So how do you de-junk your house without wasting a bunch of stuff?
1. I took my old cell phone in to The Body Shop to be dontated to battered or homeless women who don’t have access to a phone for emergencies. I found out about the program from a website called Earth 911 that encourages recycling, reusing and responsible disposal of junk.
2. C from Squishy Burrito told me about a site called Freecycle that hooks you up with people from your area who are getting rid of stuff for free. It’s sort of like a no-cost Craig’s List. Very cool.
3. Then there’s my favorite — Frugal Reader where you trade books with people online for the cost of postage. I probably like this one so much because for everything you get rid of, you get a credit to bring one more thing into your house.
4. I want to get rid of some stuff. If anyone wants my stuff, let me know and I will send it to you in the mail. Here’s what I’ve got:
A. VHS copy of Sabrina with Harrison Ford
B. DVD copy of the first Lord of the Rings movie, theatrical version, widescreen, great condition. We’re geeks and got the extended version too.
C. Surprise picture frame of my choosing. I haven’t decided which one yet. I have a ton that I’m not using but can’t bring myself to throw away. This will be an adventure and I hope against hope someone picks this one.
D. Last but not least — a very secret surprise prize that NOT EVEN I know what it is yet. It’s just an incentive for me to get rid of something else. If you choose option D, I will be forced to further de-junk.
I may list more free, light-weight stuff on here for no reason except it’s FUN!
What do you do to de-junk your house? This can include methods of weeding, places to donate, etc. Any tip relating to de-junking will be accepted.
Karli says
I pick D! I pick D!
Karli says
I actually have a tip for this one. I set up an “afternoon tea” with some of my friends a few months ago. The basis of the meeting was this: we get together for food and talky-talky, BUT everyone had to bring a copy of their favorite quote, and a wrapped picture frame. We put the quotes in a pile, and took turns reading them at random. Then we had to guess who submitted the quote. Whoever read the quote out loud got the wrapped gift that came with it. It was a really fun way to exchange our unused picture frames, while finding out more about each other at the same time. Very very fun.
blackbird says
We brought giant bags of stuff to the Salvation Army.
Then we moved Oldest into an apartment and gave him LOTS of crap.
Sadly, I have a storage room in our basement which contains enough junk to furnish “our weekend” house, which, basically, is Oldest’s apartment.
I too, would like to know the perfect outlet for this junk…isn’t there a place that gives furnishings to people who move into Habitat housese? Dishes and such?
Karen says
I take a trip every summer with my 4 friends to a gigantic antique show and sale. The trick is to have money that I’ve earned free and clear of household expenses to spend guilt-free. No calling home, “But Honey, it’s suuuch a great deal. Of course it’s worth $250.00”. So I box up stuff throughout the year and mark the boxes “yard sale”. In the spring I have a humongo yard sale and make lots o’ cash for my trip.
I also share hand me down children’s and maternity clothes, baby toys, and baby equipment with several friends. We are all pretty meticulous with our stuff so the items are always returned to in fantastic condition. The nice thing is that by the time the stuff gets back to me I’m not emotionally attached to it anymore (hey, what’s so special about a striped t-shirt in 3-6m?) so it gets demoted to the yard sale box. It really helps declutter my garage and closets.
Adam says
I have miles of spare cable for appliances that i no longer own. i should find out if they are rare and worth $10 each on EBAY.
Stephanie says
I think we already got the Lord of the Rings from some other extended version nerds…
I too, have a Sabrina that I am trying to get rid of.
The most important thing about de-junking is to separate the memories or the guilt from the items. I had this pie plate from my wedding that I had not used EVER. I finally said, she’s not going to know if I don’t keep it, and I’m tired of lugging it every time we move. So I took it to a church event where we gave away our junk to each other.
Squishy Burrito says
Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! I’ve been waiting for this Tip Tuesday for awhile. I LOVE FREE STUFF!!! At first I really wanted D. I was saddened by karli’s enthusiastic request but I realized that secretly I really wanted E. Who doesn’t love a surprize. So, E! Surprize me baby.
Moonface says
First of all, we dont have a lot of junk in our place, but whatever we do, I just donate to the Salvation Army or Cancer Society: old clothes, used-but-sill-usable household items. Sometimes I sell my used-and-unwanted books at a second hand bookshop, or exchange them for something else.
The Daring One says
Congratulations, Karli. You win a slightly wrinkled, but highly coveted and out of print copy of my favorite library quotes poster. This is a picture of the one I have framed in my house. Please send your mailing address to katyounge at hotmail dot com.
SB – I will deal with you later.
Everyone else. These are the best tips yet. Thanks for playing.
The Daring One says
Oh Yeah, here’s the .picture
bon says
I just chuck whatever in the back of my van and hit the old Deseret Industries (Goodwill type place) a la Flylady. Most recently I did have the pleasure of halving my stash of clothing for the girls and coming baby… they went to a girlfriend of a girlfriends. There was a need and I got to free up some space!
Nantie Meg says
I want C!!!
Heather says
I just have too much junk! I think the frugal reader thing is a major keeper, though. I also re-gift. I know it’s terrible, but if I look at it and know I’ll never in a million years use it, it’s going in the gift box, or to DI
kaylang says
I will take the Sabrina!! Totally! I have it now as a taped-off-TV-with-commercials version, and so I can’t yet justify buying the DVD…So if you are desparate, you can send it to me 😉
the other mother says
I must say that if I made any sort of credible suggestion and my husband saw that I had, he would probably die laughing that IIIIII had made a contribution in this area! (I roll on the floor laughing, myself!) However, I am (with emphasis) going to give several boxes of my beloved material to a lady in our church who is collecting for different sevice projects, and I’m taking some other things to DI, also. BTW, anyone know any credible cancer cures out there in cyberworld? Need one fast.
Jordan says
We are big fans of the local thriftstores. There is also a freecycle group in our town, and a local website for people selling and buying used items.