NMM related: Weekend purge

formerlyGDaisy09 · October 2015

simplyelise said:

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

WWMMD related to this. My H has dropped about 15-20 lbs this year (looks like more), we're now in a situation where he basically has no clothes that fit him properly, pants are his main issue, he does have some shirts he can get away with wearing. my plan is to buy him a pair or two of pants each month for the next couple months (we grabbed him a nice pair of khakis and a fitted dress shirt last week, so when we have some nice-ish things to go to in the next few months he isn't swimming in his clothes).

Do we hang on to the bigger clothes for a while, I hope he keeps the weight off, but if he doesn't I don't want to be in this situation where he has nothing to wear again. how long do we hold onto them?
He also has 2 suits that are absolutely ginormous on him now (seriously he wore one to a wedding a few weeks ago and he was absolutely swimming in it). as of right now there is nothing on our 2016 calendar that he NEEDs a suit for (and nothing the rest of this year). So I'm planning holding off on buying anything until we've got something he needs a suit for. The only time I'm thinking this might bite us is if there is a funeral we have to go to, we might be able to pick-up a navy jacket that he could wear with khakis to get buy in that kind of situation. again, how long should we hold onto these giant suits for?

So similar to our situation! DH has been on a weight loss kick since before we got together. He's down about 60 from his heaviest and has lost about 20 in the last year. He is still hoping to lose another 20. He had a couple very large suits from his heaviest days, but good quality Brooks Brothers suits. He was going to try to sell them to a consignment shop but was only offered like $10. Instead he donated to our local dress for success type program. So I'd say for gumbo suits, go ahead and get rid of them.

DH also has two suits he got a month or two before our wedding. He was in job back then that required suits 50% of the time. These were not super high quality suits from men's warehouse. They're definitely a bit big for him now, but we're going to hang on to them. His job now does not require suits and he could get by with them for a funeral. If he gets down to his goal weight and manages to maintain, we will probably get them altered.

So I am not sure what the line is, but I think thinks that he is "swimming" in should get tossed sooner. And things that are big but workable I would keep indefinitely.

I think the suits will probably get stuck in the back of a closet for at least a year, I always thought the jackets seemed a little big to start with (my H isn't a really big person, he's like 5'10 and now weighs like 180, so dropping 20 lbs was significant. at this point he's just fitting into a different type of clothing that never worked on him before.

short+sassy · October 2015

hoffse said:

It's an interesting book. She practices Shintoism pretty seriously, so there is quite a lot of personification of objects because she believes that energy exists in things. To create good energy, she tells you to thank your items as you donate them, etc. (She also tells you to greet your home when you arrive and thank your shoes, clothes, purse, etc. for getting you through the day successfully). Sounds odd, but I tried thanking a few items that I found hard to get rid of, and it was a bit like breaking up. I definitely get emotionally attached to some stuff, and her methods gave me a little closure so I could finally bring myself to get rid of them.

She is kind of OCD about the whole thing, but I enjoyed reading her perspective. And I have to admit that my brain and eyes can settle when I'm in a space that's uncluttered.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've heard of her and have been planning to buy her book. People rave about it. And I need all the de-cluttering help I can get.

I'm definitely an emotional hoarder...okay, hoarder is a bit strong, lol...and I have done what you described above. I felt like a crazy person while I was doing it, but it really did help me finally break the attachment I had to some of my clothes and other objects. I would reminisce with the item (if I had a specific memory attached to it), thank it, and say good-bye. Though usually just with my thoughts, not verbally.

I'm so glad to hear this is something she recommends! I feel validated now, lol.

hoffse · October 2015

short+sassy said:

hoffse said:

It's an interesting book. She practices Shintoism pretty seriously, so there is quite a lot of personification of objects because she believes that energy exists in things. To create good energy, she tells you to thank your items as you donate them, etc. (She also tells you to greet your home when you arrive and thank your shoes, clothes, purse, etc. for getting you through the day successfully). Sounds odd, but I tried thanking a few items that I found hard to get rid of, and it was a bit like breaking up. I definitely get emotionally attached to some stuff, and her methods gave me a little closure so I could finally bring myself to get rid of them.

