Cindy

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

May 30th marked the end of my second year of decluttering and the end of the second year of reporting daily on Facebook what I have decluttered. (Possibly I’ve missed a few days, but not many.) In the past 731 days (Leap Year), I have decluttered 3690 items and made $2471.20 plus $1000 barter for repair work on my van in exchange for our car, which we did not replace. Yes, that’s a heck of a lot of stuff, but let’s remember that the average house today is almost twice as big as it was in the 1950s, while families are closer to half the size. The concept of the long-term storage unit barely existed in the 1970s. “Shopping” is many people’s favorite past time and their favorite vice. I had (and still have) plenty of things I can get rid of, and you do too.

For your viewing pleasure and my embarrassment, I have selected a few before and after pictures for you to look at, laugh at, and be inspired by. You’ll probably recall me saying, more than once, that we have extensively remodeled our house in the past 10 years (and, yes, it pretty much took the whole ten years). The house was so ugly and so cluttered when we first bought it and when the children were young that I never took photos of the house itself. You’ll have to look around the girls to see to the YUCK! behind it. The second photo in each set is a photo I’ve taken today, so you can see the vast changes.

During remodeling and a good reminder that a magnet-filled refrigerator is not a things of beauty.

A clean refrigerator is a beautiful refrigerator.

Look at all the stuff on the counters and floors. Wow!!

7' of kitchen island and not a bit of junk in sight

Dan and baby Clara and a whole lot of clutter.

Dan's desk. No cute little girl but no junk either.

I found this photo after I wrote the post, but it's too clutter-y to leave out. No "after" photo, though.

Today’s Mini Mission

Are you in the habit of still owning enough of some items to cater for that larger family than you once were before the kids left home. Time to declutter a few. Some suggestions ~ towels, sheets, blankets.

Today’s Declutter Item

I didn’t have any sheets, towels or blankets to get rid of but I did find a bunch of container lids that I no longer have the containers for. I find this a little strange because when I donate items I make sure all their parts are together. I can only assume that some of the containers broke and I forget to get rid of the lids. If I remember correctly a few of them belonged to ceramic and enamel dishes that I did donate to the thrift store. I must have forgot they had lids because I never used them, they didn’t need them in order to be useful anyway so who cares.

Plastic container lids

Something to be grateful for today

I cleaned the oven today, not my favourite job. The fairies didn’t do it for me and yes it was hard work but I am just grateful it is out of the way and I won’t have to deal with in again for a month or two or three depending how long I can ignore it for. 😆

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

A long time friend of mine phoned me the other day with the exciting news that she had decluttered a bunch of scrapbooking supplies. She had given them away to a person from where she works. I agreed how great that was and said how I had been paring down my craft supplies again lately and have finally reduced them to the amount I was happy with. She said. I didn’t realise that you still did papercraft or I would have given my supplies to you. My response was “Thank the heavens you didn’t!”

The topic changed to some other items she had set aside to take to the thrift shop and she asked if I would be kind enough to take them for her as she works all week. I told her it would be my please as I was going there the very next day. She did me the return favour of taking me to collect my car from the mechanics. Below is the photo of my car stacked up with both her and my donations. Lo and behold two days later another friend and neighbour asked me to take a load of donations to the thrift store for her as well. I was going past that way to drop my son of at university so it was no bother.

It feels good to do favours for friends and it is also good to know that the thrift store that I volunteer at is benefiting from all these generous donations.

My car load of thrift store donations

This Weekends Mini Missions

Saturday – Do you have too many Gadgets ~ Kitchen gadgets, grooming gadgets, garage gadgets, electronics… If so now is the time to weed out a few.

Sunday – Do you have too many Digital media ~ Cd’s, DVD’s, computer games, downloads…  If so now is the time to weed out a few.

I received and email from Ideealistin recently bring a subject to mind that has been mentioned in passing here at 365 Less Things one or twice before. Ideealistin thought it was worth bring to the fore in the form of its own blog post and that is what we are doing today.

