Throwing Stuff Away

[GotSmart]

YES!!!

I am down to about 1,000 lbs, and hope to sell at least 1/2 the rest soon.  Anyone need a almost complete set of household plumbing tools?  Then I can get busy cleaning out my wrenches and drills, automotive, construction~~~

 

[Lj Unlimited]

Cheli when you are finished getting rid of all your stuff and have it down pat on selling, donating, etc., come over to Kentucky and get rid of all mine too [emoji3]

I will be passing thru Kentucky on the 26th on my way to GA, and will gladly bring you more stuff for Cheli to sell     Not having much luck with C-List  :dodgy:

 

[Cammalu]

Lj Unlimited - Did you try your local Facebook sale groups? I've sold a couple of things that way.

 

[Lj Unlimited]

No, I haven't even got on Facebook in almost a year, and not sure if these is a garage sale site for my area. Might have a population of 2000 within a 5 mile radius of me. Most of what I am having trouble selling are household items and small appliances. Being 1/4 Dutch I want to get a few bucks for everything  . But I have a lot of time into photographing and posting these 30+ items and have had zero legit replies. Not sure it would be worth my time to post it all again. And I really need it out of the garage by the 26th. Round two of my household purge starts Jan 3rd when I get back.

 

[Lj Unlimited]

Too many tools?  Can there be such a thing?

Yes! I still have a flex shaft tool to adjust pre '74 dristributor ignition points. I probably have not used it since the mid 1980's.

 

[WildTrappist]

Man! (or WOMAN!) I sure do understand attachment!! Let me say this:

The dis~burdening of oneself from one's items is a fantastic Freedom. Period.

We return from THAT journey of dis~burdening with a lighter, more lithe, catlike step. We are Bold. We are un-hinged and Ready. We are (super) humanbeings!

It is important to note that, in this important process, we stopped playing at human doing.

 

[Patrick46]

 

[KristinaKarina]

List of de-stashing ideas and resources:
I too am in the process of de-stashing my trash, and using that as a source of income to get me on to the road, and hopefully sustain me on the road.
Here is a blog and some videos by some people who have played with this idea:
Wendy & Mikey at
http://www.thegoodlifelab.com/

"Printing shipping labels on the road" - how to's, and battery/recharging ideas-


now granted, they did their thing on a p/t basis during the summer, but the blog and videos give interesting ideas;
they did their trip in a Honda element for 6 months with a dog. I heard Wendy say in an interview that she was convinced that she could find anything her heart desired from the US "trashstream" - stuff people are getting rid of, throwing away, or re-selling cheap.

Also some others, Jay & Ryanne at Scavenger Life, whom I have been following while trying to get my eBay shop up and running:
http://www.scavengerlife.com/p/about.html

Here is a podcast that I want to listen to about deciding to "List it or donate it"-

Her store is "Ryanne's Vintage" on eBay, and they have been experimenting with another storefront, and talk about the numbers on their podcast.
Now, the ones at Scavenger life dont RV, but they do travel abroad and they say their store makes them money while they are gone.
I realize this post is outside link dense ( highlight> right click to go to), but I find them helpful!

 

[SoulRaven]

I'm in the middle of another push to declutter and minimalize my life. It's hard, and rewarding, and frustrating and addicting and worthwhile!

I feel like it's similar to being overweight, in that a person typically doesn't notice the pounds creeping on or how their lifestyle is creating it until suddenly they aren't happy and want to lose it all--and begin the arduously slow process of unpacking it one pound at a time. I feel like that's where I'm at. And the more "pounds" come off, the more certain I am this is the right path for me, to further simplify my life. But the process sucks sometimes.

My latest philosophy: "Does it make me happy?" If it's not absolutely essential to my setup (e.g. the really old fridge that becomes so noisy you can't hear normal speaking voice conversation over it) and it does not make me happy, then I get rid of it.

I notice that there are a lot of things that used to make me happy that now just make me sigh internally when I see them because they represent some intended use that I never got around to, and are currently just in the way and reminding me of how many mini-projects are still waiting for me to follow through on. And how much I suck at doing that. With the focus on decreasing STUFF, sometimes this means completing the projects and other times it means throwing it out appropriately.

The majority of the time, asking myself the question, "Does it make me happy?" is an awesome tie-breaker. Say the item is a perfectly functional tool that I may well need sometime in the future, but not with my current setup. Does looking at it right now make me happy? If my gut response is "no", then it goes in the thrift store bag. If I need it someday I will buy one then, and likely one that suits my hands and muscle strength more appropriately.

I still permit myself to hang onto sentimental or "this could be useful someday" items, but only if they inspire the gut reaction of pleasure and joy when I see them. I feel this is a good way to make my life happier in general.

I was raised to be extremely frugal and hang onto anything and everything that could possibly be useful "just in case", so to get rid of perfectly good stuff is very much against my conditioning. But it honestly comes down to the fact that STUFF has an impact on mood, whether positive or negative, and often it's subconscious. If you encounter an item that makes you cringe a bit every time you see it 3 times a day every day, then in the long run that adds up to a fair bit of unhappiness in your life that in our current times of plenty is often completely unnecessary.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I was raised to be extremely frugal and hang onto anything and everything that could possibly be useful "just in case", so to get rid of perfectly good stuff is very much against my conditioning.

My parents were like that, as were all my aunts and uncles.

But they all lived through the Great Depression.  If you got rid of something that still worked, and later discovered that you needed it, there usually wasn't any money to buy a replacement.

The times we live in do indeed shape us.

Regards
John

 

[SaltySeaWitch]

I was raised to be extremely frugal and hang onto anything and everything that could possibly be useful "just in case", so to get rid of perfectly good stuff is very much against my conditioning. But it honestly comes down to the fact that STUFF has an impact on mood, whether positive or negative, and often it's subconscious. If you encounter an item that makes you cringe a bit every time you see it 3 times a day every day, then in the long run that adds up to a fair bit of unhappiness in your life that in our current times of plenty is often completely unnecessary.

I was raised the same way Bitty and find it very hard to get rid of things knowing I may need them. I gave all of my stuff to my youngest son who just moved out on his own and so that helped. I haven't even bought my van/bus yet but I have started preparing by getting rid of pretty much everything I can't take with me. Giving things to someone in need is much easier than tossing it out or selling it imo. I felt good knowing my son who is a single dad would have things my grand son needed and that were familiar from Nana.

 

[SoulRaven]

That's awesome. I also try to find ways to give to those in need whenever possible, it definitely feels better. This feels a bit stupid to admit but after several months of backing out on getting rid of the last two teddy bears, which were in perfect condition and both had sentimental value to me, I actually paid postage to send them to the Teddy Bear Brigade where they'll be given to comfort children in crisis. I could have just donated them to the thrifts store along with a bunch of other stuff, but they were special to me and I finally realized that for all the stress it was causing me it was worth it to have the option to gift them someplace they'll likely do good and be appreciated.

 

[mayble]

When I have those moments of doubt about whether to keep something "just in case" or donate to Goodwill, I remind myself that I can probably find one at Goodwill if/when I actually need it
After all, I'm not the only one out there getting rid of stuff.

 

[gcal]

5The campground we were at in Tucson last year had monthly Flea Market Saturdays. Our neighbors bought back the same cast iron frying pan they had sold 2 months earlier. They had originally bought it at the flea market the year before. That frying pan gets around.

Our current campground has a box for household goods. I got rid of 2 pricey foam pillows and some crossword puzzles last week. I also got rid of a travel iron that I had bought for the trip and dragged around for 2 years without using, as well as an electric frying pan I had for 10 years that faithfully burned everything I ever put in it. Maybe I thought a miracle would occur and heal its temperature control mechanism if I took it on a pilgrimage around the country.

 

[gcal]

Leaving Florida, thank the gods. We should not stay so long in one place anymore. We collect way too much junk. The storage areas are packed, even after we spent the last 2 rainy, hot and humid days purging. Dropped the orchids off with a neighbor.  They would not survive the western deserts, anyway. Still too much crap. I don't feel like a migrating monarch buttrtfly, anymore. I feel like a lumbering elephant.

 

[billybob200138]

Three times during the 17 years I lived in my last house, I rented a dumpster and threw stuff out. When I put the house on the market I threw out more stuff. After the house sold, I donated all my furniture, appliances, dishes, pots and pans to charity. I donated all my books to the library. I sold all my artwork and my two motorcycles. And I threw out the last of my stuff. I drove away with my van half full of things I thought I would need and spent two months at a friend's place fixing up the van. I left behind about a quarter of the stuff I was sure I would need. After six months on the road, I got rid of more stuff. After a year I got rid of more stuff. After 18 months I got rid of more stuff. After two years I got rid of more stuff. Less each time, but I was still simplifying, minimizing. I have a bin of stuff I could probably toss, because I couldn't name everything that's in it. That's probably a sign I don't need them. I have more clothes than I really need. I have some things "just in case." I haven't used them, so does that mean I never will or only that I just haven't needed the YET? I've tossed some things with sentimental value, but I just imagine they're in one of my bins instead of gone forever. Because the joy of unburdening myself beats the pleasure of some bauble.

Hi, Would like to subs to your blog but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to do it? HoboJoe

 

[billybob200138]

We were poor . Simply stated. My shirts and pants came from yard sales when they were still called rummage sales. Now I am a regular denizen of Goodwill and the Salvation army. I was the best dressed man In my town.ha I bought two storage sheds to hold my junk,error belongings. Heard a man on tv say once , we are the only nation where people store $500 worth of yard sale stuff in the garage an d leave our $20,000 vehicle setting in the driveway. Thank he may of had something there? HoboJoe

 

[highdesertranger]

don't elephants migrate too. highdesertranger

 

[gcal]

Yes, indeed! Elephants do migrate, and we can carry a whole lot of cargo with us as we lumber along. More stuff has to go. My plants, for a start. I love gardening. DH tried to accommodate me while traveling with a great pair of plant shelves for outdoors that easily disassemble for packing when we move. But the plants are becoming a pain. I still have way too many. They are heavy and they bring bugs into the rv when we are on the road. I gave most of my orchids away when we left the Florida winter campground . Only have one cattlyea orchid left. I gave most of my succulents and a few cacti and my poinsettias  away. But I  still have 4 large, heavy cacti and succulent gardens in 14 or 15 inch pots and more than a dozen smaller pots. We are on the road right now, so I also have spiders and ants in the bed that came in with the plants. Most of the plants need to go. They just need to go.

Then, I am going to review all the extra bakeware I collected over the winter while we were parked way too close to the Corelle outlet store.

 

[gcal]

Getting rid of the plants just became easier. Someone on another forum mentioned state import restrictions due to diseases and pests. I have 2 large pots sealed in trash bags because I knew they had ant nests I was having trouble getting killing. Apparently, not all ants are just ants. As soon as we are parked at the new site, I will contact the appropriate agency, get some more info, and find out how I need to dispose of them.