7. Gifts you hate
I know that you’re probably going to hold on to a gift for months and months, even though you don’t like it. But you prefer to keep it anyway because someone nicely gave it to you and you don’t want to hurt their feelings.
But no, enough with that! If you don’t like it, give it to someone who’ll enjoy it! There’s no need to waste precious storage space in your home just because you can’t get rid of something you don’t like in the 1st place.
Don’t keep presents out of guilt, because it won’t serve you any good. Trust me, I’ve done that way too many times than I can count. There’s no use in keeping a present if you’re not happy with it or if you’re not going to use it. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so keep that in mind.
Thank you for sharing your information.This is a good time to start getting rid of these things I don’t use and donate.thanks again Vi
Please, before throwing IT out check with your local Thrift shop, vets organization, food pantry or Habitat for Humanity. You may find IT to be tax a deduction too!
Also, please consider donating the tools, clothes, household items to homeless shelters, refugees, those who have so much less that established homes have.
Donate it even if it is not a tax deduction. There are so jmany needy people out there and this is an easy way to help. I’m on SS, have incurable cancer, 60K a month for medications and my wife and I donate stuff just about once a month. And yes you read that right, 60K a month. 1 pill I take every day is 1K per pill, I’ll take this for as long as I live. It’s getting very hard to reach the standard so that you can start to take things like donations, medical, etc. St Judes is a great place to donate. I feel so bad for those kids. I have a friend that has to take his son there once in a while.
Unfortunately 2017 was the last year that charitable donations were ductable.
My approach to this problem? If I haven’t used it in the last 2 years . . . out it goes.
2 yrs? Thats is an awful long time for something to be sitting around collecting dust. It should be more like 6 mo’s to a yr.
Lingerie! Get thee to a high quality seller and get fitted with bras that really fit. Ditch the rest of them – if you get on line you can find companies that will take and repurpose them. Also purge the panties crowded in grey exhaustion in a drawer with no elastic left. It won’t break the bank to buy new ones that match your new bras. If you still wear pantyhose, try not to. It’s so out of vogue that it just looks weird. “Suntan” pantyhose equals “baloney legs.” Nobody’s legs are that bizarre deli-meat color.
Good idea! I have finally come to the same conclusion after all these years (I am 60 and it took me till my 50’s for the lightbulb moment!) Lol. I now only buy good quality lingerie that fit. I buy enough to get me through a long vacation if needed and that’s it. Same for socks. Haven’t worn pantyhose in years and if I should ever need them, I will get it then.
The last part of that comment is so true! Plus, nylon hosiery does not allow your skin to breathe. Who doesn’t like feeling fresh after they get all dolled up.
Apparently you have money to go to a high end seller to buy bras, etc. Many of us do not. And I donate bras that no longer fit to women’s shelters. Underwear of any kind are sorely needed in most of them, as many women and children leave with nothing but the clothes on their back. As for pantyhose, you are so wrong on that! I actually work for an accounting firm that requires us to wear dresses and hose. It is still a very professional look, I would prefer to wear pant suits some days as I consider them professional looking as well, but the powers that be disagree. We often get complimented on how nice we are dressed so I guess they may be right. I also wear hose when I wear dresses to church. My legs are not the best looking, due to age and too many years in the sun, so the hose do help them look better. And my legs do NOT look like “Baloney Legs”!!!
I keep hoping that someday I will fit back into those clothes.
Oh that never worked for me, those clothes just kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller. And if you are stressing about too much stuff in your house, you probably don’t need the added stress of trying to get back into those clothes.
and you might fit into the again. E.G, during Covid, every else gained weight. I lost it. I’m back into my size 10s and staying there. So – ha ha ha to those who say you’ll never wear them again.
When you do you won’t want them
All these suggestions are great but I especially struggle with the last one on toiletries only because I feel like I am just sending unused products and their containers to the landfills. What do you recommend doing with the contents of these unfinished products as dumping the rest down the drain is not an option either. It just really bothers me to add pollutants to the water table and soil if I can’t recycle the plastic or glass bottles. Any suggestions? Other than buying less of what you don’t use or finish which is the first part of the problem to be addressed for me.
Most communities offer toxic product recycling days where you can bring in such items to be properly handled. Check with your local Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority for dates and locations.
Some shelters for battered women will take the toiletries . Check with them
I see many donations at Goodwill of toiletry products
Hi I use unused shampoo to clean my shower it cuts through scum and i use it to bath my dogs.
Unused shampoo??? Huh? That makes no sense. You always gotta wash your hair. How does it become unused if there’s always a need for it???
Sometimes there’s certain shampoos that I don’t like for my hair. Sometimes they are too heavy or too drying. I wind up not using them as much because I don’t like how they make my hair feel when I’m trying to style it. So I wind up not using it all.
Because you see a new kind you want to try and buy it, and you like it better, and you never use the rest if the old one?
Say someone buys shampoo to try and decides it doesn’t leave their hair clean, or it causes problems with their scalp or skin. But it cleans something else, such as the bathtub, sinks, counters, flower pots or the front door, go for it. Don’t waste it, repurpose it!
Great idea to use the shampoo for cleaning your shower. I bet it could be used to clean other things as well, and it rinses easily.
Nursing homes love them
Please take them to a shelter, they are badly needed.
Try not to Overbuy. Also use bigger containers. Add good water and continue til gone. Cut open toothpaste( I use less toxic one) and creams , face washes, and use a small scooper tovget out excess . Make sure products are recyclable. Also by more sustainable like soaps and makeup etc. For clothes ,I use boxed laundry sheets . Check Amazon or online . No big pastic and caustic bottles
Donate to shelters for women or homeless
I would not worry so much about pollution we people create, I worry about unelected billionaires and trillionaires doing weather control and geo-engineering spraying our air with chemicals but blame it on “climate change”. Guess what, climate is changing also on every other planet in our solar system. I put planets are under influence of dun magnetism, which is weakening causing changes due to weakened planetary, magnetic field . Crooked politicians are lying to us so we adopt their bellowed Nazi genociical agenda . Beware also of those who lie for then ( lame stream media)
Donate them and let them decide. There are people that will use them.
Excellent advice and information
Thanks
My sister in law and I have a garage sale every spring. When you come across something that you no longer wear/use/hate🤔 put in a tote/box marked for yard sale. Make sure items are clean. Put reasonable price / negotiate. Say Thank You!! What we don’t sale, we donate it. Must take all items!!!! We don’t have to take it back in… And the people get nice things for free. Please don’t put items out that you would throw in the trash. We often just give things to customers. You wouldn’t believe how happy this makes your heart💕💕💕
Hugs from Cindi & Paula.
If I don’t use something in 12 months – I donate it as someone’s can use it.
I personally believe it should be 6 mo’s. But hey to each their own. I realize everyone is different. But if something is sitting around for 6 mo’s or longer, without you using it, then it has no purpose being there. You’ve either found a better product or just don’t need it like you used to.
I would say a bit longer than 6 months because you have to compensate for the 4 seasons ie. winter wears and sporting activities are not summer wears and activities. 1 year seems reasonable this allows for the change of seasons as well as weight loss or weight gain or change in taste or style.
I don’t know what to do with cards from Christmas & birthdays etc. I feel guilty throwing them out but I have so many. I wonder if they could be put in the recycle cart?
Greeting cards are usually high quality white paper, which is most valuable in the recycling stream, as long as there are no glued on buttons, bows, or glitter. The front of the card can be cut away from the back message half. The message halves can be bundled with twine and put in recycling bin for pickup. The fronts of the cards can be given to preschoolers. Who are learning shapes, letters. Animals, etc. Shapes can be cut out to develop scissor skills, and glued on paper or cardboard to make messages, collages. Etc. Some special schools like donations like that,
Donate the fronts and wording or stuff on backs to daycares, the kids can paste onto construction paper as new cards for arts and crafts.
You can recycle them as paper or you can mail your cards to: St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Recycled Card Program 100 St. Jude’s Street Boulder City, NV 89005. Restrictions On Cards Accepted: They don’t accept Hallmark, Disney or American Greeting Cards. I usually remove the page with the poem, saying, and signature, cut off the front of the card, gather up a batch, and mail them to the above address. There are plenty of cards that are not Hallmark, Disney, or American Greeting.
That’s exactly what I do, Marylea
St. Jude’s can use them. I cut out the part with someone’s name and send the front/picture part. I don’t like to throw such pretty cards out, and most some cards can’t go to recycling.
Just curious: Wondering why they don’t take Hallmark or American Greeting cards? Also do you know what they do with them? Use them for crafts??
Crafters use them to make gift tags. When I was a kid in Camp Fire Girls, we cut up the pics, glued them to cardboard, sewed them together w/ yarn (all the same size with the bottom one being larger and maybe a hexagon) and made a little basket. An idea for schools, churches to make gifts for yourself or moms. I loved mine, still have it although it has flattened out, and I have moved to 7 cities in 5 states and I’m 75. Please don’t berate me—I got rid of furniture first 😁.
Our community has “Blessing Boxes” in neighborhoods. Please no expired items.
About once a month Paula & I go to a dollar store and pick up items like canned soup, cereals, peanut butter, crackers, etc. That don’t need to be refrigerated.
Personal items, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, ect. Their food cards don’t pay for these items.
I get snack items…pudding and jello cups, microwave popcorn. Cup of soup and hot chocolate you mix with hot water….
You wouldn’t believe how much you can buy for $10!!
Paula and I are far from rich!!! Both retired. Doing this is so much better than having a piece if that wonderful dessert!!!! Maybe it will keep us from gaining weight LOL. Hugs
So Basically All unhealthy processed chemical garbage. The less fortunate deserve healthy food & toiletries just like Everyone else.
Instead of buying gift wrap or gift bags for gifting or Christmas go to your local supermarket and purchased a reusable shopping bag at the check out and give your gift in one of these. They are normally $1.00 each and come in assorted sizes and already decorated. This way you are giving 2 gifts and keeping paper out of the landfill.
I use all old socks and odd socks for cleaning. Put a sock over your hand and use it as a duster, it is especially great when using furniture polish as you can spray the polish on the sock, or on the furniture, use the hand with the sock on it to polish and then when done just toss away the sock or you can put it over the top of the can to use again.
Me too!
Everyone should have a basic set of tools, including all shown in the picture (with the exception of the open-end wrench because it fits only one size bolt or nut). The small amount of space that a small tool kit takes up in your house is trivial compared to the inconvenience of having to bother others to borrow their tools every time you need one. Self-sufficiency can be a source of happiness.
I send a postcard each day to a friend in a nursing home and cut off the top of Christmas cards or others and use them as postcards.
Who writes useless articles such as these? In addition to the 8 things to toss, how about discontinuing subscriptions to useless emails written by a 20 year old? Can you not be somewhat more creative and pen a truly insightful article?
If anyone wants to replace their Tuscan kitchen, please call me and I will gladly come and get it!
I haven’t used a hammer in two years , a pare tire in 9 months, so WHAT IF????