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[rnmom]

@whatsmyname - Hello, and welcome to the thread! We are so glad to have you join us!

I hope you post often, we love to read about everyone's decluttering journey. 

[rnmom]

I spent about an hour in our storage room in the basement this past weekend trying to organize. It is a mess. I just keep dumping stuff in the middle of the floor until I get a chance to put it away and Christmas didn't help that. But it's cold down there so I don't like to spend a lot of time down there in the winter but it was driving me nutso and I have to get the stuff put away.

I found a small bag to add to my donate box and put a stack of boxes out to recycle. Tossed a plastic container. We had 2 old laptops down there that we haven't used in  years. One won't turn on at all and the other won't connect to the internet. We got rid of one and have to dispose of the second one yet. 

That's as far as I got, I definitely need to continue to work on it a bit at a time. 

I also tossed 2 lipglosses that seemed off.

I went thru my mudroom and found 2 pair of snowpants to donate and tossed several plastic store hangers.

[Snicks1]

Speaking of old non-working, or no longer wanted laptops, readers, tablets, etc., how/where does one dispose of these items? I have several that have been collecting for years. I don't know what to do with them. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[gidgetgh]

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@Snicks1 wrote:
Speaking of old non-working, or no longer wanted laptops, readers, tablets, etc., how/where does one dispose of these items? I have several that have been collecting for years. I don't know what to do with them. Any suggestions? Thanks.

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@Snicks1 - where I live in Atlanta, there are recycling events that pop up all the time as fundraisers for the local high schools.  That's where I took my 27 inch iMac over the fall.

There is a recycling center in the next town over, but since Covid, only their town can participate which is ridiculous.

I would look for a recycling center in your area and ask if they take electronics.  Or a local sponsored recycling event like we have here.  On the tablets and laptops, remember to fully erase them.  If you can get the hard drives out of the laptops, you could put them in the driveway and pound the heck out of them with a hammer to make them unusable. That's also a great way to take out any frustrations, LOL. 

[FindingMyJoy]

I located another pile of magazines that were sitting around to be read some day...well that day didn't come yet so they went into the recycling bin. Another easy declutter for me was to take a hard look at my sock drawer. I went through all of the socks - made piles of the different colors/types and then each pile I reviewed which were beat up or faded that had a newer pair to replace it. I noticed that I had the habit of buying new socks but never getting rid of the old ones so it was definitely time to throw out several pairs! My sock drawer looks great and is now better organized so I should be able to find what I need faster in the mornings. 

[AuntG]

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@Snicks1 wrote:
Speaking of old non-working, or no longer wanted laptops, readers, tablets, etc., how/where does one dispose of these items? I have several that have been collecting for years. I don't know what to do with them. Any suggestions? Thanks.

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When we get our tax bill, they have the hours listed for a county recycling center @Snicks1 . However, we have to pay a small fee to drop them off so now I look for free recycling "events" listed in our newspaper or online. There is one in May at a stadium nearby.

[rnmom]

I wasn't sure what to do with ours either, that's why they've been sitting here. We ended up taking the hard drives out of them (my son did that) and destroying them, then we broke up the laptops themselves. 

You might be able to take them to a computer shop to have the hard drives scrubbed and disposed of if you don't take them out yourselves. 

[Snicks1]

Not knowing what a hard drive even looks like, lol, I googled images. I guess I will attempt, one at a time, to take apart these things and try to locate the hard drives, then destroy the actual devices and smash the hard drives. This should be interesting, lol.

[amyb]

Hi everyone~ finally getting back to the land of the living! I've been making progress on the decluttering front..(it's yet to actually look & feel lighter in here to me, but I keep reaffirming that every item out helps and eventually, it will feel different, I've learned in the past.)

I've been keeping a list, to help me know I'm making progress...

* Did more desk decluttering, shredded & tossed.

* 8 clothing items, so far, in donation bag

* 1 pair of sneakers/donation

* 8 pair of socks 6 tossed, 2 in donation bag...cute, nice material novelty socks I never wore.

* That air-popper I held onto last yr...decided it's going to consignment...I never use it anymore, I always pop in a pot on the stove now.

* Toiletries & makeup~

1 concealer (never a good color or consistency)

1 soap, 1 very old conditioner/almost gone and time to go! 

1 emoji foot exfoliator ...I use my manual one now (and a foot peel once or twice a year too)...much more effective and no refills required!! That thing never worked that well and the refill got dull after only a few uses. Lesson learned...sometimes the simple, old timey tools still work best! 

1 old electric toothbrush~have a newer, updated one.

3 old eyeshadow compacts 

1 Mally eyeliner pencil, lead falling out of it

1 glitter powder from an old Tarte kit

Most of these things have been in my "secondary" makeup bag...AS IF I might use them sometime....in 15 years I didn't. ANOTHER "lesson learned."

Frustrating observation...all this expensive makeup, many times don't have a full life, as eyeshadow sticks, & liners break inside and are falling out, when only 1/3 down. I keep them & have to finagle them to apply...a pain, and overpriced for that "quality." Containers crack, break well before their time. 

This is getting long so I'll end with...funny the topic of old electronics came up as this just crossed my mind this morning! I have a dead laptop, an old iPad, two old hard drives I never smashed. I know to destroy the hard drives.  I don't know how to "wash" the Ipad clean, but I'm sure I can look into it once I focus on it.

My closets are still full of clothing I want...I wish I could let go of more. Some I would let go of, looking a little tired, if I had replacements for them as they are staples. I've also been shopping sales to update a few things....at least with those I've let go of as many items as I've bought. A work in progress.

Today, I think I'm doing paper files, and more random things....more to come~Have a good day, everyone!

[aprilskies]

I haven’t been doing much decluttering, probably more organizing.  I did throw out a pair of slip on sneakers that were only about a year old but I have almost twisted my ankle once too many times and I don’t need another broken bone. More pots and pans and some glassware to a relative.  I am also about to toss my emoji pedi.  This worked well at first but now doesn’t seem to be very strong and I really haven’t even used it much. I now use a manual exfoliating tool as well and like that better.  I don’t have to worry about batteries.

I think that is all for now.  But I really want to give it a push this year. My first area is paperwork and pictures that I seem to be the holder of.  I want to give pictures to everyone that they would appreciate.  

I love reading everyone’s progress.  And for those with consignments shops, I envy you.  Not sure how I feel about those in my area. But I guess I can search for some. I really need to address jewelry. Ugh the list keeps growing. I think that is why I run the other way. 

Have a a great day.