She is kind of OCD about the whole thing, but I enjoyed reading her perspective. And I have to admit that my brain and eyes can settle when I'm in a space that's uncluttered.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've heard of her and have been planning to buy her book. People rave about it. And I need all the de-cluttering help I can get.
I'm definitely an emotional hoarder...okay, hoarder is a bit strong, lol...and I have done what you described above. I felt like a crazy person while I was doing it, but it really did help me finally break the attachment I had to some of my clothes and other objects. I would reminisce with the item (if I had a specific memory attached to it), thank it, and say good-bye. Though usually just with my thoughts, not verbally.
I'm so glad to hear this is something she recommends! I feel validated now, lol.
***STUCK IN BOX****
Yep, you're totally validated, lol. She believes very strongly in identifying the role the object has played in your life and thanking it for what it gave you, even if it's "Thank you for teaching me what I don't like to wear." I had quite a few of those...

JoanE2012 · October 2015

Sounds like an interesting book! We're headed to Hawaii in a couple weeks and I need some books - I might get this for the kindle! We have a spare bedrooms that still has boxes in in from when we moved in.....THREE years ago! I think this book may help us do this. I also really need to do some purging in my closet.

vlagrl29 · October 2015

funny today I was outside and talking to one of our neighbors - she has 2 kids and she mentioned she is reading this book and going to try it. I just majorly purged last year for a garage sale so I don't feel the need to do this BUT I am intrigued and not sure how easy it will be with people that have kids. I just bought a nice organizational cubby for the family room so we could keep her toys organized. I'm one of those moms that has to keep the princesses in 1 box, play dresses in another, my little ponies together, etc.

abrewer5 · October 2015

I definitely want to check out this book! My parents are hoarders (it's pretty bad) and my H's mom has a lot of stuff too so we definitely live a more minimalist lifestyle than we grew up in, but there is always room for improvement. We usually purge twice a year, in the spring when I go a crazy cleaning spree and right after Christmas and we're trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff we're given. I tend to feel really guilty about getting rid of things I know we'll never use, but people have bought for us and I need to move away from that mindset. H is pretty bad about getting rid of clothes, I finally made him go thru all his clothes about 6 months ago and we donated 9 bags to good will. It was insane the stuff he wanted to keep that hadn't been worn in years. I've also heard a good way to get rid of things is to put it in boxes, taped up, and with the date on it. If in a year you don't use the stuff then you donate it without opening the box to see what is inside. This would work best for things like everyday clothes, accumulated make up, and stuff like that... I probably wouldn't do this with keep sakes or special occasion stuff.

cbee817 · October 2015

We're pretty good at purging. We tend to go through clothing twice a year when the seasons change for us and the girls. DD#2 has a lot of hand-me-downs from DD#1 so we have a storage bin of all of DD#1's clothes for DD#2. Once they both outgrow the clothes, we tend to keep a special outfit/dress or 2 and donate the rest. We also purge a lot of paper work, girls' papers (they draw like crazy) and try to keep only the important things/special drawings. We also go through their toys 2-3 times a year- usually around each of their birthdays and then after Christmas. DH loves to go through the kitchen cupboards 1-2 times a year too and our fridge is bare bones by Saturday night every week so that is always cleaned out. The basement walls and floor were just repainted so we did a good job going through things down there too and DH just cleaned out the garage to get the snow blower out of the back corner and put away some summer things. Our house is only about 1,600 sq ft and the girls share a bedroom so we have to keep the house relatively clutter free with 4 people living in it. I think I would definitely pick up this book though- I'll have to see if it's at our library. Her folding techniques seem like something DH would love (he worked at the GAP in college, so he's super picky about folding... which means I don't fold the laundry.. win for me!)

vlagrl29 · October 2015

the only thing about the folding is it may create wrinkles in the shirts - is she talking bout folding everything?

hoffse · October 2015

You fold everything that can be folded reasonably. Save hanging for things that "look happier" (using her words) hung up because they resist folding. Folding takes up significantly less space than hanging does.

