What? This site is telling us to get rid of important stuff!

[Deleted]

I mean, really! Important stuff. Like old meds, VHS tapes, worn out towels, packets of condiments from the drive-thru window. Geez. My motto, as shown below is "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." There might be another depression. I might run out of ketchup. All my forks might be dirty at the same time (and I'll need those plastic forks!).

Doncha hate when people who don't even know you tell you what to do? What you need and don't need? How to decorate your house? Which clothes not to wear anymore. I hope they all get warts and ugly toenail fungus. I am wondering, though, if I really need all three of those dictionaries...one from my college days, one from the Green Hornet's college days, and one that appeared out of nowhere some years ago.


link

[busymom]

How DARE they suggest I get rid of useful things.  I just bought some new hair ties, because the my older ones had stretched out.  

[wvugurl26]

I objected to several things on that list. I have a security clearance and have to list my travel so it's helpful to have the old planners to refer to pull those dates and details.

And the plastic silverware. We travel regularly and I keep some in the hotel bag that has snacks, napkins, paper plates, etc. It also gets used for tailgates because I'm not supplying a bunch of random people with bamboo cutlery. I also use plastic knifes to cut cakes in my sheet cake pans. They are metal. Plastic spatulas don't work so well and metal knives will damage the pan.

I think it's an issue of one size does not fit all and YMMV. I do currently have 2 donation piles going that should leave the house tomorrow.

[billisonboard]

From the link, "... consider this list ...".

[daisylu]

And everybody knows that as soon as you get rid of unmatched socks their matches will show up within a week. It is science.

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2021 10:55:11 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

From the link, "... consider this list ...".

Pffft. Consider, my eye!

busymom Don't throw out the stretched hair ties. They'll come in handy sooner or later!

And those CDs. Buttons. Former best sellers. Cardboard boxes. (I personally have a thing about cardboard boxes.)

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2021 10:56:53 GMT -5 daisylu said:

And everybody knows that as soon as you get rid of unmatched socks their matches will show up within a week. It is science.

Not to mention that teen/pre-teen girls prefer that their sox don't match. Or they used to prefer that they don't. Maybe that's last year?

[wvugurl26]

Christmas 2019 DH got all new socks. One brand of white ones, short and longer for boots and stuff and new dress socks. I used Kohl's cash for the dress socks and they are all different patterns. Not a dozen different shades/patterns of black and navy and you need a sunny day to match them up.

All the old ones went out and the new ones were folded Marie Kondo style. It is magic and the only drawer in the house folded like that.

I took great delight in throwing all the old ones out. They were not fit to donate. Life is too short to spend 30 minutes matching freaking socks.

Of course then the pandemic happened and the dress socks are rarely ever used.

[gambler]

Stretched out hair ties are perfect for holding rv as air filters in place

[Tennesseer]

Last fall I cleaned out four lower kitchen cabinets.  I ended up with seven trash bags full of useless stuff.

[Deleted]

Tennesseer You probably threw out perfectly good stuff.

I just saw another article...all about experts revealing how long it really takes paint to dry. I know we've all been waiting with bated breath for this info.

[busymom]

Oh, and we STILL buy CD's, because the t.v. listings these days are boring.  (No, we don't have cable now.)  I probably average only one or two t.v. shows that I actually look forward to watching.

[busymom]

Aug 17, 2021 11:42:16 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

Tennesseer You probably threw out perfectly good stuff.

I just saw another article...all about experts revealing how long it really takes paint to dry. I know we've all been waiting with bated breath for this info.

    Oooo,  oooo, I can answer the paint drying question, since I just painted DD's bedroom last week.  

[TheOtherMe]

Some of you know I hired an organizer to help me clear out two rooms that had so much stuff, I was overwhelmed.

So far, she has been here once and what left this house in 3 hours was astonishing to me.  Found a few things I had been looking for, but so much stuff is gone forever.

I've been on the getting rid of stuff journey too long so the main level of the house will be done by the end of the year.

I also buy CDs.  I usually buy digital too but I buy the CD because that is how artists make their living, especially in a time of not many live shows.  They make their living on the road but without that happening their income is in the physical product.  

[mollyanna58]

I agree with many of the items, but not DVDs, CDs, or even VHS tapes.  

I did find the entry on old magazines ironic:

We give you permission to save a couple of prime vintage copies; otherwise, recycle the entire stack. If your collection goes back to include issues from the early '00s and above, it might be worth putting issues up individually on eBay. Especially if you browse them for some hilariously outdated advice.

Like most of the "you should do this" articles on the internet will be in a few years.

[Deleted]

I haven't been to a garage sale in dog's years, but used to be that no garage sale was complete without a gazillion copies of National Geographic. Um. Thanks, but nope!

[Tiny]

I have to save boxes!   I have to rebuild/replace  the Cat's Box Fort and Box Castle every so often...  It's hard to do that if you don't have a ready supply of boxes.  

And I need all those plastic spoons I have - I use them to scoop out gushy cat food for the cats.  Plastic spoons are for cat food - metal spoons for people food. 

