[Help] Decluttering: well-meaning advice for younger people from an old ****

[exKT17]

Aged late 50's we are looking at semi-retiring and moving from a biggish house in the city to a smaller place.

Decluttering.

Just been to a car boot sale, selling clutter.

We took crap that cost us hundreds. Most failed to sell, what did sell got us a tenth of what we paid for it. Or less.

My message is don't buy crap, especially if you live in a big house! Buy only stuff that you never want to sell or you can sell at a profit.

I hate my crap-buying decades, now I look back on them.

What a **** I've been, don't be like me!

 

[sjamesb3466]

If it was decent stuff it generally won't sell at car boot sales, certainly not in the Midlands. If you have cheap, crappy ornaments you are made in the shade.

****ing hate car boot sales.

 

[Uncle C]

io

If it was decent stuff it generally won't sell at car boot sales, certainly not in the Midlands. If you have cheap, crappy ornaments you are made in the shade.

****ing hate car boot sales.

Go with the assumption that nobody will pay more than £1 for anything. Then you wont be disappointed.

 

[timbha]

Miss out the middle man and take it straight to the tip. So therapeutic

 

[happypig]

Went through similar a few months ago prior to putting the house up for sale. I got rid of car loads of old crap to the tip, stuff I'd been hanging on to for years "just in case".
Oddly no-one wanted to buy any of the dial-up modems, SCSI tape drive cables,12" CRT monitors or VHS tapes.
Gave a load of stuff to the charity shop and flogged a few bits on Facebook.

 

[sjamesb3466]

io

Go with the assumption that nobody will pay more than £1 for anything. Then you wont be disappointed.

Haha, very true. Just a bit bitter from a few years ago when we were having a clear out. Couldn't interest anyone in some really nice things including some unworn with tags 100% silk shirts that were bought for me as a present in Vietnam (it turns out medium in Vietnam is rather more snug than medium here) however the box of petrol station ornaments/figures left over from when an elderly relative died were selling like hot cakes. Madness (and still bitter).

 

[exKT17]

Miss out the middle man and take it straight to the tip. So therapeutic

Yeah, it's Car-boot-sale -> Charity Shop -> Tip -> Burn it -> Fly tip in Crystal Palace, at least there it will be appreciated.

 

[Fungus]

Freecycle is the easy way to get rid of stuff. Don't take it to the tip. Find a well run charity shop, and register for gift-aid. We downsized a few years ago, and it wasn't worth the aggro of trying to get money for any of it

 

[Madafwo]

We're currently looking at going from a 2 bedroom bungalow to a 3 bedroom place and still de-cluttering. I am a massive hoarder and even I've found it quite refreshing to just bin loads of stuff.

Anything of even remote value is getting put on eBay as I've got the boxes for most stuff as I never threw them away in the first place.

 

[Stat Brother]

Miss out the middle man and take it straight to the tip. So therapeutic

I think you'll find charity is the therapeutic answer.

 

[btnbelle]

This advice has come a bit late for me. I don't like clutter, so my house looks tidy.

The roof has had loads of stuff put up there, over the years. I don't remember what is up there. The cupboards are full too. I'll stay here for a bit longer yet....

 

[Chief Wiggum]

My wife de-clutters on a regular basis by taking things to the tip and to sell at car boot sales.
Trouble is, she always comes back with more clutter than she initially went with.
Drives me insane.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Going through a similar decluttering as looking to down size but alot of our furniture is 2nd hand or up cycled bits so no great expense in the first place tbh.

 

[AmexRuislip]

I think you'll find charity is the therapeutic answer.

I agree with the charity option, but it depends what charity road you go down, as most of the high street shops sift through your crud, and select the best.
I don't remember them being so picky.
There should be some local charities that collect from ones house, that's probably the best option.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Yes, the programmes will have to go one day but going through 50 odd years’ worth to oik out those that have some content you want to keep is going to be a nightmare.
5 boxes of dvds but do I keep them for when the computer file copies escape into the ether?
After clearing both sets of parents’ houses in the past couple of years I agree that it’s not worth the aggro of car booting etc. Most has gone to the Martlets or YMCA or just a house clearance company.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Speaking as one who has had to clear out more than one dead relative's house, my number one tip would be to bin those couple of decades worth of paperwork you've been hoarding. Nobody is ever going to look at your carefully filed utility bill from 1997. It's going straight to landfill. All your worldly paperwork will fit into a single cheapo A4 folder.

 

[Blue3]

We de-cluttered years ago and then started a regime that if anything is found left anywhere it should not be the person who finds it moves it to a holding area if it's still there in 7 days it's deemed unwanted and is disposed of, harsh but works the house has remained spotless ever since

 

[Blue3]

Speaking as one who has had to clear out more than one dead relative's house, my number one tip would be to bin those couple of decades worth of paperwork you've been hoarding. Nobody is ever going to look at your carefully filed utility bill from 1997. It's going straight to landfill. All your worldly paperwork will fit into a single cheapo A4 folder.

Agree to this end every bit of paperwork other than junk mail is scanned into folders into the cloud and the paperwork shredded

 

[Coldeanseagull]

For the past couple of years, I've regularly filled the cars up for the wife to run to charity shops or the tip. I'm talking multiple car loads of stuff I've /we've hoarded. Stuff that is too good to throw away/will come in handy/will be worth something eventually. After this last couple of years, my house doesn't look any different
I need to be more ruthless

 

[Juan Albion]

If it's not worth much, hiring a skip is the way to go. Once you have that thing sitting outside, you know you have to fill it to get your money's worth.