Here is some of what she had to say…

Hi Colleen, as I am sort of moving at the moment (since almost everything in the apartment has to be moved around, I came to the conclusion to consider it something similar to moving at least …), I am digging through everything and found a pair of glasses. Yep, yet another one. In the process of decluttering I think I discovered at least 6 pairs of glasses, tucked into various boxes. (bad sight since primary school …) I donated them all and will donate the ones I just found, too. (It’s very easy here, a big optometrist chain takes them) And I wondered if you might like to address the whole subject of donating old glasses in a post one day….

… Just imagining I had to live without my glasses makes me sad for the people who DO have to live without glasses because they can’t afford them. From a certain degree of defective vision one practically is disabled without glasses … Helping is the one (and important) point. But from the decluttering perspective I think glasses often slip through because it actually is smart to keep one old pair as a spare pair, but not all pairs that accumulate in the average spectacle wearer’s life.

Just a suggestion, but I think even the chance of some kid somewhere learning to read better because it can actually see what is written on the blackboard or somebody not falling because he can see where he is walking is worth that we privileged spectacle wearers rifle through our drawers and donate what doesn’t serve us anymore.

* * *

As a fellow Australian to a very special man by the name of Fred Hollows it would be remiss of me not to bring to the attention of my fellow declutterers that your old unused glasses could be life changing  for someone else. Please take a look at the work of The Fred Hollows Foundation does to restore sight to folks less fortunate than yourselves.

Not only does eye surgery help to restore the sight of those inflicted with unfortunate eye problems but there are also those whose sight would be easily improved simply with a pair of glasses. Glasses that they can’t afford to buy. Glasses that you might have going to waste in a drawer somewhere in your home. Even cheap reading glasses are useful.

All you have to do to improve the sight of a fellow human being is to donate your eyeglass clutter to an organisation that distributes them to those in need.

How to donate

• Australia ~ recyclingnearyou.com.au/glasses or www.lenscrafters.com
• USA ~ www.allaboutvision.com/resources/donate
• Canada ~ www.hakimoptical.ca/donate
• UK ~ www.vao.org.uk ~ recycling glasses
• Germany ~ Fielmann which is the biggest optometrist chain in the country accept donations.

If none of these sites work for you just google ~ donate eyeglasses ~ and I am sure something useful will appear. Also ask you optometrist if they take donations or know who does locally.

Today’s Mini Mission

Take a quick look in your dining space and find something to declutter. It’s that simple. Don’t fuss don’t hesitate just find that one thing and get it our of there.

A couple of Saturdays ago, you will remember, I asked for people to send in requests for blog posts for me to write about. Everyone who wrote in had wonderful ideas of which I have made a list and will most certainly address each and every one of them in the near future.

I received the following request from Nicole which I felt needed addressing sooner rather than later. Although I can’t comment on the intricacies of her specific area of residence, which is somewhere in France by the way, I can give you all some general ideas that would then have to be translated into actual possibilities in your specific areas. It is much easier for you to do the ground work and to investigate the local possibilities but perhaps my suggestions will give you a starting point.

Here is Nicole’s comment…
“As for me, decluttering is time consuming, so from time to time I just throw things away instead of selling or giving them. I am not well organised, and in France we are not used to garage sales, we have what we call “vide -greniers” for a whole village, so I may have to wait quite a while for it to take place. I’ve just moved and I do not know the local second-hand shops.
Any idea to hep me ?”

Firstly for those who don’t speak French vide-greniers = empty-attics. I kind of like the sound of that. Anyway back to the problem at hand. Below I have put together a list of ideas for ways to find responsible homes for your stuff. Basic ways that with a little imagination could be translated to an opportunity in just about any country in the Western World.

