Help me donate stuff, please

[erosenst]

If you have Freecycle in your area, list some of it there. In addition to gaining space and organization, you *know* that the person who gets it wants it. The speed in which stuff is taken somehow makes me feel better about getting rid of it - my "no longer needed" and/or "junk" is giving someone else happiness.

I've been amazed at what people want for various reasons - a broken camera lens was in high demand because it contained a small motor that's hard to find. A box of miscellaneous wires and electrical stuff was used in a boy scout project. Sheets that didn't fit our new bed were perfect for someone who had splurged on a lower-end king, but then could only afford one set of sheets. And on and on and on. The other good thing about Freecyle is that you can list one thing at a time as you come upon something you no longer need - there are times it's easier to get rid of stuff that way, rather than making it an emotional 'big deal'. (And it's very common to just leave stuff for Freecycle on a porch, right behind the house, etc - so it's much less creepy/risky than Craigs List can be at times...)

I also make a point to donate to the local women's shelter, and to take DD with me when we go. There's almost always some of her stuff in there - and we take it "to the mom's and kids who aren't as fortunate as we are". I think it's a subtle, but good, lesson for her. As she's through with toys, etc they go into a specific place to be taken there.

Ok - I think I've talked myself into making another sweep here this weekend. Hope it's helped you too .

[Momof3Labs]

My goal is to have my entire house neat enough so that I can hire housecleaners again. I had them for a while, but hated having to clear stuff off of surfaces for them to clean.

This is so me!!! In fact, I'm taking next week off of work and DH and I are working through the house over 3 days, purging all the stuff that we really don't need any more. We are overrun with stuff.

[Puddy73]

Just go drop it off. Someone who lives near you will be shopping at the thrift shop b/c her DH lost his job and they need exactly what you're holding onto.

How's that?

This is what works for me! I finally donated our baby swing, toys and clothes. It was hard to let them go, but I hope that someone else will benefit from them.

[KrisM]

This is so me!!! In fact, I'm taking next week off of work and DH and I are working through the house over 3 days, purging all the stuff that we really don't need any more. We are overrun with stuff.

Good luck, Lori. Any chance someone else is watching your kids while you do it? I can't get DH on board much with this. I plan to pile all his stuff in a very inconvenient place, like his music studio .

[Momof3Labs]

Good luck, Lori. Any chance someone else is watching your kids while you do it? I can't get DH on board much with this. I plan to pile all his stuff in a very inconvenient place, like his music studio .

Yep, our nanny will have the kids. I'd normally be working when we're doing this, so I'll have her still come. No way could I get it done otherwise! DH is fast to throw things out (almost too fast, IMO), so I'll probably get rid of more if he's doing this alongside me. I think...

A weekend in the house alone would be even better, but there's no way that's happening, so this is going to have to work for us!

[niccig]

Kris,
Just get rid of the stuff. It's just stuff, you don't need it, and someone else will use it either at thrift store or freecycle.

I just made a run to Goodwill today and FINALLY I can see the floor of our garage. DH came home and found DS and I dancing a jig in the garage. Why? Because there was space to move around. I still have 5 boxes of my stuff to sort through, but those are up on shelves, so I can't quite cross the garage off my list. But it looks so pretty in there with everything in boxes and stacked on shelves or in cabinets rather than spilling out all over the floor...

Motivated me enough that I just went through some hot spots in my house and cleared out the clutter - I have another box of things for Goodwill tomorrow.

I've still got a long way to go though - MIL is coming in 2 weeks and I'm going to try and get a lot of the closets done - not because she'll complain, but she shouldn't be hit on the head when she opens DS's closet to get to his clothes.

I'm going to go stand in my clean garage and just soak in all the room we now have to do projects in there...

[KrisM]

Yep, our nanny will have the kids. I'd normally be working when we're doing this, so I'll have her still come. No way could I get it done otherwise! DH is fast to throw things out (almost too fast, IMO), so I'll probably get rid of more if he's doing this alongside me. I think...

A weekend in the house alone would be even better, but there's no way that's happening, so this is going to have to work for us!

Great! My DH is awful. He doesn't get rid of anything. I'm going to work around his stuff and then make him go through it when he gets back.

I think in a whole week, you'll get so much done. I feel like the weekend won't be enough time and I'll be working like crazy the entire time they're gone.

[kransden]

What helps me is to put it in a box - then straight into the car. I hate a cluttered car. I donate my stuff to a refugee organization. I know they use everything.

[KrisM]

Nicci,

You probably remember that I've been working on this for a year and a half now. The closets are all pretty good, although mine could use a going through on the clothes and I'll do the kids in the fall when the weather changes. And, things like the kitchen cabinets are really organized and have stayed that way. Our garage is nearly always clean and we park 2 cars in there, unless we're doing a big project.

I've become addicted to the Org Junkie website and have gotten pretty good at putting this where they go immediately, but clutter still builds up. But, now it only takes me a morning to get most of the house looking pretty decent.

And then there is the basement and the master bedroom. Ugh! Huge mess. huge. Everything that came out of the other places for whatever reason is in 1 of those spots.

DS2's room used to be our office and my craft space. Now the office is in our kitchen, and that's working well. The craft stuff is in our bedroom and never quite got reorganized, so it's just stacked. And, it gives me a huge desk surface that I've covered with all sorts of other stuff. Not good.

I also have about 6 bins of fall/winter clothes that I'll sell at the mom2mom sale and they're in our bedroom. If the rest of the room was nice, it would be fine to have them stacked in the corner, but I think it lets me end up stacking more and more, since there is a stack started. So, I need to find another place to put the next seasons stuff each year. I like keeping them to sell, because I make a few hundred $$ each season and I like having a day to myself to sell it .

If I'm brave I'll take before and after pictures later this week.

[niccig]

Kris,
Your house sounds better than mine. If you open the closets, kitchen cabinets or pantry things will fall on your head. I let things go the last couple of years and when I needed to do a quick pick up, I threw things into a closet

Well the garage is cleaned up as we're having DS friends over to work on a project today. It is sooooo nice to walk in there and find something - we don't have a basement or an attic, so our garage is our main storage place. It has lots of cabinets, which helps out. We don't have a big house, and not a tonne of storage room, so if something isn't needed, it needs to go.

I need to walk into the garage, soak in the feeling of uncluttered mess and use this as motivation to get the closets and kitchen/bathroom cabinets done before MIL arrives.

Good luck....