I totally get the decluttering thing... it's amazing how much "stuff" I have.  That was one nice thing about the Pandemic - I didn't add a large amount of new stuff to the "stuff" pile.  If anything I may have finally whittled away at it.   

I am always amazed at how emotionally draining it is to go thru old stuff and how quickly it becomes difficult to decide what to keep and what to get rid of (trash or donate or give away to a relative/friend).     

I blame our "consumer economy".   

[Tiny]

I don't recommend getting rid of DVDs -  Streaming services change their line up of offerings routinely.   Also, the streaming services "censor" shows and can and do modify shows/movies from their original to meet modern sensibilities.   I don't really mind this as the changes are very minor (changing the bad word a child sez in the show - so shit to shirt or something... which might change the "shock value" or "joke" of the scene)   but it still can be weird.  

Same with music CDs - if you like the music - don't assume it will still be stream-able in  10 years - especially if the music isn't top level pop music.   

[TheOtherMe]

Aug 17, 2021 15:33:29 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I am always amazed at how emotionally draining it is to go thru old stuff and how quickly it becomes difficult to decide what to keep and what to get rid of (trash or donate or give away to a relative/friend).     

  

The emotionally draining part is why I hired a professional organizer.  I'm paying for her time so I want to make quick decisions.  If I want to agonize over something, I put it aside and do that on my time.

When I tried getting rid of stuff, I could spend an entire day trying to figure out what to do with one item.  

The office, which we are doing on August 30, will be more difficult for me because that is where I put on all my mom and dad's stuff and that is the main reason I need an organizer.  

Then there is my sister who doesn't want to me to toss anything that belonged to mom and dad.  Well, I have already tossed some things out of that room.  Not everything, but things that meant nothing to me are already gone.

She is not getting mom's report cards and she doesn't know I have them.

[Tiny]

Would thinking I need to buy a sewing machine - so I can make something/get more use out of all the old sheets and towels and whatnot I've saved fall into this discussion?      

Cause adding more to the clutter to help use up the clutter is a good thing right?     

(if anyone has a recommendation for a new sewing machine I'd love to hear it!  I'm looking for a basic one - so I can do french seams on something like a bed sheet, or shorten/cuff pants or make some simple curtains and maybe if I'm feeling brave make a button hole.  I'm probably not going to be making clothes.   I don't need one that surge-es or is programmable and makes coffee and communicates with my phone.) 

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2021 17:21:28 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Would thinking I need to buy a sewing machine - so I can make something/get more use out of all the old sheets and towels and whatnot I've saved fall into this discussion?      

Cause adding more to the clutter to help use up the clutter is a good thing right?     

(if anyone has a recommendation for a new sewing machine I'd love to hear it!  I'm looking for a basic one - so I can do french seams on something like a bed sheet, or shorten/cuff pants or make some simple curtains and maybe if I'm feeling brave make a button hole.  I'm probably not going to be making clothes.   I don't need one that surge-es or is programmable and makes coffee and communicates with my phone.) 

You sure you don't want a serger or a programmable machine that will let the cats in and out? Maybe one that doubles as a security camera? Even if you don't get a machine, keep the old sheets and towels and unhemmed curtains and pants that want cuffs. While you're at it, maybe a quilting rack would be in order, even if you don't quilt. You never know when you might decide to take it up!

[Deleted]

I have a whole buncha CDs, and I'm not gonna part with them. DD can do that after I turn up my toes. She probably wouldn't get excited about a CD of Gregorian Chant, for instance.

It's the dictionaries that give me pause. What if the internet dies or freezes or something that makes it inaccessible and I need to know the etymology of some obscure word? Then what? Answer me that!

And what about that gold belt that I bought to accessorize a salmon-colored velour dress in 1972 after I lost the first 75 lbs? It's such nice belt and has traveled the world with me...Texas to California to Florida to Georgia to Germany and back again. So what if it can't make it around my waist?

[Deleted]

Aug 17, 2021 15:39:04 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I don't recommend getting rid of DVDs -  Streaming services change their line up of offerings routinely.   Also, the streaming services "censor" shows and can and do modify shows/movies from their original to meet modern sensibilities.   I don't really mind this as the changes are very minor (changing the bad word a child sez in the show - so shit to shirt or something... which might change the "shock value" or "joke" of the scene)   but it still can be weird.  

Same with music CDs - if you like the music - don't assume it will still be stream-able in  10 years - especially if the music isn't top level pop music.   

I have hundreds of CD’s. I have songs by popular artists that I can’t stream through Apple Music. I mention Apple Music because that’s what I use the most.

Speaking of which, from back in the days of I-Tunes (by Apple), I have songs that I “bought” through I-Tunes that I can no longer access through Apple. Fortunately for me, every so often, I made CD’s of music I’d purchased through I-Tunes, so it’s likely I have the songs on a CD somewhere if I really want to hear it. That is the big difference between physically owning music and I guess “virtually” owning it. Also, I copied all the music I’d loaded into I-Tunes via CD (my entire CD collection, except literally less than 10 CD’s, so several thousand songs) onto a hard drive and Mister helped me transfer all of it to my phone, so my phone is the only device I can use to listen to all my music on, since it’s stored on my phone vs in the “cloud”.  

