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Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantly

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Extra: A Question of Morality

March 9, 2011 No comments

I’ve been saving this give-away for last because of weather, I couldn’t get anyone to take it, and I had moral qualms about giving it away anyway. You may recognize that the object in the photo was once a baby crib. I have now re-purposed it as a couch. Here’s the story.

All four of our young adults slept in this crib as babies. Being frugal and responsible parents we carefully stored it for the day when we might have a grandchild. When the happy visit of our first grandchild came we energetically cleaned the crib and proudly put it out for the new parents – only to find that times and standards had changed. Duh! We learned that no longer were drop side cribs allowed to be sold in stores. Certainly we didn’t want to risk any baby’s safety, much less our only grandchild, so we researched what the potential safety hazards were for drop side cribs and whether the brand we owned had ever been recalled. Our crib passed on all accounts. Still, we knew that our adult children would never use it.

Plan B was to offer it to several family shelters and churches we were connected with. I wanted to support needy mothers who chose to have their babies. I fully disclosed that drop-side cribs were no longer able to be sold and why. I explained that we put it together ourselves and as long as it wasn’t disassembled and put together by someone else, we felt confident that this crib was safe. All four charities declined the crib. They were probably right to do so, both for moral and liability reasons, but I was still stuck. I hated to just put it out for the trash.

Ah, now that’s an idea. Put it out for the trash on a pleasant evening and maybe someone will come by and pick it up. This, however, didn’t solve the moral issue of my responsibility if they used it for a baby and the baby got hurt. (I thought about putting a warning tag on the crib for any midnight marauders.)

Plan C was then hatched. A friend told me about a friend who transformed baby cribs into love seats. Hmmm. I didn’t want to drive 100 miles to take the crib to this person, but I decided I could re-purpose the crib myself. I took off the drop-side, put a couple large upholstered pillows on the back, and covered the mattress. It’s not fancy, but it’s now clearly a couch, not a crib. I also found out that Viet Vets will pick it up. If that fails, I can always wait for a warm, dry night before garbage day.

PS: Although this is Ash Wednesday and thus I’ve officially been giving things away for a whole year, it’s hard to stop. I keep seeing more possibilities – like that old bike with the flat tire in the garage. I’m going to take a break next week and then will periodically post when I have something worth saying, maybe monthly instead of semi-weekly. Let me know what you think and want.

The Process ,

Days 358-365: Hidden Places

March 6, 2011 No comments

Since I’m almost done with the year I decided to search through a few “hidden places” that I missed during my earlier sweeps. This mostly meant going into dirty places (like the furnace room), looking behind things (like dressers) and under things (like beds). I uncovered a lot of miscellaneous items, some not worth counting. Among the better finds were:

  • Kenyan print (It’s going to our son’s African-American school.)
  • Japanese wall hanging
  • 2 land line phones
  • 3 purses and some jewelry
  • 3 sweaters
  • man’s shirt
  • woman’s vest and top
  • Clamp on light
  • 5 placemats
  • Kitchen cutting board and drain pad
  • 2 car mats

Technically, this week completes 365 days of giveaways but I’m going to post this Wednesday since it’s Ash Wednesday and that neatly ties it up from one Lent to the next. I’m also aware that I still have things that warrant giving away – or to put it more positively, I know there are still many things that others can use now that my pack-rat side is hanging on to “just-in-case.”

A beautiful site!

PS: The photo at left may not look that pretty until you realize it’s a surface in the recesses of our unfinished basement furnace room that was stacked with extra household items. Beauty is sometimes in the lack of clutter.

 

 

 

Extra Fun none

Extra: Morbid or Freeing?

March 2, 2011 1 comment

I’ve been thinking about death lately. Maybe it’s because friends are helping their parents make decisions about moving out of the homestead and into assisted living. Others are settling estates. The result is that people my age are sorting through stuff of elderly relatives. (I hope our own kids appreciate that I’m saving them a lot of work by doing some of that pruning now.)

