OT: “Let it GO!”

Not really LBYM, other than an object lesson in only buying what you really need, want, or will actually use.

I like to crochet, knit and do other types of crafts. But I have some bad habits, including buying too much for projects so I have a lot of leftovers, being overly optimistic about my time and interest in a project, buying stuff that’s a good deal to use “someday,” etc.

And now that I’m working at home full time, it’s bugging me that this stuff is taking up SO MUCH room, because work stuff is here now, too.

So today, I have literally filled my car (SUV, actually—Hyundai Santa Fe) with JUST yarn for everything not committed to an actual project. So back hatch, back seat and front passenger seat. (Ok: there’s also 2 bags of paperbacks and an ugly painting I picked up at an estate sale). All going to the Salvation Army. I could maybe have sold some of this stuff, but when you want it gone, you want it GONE, you know?

Lotta money wasted, and you can bet I think twice before I buy anything anytime soon.

Thanks for letting me share here: I had to tell someone!!

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All going to the Salvation Army.

Congrats. And, when you’re at the SA, just be sure you don’t just browse around the store checking out what they have on the shelves! LOL.

We’ve done that, and found some really GREAT stuff for ten and twenty cents on the dollar. Haven’t been in a while, but I have a total weakness for ‘tools’. Hand tools, power tools. Duplicates. I’ve used just about all of them, but lately not so much. Much is idle.

But when you’re browsing, some stuff is just too good to turn down. Sigh.

(SA: Good choice. They’re one of my favorites and I donate, mostly $'s, to them often.)

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My Brer from another mother: (SA: Good choice. They’re one of my favorites and I donate, mostly $'s, to them often.)

:+1::grinning:
Yah! Me, too.
SA and the local “community service” places.

:teddy_bear:
ralph

I used to sew, and had shelves full of fabulous fabric, and boxes full of patterns, for intended projects. I finally decided I would not buy any new supplies until I finished the projects already in queue. Well, that brought a grinding halt to purchases!

I don’t recall the point where I realized most of the projects in queue would never get done, but I must have jettisoned the evidence of my optimism somewhere along the way, because currently I have zero fabric and zero patterns. I do have my sewing machine, a collection of threads of different colors (nicely sorted & displayed on a spice rack), and a small box of supplies (scissors, pins, needles, seam ripper, etc). That’s enough for the occasional project that pops up, such as:

  • mending,
  • a sunbrella panel for a railing, to hide an A/C unit from view from the garden,
  • a tablecloth using a nice Marimekko fabric, when I couldn’t find a ready-made tablecloth in the colors/size I liked,
  • re-attaching the hold-down clips to the cover of DD’s hot tub.

I could maybe have sold some of this stuff, but when you want it gone, you want it GONE

Yep. Selling? Ha, I don’t even go to Goodwill anymore if I can help it. I’ve used cragslist recently, under “free,” and have gotten good response from people who come pick stuff up. (I put the items in front of my front door when I get the text that the recipient is on the way, so I don’t have to actually meet anyone, much less let them inside the house.) Works for individual small household items, probably wouldn’t work for clothes, craft supplies, etc.
Freecycle can be good, but there isn’t one in my neighborhood.
I even had an old solid wood desk that I paid someone to take. Heavy, took two strong people to get it down the stairs and out of the house. I think he either kept it or donated/sold it himself, which is fine, saved me the trouble. I didn’t advertise it for free, because I didn’t want random strangers in the house; but I was OK with a stranger whom I was paying for a service, go figure.

Congrats on the weight off your shoulders. Who knew yarn could weigh so much?!

And yeah, definitely LBYM. Nothing like decluttering to make potential purchases clear a higher bar going forward.

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MEK ~

We are on the same wavelength! My dining room table
is filled with items to donate after decluttering my
kitchen and now I am working on my bedroom. Monday
they get taken in and I will breathe a sigh of relief
and know that everything has a place and I actually
know where each item is!

Robyn

My father once told me one day in the 70s after he retired “Your mother is on my case to clean out the garage and get rid of all the “junk”. The problem is that whenever I throw something out, even if its only a 3-foot length of a 2 X 6 lumber, within 3 weeks I’ll need a small length of 2 x 6 for a project.” He was the original do-it-yourselfer that could fix cars, build houses, make tools, etc., etc. using only a drill press, grinder and hand tools if there wasn’t a machine shop available for his use. I’m like him but I don’t have his talent for doing the fine detail work, no.
;-(

C.J.V. - gots lots of “good junk” upstairs in the “gun room” and out in the garage, me
:wink:

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Your situation changed and you adapted, that’s all. If you decided to cut back on work only a few days a week the extra yarn might be a great thing, but for now it’s not. I think often people change their priorities or scope of life and items that were in use become obsolete or vice versa. It’s okay.

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My planned winter project for the last several years has been to clean out the attic.This year I’m actually doing it. My neighborhood “Buy Nothing Group” has been the beneficiary of most of the items that I needed out of the house so far. I do have things that I will keep - at least for now and items that I will donate - mostly books that will go to a local historical group in their area of interest. Prior donation of books to that group resulted in a charitable tax write off in excess of $10K. There are a few things that I will sell, but not many.It’s been a weight off my back to get rid of the “Dusty Attic Treasures.”

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rosewine: “[I]tems that I will donate - mostly books that will go to a local historical group in their area of interest. Prior donation of books to that group resulted in a charitable tax write off in excess of $10K.”

Wow.

You must have had historically valuable books or scads of first editions and/or autographed books. I cannot imagine the volume of used books I would need to donate to write-off $10,000 - that is 2,000 books at $5.00 per book. Or more like 5,000 hardbacks at $1.00 each and 10,000 paperbacks at $.50 each.

Impressed by your library.

Regards, JAFO

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You must have had historically valuable books

Mostly books on a narrow subject with an even narrower potential audience that I inherited. Valued at ebay sold prices at the time of death. I had ten volumes of one series that were selling at over $250 each.I think the highest value one that I actually sold was about $500. Most of the books were valued a $100 or more per volume. That adds up fast. Donated to a heritage foundation that in turn sold them to support their operations.

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A little in the same vein, here’s a cross-post about family memorabilia, historical documents, and the like.

Today’s Carolyn Hax column in the WaPo consists of readers’ answers to a question from someone who is the last of a family line, about what to do with family and historical records and other things that might be of interest to someone but no one who is actually on the scene. There are some useful suggestions. Here’s an unlocked link: https://wapo.st/3IXWJf2.

I’m in that position myself, but because both of my parents were the youngest of large families, I have less family stuff than some of my cousins might. I do have panoramic photos of huge family reunions held in the 1930s; the last of these, and the only one that I remember, took place around 1959. I’ll offer those to the county historical museum.

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