All of that was my long winded way of agreeing with your last paragraph.

[Tiny]

Would that be Chanticleer doing the Gregorian Chant  by any chance?   My CDs by them live on a hard drive (and a back up drive) and my laptop.   

Not really chant but I do rather like the Anonymous Four  and the "modern" sound of Medieval Babes.  (Not to be confused with the Japanese girl kawaii heavy band BabyMetal which is also fun to listen to when in an angry "metal" kind of mood)   

I don't have my CDs anymore - but I do have that hard drive and the back up (and about 400 CDs I didn't copy to the hard drive).   

I never had many movies on VHS  - but I do have a handful on DVD.   

[Tiny]

Aug 17, 2021 17:57:24 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

It's the dictionaries that give me pause. What if the internet dies or freezes or something that makes it inaccessible and I need to know the etymology of some obscure word? Then what? Answer me that! 

I totally think you should keep all the dictionaries.   If you are reading something (a novel? a short story? a play?) from the same era as the dictionary - at least the dictionary will match up with the material you are reading.    They CHANGE the words in the dictionary!  They update the wording of the meanings in the dictionary!   And a  "today" dictionary - might not have all the "meanings" - and if you are reading something old and come across a word (or phrase) the "today" dictionary might not have the older meaning in it.   

I dream of having a physical copy of the OED.  You can use it online for free... but what if there's no power  and you are reading... and NEED to use it??   

I have about 10 beanie babies in a box in my closet.   I have no idea why I have beanie babies.  I thought they were kind of stupid.  OK, the Flamigo and turtle are cute.   and the lady bug, and the dragon.    Why should I get rid of them?  

I was cleaning out the garage rafters and found.... 2 metal enameled bed pans - in two different styles.   Those got to stay and got moved to the attic - as a curiosity for someone to find when I'm dead and gone.    

[alabamagal]

Aug 17, 2021 11:04:34 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Christmas 2019 DH got all new socks. One brand of white ones, short and longer for boots and stuff and new dress socks. I used Kohl's cash for the dress socks and they are all different patterns. Not a dozen different shades/patterns of black and navy and you need a sunny day to match them up.

All the old ones went out and the new ones were folded Marie Kondo style. It is magic and the only drawer in the house folded like that.

I took great delight in throwing all the old ones out. They were not fit to donate. Life is too short to spend 30 minutes matching freaking socks.

Of course then the pandemic happened and the dress socks are rarely ever used.

When my my kids were younger, best laundry hack ever was having a community sock pile. I have 3 kids close in age, and I would do all their laundry together. I would just buy a big package (or 2 or 3) every school year, and then you have a big pile and just pair them up in 2s, easy since they are all the same.

[TheOtherMe]

Aug 17, 2021 19:53:15 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Aug 17, 2021 17:57:24 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

 

I was cleaning out the garage rafters and found.... 2 metal enameled bed pans - in two different styles.   Those got to stay and got moved to the attic - as a curiosity for someone to find when I'm dead and gone.    

I would definitely keep the bed pans.

I was given my grandmother's metal shower chair.  I won't put it in my shower, but it's not going anywhere.  One of my sentimental items.

Most of the beanie babies are gone.  

[Artemis Windsong]

I did not waste my precious time on reading the link.

[happyhoix]

I had to help clean out my moms stuff when she passed (five chest of drawers of clothes, a large walk in closet of clothes, plus a storage rack of clothes in the garage- most decades old and several sizes too small) and then my older sisters house, which was a full on filthy horde with trash and multiple cats (had to clear out in the vet and respirators but the cats were ok and adopted out).

This has made me into a minimalist. Periodically I clean a spot with the goal of only keeping what I currently use. Waiting to to the big job - attic - when I retire, but I hope when I die my son won’t have such a big job to clear out the house.

[TheOtherMe]

Aug 18, 2021 14:45:02 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

This has made me into a minimalist. Periodically I clean a spot with the goal of only keeping what I currently use. Waiting to to the big job - attic - when I retire, but I hope when I die my son won’t have such a big job to clear out the house.

This is one of my goals, too.  It will be my niece and nephews most likely and I don't want them to have to deal with what they are going to have to deal with at their parents' house.

BIL couldn't get rid of any of his parents' stuff that no one else wanted.  Sister is the same with our parents' things.  We all figured out when the grandbaby from Toronto was here that she has all of the baby stuff for her kids.  It's a 4 bed, 3 bath house with a family room.  It's packed with Stuff as is the garage.  There is a mud room and it has the 2nd refrigerator (partly for farm medicine) and anything there isn't a place for somewhere else.  

I have heard 3 of the 4 kids say both of their parents are hoarders.  

So a lot of my Stuff is going.