block
Other items:
2 cast iron frying pans
2 saucepans
4 glass casserole dishes with lids
4 asst. rubbermaid storage containers for leftovers
All mismatched and extra items went to DH's bachelor friends or goodwill
Pantry: do a monthly pantry challenge-use up everything. Go through on the same date each month and check expiry dates. Rotate old stock to the front each time you shop so you don't have those cans/jars/boxes always left over. If you don't bake, give away your baking supplies to a neighbor. If you had canned kidney beans and spam, do up a bag for the food bank.
Last edited by Surfer Girl : 07-18-2003 at 04:25 PM.
We have 6 small bathtowels (not bathsheets, those took up too much room in the washer), 3 handtowels, and about 12 facecloths.
That's under the sink, with a 16 pack of toilet paper
In two 10x10" rubbermaid storage totes I put all our toiletries-up on a shelf. Throw out all expired meds, old lotions and 1/4 left bottles of shampoo, and organize everything so that you know what you have.
We weeded out all the bath toys, save for a plastic mug for rinsing and some vintage Fisher Price scuba people.
We threw out the bathmats and matching rugs, toilet seat cover etc. too hard to keep clean.
#5 Cleaning/linen closet.
I have my floor bucket with 2 sponges and a toilet brush in it up high on a shelf. Beside it is vinegar/water for glass, Mr. Clean, and comet, and SHout carpet cleaner.
We have 1 set of sheets for each bed. Plus 2 spare blankets and a throw for the couch. I think I may get another set of sheets just in case. I buy all flat sheets and all queen sized so I don't have to root for which sheets fit which bed.
Also in here is an iron for ironing emergencies (haven't used it in recent memory-no ironing board-I can iron on a towel on the diningroom table)
Camping gear: Our tent, and our backpacks hold the actual 'gear' so they work as storage.
I weeded out all the clothes that were worn, totally embarassing or too small-those went to goodwill. Then went through again until the kids each had 10 complete outfits for each season (since kids can get messier faster and we travel)
Same with shoes and outerwear. They each have a raincoat, and a winter coat, and 2 prs. of shoes, one pr. of sandals and one pr. of winter boots left.
Toys that were NEVER played with, too age inappropriate (ie. baby rattles) went, as did the 50 diaper bags I never used, receiving blankets, and big ticket things we didn't use (high chair, bouncy seat, boppy pillow.
Books that were shredded were recycled.
Diapers that no longer fit or worked for us were sold on auction.
Last edited by Surfer Girl : 07-18-2003 at 04:23 PM.
I kept 5 outfits for me per season and 5 for DH. I kept one 'good' dress for special occasions/funerals, and I have my birk sandals, jogging shoes, and black chinese flats for dressup. All other shoes/clothes/prom dresses/clothes that don't fit went to goodwill
DH-same-he kept one suit, since he wears casual shirts and jeans to work. He has 2 pair of casual shoes.
I sent all my bras, all but my favorite lingerie, and all my makeup to goodwill. All my hair accessories I gave to my mom or sister, and we kept 2 wooden hairbrushes and 3 combs. ALso to goodwill went the hair dryer, curling iron, hot rollers, 4 purses and 5 wallets I don't use, all the belts I don't wear, all my nightclothes (don't wear any anymore LOL).
We have a cedar chest that I cleaned out and threw out broken or really tacky chistmas decoractions-I kept only the treetop and the actual ball decorations and our stockings-all beads/tinsel went in the trash.
We did keep our high school and Jr. high yearbooks-they are in the chest with the Xmas decorations.
We gave our bedframe to a friend, as well as the nighttables.
Jewellery: All costume jewelry went in a bag for DD's dressup trunk. Anything good but broken was fixed if I loved it and if I didn't love it I donated it to my goldsmith for $$ off my bill
Movies and DVDs we gave away, keeping 2 kids ones and 4 family ones.
Last edited by Surfer Girl : 07-18-2003 at 04:17 PM.
I went through all bills and papers and condensed needed items -paid bills, taxes, warrantees, recepits, etc. into a very small accordian folder.
DH went through and sold most of the computer games he was done with and got $40 from a reseller shop. We also went through his computer parts and condensed it down to a shoebox. A computer refurbisher bought the big box of goods we gave him for $330.
I used up all my art supplies and sent my sewing machine to the scrap metal dealer for $30. It would have cost more to repair than to purchase new and was a huge source of frustration. I used up my fabric stash handsewing dolls and clothes for the kids.
That's about 21 boxes and a lot of big furniture gone. What am I forgetting?
You may have other resources besides goodwill for your items-we didn't as we moved from a small town in a small province. You may also think "that's not simplifying" but for us it was-your list of what you keep and what you purge might be vastly different. We do keep a few extras in towels and bedding only because we have compnay that comes to stay every few months and since the kids are a little young yet you never know who is going to hide a spoon or pee on a towel
We did keep enough to be comfortable but materially that isn't much. After moving here with only a TV and a rocking chair to furnish our living room with we did buy a futon which doubles as a bed for company and we added some floor pillows and baskets for extra seating and storage.
Our bed is on the floor because we like it low and we have a lot of space to move around in.
When we moved here, all our goods fit into a quarter of a big moving truck.
All of it now fits comfortably in our new 500 sq. ft apartment but I still go through every other week and gather enough for another bag and take it to the salvation army here. Just to keep us on our toes.
Last edited by Surfer Girl : 07-18-2003 at 04:47 PM.
Anyone who is cleaning out items etc...I just wanted to add...We have a wild animal rescue in our area who LOVES to recieve your old towels, wash cloths, sheets etc. They are also always looking for old play pens to keep the baby birds in (orphaned ducklings etc). So if you have a wild life rescue in your area, you might want to call and see if you have anything they need I have also been told it is tax deductible, but we don't itemize.
Just wanted to add
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