• Freecycle.org (there a 116 results for places in France alone)
• Put items out on the street. This is simple ~ make a sign with the word free on (in your own language of course) attach it to the item and put it out on the street. Be a responsible citizen and bring it back in in the evening, if it hasn’t already gone, so it doesn’t look like trash or get ruined by the weather. Put small items in a box.
• Instigate a Free Box for your apartment block or in the foyer of a public housing building. Same concept as the idea above only indoors. Communal give away if you like. If there is no notice board leave give away /sell signs near the apartment mail boxes.
• Thrift store and secondhand stores. This one is self explanatory and are usually found easily on the internet, your local phonebook or perhaps by asking local citizens.
• Sell through ebay or similar or advertise locally through newspapers, local notice boards in shopping malls or your apartment block, or other  internet outlet.
• Have a yard/garage sale ~ even if this isn’t normal for your area, it wasn’t normal anywhere once so why not start a trend. Just set up a table in front of your house or apartment block and see what happens. You may need to check local bylaws to make sure you aren’t breaking any rules. We wouldn’t want you to get arrested.
• Set up a giveaway, sell or swap facebook page between your friends, family and neighbours.
• Ask a long time local where there is an community charity nearby that could use your stuff.
• Ask other locals if their are charity bins in the area.
• Google or other search engine is a great way to find local opportunities to get rid of your stuff. Just Search for “donate (the item you are donating eg. books) and your town/city.
• Check out your local government web site, they usually have a section on donating, recycling and local flea markets.
• Also check out my Recycling /Donating Guide

I personally believe that no matter what I have if it is still in good condition there is someone out there that can use it. Throwing perfectly good things away is just not something I feel right about doing. I imagine I had a good time acquiring much of the things I an now decluttering, in many cases irresponsibly no doubt, so the least I can do is spend the time to find a new home for it once I am done with it. In fact I enjoy the challenge for the most part and feel quite a degree of achievement when I find homes for particularly difficult items. So use your imagination and do what you can to rehouse your stuff.

Today’s Mini Mission

Declutter something you keep because it seems so useful yet you don’t really have a use for it.

Today’s Declutter Item

Here is an example of something it took me a while to find a home for. When my immersion blender died of old age I agonised for months over which one to replace it with and finally settled on a Kenwood. Unfortunately clever marketing made it so in order to get the accessories I wanted I was forced to buy the model that had far more accessories than I needed.  I advertised these extra accessories on ebay three times making the starting bid lower and lower every time until I finally hooked someone. I could have Freecycled them but that would have only guaranteed that they would be taken but not necessarily by someone who had a genuine use for them. I figured if they had to be paid for they would more likely find the right home.

Kenwood Mixer Accessories

Something I Am Grateful For Today

The many outlets I have discovered over the last two years that make passing my useful stuff on easily.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

Cindy

My thrift-store shopping girlfriends, Holly, Natalie, and I hit The Goodwill Outlet last month. Goodwill, I believe, is the most common thrift store in the United States. In Austin, the Outlet is where everything not sold at the neighborhood stores goes to die (at least that’s how I think of it). It’s a massive, one room warehouse with another massive room for processing goods, and a separate area for the local offices of Goodwill – in total, a 124,200-square-foot (11,538 square meters) building.

There’s definitely a “last chance” quality to the store. Everything is put in waist-high, shallow big blue bins that are probably 4 foot by 5 foot. The merchandise is divided into clothes (probably half of the merchandise), books, and housewares. Everything is sold for $1.39 a pound. You literally push your cart onto a floor scale, and it gets weighed.

The blue bins are exchanged on a regular basis. I’m guessing that each bin is out for only about 3 hours before it is rolled away, and that’s it. Get it now, or it’s gone.

While some of the items are still in great condition, much of the merchandise has a slightly pick over quality to it; after all, it’s already been at a regular Goodwill store for a month or so, and it made me sad to watch the bins of housewares literally being dumped, sometimes accompanied with the sounds of glass breaking. There are clearly people there who are shopping professionally – one carts was filled with just VHS tapes, another filled with just books, plus plenty of folks who are either stocking up on clothing for selling at flea markets or in the used clothing markets in Mexico.

One disadvantage of the pricing system is that some of the housewares, which can be quite heavy, might now be more expensive than they were originally priced at the Goodwill. I considered buying a large set of Thomas the Train items, but because they’re wooden, they’re heavy, and the price was $40. That’s too much to risk on reselling.

Besides just being boggled by the amount of stuff, the strongest impression I left with was a desire to do more to place my no-longer-needed items into loving home, rather than sending them to the thrift store. I’m sure the person who donated the Thomas the Train set or the never used set of napkins never imagined they’d end up in the “last call” bin, and after 3 hours, they’re gone for good.