Certainly people who move frequently or have garage sales have a leg up on limiting undue accumulation of stuff. BUT, we’ve lived in our current home for about 30 years and it occurs to me that letting go of some of my stuff is starting to feel like part of the grand process of letting go of my earthly possessions in preparation for letting go of life. I hope this doesn’t sound overly morbid, because it is not really with sadness or fear that I hold these thoughts, but rather a feeling of freedom. Eventually, I will be letting go of all earthly possessions and people. It feels oddly comforting to be gradually moving in this direction, object by object.

In a week we will observe Ash Wednesday. “Remember, Susan, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” I have no proof that there is an afterlife, but it is something I have chosen to believe. Either way, the things of this world will be of no use to me after death. The only thing that counts is how I have loved and cared for others.

Extra Fun none

Days 350-357: Other People’s Stuff

February 27, 2011 1 comment

I know I’m treading on dangerous territory here, but I’m trying to be careful not to give-away / throw-away things that I have no use for, but that belong to other family members. The easy person was our niece, Linda, (right) who cooperatively visited from out of town to go through several boxes of family memorabilia stored at our house. One of our children said “Don’t give anything of mine away. Period.” Another said, “I think this whole giving away craze you’re on is silly.” Two others can’t take their stuff because of their own storage issues. Linda took a box of stuff and I’m waiting for e-mail confirmation before letting go of the following items:

Likely to be approved

  • Motorcycle helmet – OK’d
  • 2 insulated lunch bags – OK’d
  • 88 music cassette tapes (I thought this would be a no brainer since cassette tapes lose their quality over time and it’s getting harder to find something to play them on. I thought I was being generous by not getting rid of the 451 music CDs, but one son wanted to at least check out the tapes before we pitched them. 27 vinyl records are already gone. I’m waiting for approval on 25 more.
  • High School papers. Really now, I think even college notes that are over 10 years old are not worth keeping. I think the high school stuff is an easy call.
  • 23 Guitar and Skateboarding magazines from 1999-2003.
  • Computer motherboards (or at least I think that’s what this box of boards with little tiny shiny metal pieces protruding from it contains). They’ve got to be at least 10 years old and obsolete even if they work.
  • 2 unused obsolete/broken computers (missed during my electronics purge).
  • Box of baseball cards from 1980’s

Other items I’d like to get rid of but am less likely to get permission for are:

  • 34 Play Station games, 4 World of Warcraft sets, and a Nintendo Game Cube (worth $2 on Gazelle)
  • 75 adventure/fantasy novels (Brooks, Jordan, Grisham, Cook, Goodkind, Adams, Chrichton, etc.)
  • Roll playing game paraphernalia

The one thing I’m keeping is the TV that belongs to one son. We substituted it for our TV since it has a larger tube screen. Since flat screens are the rage now, my guess is that if he ever wanted a TV, he wouldn’t go for our adopted monster TV anyway. I think it’s safe.

PS: In the trivia department I found 35 non-working pens. That leaves only 155 working pens/pencils in the house. Why would anybody need that many if you’re not a teacher? Well, we do lead programs and often ask people to write their thoughts down, so having extra pens and pencils is handy; but 155 people who don’t have a pen on them? Really!

The Process

Extra: Letting Go Of People

February 23, 2011 No comments

5 yrs. ago, but they haven't changed much - except to lose the cap.

Since I’ve been doing this blog a number of people have said to me, “I hope you’re not getting rid of your husband, Jim!” We would both laugh and then go on. Jim’s a keeper, but I would like to address the issue of our adult children. Although once a parent, always a parent, none of our children currently live at home. This is fine with all of us. (Next week I will deal with the on going challenge of knowing what to do with the remaining stuff that we are still storing for our kids.)

Today, however, I’d like to muse about letting go of our adult children – in a good way. Launching them has been a bitter-sweet experience. We always await their visits with great anticipation, but there is also a relief when they leave and we can return to our normal, boring lives. Letting our children fly and take their own directions has been both satisfying and fearful. There’s way too much to say about it in this short blog. I guess you’ll just have to read the book – the book I wrote that just came out of course. It’s titled, Parenting Your Adult Child: Keeping the Faith (And Your Sanity). End of blatant plug.

