Is your home organized and comfortable?

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Junk Jewelry:
I recall that I ended up making quick decisions with things like that. It’s logical and easier.

Anything a friend admired...I would put aside for them.
Anything broken...garbage.
Anything very cheap...maybe garbage.
Anything crazy weird, outdated etc ...charity.
Anything expensive, but I just won’t wear any more...try to sell and probably take whatever I can get even if it’s absurd

Of course keep what I still like, what I can think of might be of use, perhaps two items or so of great sentimental value.

But, that’s just me and me after much crazy experience. Crazy “brutal,” experience. (There is that word again!)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
On the show "Hoarders" a sort of guilty pleasure I watch at times, one hoarding therapist was trying to help a woman make a decision whether to keep something or not.

The woman was very scared as she was getting rid of so many things. She said of the item "I may use it sometime." The therapist asked gently "When did you use it last?" The woman said, after a pause, "I dont know." The therapist asked if it was recently used and she admitted she may have not used it but one day maybe she might. The therapist encouraged her not to keep it since she didnt need it or use it and "maybe one day" could be never.

That was professional advice.

I dont really have much trouble getting rid of things but I thought I would share that from the show.
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
On occasion I hold on to something , truly not sure if I’ll use it again. It’s usually an odd clothing item.

A year later, if I still haven’t used it...I donate it. On a rare occasion I’ve pushed myself to use it. Sometimes it’s fine and I like it. Often, it’s kinda always got one foot on a banana peel/one foot in the donation box. Lol!

I am often in semi or full fledged culling mode.

It has paid off for me.
 

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
Hi everybody. Hi Nomad.

Regarding clothes. How do you deal with clothes in different sizes? I have clothes in size 8 to 10. I would say I'm 10-12 now. To get back into size 8 has been my goal, but my body no matter what I do to deprive it or work it will not let go of the weight. This is a question of 10 pounds. It could as well be 50. My body says, no. I won't give up one pound.

What do you recommend I do with the size 8 and size 10's that don't fit now. Give myself a time limit, say 3 or 6 months? Or throw in the towel and cut the clothes loose.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I get rid of clothes that dont fit and buy new clothes. They arent that expensive and every few years styles change anyway. I dont plan on dressing like a teen on the beach but I can find stylish clothes that are appropriate for all ages.

Whoever thought we would see flowered clothing in January??! :) Here I am in snowy Wisconsin wearing flowered shirts because it seems to be the style.

I keep certain bigger clothes like sweatshirts because I dont mind if I have room for a shirt underneath or if a sweatshirt looks too big. Comfort clothes can stay big.
 
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Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I usually get rid of clothes that don’t fit.

A possible exception would be if something is close to fitting , it is VERY nice and I’m on a diet. These are true rarities.

So, in your case...if you had something very nice...that is sort of a large size 8... hmmm. I would have to think about that item.

One caveat...I have a pair of black stretchy pants that are slightly too big. I can wear them almost anytime though. I have them due to the medication prednisone and the rapid weight gain it can cause. Otherwise, they would be out in a flash.

Otherwise, I do NOT keep clothes that are too big and very rarely keep anything too small.

Since doing this...exceptions are just that exceptions. And it means one, maybe two things. Greatly limited.
 

Elsi

Well-Known Member
I get rid of clothes that dont fit. But my wardrobe is also very forgiving of weight swings.

My progress this weekend: getting all the holiday decorations down, paring down anything we haven’t used year or last, and reorganizing the things we are keeping. Everything is back to normal. We also made a start on sorting and organizing stuff in the future weight room.
 

Tired out

Well-Known Member
I got the weight off and once I was stable for 1 year as each new season came I tried on all the items for that season and tossed all the too big stuff. I have a couple pair of shorts and capris that I have to be my lowest weight to wear, they always encourage me, when I am feeling like I want to binge on something I go put them on and get a new resolve to stick with it.
Copa, don't talk yourself into thinking the weight you want off won't budge. !st get all the stuff de-cluttered. If there are in-style, smaller items you would like to wear hang onto those. After you are done with the clean up , THEN start your healthy eating routine for real. You got this! You can do it! Heck is was 38 degrees here and I went for an hour run. If I can do that....
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
I will check out and consider Salvation Army!
I have used Vietnam Vets and some other charities as well.
Oh..when my dad died I gave a few things to our son, kept a few things and gave the rest to a group like Vietnam Vets or something similar (I can’t recall). It was vet related.

Possibly the DAV ( disabled American veterans). It’s a good charity.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
I did make headway today. In the eBay room. I felt in command of the situation. Until I faced how much junk jewelry I bought. ItIis ugly and horrible. One bright spot is that I spent very little on most of it. But having to face how out of control I was. Disconnected from myself. Is painful and shameful. What a waste. Of money. Time. Life.

All of the perspective I felt earlier today I feel has slipped away. For now.