Today’s Declutter Item

Not long into my first year of decluttering I sold all of my kids ski gear on ebay, or at least I thought I did. I somehow managed to miss this jacket it must have been hiding in a different closet. Well it is sold now. Hopefully I also have a buyer for my husband’s and my ski gear too. Fingers crossed.

My Daughter's Ski Jacket

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

I happened upon a situation the other day that was disappointing in more ways that one. And although I am sure all my readers are more responsible than the perpetrators of this, what I consider to be a crime, I wanted to point out how wrong it is. Take a look at the photos below.

I noticed the donations piling up around these bins on my way past the area the previous night. At that stage the donations were still packed in bags and boxes. I decided I would come down and get some photos the next morning for my blog with the intension of also notifying the charity of the situation and that was when I was confronted with this mess.

This is wrong on three levels

1. People should keep their donations at home or take them to the nearest thrift store if the bins are full. There is no need for this to happen. Someone or perhaps even a number of someones decided that they wanted to be rid of their stuff and didn’t care about the likely outcome of dumping their unwanted stuff next to full bins. Their clutter had built up over time but regardless of the fact that these donation even in bags were susceptible to weather, the owners just wanted it out of their house and ignore the likely outcome of their ignorance. Also, as clearly stated on the bins it  is against the litter laws to dump stuff beside the bins.
2. To make matters worse some greedy person has decided that there might be something worth finding in those bags and has now ripped them apart and strewn the contents all over the place. Or perhaps worse still, this was done just for the fun of it. Leaving the items even more susceptible to the weather, soiled and quite frankly what is left has now effectively become trash that the charity will have to clean up and pay for the disposal off. We are talking charity here, in this case an organisation who provides phone counselling for emotionally vulnerable people. It costs this charity and others like it thousands of dollars a year to dispose of these kinds of thoughtless donations.
3. This is an eyesore for the residents that live in the area which reflects on the charity in a bad way. While I was taking these photos a lady across the street called me over and asked what I was doing. So I told her I was documenting the mess and would be calling the charity and alerting them in the hope that they will come quickly to clean it up. She was most distressed and in her broken English told me that she had a beautiful apartment that is marred by this mess and wished the charity would take the bins away so this would not happen. I can only assume this isn’t the first time this has occurred. I would like to point out that this is not the fault of the charity, they are offering two services here, one, to make it easy for people to leave donations without going far out of their way and two,the important service they provide to the community with their counselling service.

The problem above was exacerbated by the fact that these donation were left here over the Christmas period while many businesses and organisations including charities have shut down or slowed their operations so their staff can take time to celebrate with family. That being said this type of dumping goes on year round, I have witnessed the fall out many times. It is simply careless and thoughtless. I have seen mattresses and sofas piled up next to these bins as well. Most charities I know of will pick up furniture that is in reasonable condition so there is no need to leave large items  near bins. As I see it people do that because they know what they have is just garbage but they don’t have a means of hauling it away or want to pay tip fees to leave it at the landfill site. Shame on them. WE even have a twice yearly council bulk waste pick-up in our area so there is absolutely no need for this.

Without trying to sound like a broken record here I would like to point out that there are many charities just like this one that provide important services to the community. Usually the section of the community that needs help the most. It takes an army of volunteers, some dedicated employees and kind donations from the public to make these services possible. Donations that are just trash or likely to become trash cost these charities a lot of money each year to dispose off. I am sure some people don’t realise that what they give may not be in good enough condition to sell but there are also others who are just using these charities as their dumping ground.

So please only donate clean usable items in reasonable condition and never leave your donations where they are susceptible to the weather or this kind of vandalism.

I am happy to say that the charity that owned the above bins were already on their way to clean up the mess before I even made my phone call.

Today’s Declutter Item

I am not sure why we ever needed an extension cord this long but I know one thing for sure, we don’t need it now so off to the thrfit with you.