PS: Of course there are other, more painful circumstances in which we must let go of people – bad relationships, lost loves, divorce,  death… That’s a book I haven’t written yet.

PPS: Frustration of the week. With all my giving away last year (conveniently documented on this blog) I figured that at least I’d have some hefty tax deductions for donations. But, Aarrgh! I just found out that my donations have to be to tax-exempt non-profits. Some were, but many went to FreeCycle which doesn’t count.

Beyond Stuff none

Days 344-350: Closets

February 20, 2011 No comments

I had closets scheduled for this week’s give-aways but I was getting worried since I had already gone through closets last Lent and I’m saving the kid’s closets for next week when I tackle “Other People’s Stuff.” My fears were confirmed as I searched the nine closets in our house, until…I got to the downstairs bathroom. Up till this point I had only found one extra crib sheet and passed on getting rid of miscellaneous picture frames and sorting through boxes of memorabilia on a high shelf. BUT, I found a plethora of towels of all sizes – 67 in all. I figured I could give away half (34), which leaves 33 for guests. Some of the towels were a little ratty but many were like new – probably because we never needed that many. (How we accumulated so many unused towels is more than I care to go into here.)

I also found an extra shower curtain with decorative hangers, a luffa pad and, surprise – a radio/cassette player. What was it doing with all the towels? Maybe it felt lonely since no one uses cassette tapes anymore and the towels gave it comfort. 😕

PS: Zen question of the week: Does reorganizing extra picture frames and moving boxes to a better storage space count for anything? It has uncluttered some spots in the house and was motivated by clearing things out, but really it’s a zero sum action.

Days 41-365

Extra: Be Careful, I’m Contagious

February 16, 2011 No comments

Click to enlarge

As the months roll on, I’ve gotten quite a few messages on this blog, through e-mail, and in person that others have caught the “giving away” bug. They might have caught it from me or it might have just been the right time in their life to let go of more stuff. If I have been a carrier of this bug, I’m pleased.

Building on last week’s “Being Silly” post, however, I’ve discovered that I’ve also created a copycat “silly gene.” A few days ago I received a mysterious package with a letter saying that the sender had been so edified by my give aways that he decided to imitate me. The writer explained that he didn’t think he could discard his unneeded items on his own, so he was sending them to me to dispose of as I saw fit.

Hmmmm. Sounded a little fishy but I was giving the mystery giver the benefit of the doubt. I couldn’t help laughing, however, as I uncovered the following objects:

  • 9 Styrofoam cups
  • 26 index cards
  • 45 pieces of scrap paper
  • 1 cardboard crucifix
  • 1 match
  • 1 pair of earplugs
  • 1 pair of broken sunglasses
  • 1 box of golf pencils
  • 1 zipper
  • 1 pair of chopsticks
  • ½ bag of seeds
  • a foot of ribbon
  • phone cord
  • plastic doll
  • vanilla flavored sugar capsule for coffee (I don’t drink coffee.)
  • Self –Esteem cassette tape
  • empty egg carton

The letter was signed by a Harvey Kecker which didn’t ring any bells, but it had a return address of Hamden, CT and cost $3 to send.

Hmmmm. I spent the next 30 minutes sleuthing on the internet to figure out who my secret admirer was. I had a hunch which I later confirmed with a phone call to an old friend who lives in New Haven.

The moral of the story is that sillyness is contagious also, but even better is the knowledge that someone took the time and $3 to send some laughter my way. Pass it on and make someone laugh today.

PS: In the spirit of ridiculous give aways, I also found the following around the house:

  • a bag of about 50 old panty hose that I had been saving as batting for stuffed animals that I might sew for our toddlers one day. (The youngest is now 26.)
  • a bag of plastic bags (I have no idea what I was saving them for.)
  • a duplicate, almost used up, shoe shine kit.