If you don’t feel emotionally ready to do this part, leave it alone for now and work on some other part of the home.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Hi everybody. Hi Nomad.

Regarding clothes. How do you deal with clothes in different sizes? I have clothes in size 8 to 10. I would say I'm 10-12 now. To get back into size 8 has been my goal, but my body no matter what I do to deprive it or work it will not let go of the weight. This is a question of 10 pounds. It could as well be 50. My body says, no. I won't give up one pound.

What do you recommend I do with the size 8 and size 10's that don't fit now. Give myself a time limit, say 3 or 6 months? Or throw in the towel and cut the clothes loose.

I will save certain pairs of nice jeans that are too small.

I have found that it is really hard for me to find jeans that fit just right, and since I really loathe going shopping and trying on clothes, I keep these as incentive for losing weight.

Everything else, I don’t keep.
 

AppleCori

Well-Known Member
Well, we got all the Christmas decorations taken down this weekend. I didn’t do any other projects, as it was the wildcard playoffs and I had three teams I really like in them. Two of them are going on to the divisional round next weekend.

This week I am going to go through my closet. I started a donate box before I left and will finish up and get the stuff gone this week.

What is everyone’s goal this week?

How is your progress going?
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Goodwill uses your donations only if they feel they are good enough to sell, and dont.put them out if they dont feel it the item will sell.

I feel the same way you do about Goodwill. I have a friend who personally saw her mother's china tossed in a dumpster - still in the box she brought it in, not even looked at. They didn't set it in nicely or offer to give it back or tell her they wouldn't take it - they THREW it in so it broke. They are more expensive than other thrift stores and, while I'll still go there occasionally, I've never seen them do anything in the community.

In our town, Salvation Army runs a shelter and has a thrift store. All my clothes will go there along with anything else Habitat for Humanity won't take.

Until I faced how much junk jewelry I bought. ItIis ugly and horrible.

One person's trash is another person's treasure. I once had a rummage sale and put out a lot of my mother's really "ugly" costume jewelry at $1 per pair of earrings. They sold like HOTCAKES. I had women - young women - oohing and aahing over these awful neon-bright beaded chandelier earrings!

If you hate it give it away. Someone else will love it.

"Hoarders"

I like that show. Makes me feel good about my housekeeping. :p

The woman was very scared as she was getting rid of so many things. She said of the item "I may use it sometime."

We had a moment like that this weekend! In the midst of throwing out scraps of lumber there were some little 2 foot pieces of board. I asked about throwing them out and Jabber said, "They're long enough to potentially be useful." Then he stopped and we both reflected a bit on what he'd said: "potentially be useful." That's exactly WHY we're overrun with STUFF. They went in the trash. Earlier I'd pointed out these heavy duty shelving brackets we'd bought like 15+ years ago and NEVER USED. Why? Because we never put up any shelf and now I don't even remember where it was supposed to go! Our neighbor happened to see us working in the garage, came over to say hi, and we gave those to him.

Regarding clothes. How do you deal with clothes in different sizes?

What do you recommend I do with the size 8 and size 10's that don't fit now. Give myself a time limit, say 3 or 6 months? Or throw in the towel and cut the clothes loose.

Well...being my size is a world of difference from being your size. 10 lbs isn't anything close to a dress size when you're up in the 18-20-22-24 range...and I have clothes in all those sizes - some never worn because I bought them and then gained weight. :( When I lost lots of weight years ago, I got rid of all my "fat clothes" and now I have very little to wear. I AM getting rid of a lot of "skinny clothes". But, I don't buy expensive clothes; I'm kind of a Wal-Mart girl. My job doesn't require suits and nice dresses...slacks and blue jeans are fine. I culled probably 10 little t-shirts I liked a lot...but they're too small and they're like $5-$10 each. I'm tired of looking at clothing I can't wear and feeling like a failure. I'll just treat myself and buy new if (WHEN) I lose enough weight to need to.

So our weekend wasn't terribly productive. I spent Saturday on my butt for the most part. I did do laundry and some cooking...but nothing much and it was a lovely day! But we never even left the house. I think we needed it. We were both just exhausted all last week.

Sunday we did church and shopping and then started making in-roads into our garage. I put a couple of XL twin box springs on Facebook Marketplace and Freecycle for free (they came with our mattress and then we got a platform bed) and a guy offered to come get those within about an hour. That's another place you can look for people who need things: Freecycle. Kid's getting apartments and stuff will post looking for free furniture and kitchen items etc. You have to be pretty firm about making them come get it...but I've given away a lot of stuff that way.

Anyway, we started by getting our tent poles, etc., put up on a high shelf out of the way, then moved on to misc. lumber scraps. We finally got walking room and then got a few things up on shelves. The guy and girl who took the box springs actually asked if we had anything else we were getting rid of. LOL We gave them our lamps that we don't use...although it just occurred to me I now have no bedside lamps for when we get the guest room complete...ah well. But we gave them our son's old microwave and my mom's 40+ year old harvest gold blender which still worked like a charm...which I do feel a little weird about. She was about a size 20, so I dragged out the bags of clothes and picked through them and gave her some stuff from there and from my closet.