Extension Cord

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

I have been subscribed to the monthly newsletter from unclutter.com (not to be confused with unclutterer.com) since back in 2010 before I even began to blog about decluttering myself. I always find Donna Smallin’s advice very useful and inspiring. I found an article from her latest newsletter particularly thought provoking and wanted to share it with you all. I emailed Donna for permission to use the article on my blog and her response was so friendly and welcoming and of course she said yes. So without further adieu, here it is…

“Many of us have a tendency to hold on to things long after their usefulness has expired. Have you ever wondered why we do that?

One reason is because of something called “the poverty mindset.” We subconsciously believe that if we let go of something, we will need it later and won’t be able to get it.

I have found the opposite to be true. The more I give, the more I get.

Have you heard of the “Law of Attraction?” Basically, it states that the energy you send out is what you get back. Energy is sent through thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds. Deeds include giving your time, money or things.

When you hold on to “stuff” you don’t need or want anymore, you are holding on to negative energy. You are also likely acting, whether you realize it or not, from a belief that you don’t have enough.

The problem with this type of thinking is that our experiences in life are driven by our beliefs. If you believe deep down that you don’t have enough, you will never have enough.

On the other hand, when you clean out your closet, garage or basement and donate unneeded items, you send positive energy into the world.

Act as if you already have everything you need and your life will be filled with abundance in more ways than you ever imagined. This is my wish for you.”

*******

“When you hold on to “stuff” you don’t need or want anymore, you are holding on to negative energy.” How true is that statement. The negative energy behind “guilt clutter” and “aspirational clutter” is monumental on its own without the negative energy of the cluttered space and the desperation behind feeling you need the items to ensure your own security. The silly part is that most of the stuff is not even vital to your survival in the first place. “I might need it some day” is really a case of you never needed it in the first place but have convinced yourself that it is useful so therefore you should keep it. So what if I got rid of it this week and then two years down the track I finally find a use for it. For two years already it has just been one thing among a huge group of clutter crowding your space, making you feel hemmed in, tied down and trapped and for what? That one time in two years you will finally have a use for it.

Do as Donna suggests send those unused items out into the world and reap some positive energy. The positive energy from giving, the positive energy of letting go and the positive energy of not being trapped by stuff. After all, all we really need to survive is food, water, shelter and love. Everything else is a luxury that you can live without.

Today’s Declutter Item

With less clutter to store I no longer have need for this container. Yes I could keep it just in case I find a use for it later on which is unlikely considering I only intend to declutter more. Or I could let it go out into the world to be used now by someone else now who actually has a use for it. Not only does this action create that positive energy Donna was talking about but it gives me more encouragement to remain uncluttered and have no need ever for this container.

Something I Am Grateful For Today

It was rush rush rush today with a little Christmas celebrating in between and I feel satisfied with the result. I even have my to-do list ready for tomorrow and it’s not that long, yet. I hope your pre-Christmas week is going smoothly too.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

On Fridays at 365 Less Things I share with you my five favourite comments from my wonderful readers and my five favourite web finds of the week. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

Fave Five Comments. Enjoy!

This comment form Jo epitomises the complexity of gift giving.

Ami is a new reader or at least a new commenter and needs a little encouragement to be patient with the slow and steady approach. She left this comment, her first, on Thursday and I was particularly happy with her finishing sentence. It proves that she is seeing the benefits already and just needs to focus on that.

Felicity highlights the advantage of a Summer Christmas in this comment.

I love how our readers help one another at 365 Less Things. Jo gives some good advice in this comment in response to this comment from Pamela.

I likes this idea for fundraising in a comment from Wendy W. Cut straight to the chase and forget all the nonsense.

Fave Five Web Finds. Happy reading!

I received a comment from Neko from Chicago IL a week or so back telling us about how, as a teacher, she incorporates fabric in her lessons. Here is her blog ~ bagitup4me-neko.blogspot.com . Perhaps if you live in the area you might be able to help her out by donating unwanted craft supplies and fabrics.

