How do you get rid of ‘stuff’?

[ToChangeforthebetter]

We have lots of stuff. I have been working on sorting things but my bit. I find it easier to get of things that I know can be reused - toys, clothes etc. I either sell or give to a charity shop.

We also seem to have lots of ‘stuff’ that seems to hang around and I don’t really know what by I do with in most rooms.

E.g. In the kitchen, we have plastic tat, cooking things we’ll never use, various old lunch boxes etc. I think I just leave it where it is as it’s easier than having to sort it or deal with it.

I am always very aware of the money spent when throwing stuff away, but if it wasn’t about the money, I’d be glad to throw it away. I know some people say you’ve already spend the money, so it’s gone, but when it’s things I could likely get some money for when money is tight, it feels wrong to just get rid.

Emotionally, it would feel good to get rid of the stuff. I am always in a much better head space when things are organized and tidy.

I could blitz the house and just dump it all at the tip. If I take photos and try and sell it, it’s all hanging around till it goes.

Should I just throw it out?

Charity shop / freecycle. Less hassle than selling, better for the environment than the tip.

There's a good local recycle Facebook page where I'm at, so you're not allowed to sell anything but you'd be amazed at what people will travel to pick up for free!

Do you have any local jumble sales? I always time my clear outs to coincide with those.

I put all my bits in the front garden and advertised the lot....all free....had cleared an aunts house also so had extra stuff....80% got taken...rest dropped at charity shop...i am quite ruthless....get rid of things not used or wanted fast !

If you have lots of old tupperware (with lids) contact you local High school. Mine is desperate for extra tubs as students always forget to bring them in for food tech.

Charity shop. I always think I could sell stuff but it’s hassle, and if I take it to a charity shop I treat it as a charitable donation in my head. I always ask the charity shop if it’s okay to leave anything I’m not sure about and they’ve always said yes even to odd stuff!

It helps to gift aid as then I get a little email every so often to say the shop has made £x from the items.

And stuff the charity shop doesn’t need, they often partner up with other initiatives to recycle stuff or donate it abroad etc, so I doubt there’s much that goes to waste.

Does anyone use the Olio app where you live? It’s brilliant for getting rid of stuff.

Either Facebook pass it on or charity shop.

I think about why I want to get rid of it - to make my life easier so I can easily use cupboards and have less to clean.

Freecycle is brilliant.

Is freecycle an app or a group e.g. on FB?

Please don't.

So many people bring us stuff to the charity shop where I volunteer thinking that we can turn it into cash. But OP says she has "plastic tat" and "used lunchboxes". They are quite possibly not worth selling and only fit for the bin.

It might make YOU feel better about the environment by passing your stuff onto us, but the end result is that we end up binning it, and it costs us money to do so.

I have just put so much Tupperware/ plastic containers in the recycling. Am feeling strangely freed.
Also went through jewellery yesterday, have identified a bunch of stuff to sell; a couple of really nice pieces that I will give as presents; and organised the actual stuff I will use into a place where I will see it.
Will be giving the clothes and accessories a month to sell or it will be going to charity shop.
We are in central London so have no car, therefore have to have some patience in terms of getting stuff out of the house.
On a bit of a mission at the moment.

Set yourself a target of filling one bin bag a week (or month, or day...) and get rid of the things.

Start with the easy things, that can just be binned and work up to more complicated things that can possibly be gifted or donated.

Your reward will be cupboards with plenty of space so that everything can have its place. Train your family to put things away rather than down and your life will be transformed by a home which is always tidy.

Enjoy.

uk.freecycle.org

Nextdoor

I put stuff on a wall near our house and it gets taken, including food I don't want and the only things not taken are plastic bags.

That way I have given away old rugs (useful for dogs or the car boot), cushions, mugs, tea, plastic boxes, baco foil, shoes, plastic tat!
Passed on an old sofa through Freecycle, they just collect it.

I think you have to be realistic in what is likely to sell. Eg if plastic lunchboxes are still in reasonable condition with an odd scratch then I'd charity shop them but if they are scratched, stained or faded etc then it's just unlikely.

The main thing is limiting what you buy going forward. In the past I've done big clear outs and ended up buying more tat. Tat can creep in bit by bit, item by item until you are full of it again.

She also says eg ‘cooking things we never use’ and suggests she could sell some of the things. So I’m assuming she has enough sense to distinguish between what’s sellable, by herself or a charity shop, and what’s for freecycle or the bin.

1.Book yourself a pitch at the local car boot sale.
Sell cheap to get shot of it.

1. Anything that doesn't sell, offer to the charity shops.

1. Anything the charity shops don't take goes to the tip - lots of recycling skips there so it doesn't have to all be landfill/incinerated.

1. Repeat weekly.

Be realistic about old and tired items that have been well used. Recycle or bin immediately.

Do you have a car? If so, fill it up today with those things that can go to the tip and those for charity. Fwiw, my charity shops look at items before accepting them, or at least i show them the items, maybe I'm not supposed to!

Op be realistic.
Items won't last indefinitely, old lunch boxes may have a recycling logo on them, if they do put in the recycling if they don't then they are always going to be destined for land fill - sad but true.

Cut the middle man and bin them.
I doubt that anyone would want to buy second hand plastic kitchen stuff unless it's in almost brand new condition.

Just chuck it out. I get a cloth skip. Did it last year and this new year I'll do the same. I dont worry about every thing going to the right place. That would slow me down. I dont haveca car.

My house looked amazing last January so looking forward to another clear out when I have time and a skip!

Should I just throw it out?

Yes.

The main thing is limiting what you buy going forward.
Second this strongly.

I am completely ruthless. In my under stairs cupboard I always have a charity bag on the go.

I also sort out stuff that could go to school (games for wet play boxes, toys for nursery, books for the library) and I have a mate who works in a really deprived school. I put clothes and shoes and things like that in a separate bag for her.

Some stuff I put outside at the end of the drive with a note: free stuff help yourself.

And finally we have a mobile recycling van that parks up in the district at various spots so I save the dates of those and take anything I can to that. They have a bin lorry for actual rubbish, cardboard recycling, plastics and glass recycling, wood and metal recycling and then anything else they siphon off to sell in the reuse shop.

For me, it's just a case of being organised. I took 4 big bags full to the charity shop yesterday.

Whenever I tidy up, I sort. Whenever the kids have new clothes, I sort out the old, before a birthday, I clear out. Before and after Christmas, I clear out. You get the gist!