Will they just sell them or throw them away? No idea. Do I care? Not a lot. It's out of my house.

I do hope they use and enjoy the blender though.

The things you hang on to. :rolleyes:
 

Jabberwockey

Well-Known Member
although it just occurred to me I now have no bedside lamps for when we get the guest room complete

Didn't have any that matched and we still have the nice glass lamp that could be used. Or we could just hit Habitat to try to get a pair of matching lamps that we will donate back when we sell.

I read a bit on this thread last week and was on page one. You all have been BUSY!!!!
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Lil, I thought it was possoble I was the only one here who shops mainly at Walmart, Target and we have a place called Shopko.

I never had jobs where I had to dress in expensive clothes. I would have hated it. I am not vain enough to like spending a fortune on a shirt or good make up to look better. I have very little interest in fashion. I bring Jumper with me to shop but she isnt vain or interested much in fashion either. But she is more aware of whats fashionable than I am.

Lil if you are a lawyer dont you have to dress nice or are you a Judge all the time now? I am ignorant in this but when I think of a judge I just think of someone on a black robe :) Judge Judy always wears a black robe (my guilty pleasure show).

On Goodwill, we tossed tons of glass down a compactor and crushed it. We did not recycle the glass. We threw out all toys, wood and books etc. that didnt sell.

God forgive they donate anything to the Domestic Abuse Center where kids stay or Head Start or to the community.

If you donate something worth a lot of money it went on Goodwill's version of Ebay and they keep the profit. They kept all the profits, gave not a dime to the community. The big wigs got paid. That's it. If a house burned down in the community, Goodwill did nada. It was the Salvation Army and some small charities that swooped in to help.

I wish people would specifically ask them who they donate to and if they say "employ the disabled" ask them how many of their staff is disabled. And if they do in face employ disabled folks more than ours did, ask if they make at least minimum wage. They dont.

Ack!!!!

Also short legal Bart update: Bart has a new lawyer. It turned out his other lawyer was the one holding things up. Bart is happy as a clam now and he has been extremely fun to talk to since his case is not stressing him out.

There will be no parental coordinaor. Both parents have to agree to get one. Old lawyer lied to him and said he HAD to agree to one. That was the main thing stressing him out. So now things are 99 percent better for our relationship and for him in general. He is really nervous when he is stressed. He is happy now!!!
 
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AppleCori

Well-Known Member
At our local Goodwill, they definitely employ some people who may have a hard time getting employment elsewhere. Next time I go there I will ask what they do in the community.

We donate there sometimes because of convenience, but we could switch with little problem.

That is one thing I like about Walmart (though I dislike other things about Walmart) is that they do hire people who are special needs, older, disabled, have records, or would otherwise have a hard time getting work.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Lil if you are a lawyer dont you have to dress nice or are you a Judge all the time now? I am ignorant in this but when I think of a judge I just think of someone on a black robe :)

I wish we had robes! Who cares what you wear under a robe? Kind of like church choir - only my ankles show and I'm behind a wall, so I wear something cool and don't worry about being presentable! :D

But no...I'm an administrative hearing officer - not a "real" judge - and I do 90%+ of my hearings by telephone conference call. The Division used to have a fairly strict dress code, but they loosened it up last year so now as long as we're "presentable" we don't have to be in even "office casual". I'm in a decent top and jeans today, and tennis shoes. If there is a dignitary coming - someone from the Governor's office or something - or we have an in-person hearing, we have to be at least office casual. Otherwise, wear what's comfy.

If a house burned down in the community, Goodwill did nada.

Here it's apparently Red Cross. When our son's apartment building burned, they gave the residents $300 each and a ride to a hotel. That was it. Salvation Army has the shelter and food pantry and I'm sure they'd give clothes to anyone in real need.

Also short update: Bart has anew lawyer. It turned out his other lawyer was the one holdi g things up. Bart is happy as a clam now and he has been extremely fun to talk to since his case id not stressing him out.

There will be no parentsl coordinaor. Both parents have to agree to get one. Old lawyer lied to him and said he HAD to have one. That was the main thing stresding him out. So now things are 99 percent better for our relationship. He is really hard when he is stressed. He is happy now!!!

Glad to hear it! :)
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Back to Goodwill. Forgot an important warning.

No merchandise from GW or any thrift shop I volunteered at is ever thoroughly washed. There are no washing machines or sinks in back...the only sinks we had at our GW were in the restroom and break room.

Many donations sit in garages or dusty closets for years, sometimes because (like this thread) people can hang onto things for twenty years. I actually remember a few people saying that the stuff they are donating have been laying around for very long This advice is for all thrift store buys.. Everything is put out with, at best, a spray and wipe or Febreeze and, at worst, nothing.

Wash anything from a thrift shop really well!
 
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