Decluttering, books/toys

[jenny1223]

I would probably donate the books. Maybe saving some that are sentimental or favorites.

Toys, I have no advice. I need help in that department too. Right now, I'll just steal away a few as he outgrows them and put them in storage for (possible) future kid. Or toss stuff that is too beat up/missing pieces/etc.

[VillainV]

We got rid of al of our books (and I mean ALL) a few years ago. We do all of our reading on our kindles and iPads. And we move every few years (military) so having less STUFF is always the goal :-)

If you absolutely cannot part with them, or you want to save SOME, then allow yourself a set amount of space. Do you need the whole bookcase for the dress-up station, or can you use one shelf for books? Can you put some books in a rubber made tub somewhere else in your house? Essentially, decide how much space you are willing to devote to books, and pare down to that amount.

[hopenotlost]

I bought these cube organizers from Target, with these cloth cubes that fit in it. A lot of toys go in there. We have tubs for barbies and my little ponies. We go through all the toys every 6 months and I throw out all the broken ones and donate the ones that are still usable. The girls help me so that's good.

[lurknomore]

Books I donate to the library. They have fundraising sales if ised books a couple times a year and will always take them. Toys I've kept almost everything that has been interesting to my kids. Anything that DD1 didn't like, or that I find annoying, goes. A lot of things get trashed but I've found that there are lots of people on free cycle who will take partially complete games for the parts. For example, I have a Cootie game that is missing a few pierces. Twice partial games have popped up but I've been too late to grab them. So stuff like that I free cycle. Puzzles with missing pieces, unless it is one I really hope to find, I'll keep it through one or two more clean outs before giving up. Also, if it is something you would buy again, sometimes the manufacturer will send you missing pieces. Check ebay too. I've replaced a few little people animals that way.

[onomatopoeia]

Oct 29, 2014 17:28:13 GMT -5 @rennido said:

Oct 29, 2014 17:04:59 GMT -5 jenny1223 said:

I would probably donate the books. Maybe saving some that are sentimental or favorites.

Toys, I have no advice. I need help in that department too. Right now, I'll just steal away a few as he outgrows them and put them in storage for (possible) future kid. Or toss stuff that is too beat up/missing pieces/etc.

This is where I'm having trouble...What do I save for future kids? 
I have like 15 tubs of baby clothes (all given by my SIL and Cousin), just waiting for when/if we decide to procreate again. I don't have room for this shit. 

I used to have trouble with this after my first kid...what to keep for the second?  Finally I figured out how much it would cost me to replace it if we had another, and then decided if it was worth that money to basically "pay" to store it/have it take up room in my house.  For example, why store a bouncy seat for 2 years, when I can get another good used one for $10 when the time comes?  (We have really limited storage space, and this really helped parse things down).  Can you go through the clothing tubs and get it down to 4 or 5 tubs of the best/most useful stuff?  Or limit yourself to keeping 12 of the 30 onesies that might be in there?

I plan on keeping the quality toys, like Thomas train stuff, legos, and Bruder trucks.  My dream is that my grandkids will play with it, but since my kids are only 8 and 5 I don't know if DH will let me keep it THAT long, lol.   We try to keep plastic crap to a minimum to begin with - if it doesn't come into the house, it doesn't need to leave.  I also keep books that have sentimental value or that I know I'll read again, the rest I donate. Kids books I'll keep until both my kids are past the age where they'll look at them, then give to my sister - she has a toddler and is still building up her kid book library.

All the toys are stored in see-through plastic tubs in the playroom, or on shelves so they can see it. 

[imojoebunny]

I donate pretty much everything, unless it's broken or unusable. Books, definitely (we buy a lot of books at thrift stores too). Toys I either give to a kid who I know likes that type of toy, take to the local plastic crap park, (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Park-Where-Plastic-Toys-Go-to-Die/145340855529094), or give to goodwill.

[zoomzoom]

You can also take your books to a used book store and get credit to buy more books. Everything else we donate to Big Brothers/Big Sisters which they then use to stock their retail store.

[pattieice]

I sent all of our books to live at the Goodwill.

Regarding toys, I am lucky to participate in an awesome exchange program. My SIL hands down my nephews'old baby gear, toys and clothes to my boys, then I pass them along to my brother's son. Things come in and I am able to send things out. The circle of life is alive and well in my basement!

[Deleted]

I've donated most of my books. The library and the local symphony both host book sales. Gone.

Toys, I keep a few really good pieces. I'll offer anything incomplete for free (it's easy to put up an ad on kijiji and leave things on my front step - no meeting people or going anywhere). Complete things get donated where ever is convenient to me. Community Living offers pick-up, so they get most of it.