Quite often these days readers send me great links and here is one sent to me by Lynn ~ The Nest Effect ~ October Project-Conquer Paper Clutter

Australia has a new web site where you can give away or pick up free goods. It is much the same concept as Freecycle only with a really modern web design. I hope it catches on in my area. Here it is ~ Ziilch

Snosie was kind enough to send me a couple of links about recycled art to round off this weeks Favourite Five. I hope you enjoy them as much as she and I did. unconsumption.tumblr.com and recyclart.org

Today’s Declutter Item

It pays to do a little homework before discarding some items. Do to my experience at the thrift store I know the old ceramic items can be valuable. So I checked out this little figurine on ebay before deciding what to do with it. I soon discovered that it was worth more than the 50c we paid for it. I sold it on ebay for $20, once again my son was happy with the cash bonus.

Vintage Snoopy sold for $20 on ebay

Something I Am Grateful For Today

I think my cold has gotten a little better as the day has worn on. Fingers crossed I will feel even better tomorrow. I am grateful it hasn’t gotten worse at least.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Cindy’s Weekly Wisdom

What do all these things have in common?

• Buy (Red): 10 to 50% of the proceeds of which go to eliminating AIDS in Africa.
• Book Sale: 20% proceeds go to your child’s school!
• Would you like to buy some wrapping paper to support our band trip?
• How about a beautiful $200 beaded bracelets that supports JDRF? An undisclosed portion of the proceeds are donated to the organization.
• Rubber bracelets for sale for every cause possible. Typically $1 each.

Obviously, these are all ways of coaxing a donation out of you; that is, providing a rationalization for a purchase that you might not have otherwise made. A blunter way of saying it: These sales feed on people’s desires to get something back for their donation or circumvent our reluctance to make a donation in the first place.

The book sale example is from my own life just last month. My daughters’ school sponsored a book sale at a local book store, and 20% of the proceeds went back to the school. As you probably know, I rarely buy books and certainly not new books. But there I was, shelling out $65 for four children’s books. (Yikes! Thus reinforcing why I prefer the library.) The return on my investment to the school? $13.00. They would have been way better off if I’d just handed them $65. But, quite honestly, I wouldn’t have, because my husband and I just made a large donation to the school for our annual fund drive. The book fair was really fun – there were special readings and meet the author events, the honors orchestra (including my eldest) played, and it was a great opportunity to socialize. Also, a lot of the parents at our school do buy books and lots of them. I was surprised my friend G could even carry her basket of books it was so loaded up! Nonetheless, for me, it was really a moment of buying something I did not particularly want or need in order to make a donation to the school.

One of the things I like about our school fundraising gala, which happens in the spring,  is the “fund-a-need” auction. The Head of School selects something that the school needs (last year, a bus), and at the gala, you can bid in any amount toward the purchase of the need, but you get nothing in return except knowing that you contributed to the school.

Dan and I tithe bi-weekly to our church. The bottom of the form that we receive tallying our donations says something like “No goods or services were exchanged for these donations except spiritual ones.” I like that.

So next time you’re confronted with the opportunity or desire to buy something to support a charity ask yourself

1. Do I really want and need this item?
2. What portion of my sale is really going to the organization?
3. Wouldn’t this charity be better off if I just handed them the amount of money I intended on spending anyway?

Today’s Declutter Item

During my recent reshuffle of the garage due to space opening up on my shelving units I decided that this bin is really not needed. We don’t generate enough trash in the garage to warrant keeping it especially since the outside bin is so close by. That’s one more large item that isn’t taking up space.

One too many garbage bins

Something I Am Grateful For Today

My parents made it home safe and sound after their visit. It was a trying trip for them as my mum was really not well, but they are home now and can recuperate in the comfort of their own abode.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

I have three main methods of disposal when it come to rehousing my clutter.

• I donate most of my items to the thrift store. I have used the same thrift store since the beginning of my declutter mission and now I volunteer there as well.
• I sell items that I feel inclined to recoupe my losses on, by auctioning them on ebay. It is a love hate relationship but all in all I have done pretty well out of it.
• And then there is Freecycle.org This is my go to place for when I am trying to responsibly dispose of items that are not appropriate for the thrift store or that are too awkward to sell on ebay.

