One of my goals this year is to simplify and one of the ways I plan to do that is to sell or donate at least 1,000 ordinary items that are crowding our closets and drawers by the end of July. My ultimate goal is to find a home for every item by repurposing, selling, donating, or finding a way to recycle our unwanted stuff without incurring any costs.
This week, I found a lot of really embarrassing randomness. Have you ever heard of chat packs? They are cards with off-the-wall conversation starters. The problem is, now we’ve gone through them all. I am either going to have to get new friends to use them on, or pass them on down the road. I think I’ll go for the second one–new friends are exhausting, which is why I am so fond of the old ones.
And why did I ever buy a set of pickle and olive forks anyway? Do I strike you as a person who even uses a pickle fork, let alone own one? Lava Lamp night light–okay, that one I stand behind, but only because it was very cool. It has to go now, though. It has run it’s cycle.
I bought these salad hands for $2.00 at a garage sale. I had big intentions of using them every time I made a big ol’ salad, but honestly, I forgot about them, and NEVER ONCE got them out. I guess they are all priced and ready to go for my garage sale. Maybe I’ll break even?
Do people still buy photo albums? I have everything stored digitally. I don’t miss having a book to flip through in the slightest. I also found The Giver. Great book, but I am never going to read it again. All it’s doing is collecting dust, so out it goes. And a banana slicer. No more single task items. I’ll use a knife.
When I really started to sift through things, I realized I had 16 cookie cutters, Wish Tickets, a pencil holder and 2 pizza pans, that were all just extras {except the wish tickets–they are just paper taking up space}. I don’t need 16 different shapes for cookies. I can be happy with way less. And I have never once made more than one pizza.
65 more items for the garage sale!
Year to Date Totals
Donated: 7 items
Kept: 43 items
Recycled: 24 items
Tossed in the Garbage: 59 items
Yard Sale Pile: 336 items
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More from Getting Rid of 1,000 Things
Getting Rid of 1,000 Things – Used Books
Getting Rid of 1,000 Things – DVD’s
Rubber Stamps, a Soldering Iron, Seashells, Smencils and More
Deanna says
wish I was closer I would love to get a few of the things you have esp the night night!
Laura Z says
Marriott rewards are great. My husband has to travel quite a bit for work. He always stays in one of Marriott hotels, we put EVERYTHING on the Marriott card and pay the balance to zero each month, and rack up free hotel rooms. When we are redeeming points, we always stay in the more modest end of the hotel chain, and actively seek out locations that use fewer points (like a Fairfield 15 minutes from the beach). We managed to do a huge 6000 mile cross country road trip over a month last summer. While my husband was a conference forpart of that, we only had to pay for two hotel rooms out of pocket for remaining 2 1/2 weeks.
One huge perk of the Marriott card is that if you are a platinum reward member and you are staying at one of the nicer hotels in their range, your family will get to eat free at the concierge lounge for breakfast, an evening appetizer spread (think nice wedding), and a dessert bar after 7:00! Some Marriotts even serve an entree or two. This has saved us sometimes nearly a hundred dollars a day for four people. They food quality is good– there are lots of fresh cheeses, antipasta, fruits, veggies, etc. and unlimited soft drinks, tea, and coffee. So far Denver has the best concierge lounge. We are a thrifty family, so this is a really big treat for us, and being able to feed your family for the cost of the tip is something else…..
There is an annual fee for the card, but each year you get a free hotel room night, so it doesn’t really cost you anything in the long run as long as you pay off your balance each month and use that freebie.
Brianna says
Looks like you are going to have an epic garage sale with all of these items! I’m sure I’m not the only reader who would love to come buy some of your discards! Those pizza pans make me think of all the delicious homemade pizza I could make at once… if you’re allowed to reveal the location of your garage sale, I’d love to come support it! 🙂
Kari says
I’m curious how you digitally store your photos. What about all the ones prior to the digital camera age? Maybe you could do a post on this? One of my goals this year is to organize our photos. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Ellen in Clackamas says
oh Mavis! How can you forsake the banana cutter? What fun times we have had reviewing the reviews!!!
Mavis Butterfield says
I know, right?
Helen in Meridian says
And the sugar free 5# Cinnamon Bears from Amazon customer reviews. Do you not use your foley food mill anymore because of your immersion blender?
Laurel says
Yes, the reviews on Amazon are hilarious! Don’t need to own the banana slicer to enjoy them, though.
Lesley says
Mavis, my son and daughter are the same ages as yours. Do you save anything for when they’re ready to be “launched” (ie first real apartment after college, etc)? I am always decluttering and purging but lately I find myself thinking “she could use that in her future kitchen” or “he might want that in his future toolbox” etc. Thoughts?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. I already have things like dishes, cookware, bedding and small furniture pieces set aside that I think they’ll use.
Deborah from FL says
I’m not Mavis, but I went through this exact thing not too long ago, so I thought I’d throw in my two cents. 😉
I started out by having a bin where I would put things I thought my son might eventually want or need. Soon I had multiple bins, & I just kept stacking them up. When the time came for him to move out, we went through the bins. He took most of it, but some of it he asked me to hold onto for a little while longer (due to lack of space and/or organization), which was not a problem. After several months, whenever he’d come by to visit, I try to get him to take more of his stuff home. There was, of course, some things that he did not want. These we set aside in a special bin and gave the items away to his friends. It was kind of fun. 🙂
Deborah from FL says
My comment above was in response to Lesley’s comment. Oops.
Lesley says
Thanks Deborah! 🙂