I will recycle these items since none are worth giving away. The question of the week is: How many stockings with runs, plastic bags, and almost empty items are enough?

Extra Fun ,

Days 337-343: Healthy Or Not-Supplies

February 13, 2011 No comments

Over the years a family of six is bound to have some broken bones, stitches, sprained ankles, diarrhea, constipation, poison ivy, acne, and bad hair days. I’m prepared! But perhaps I’m over-prepared. I decided that Jim and I will no longer be allowed to break a leg (except in the theatrical sense). The crutches are going. If a visitor breaks a leg, well… I’ve also decided to give away:

  • 2 of 3 heating pads,
  • 2 of 6 Ace bandages (This handy stretchy fabric has multiple uses.)
  • 1 of 3 tennis elbow braces (After all, a body only has 2 elbows)
  • 2 of 4 luffa type pads
  • 1 shoe covering for a cast
  • 1 ankle brace
  • 9 boxed toothbrushes
  • 2 of 3 portable hair dryers
  • New bottle of hair gel from our daughter’s crazy teen hair days
  • Synthetic hair cleaner (Maybe a place that fits cancer victims for wigs can use it.)
  • Extra deodorant
  • That bright pink liquid that expired in 1998 (Don’t worry, I’m throwing that away along with a few expired prescriptions and things that keep the body moving. 😕 Use your imagination.

I figure the hair products qualify as health related under the “healthy hair” category.
PS: Click on photo for up close view.

Days 41-365

Extra: Being Silly

February 9, 2011 No comments

Sometimes we can take ourselves too seriously. During this year of giving things away, I have at times felt guilty, generous, virtuous, prideful, satisfied, and perplexed. I knew I was taking things a little too far when I asked myself:

  • If giving away my cold or a smile would count, or
  • If running out of breath was really giving something of myself away.

These are right up there with last summer’s challenge of getting rid of a smell in our garage and the deer who were eating my garden vegetables. Today, my husband is valiantly trying to evict, ie. get rid of,  some squirrels from our attic. Sometimes we just have to laugh as ourselves, don’t we?

Extra Fun

Days 330-336: Hi-Ho Silver, Away!

February 6, 2011 No comments

In examining several dining room shelves for more things to give away, I found 11 sterling silver pieces with varying degrees of tarnish. Silver can be beautiful but I definitely don’t want to spend time polishing it for the rare fancy occasions we might use it. I’m sure, however, that a beautiful silver coffee pot set is not something that people who frequent thrift shops want or need – except to sell it for cash. One of my blog readers recommended a local charity store called Legacies that accepts high quality merchandise for the benefit of cancer support programs. I added a couple pieces of valuable crystal that were beautiful but at high risk for breakage. I probably won’t make any money from this, but even if I did I’d feel obligated to give it away. Finding the right home for give-aways is often the biggest challenge.

PS: How much is it worth? In my ever continuing effort to be a resource to my readers, I’ve found two ways to gauge the price of something I’m considering giving away. Check prices for similar items on e-Bay.com or http://Replacements.com (for crystal, silver, china, and collectibles. With this information you can decide whether to just give an item to a thrift store or sell it and then give the money to a worthy cause. Any other ideas?

PPS: I’ve signed up for Post a Week Tags that allow you to browse my posts for common themes.

Days 41-365, The Process none

Extra: Beyond Recycling

February 2, 2011 No comments

So let’s talk about recycling. Now that I’ve faced the demon of recycling electronics, what about all the more normal recycling we do. You know – the paper, glass, plastic, and cans. Recycling these things doesn’t feel as virtuous as giving a needy family clothes, dishes, or toys. Technically, it’s not really giving something away since it’s simply going into the garbage, albeit a curbside recycling container. We’ve been recycling and composting for a number of years and feel that it’s only right to do as citizens of planet earth. It may not make a huge difference but it’s one step that we hope is being multiplied by many other responsible consumers.