Freecycle, like ebay, can have its love/hate aspects as well. I have come across more than one potential recipient who messed me around, not turning up and generally wasting my time. There is at least one lady that often tries to claim my stuff that has surely got to be either a hoarder or owns a secondhand store. Either way she is hopeless at showing up on the first attempt. But I can forgive these little inconveniences because of the many time I have successfully rehoused items that may otherwise have gone to waste.

• There was the broken guitar amplifier that one man was happy to tinker with
• A lamp that needed rewiring
• My old motorcycling leathers that were stiff from lack of use over 20 years and no longer fit me. These were eventually donated by the Freecycle recipient to a vintage motorcycle club to be auctioned to raise money.
• The hutch from my entertainment unit. I kept the bottom as my lowline TV unit and Freecycled the hutch section. It was collected by a carpenter who was thrilled to use the lead-light doors and was also going to salvage the timber for other projects.
• Numerous baseball souvenirs that weren’t worth the hassle of selling on ebay
• Some Snoopy toys
• A television that even the thrift store didn’t want. (Not featured as My Daily Declutter Item yet only collected on Saturday)
• A selection of collectable Coca Cola bottles that I felt iffy about selling on ebay because they were full and awkward to post. I didn’t think these were appropriate for the thrift store either because someone might have bought them to drink and they were way past their used-by dates. (Friday’s declutter item)
• And today’s declutter item, some seat cushion covers and back cushions for a pair of Ikea tub chairs. I doubt anyone would have wanted to buy these on ebay or at the thrift store but I found a taker on Freecycle within the afternoon or advertising them.

I know that there are a number of disadvantages of getting rid of your stuff this way…

• Sometimes people don’t show up when they say they will or at all in some cases. I usually just put the item on my front stoop and the people pick it up when they are ready. What do I care if someone steals it, I don’t want it anyway. It is somewhat annoying though when people don’t show up to collect an item that I don’t feel comfortable putting outside, such as the television. I make a time, I wait around, then I get a text saying “Sorry something else came up.” and I have wasted my afternoon. Grrrr! For me though, I will suck it up for the satisfaction of finding homes for my stuff and keeping it out of landfill.
• Another deterrent is the fact that you are giving complete strangers your contact and address information. Who knows what sort of people they are and soon they are going to turn up on your doorstep. I don’t let this bother me. I am sure there is only one fruitloop in a million and I haven’t encountered one yet. For the sake of extra safety, plan pick up times when you aren’t home alone.

In relation to people not turning us a arranged ~ I often pull the trigger too soon by being overeager to make arrangement with the first person to email in their interest in the item. I think it is probably better to wait a while, read all responses and pick the one who seems the most keen. Their eagerness may inspire them to be more punctual and accommodating. I will try this approach the next time I list something and see how it turns out.

The Freecycle Networkâ„¢ is made up of 4,989 groups with 8,800,647 members around the world. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box or by clicking on ‘Browse Groups’ . Have fun!

If you haven’t tried it yet why not give it a go. You have brought all of this stuff into your home. You have come to the conclusion that you no longer need or want it. The responsibility is now yours to dispose of it responsibly. I have had people say to me “Finding ways to get rid of clutter is such a bother.” My response to that is “Try harder!. You got yourself into this mess and it is up to you to do the right thing by the environment while getting yourself out of it. Think of it as penance from your past indiscretions and as an incentive to be a more responsible consumer in the future.”

Today’s Declutter Item

Some time ago I bought some slip on covers for my ageing Ikea tub chairs. Included were seat covers and back cushions so the ones below became excess to my needs. I stuck them in the bottom of a closet where they hid for years. Last Friday I finally got around to advertising them on Freecycle.org and lo and behold someone claimed them. She was happy, I was happy and the cushions were saved from landfill and stopped cluttering up my closet. Win Win!

Tub Chair Covers & Cushions

Something I Am Grateful For Today

Finding the time to get started on making my Christmas cards. I got the housework out of the way, even pulled down the microwave and cleaned the little nook it sits in. Meanwhile I did three loads of washing and answered lots of blog comments. Snuck in the odd coffee and a piece of chocolate here and there and still found time to make some cards.

“In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” Brother David Steindl-Rast

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow