love the idea, hate the title!

Comment

Comment by Sally O'Malley on February 7, 2010 at 8:27pm

Thank you, Gail! I appreciate your vote of confidence. But I have a confession. I have listed close to 50 items, but that doesn't mean I have addressed each bookshelf when I entered 'books' on my list or each closet when I listed 'clothes' on my listt. So, I think I need to re-visit my list again and again to really get rid of the items that are weighing me down. Wish me luck because I want to have a legitimate list!

Comment by Gail Blanke on February 2, 2010 at 2:07pm

Sally, I've got your back!!! Pieces of furniture are definintely counted as individual things - not lumped together in a category!! The categories are mainly for magazines and catalogs, old lipsticks, piles of dead batteries - that kind of stuff. Sounds like you're closing in on FIFTY fast. Way to go!

Gail

Comment by Sally O'Malley on January 27, 2010 at 10:49am

my granddad was the same way! my dad was born in 1912 and was also similar. imagine what the world would be like if everyone thought that way and was organized about it! maybe we would be less materialistic. who knows....

just curious if you have looked at freecycle in your community....i like giving to hospice shops and other thrift stores. i tried consignment for some stuff and it wasn't a good spot.

Comment by Linda S Pereira on January 26, 2010 at 8:53pm

I really like the idea of recycling things that we "throw out"! If someone else can make use of the items that are just sitting in piles in my rooms, stacked in closets, or stuffed under the shelves, then that is the best way to get rid of things. I have a hard time finding someone to give the things to in my town. But there is a Hines Hospice Thrift store here in town that resells the items that we no longer want to keep, but are still useful. I grew up in a family where I was in awe of my Grandpa who would make use of all sorts of used items. He would take the twine from market packages and wind it around a ball of twine he kept for years. Even the clean outer butcher paper would be folded into a neat square and put away for later use as art paper or cut into grocery lists. He would save paper bags, or paper pokes as she called them, he saved rubber bands, anything he could. I asked him why he saved the things he saved? He would say, "Well, they're perfectly good and can be used again. No use wasting anything." He was a firm believer in the "waste-not, want-not" theory. I loved the idea. I became just like him. The only difference is that he kept everything in it's own neat place, and I couldn't be neat if I had to. That's my goal! To give away as much stuff as I can and be reasonably neat. I hit my first "fifty things" last month. Although it was an achievement, it barely scratched the surface. I know I have a big job ahead of me. It helps coming here and reading of the problems and progress of you all.
Thanks for this website. :)