BUT…I keep remembering “No Impact Man” and how he tried not to create any garbage that needed recycling. We use cloth bags for shopping – most of the time. Don’t drink bottled water – except when in developing countries. We’ve downsized our garbage can. Hey, we’re good, right! But I’ve been starting to notice how over-packaged many of the things I buy are. Sometimes I can’t avoid it, but my next self-improvement and earth-saving effort I think will be to buy less and smaller, so that there is less to give away or recycle.

Beyond Stuff, Extra Fun

Days 323-329: Electronics

January 30, 2011 No comments

I knew I would have to get to electronics sooner or later. First, I surveyed our house for things that ran on electricity or batteries that we were not currently using. We have two unused TVs (a 33” monster and a 13” black and white). Since the 33” is being stored for one of our kids, I’m only free to give away the 13” one – gladly. I’m even throwing in the digital converter box. That’s the easy part.

Next I needed consultation from our local son to find out what cords and gadgets were worth keeping and what weren’t. We have two color printers that I think work. (I hook one up maybe once a year when I have to print brochures in color.) I’ll give one away. I also found 4 cell phones, 2 computer keyboards, 1 zip drive, 1 Linksys router, 1 laptop battery, 1 minolta (non-digital) camera, 1 PDA (Palm Pilot), a Play Station, several “mice,” and lots of cords. But how to dispose of all these things since I wasn’t  sure what worked or how to work many of them? I also wanted to be a conscientious recycler and not add toxic elements to a land fill.

I was delighted to read a timely article in the January 6, 2011 NY Times, Giving Those Old Gadgets A Proper Green Burial. The article recommends Gazelle as an electronics recycler that will even give you money for some electronics and responsibly recycle the rest. Best Buy also takes electronics for recycling. I tried the online Gazelle route first since it seemed easy and I might make some money I could then give away. Apparently all our “gadgets” are too historic for Gazelle. The most I could get for the lot was $2. The rest just qualified for recycling. Best Buy, here I come.

Days 41-365

Extra: When Is Being Good, Bad?

January 26, 2011 No comments

…When you’re too good at hiding things. I store things so well and compactly that when I found and extracted the 300 National Geographics from their nest in an unused stairwell, I also found old history books, children’s Bible stories, children’s record albums, a cutting board, tailor’s board, kites, campaign signs, and a slide presentation about Colombia complete with slide carousel. Does anyone use slides anymore, much less vinyl records? This wasn’t a very big space but every thing (plus one son’s role playing resource books and figures) was packed into a 4’x4’x2’ space in a 2-step stairwell that we had blocked off. Maybe I should have titled it, “The Hidden Staircase.” Wait, wasn’t that one of the Nancy Drew books I gave away last week? I dare not give away the role playing paraphernalia, but the rest is going.

Extra Fun

Days 316-322: Books In Hiding

January 23, 2011 No comments

This is the last week I’m going to devote to books and we have eight more bookcases in our house. It’s not as bad as it sounds though since 2 hold my professional books, 2 are for Jim’s work, and 4 are our kid’s bookcases. In the interest of family harmony, I’m not going to mess with any of these bookcases. I’m conceding them as unavailable for pruning. I did, however, find books in two hidden places and those are this week’s treasures.

I had forgotten that I had 33 Nancy Drew/Dana Girls books stored away. Some of them were my mother’s and dated back to the 1930’s. I looked them up on E-Bay to see if they had any value. Since mine didn’t have dust jackets most were only worth a few dollars. I decided not to fuss with selling them on E-Bay so I took them to a local store that specializes in vintage books and got $60 for the lot. Not as much as E-Bay but I figured I wouldn’t be able to keep the money anyway since I’m supposed to be giving these things away. I decided to put the money toward a $100 bus ticket for a family we know that needs money to move a few states away.

I also found over 300 National Geographics hidden in an alcove. They date from 1973 to 1993. No book store would take them so I’m hoping some local grade school can use them for cutting out pretty pictures. I did a lot of that when I was a child. Apparently National Geographics are only really valuable if they’re from the 1800’s. I hope, however, that school kids, will recognize their value.

PS: Oops, I just found another bookcase in the corner of the basement. The books all belong to child #4 so I dare not mess with them. They are more recent novels and text books. I can’t send them to him because he’s in Singapore. Maybe if he needs some cash, he’d let me sell them.

Days 41-365 ,

Extra:Things I Should Tackle But Won’t

January 19, 2011 No comments

I suppose that a pruning purist would challenge every box, space, and piece of paper in the house, but I have to draw the line somewhere. For me, I’ve decided that I simply don’t have the time or will to go through four crates (40 years) of photo albums and five file cabinets of folders. (OK, the photo albums probably only cover 30 years since the last decade has been largely digitalized.) The industrious organizer would convert all those old photos to CD’s or whatever the modern electronic form would be. I’ve scanned some photos for posterity but it’s quite a task and I’m not up to doing them all. (That would make a nice Christmas present, kids. 😉 )

The file cabinets are packed. Yes, they are organized but I admit they are overflowing to my desk, where I keep my most active files. A truly virtuous person would go through them all and pitch outdated information. It’s a daunting task and I get tired just thinking about it. Even though much of the information I use is on the computer, it would still take a lot of time to go through each file and decide what’s worth saving.

Giving away stuff is already taking over a chunk of my daily life. I think that adding photos and files would be an example of the perfect being the enemy of the good. Besides, no one else would benefit from my used papers except the paper recycling industry. Call me a slacker, but a sane slacker.

The Process

Days 309-315: Books – Where to Take

January 16, 2011 No comments

It’s book week #3 and I’m now evaluating the bookcases in the dining room. Technically this room has three bookcases but two of them are actually display shelves with stuff we’ve collected from various countries. One bookcase has books related to the continent of Asia, the second has books on Africa. Most of these are memento books and dictionaries – not really books to read. I’d feel guilty getting rid of them, so I’m focusing my attention on the catch-all bookcase.
The photo above on the right is the before photo and the one on the left is the after. Unfortunately they don’t look all that different. For the record though, out of 270 books, I’m getting rid of 45 and moving 4 to a more appropriate bookcase. Many of the books I’m keeping are books I use as resources for planning prayer services. Others are books on nature, health, household repair, and geography. Oh yes, this is also where I stash all our catalogues which I reduced by about a third. For those who care, there is a website, www.CatalogChoice.org that helps you eliminate unwanted catalogs.

A more satisfying experience today was finding a place to sell/donate all the books I collected from weeks #1 and #2. I took them to Half Price Books which is a store that sells books for half price but also buys used books, even text books, raggedy books, records, movies, etc. I took in over 250 books and got a whopping $10. Admittedly, few of the books were current or in good condition but since I was going to give them away anyway the payment was not important. The books that aren’t new enough looking to sell, they donate to non-profits. Those that don’t even meet that criteria, they recycle.

PS: I used my $10 toward buying several other books at the store

PPS: Other places to take used and books of questionable value are:

  • The Friends of the Library (most libraries have this organization)
  • Senior citizen centers and condos with a library like novels and classic movies
  • Amazon, Powells, and other online stores buy current books in good condition but it takes a bit of work to use their systems.

2018 April Update: Joshua Becker just did a blog post on 20 Place to Donate Used Books. Check it out.

Days 41-365, The Process ,

Extra: Boxes & Space – Full vs. Empty

January 12, 2011 1 comment

I’d like to discuss the finer points of getting rid of vs. saving boxes. Recently my husband retired from serving 12 years on the Covington School Board. That meant we could finally turn in 10 large “banker boxes” (equivalent to three file cabinets) of School Board files for shredding then recycling. This left several glorious feet of open space in one of our closets. My first impulse was to put something in the open space, but since I’ve been getting rid of other space hogs in our house, I honestly don’t have any good candidates to take this open space. What a dilemma!