First pic is my drawer for shorts and casual skirts. Second pic is socks and stockings/hose. They are both half empty!

julieanne912 · October 2015

I will say, I have a huge walk-in closet, but no dresser. So folding doesn't work too well for me! I do have a plastic 3 drawer thingy that I have in the closet for underwear and socks, and then some hanging shelf things for stuff like sweaters that can't be hung up. Everything else gets hung. Someday we'll be grown ups and get a real dresser.

PurpleBookmark · October 2015

I have that book on my "to request" list for the library! I'm glad that you are enjoyed it, I'm especially excited to read it now.

I love to declutter, it's almost a hobby for me. I actually do 15 minutes per day, although it's really decluttering and rearranging. I know that sounds like a lot but we have three kids that are constantly outgrowing clothes plus we moved nearly a year ago and are still learning what works and what doesn't in our apartment.

I originally started doing 15 minutes per day of decluttering though the cleaning routings at Fly Lady but I just can't keep up now with all of it. I'm always looking for new cleaning schedules on Pinterest.

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

WWMMD related to this. My H has dropped about 15-20 lbs this year (looks like more), we're now in a situation where he basically has no clothes that fit him properly, pants are his main issue, he does have some shirts he can get away with wearing. my plan is to buy him a pair or two of pants each month for the next couple months (we grabbed him a nice pair of khakis and a fitted dress shirt last week, so when we have some nice-ish things to go to in the next few months he isn't swimming in his clothes).

Do we hang on to the bigger clothes for a while, I hope he keeps the weight off, but if he doesn't I don't want to be in this situation where he has nothing to wear again. how long do we hold onto them?
He also has 2 suits that are absolutely ginormous on him now (seriously he wore one to a wedding a few weeks ago and he was absolutely swimming in it). as of right now there is nothing on our 2016 calendar that he NEEDs a suit for (and nothing the rest of this year). So I'm planning holding off on buying anything until we've got something he needs a suit for. The only time I'm thinking this might bite us is if there is a funeral we have to go to, we might be able to pick-up a navy jacket that he could wear with khakis to get buy in that kind of situation. again, how long should we hold onto these giant suits for?

Well, if you do hang onto the bigger sizes, I recommend those vacuum seal bags for clothing/fabrics. They suck out air to keep away moisture, odors, bugs, etc. Plus, the clothing does not wrinkle.

MommyLiberty5013 · October 2015

I did a purge at the start of this year as I packed up Christmas décor, I went through it all and got rid of a bunch of things that weren't our style anymore, or junky ornaments. Then, I moved on to the "décor and artwork" cabinets in our basement. Next was books (that's a big thing for us). We have a lot of "classics" and don't want to part with those. DH is an AVID reader of history, theology and Christian religion. Thankfully, most of his books he puts on his tablet, but, every so often we get an Amazon pack and he says, "We just need this one for the shelves." LOL.

I also went through the kitchen and donated a bunch of rarely-used things. I sold our 2 slice taster on Craigslist for $15 and bought a 4-slicer for $7 (the kids eat a lot of waffles and the 4 slice toaster is AMAZING [so quick]).

Craigslist has been huge for us. We have sold furniture we no longer like/want. Clothing and boots. And baby gear.

The one thing I am debating on is selling my wedding gown. My sister sold hers right after her wedding. It's not even sealed, just hanging up in a garment bag in our master closet.

vlagrl29 · October 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I did a purge at the start of this year as I packed up Christmas décor, I went through it all and got rid of a bunch of things that weren't our style anymore, or junky ornaments. Then, I moved on to the "décor and artwork" cabinets in our basement. Next was books (that's a big thing for us). We have a lot of "classics" and don't want to part with those. DH is an AVID reader of history, theology and Christian religion. Thankfully, most of his books he puts on his tablet, but, every so often we get an Amazon pack and he says, "We just need this one for the shelves." LOL.
I also went through the kitchen and donated a bunch of rarely-used things. I sold our 2 slice taster on Craigslist for $15 and bought a 4-slicer for $7 (the kids eat a lot of waffles and the 4 slice toaster is AMAZING [so quick]).
Craigslist has been huge for us. We have sold furniture we no longer like/want. Clothing and boots. And baby gear.
The one thing I am debating on is selling my wedding gown. My sister sold hers right after her wedding. It's not even sealed, just hanging up in a garment bag in our master closet.

I sold the wedding dress from my first marriage a couple years ago for $300. I'm not ever going to sell the dress I wore with DH. Too many good memories for that.

julieanne912 · October 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I did a purge at the start of this year as I packed up Christmas décor, I went through it all and got rid of a bunch of things that weren't our style anymore, or junky ornaments. Then, I moved on to the "décor and artwork" cabinets in our basement. Next was books (that's a big thing for us). We have a lot of "classics" and don't want to part with those. DH is an AVID reader of history, theology and Christian religion. Thankfully, most of his books he puts on his tablet, but, every so often we get an Amazon pack and he says, "We just need this one for the shelves." LOL.
I also went through the kitchen and donated a bunch of rarely-used things. I sold our 2 slice taster on Craigslist for $15 and bought a 4-slicer for $7 (the kids eat a lot of waffles and the 4 slice toaster is AMAZING [so quick]).
Craigslist has been huge for us. We have sold furniture we no longer like/want. Clothing and boots. And baby gear.
The one thing I am debating on is selling my wedding gown. My sister sold hers right after her wedding. It's not even sealed, just hanging up in a garment bag in our master closet.

I too am debating this. It's a gorgeous dress and very on trend right now (lace w/ cap sleeves, illusion lace back, etc etc). But, it's been altered to fit me perfectly so I don't even know how much I'd get for it... would kill me to sell it for only a few hundred and I love it, but I know it's just going to hang there. In the end I probably won't sell it right now, then it'll go out of style and then nobody will want it when I am actually wanting to sell it LOL Do need to get it cleaned though.

short+sassy · October 2015

julieanne912 said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I did a purge at the start of this year as I packed up Christmas décor, I went through it all and got rid of a bunch of things that weren't our style anymore, or junky ornaments. Then, I moved on to the "décor and artwork" cabinets in our basement. Next was books (that's a big thing for us). We have a lot of "classics" and don't want to part with those. DH is an AVID reader of history, theology and Christian religion. Thankfully, most of his books he puts on his tablet, but, every so often we get an Amazon pack and he says, "We just need this one for the shelves." LOL.
I also went through the kitchen and donated a bunch of rarely-used things. I sold our 2 slice taster on Craigslist for $15 and bought a 4-slicer for $7 (the kids eat a lot of waffles and the 4 slice toaster is AMAZING [so quick]).
Craigslist has been huge for us. We have sold furniture we no longer like/want. Clothing and boots. And baby gear.
The one thing I am debating on is selling my wedding gown. My sister sold hers right after her wedding. It's not even sealed, just hanging up in a garment bag in our master closet.

I too am debating this. It's a gorgeous dress and very on trend right now (lace w/ cap sleeves, illusion lace back, etc etc). But, it's been altered to fit me perfectly so I don't even know how much I'd get for it... would kill me to sell it for only a few hundred and I love it, but I know it's just going to hang there. In the end I probably won't sell it right now, then it'll go out of style and then nobody will want it when I am actually wanting to sell it LOL Do need to get it cleaned though.

Grrrrr...I was going to try to sell my wedding dress but, during the reception I must have brushed against a flower or something, and now there is a bright royal purple quarter-sized stain on the front . It's over to the side, but still very noticeable. I thought about trying to get the stain out but, unless I can do it myself, I don't think it would be worth the cost to take it to a dry cleaner.

I'm just not sure I'd actually have any luck selling it, even if I got the stain out. It's unusual in that it has red embroidery throughout the dress. I loved that! But it's not the typical all white/cream gown. Plus it was hemmed for my 5'0" stature. Definitely not an average height.

csuave · October 2015

I bought my dress NWT off of CL for $150 with the veil and slip thrown into the deal.

I sold it for $50 clearly stating in my ad that it would need to be cleaned since I didn't clean or preserve it post wedding but it did have added value since I put in a bustle after I bought it. Slip sold for $20 and veil for $40. I was happy to know someone else would get enjoyment out of the dress and happy to not have it taking up space in the closet.

My friend couldn't believe I sold it but I am not sentimental with most objects so it wasn't a big deal to me. Plus I'll always have the pictures.

julieanne912 · October 2015

short+sassy said:

julieanne912 said:

MommyLiberty5013 said:

I did a purge at the start of this year as I packed up Christmas décor, I went through it all and got rid of a bunch of things that weren't our style anymore, or junky ornaments. Then, I moved on to the "décor and artwork" cabinets in our basement. Next was books (that's a big thing for us). We have a lot of "classics" and don't want to part with those. DH is an AVID reader of history, theology and Christian religion. Thankfully, most of his books he puts on his tablet, but, every so often we get an Amazon pack and he says, "We just need this one for the shelves." LOL.
I also went through the kitchen and donated a bunch of rarely-used things. I sold our 2 slice taster on Craigslist for $15 and bought a 4-slicer for $7 (the kids eat a lot of waffles and the 4 slice toaster is AMAZING [so quick]).
Craigslist has been huge for us. We have sold furniture we no longer like/want. Clothing and boots. And baby gear.
The one thing I am debating on is selling my wedding gown. My sister sold hers right after her wedding. It's not even sealed, just hanging up in a garment bag in our master closet.

I too am debating this. It's a gorgeous dress and very on trend right now (lace w/ cap sleeves, illusion lace back, etc etc). But, it's been altered to fit me perfectly so I don't even know how much I'd get for it... would kill me to sell it for only a few hundred and I love it, but I know it's just going to hang there. In the end I probably won't sell it right now, then it'll go out of style and then nobody will want it when I am actually wanting to sell it LOL Do need to get it cleaned though.

Grrrrr...I was going to try to sell my wedding dress but, during the reception I must have brushed against a flower or something, and now there is a bright royal purple quarter-sized stain on the front . It's over to the side, but still very noticeable. I thought about trying to get the stain out but, unless I can do it myself, I don't think it would be worth the cost to take it to a dry cleaner.
I'm just not sure I'd actually have any luck selling it, even if I got the stain out. It's unusual in that it has red embroidery throughout the dress. I loved that! But it's not the typical all white/cream gown. Plus it was hemmed for my 5'0" stature. Definitely not an average height.

I've actually got some brown/yellow spots on my dress from a wilty flower from my bouquet. I didn't notice it was wilting and kept holding my bouquet off to my side. My photographer (bless her) was able to get the bigger ones to lighten up to a light yellow with a baby wipe, so they don't show up in pictures, but I'm hoping a good dry cleaner can get them out all the way. I also know for a fact I spilled white wine on it more than once... had a few too many haha! No matter what I do with it, I need to have it cleaned so it doesn't get ruined completely.

short+sassy · October 2015

julieanne912 said:

I've actually got some brown/yellow spots on my dress from a wilty flower from my bouquet. I didn't notice it was wilting and kept holding my bouquet off to my side. My photographer (bless her) was able to get the bigger ones to lighten up to a light yellow with a baby wipe, so they don't show up in pictures, but I'm hoping a good dry cleaner can get them out all the way. I also know for a fact I spilled white wine on it more than once... had a few too many haha! No matter what I do with it, I need to have it cleaned so it doesn't get ruined completely.

Haha...we had these delicious shrimp skewers with cocktail sauce at our reception and I very purposely had none of that! No cocktail sauce near me, thank you. Apparently I also should have avoided walking past purple flowers, lol. Though after your story, I'm wondering if the "evil" flower was in my bouquet? My bouquet was mostly red flowers, but I think I had some purple ones thrown in. Now I need to go look at my pictures of it, lol.

I'm normally really sentimental, but I'm not about my wedding dress and so don't want to pay the money to clean it or try to get the stain out. And I'll sell it if I can get most of the stain out. Of course, now it has been two years and I still haven't tried. I almost don't like having it in the house because it reminds me of how much I loved wearing it, but there is nowhere else I can wear it.

Hmmm...I wonder how much it would cost to cut it shorter and dye it red to match the embroidery? That might be fun to repurpose it as a fancy summer dress, just not sure how well that would work.

Although it is one of those big, flooffy, "need to wear a hoop skirt or petticoats under it" kind of dress...I actually got it for really cheap off Ebay ($189, including shipping). It was a new dress and custom built for my measurements, but was made in Hong Kong...hence the low cost. But then it also makes me even less inclined to want to spend much money on it.

NMM related: Weekend purge

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