As you know, H and I bought a house and have moved (though it feels like we havent, because we still aren’t completely moved upstairs). While we like the place we lived, it was starting to feel cramped and we wanted to take advantage of the low interest rates and the decline in home prices that has happened over the last 5 years, so we decided to move. As we started to get the process of moving going, I couldnt help but think back to what the house looked like when we moved in and what it looks like now.
There’s 4 rooms in the house, a living room, a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and that’s basically it. We have an enclosed porch in front, and mud room in the back that leads down to the basement (which has very little useable space). Everything was empty when we moved in – there was nothing in your way walking around, there was nothing on top of the wall above the stairs to the basement, and there were virtually no shelves, dressers (all of our clothing went into the closet – where the dog currently has decided to live) and really was a pretty clean (if sparsely decorated) home.
Now, there is stuff stacked on top of stuff, shelves everywhere, holding stuff that wasnt there 3 years ago. This always makes me wonder: Where did it come from? Why did we buy it? What are we using it for, and what did we plan on using it for? Of course, there’s most importantly: Are we using it anymore? The answer to that last question (seemingly more often than not) is no. So, then comes the next question – what should we do with it?
I dont want to take it to the new place and have it take up space and collect dust, only to get rid of it in a few years – I dont want to carry something over to the new place that will get tossed out when we get there either, because that’s a waste of energy. I dont want to throw it away, because in most cases it works pretty well and that’s not very sustainable. All of this got me thinking: What can I do with all of this stuff that’s junk (to me) but could be gold to someone else?
One of the options for this is restore, which I wrote about last week – it’s pretty handy, and it helps out the community too (it’s run by habitat for humanity). One of the other options is selling the stuff, but I dont really like that option because I find it too time consuming, and I’d rather donate the stuff anyway – or give it away to friends.
Readers: What do you do to get rid of stuff that still works, but you no longer need or want?
We recently went through the decluttering in preparation for our daughter’s arrival, and we couldn’t believe how much crap — I mean, lovely stuff we no longer needed — we had! We held a garage sale and took the leftovers to Goodwill or sold on e-Bay. It still amazes me how much we had over the course of five years in this house!
I’m wondering what we are going to have when we finally are able to completely move upstairs. We got rid of lots of stuff with the last move, but still are not where I’d like to be.
Goodwill, all the way. Get rid of it all. It’s as easy to acquire again as it was the first time, so be ruthless with the things you’re giving away.
I’ll have to see if that will fly with the wife! I’d love to get rid of most of it.
Hello Jeff!
I sell what I can (sell, scrap metal, trade, etc.), and then I donate the rest of the items that are still usable. Don’t forget you might be able to take a tax donation for any items you donate in your purge.
I hope your new home is wonderful! Have you sold your old home yet?
We didnt have an old house to sell – this is our first.
Garage sale!