On the other hand, I save boxes. I don’t know if you would call it a hobby or a compulsion but you never know when you’re going to need a box for a present or to mail something. So, I’ve designated a section of our basement for various size boxes (some nested and others collapsible). I also save reusable gift bags, tissue paper, bubble wrap, and a variety of small boxes, tins, old film canisters, and pill containers. These come in handy for containing small objects and doing DIY home organizing. My husband thinks we have enough. My question is can you ever have too many empty boxes or containers as long as they neatly nest into each other?

PS: This photo may look like a mess but I can usually find the size container I want quite quickly.

Extra Fun

Days 302-308: Book criteria – Keeping

January 9, 2011 No comments

Today I took on our biggest bookcase of 439 books. (One whole shelf contained sort of sorted Legos. I wouldn’t dare give those away.) I chose 193 books to give away which are pictured at right. Probably it’s more instructive to discuss what I decided to keep.

  • A few old college text books: I thought this would be an easy purge. I am giving away most of them but saved a few counseling classics and 8 books on sex – all for professional purposes of course.
  • High school yearbooks: I saved all our kids high school year books (even though my mom had discarded mine years ago. “Take THAT, Mom!”)
  • Bibles: You’d think one would be enough but I had 6 (5 were different translations so I’m giving away the duplicate one.) There were also 5 children’s Bibles. I kept 4 since they covered different age ranges and styles. I justify both kinds of Bibles because I sometimes write Bible studies and often give talks to parents about children’s faith development. I also kept some saint books for the same purpose.
  • Baby books: This is probably silly since I’m way past childbearing age but there’s no statute of limitations on grandparenting or visiting kids. I kept the Baby Names book because I sometimes like to know the meaning of names. I know, I know, I could find it online, but this is the first run through.
  • Much loved children’s books: I kept these because I was directed by our daughter to do so. (I probably would have kept them anyway, Heidi.)
  • Creative children’s activities. In addition to the Legos, we have “Gears-Go-Round,” a magnetic game, a rock collection, and a few other things that aren’t books but were kept near the children’s books section. Kids haven’t used them in awhile, but they are quality activities, and you never know…
The Process

Extra: A New Problem…

January 5, 2011 No comments

…dust. One of the unintended side effects of pruning my books is that I now have some empty spaces on the first bookcase. I blew a lot of dust off the books I’m giving away, but now I realize that there was a value to having all the books crammed together – the dust was invisibly embedded on the tops of the books. Now I can see that I may have to dust those luscious spaces between books. Even if I fill the spaces with other more decorative items, it won’t be as thorough a dust hider as the books. Ah, the price of success.

Extra Fun

Days 295-301: Book Criteria – Giving

January 2, 2011 No comments

I’ve procrastinated long enough. It’s now time to tackle the books in our house. I counted 11 bookcases (not counting the 2 in Jim’s office and 3 that primarily have artifacts on them, not books) and 1,339 books at last count. Surely I can find quite a few to give away although it may be painful. The challenge is to decide what criteria to use for what to keep and what to give to friends, the Friends of the Library, or a friendly used book store. First I asked the friends:

  • A young adult quickly answered, “Give them all away, then re-buy any you really want for an e-reader.” I’m not quite ready for going cold turkey like that.
  • Another friend said “Only save books that have information you can’t get online.”
  • Several people commented that many people use what I consider obsolete books for “staging.” It can make a home more saleable or lend status to a coffee table – if you haven’t given it away.
  • One of my own criteria was to get rid of novels that I’ll never read again and college text books. (40 year old texts are of little value to my every day work.)

I decided to tackle the easiest book case first – to get me in training. It had 155 books – many of them novels. I chose 64 to give away. There; that wasn’t so hard. We’ll see what next week brings.

PS to the nosy: Click on the photo to enlarge and see the titles I’m giving away.

Update: Check out Breaking the Sentimental Attachment to Books on Josh Becker’s Becoming Minimalist blog for additional ideas.

The Process
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