Stuff is too hard to get rid of

[Clutterbusting]

I want to be free of my stuff. I’m drowning in it. My house is a mess and all that happens when I have a sort out is it gets moved about. I spend money on storage solutions when I need to just get rid.
I want to but where to? Charity shops are picky and I have A LOT to shift. Selling takes too long and I can’t be wasteful so a skip is out. What can I do?
AIBU to think this is just too hard?

I give unwanted gifts to my local charity shop- they are always welcome.
Items with tags on, unopened gift sets sell really well.
I get tons of stuff from my mother- maybe 50 items, sock slippers, Bayliss and Harding, novelty oven gloves- all gets given to charity.

In our local town we have a store for Ukrainian refugees. People can take anything there (new / in good condition) and Ukrainians can go there twice a week and take anything they need. Perhaps you have a 'store' like that near by?

You inspired me to get rid of the gigantic wicker chair I've been squeezing past for two years, it was gifted to me by my vendor. I put it on my drive with a 'FREE PLEASE TAKE' sign at 10 am this morning, it had gone by 3 pm.

I am aware that it is really difficult to avoid unwanted gifts and it is a constant fight. I’m a lecturer and used to get a lot of well-meant but unwanted gifts, mainly those gift boxes of body lotion. (I think all teachers can run a shop for this sort of item). My second subject is sustainability in manufacturing, which makes it easier for me to take 5 minutes at the start of the lecture to set my students free from feeling obliged to buy me a gift. For those who still feel the need to buy me something I suggest a gift that I will genuinely use like camomile tea in biodegradable bags.
I think you will always have to preamble that you don’t want an unwanted gift. When I invite friends I suggest a cake or a pudding as an alternative to a bottle of wine . For bigger occasion it is a good idea to make a list. There are many online services that let you share the list with a link to a shop. I also add that a second hand item is very welcome.
I guess I will find out how other parents feel about receiving a second hand gift once DD is old enough to be invited to a birthday party!

It is hard to avoid unwanted gifts.
My mother is the worst offender- she buys everyone in the family 50 gifts each, huge piles of stuff wrapped in plastic backed foil wrap with tons of metallic/plastic ribbon.
I actually dread present opening time at christmas.
I have spoken to her, but she brushes me off telling me I am a "meanie", and "christmas is for spoiling"
Thankfully I have a local independant charity shop that welcomes all the unopened gift sets, manicure kits, body lotion, bubble bath, singing fish, novelty toilet brush, toilet seat with an embedded aquarium scene, novelty wall hangings saying "you don't have to be mad to live here but it helps" or " smile - life is short".
I would like to think that she means well, but most of her gifts are things she likes, she also gives to my OH and our adult kids and nothing shows thought for the recipient.
So we spend christmas day surrounded by 200 unwanted items and a pile of plastic paper.
When my DD goes back to her flat after christmas she will give me a nod saying" grans stuff is in the wardrobe/under the bad" she doesn't want to take it back to her flat to clutter and knows I will covertly take it to the charity shop.

It's great that this thread has been brought back from almost a year ago!

Working through my wardrobe at the moment. I've lost a lot of weight, so am in the unexpected position of feeling grateful I held on to my preDC clothes for over a decade in the vain hope I'd someday fit into them again. But I acquired nice items in bigger sizes when I weighed more, and am now reluctant to pass them on in case I plump out again.

Overall, I'm definitely of the "it might come in handy / it's still perfectly good" camp, so whereas I definitely do not acquire stuff willy nilly (make hard core concerted effort to only buy what I need, and to source it second hand), stuff does tend to hang around my house -things I hope to get around to fixing, or worn through sheets waiting to be re-middled etc. All nicely tidied away, but I know what the cupboards hide...

What I won't accept is unwanted gifts -we do zero gift-giving between adults in our family and it's great.

Speakout, I was at someone's Christmas do last year when the hostess' colleague presented her with a "Christmas pillowcase" stuffed with at least 30 small gifts of the type you describe, individually wrapped in cellophane; totally random stuff like a sexy nightie, miniature handbag, two unmatching eggcups, ornaments, individually wrapped lipbalms which clearly had been part of a set, you get the idea. It all had to be unwrapped there and then, and it was just really weird, definitely all about the person giving and not about the person receiving. I'm sure there's a name for it.

On a dry day, put stuff outside with a sign saying "for sale, £50, please knock" and it will disappear.

The only thing I gift at Christmas are luxury food items, something that you wouldn’t normally buy but would if you had spare cash. It gets used, eaten , drunk and enjoyed and there is no faux gratitude, or wastage.

I used to do this. Sadly, nowadays some of my relatives are diabetic. They also freely admit they have too much clutter and don’t like the idea of experience days. 😬

Lots of food items can be enjoyed by diabetics- hampers or food items like oils, trufle oil, olive oil,vinegars, mustard, all spices, smoked salmon, cheese, many preserves, olives, capers, truffles, anchovies, pate, cured meat, high cocoa dark chocolate, nuts- tons of stuff is suitable.

Bin it. I know people are going to say it's wasteful, but you are right that it's super difficult to get rid of stuff currently. Maybe if you have some genuinely good quality clothes bag them up and put them in one of the charity clothes bins.

I'm trying to avoid getting unnecessary stuff for Christmas. Have told DH to buy me a subscription to an online course and replace some well used make up items that a running low.

We're getting the kitchen refitted in a few days so have had a very satisfying time going through cupboards and culling supplies - appalled by the number of cracked old plates/mugs I'd been hoarding.

Still feels like I'm barely scratching the surface though....