BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Cleaning Cleaning by Donating

OK I just hauled 7 boxes of stuff out to the curb because the BigBrothers BigSisters are coming in a few hours. Somehow I always leave this to the very last minute. I went around the house and in EVERY room I swore to donate at least one item. I went through my old belts and other stuff like that - and a number of sweaters went. I am really whittling down my clothes but I'm sure I could do even better! How many t-shirts do I really need? I gather lots of little "junk" on trips and I'm making a concerted effort to send it all to a new home where it will be loved.

Do you guys have a BBBS in your area who will come to your house and take things away for you?

We have Salvation Army. And yeah--I recently did a home staging consult and pulled no less than 7 white turtlenecks out of this woman's overstuffed walk-in closet of JUST HER clothing (husband had his own overstuffed closet) and said "How many white turtlenecks DO you really need?". That family actually had a hoarding problem.

Last year I removed 13 contractor bags from the attic to the trash; plus filled a small room with donations and yard sale items.

Just last week I emptied 9 large Rubbermaid containers about 2'x3'x2'h of children's clothing and condensed them down to about 3 (we're foster parents or it would've been much less).

People have too much stuff. Have you seen this article? I think I should change the title--it's not true to the point of the whole thing, but it's a good one:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46832.asp

I just gave away a partial set of China that had not seen the light of day since 1986 (newspapers do not fib) and a box of towels. Last year I packed up a bag of turtlenecks and other items for Goodwill. For every foot I clear out, it seems I have something to put in its place. It is a never ending battle.

That is a great article Heather. It is so true that we all have far more stuff than we need. When you look at developing countries they have 8 people living in a 1-room house and they all fit. It's because they are not living surrounded by excess stuff. I'm not saying we need to have 8 people in a room - but we need to realize how luxurious our lives are compared with the rest of the world. Even the people here in "poverty" are kings and queens compared with most of the world.

Angie that is awesome about giving the china away. This is a hard one for me. We have some pieces from my boyfriend's mother that honestly we will *never* use. Irish china. But I hate to just give them away. They are special. But we'll never use them. Is it really honoring her memory to have them gather dust for say the next 40 years in a dark shelf? How could we better honor her memory?

I made a huge effort to give things away when we moved into our RV. We still have two storage sheds packed to the gills though - one in AZ, from years ago, and one in So Cal with our recent stuff.

Every time i go into the CA shed i leave with my pathfinder filled with things for goodwill (we were not sure what things would fit into the RV so kept a bunch of extra stuff). I want to really whittle that storage down - there are things we are going to give to Craigslist and try to sell at a pawnshop. There are books i need to read and then donate. I even have some old fish tank supplies that I 'd like to bulk sell on ebay at some point.

Whenever i get to AZ i need to get rid of all the stuff in there as well. Since I have been poor my whole adult life, it's really hard for me to let nice things just go. Even though it feels uplifting to actually do so.

we plan to consolidate the storage into one and keep weeding things down. There is no way in heck we need all that stuff...but in case we get a beach shack/off the grid cabin somewhere, i have some treasured antique furnishings for it. lol!

Lisa, you could honor her memory by setting a lovely table with the dishware, taking pictures of you having a nice dinner with them in their full glory, then packing them up and selling them to someone who would love them. Then you've got the photos to honor Bob's mother by. Go all out with them, get flowers in the same colors and invite special people over. Make a toast to her and the dishes. You'll get a nice memory from the event to boot.

Have you checked out freecycle.org in your area? It's awesome.

You list anything you want to give and people will contact you to pick up. Other people list what they want to give away and you can decide if it's something you want or need. And, you can list your "wants" and people will respond, too.

People have posted "wants" of all sorts of stuff from heaters or electronics. I try to give what I can. I gave a pretty nice room heater to someone who was cold. Also, some electronics, jewelry, etc. We give and take. It has to be free of cost.

www.freecycle.org

Sign up for your area. When I moved, I gave away tons of stuff. And I also received, too. Once, I asked if anyone had a mini-trampoline for exercise and someone gave me a nearly new one he didn't use! I give this one lady egg cartons and she gives me fresh eggs!

I love it. And it really helps me keep clutter down. I've given away practically anything I don't use now. It's recycling and reusing while reducing what we buy.

The Purple Heart Charities will come pick up your used clothing, household items, etc. Purple Heart

When my the engine block cracked on my son's car we donated it to the Children's Cancer Research Fund. It didn't matter that it didn't run. We didn't have to figure out how to junk the car. The auto auction company came and picked it up.

We used CraigsList - their free area - rather than FreeCycle. Same idea, different website. But in the end we find with the free sites that half the people don't show up when they say they will. They figure it's free so there's no rush, and we're stuck with tires on our lawn for weeks. With BigBrother BigSister they say they'll be there on Tuesday morning, they show up Tuesday morning, and it's done. So I love using them.

Jill - that is an AWESOME idea!! I will try to do that!

I was poor my WHOLE life and was primarily raised by my Depression-era grandmother. I completely understand not wanting to part with things "in case we ever need it and don't have the money for it". It's extremely difficult to get through that. Like you, it was life-lifting to clear so much out; but the agony in doing it was just... well, I think you understand, but not many do.

I'm big on Freecycle.

Lisa, I hope you do that indeed. It will be nicer than just feeling bad about keeping the dishes for no real reason and I bet would make Bob feel happy too.

I don't use freecycle myself, since I am all about craigslist. CL has both free and not free sections, and I use both.

Heather, that sounds even tougher than my situation. My parents do pretty well, so i feel kinda bad that I have let them down by not being a success in the financial arena...but those are *my* demons to contend with.

Yeah, it's super hard to let go of nice things. Esp when I worked so hard to find those things - at thrift shops, antique stores, garage sales, etc. Some things i found on the sides of curbs, some things are handmedowns from others that I have fixed up into treasures. So these things are special to me. They are my 'pirate's booty!'

Days we won't live in a motorhome the rest of our lives...but we might. I like this lifestyle. So I don't know what to do with my stored furnishings.

I have lovely framed artwork, gorgeous gilt antique mirrors, shabby chic chairs and desks/dressers...i only kept the things I love and donated the things I merely 'like', but it's still a whole heap of stuff.

I am thinking maybe I can weed things out a bit here and a bit there. Try to sell something from time to time. I paid for those things, and only a year ago for most of them...not ready to just give them away.

What do people think?