The Clutter Fairy Weekly #186
Keep the Clutter, or Give it Away? Value, Gifting, and Donation
It’s October, so the season of giving—and of giving stuff away—is right around the corner. How do we decide to donate or gift something? And what does it mean when we choose to hold on to stuff instead? In episode #186 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, discusses ownership, gifting, donation, and how our judgments of value impact our decision-making about what we keep and what we’re willing to let go.
Some content in this episode is based on results of a survey of our audience.
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The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.
Gimme Gimme Gimme
This week’s assignment is to consider eliminating an item from your home by gifting or donation:
- Identify an item you’ve been considering getting rid of, but haven’t made up your mind about yet.
- Reassess the item’s value to you. Do you still find it useful, beautiful, or appealing in some way?
- Now assess the item’s value to a potential recipient. If you have a recipient in mind, do you believe the item will meet the same standards of usefulness, beauty, or appeal for the target recipient?
- If you’re considering donating the item, does it meet the minimum standards for what you would consider accepting if you found yourself in a position of need?
- Now consider: Has your mindset about this item shifted in any way? Are you ready to part with it?
- If so, make a specific plan to hand over the item to your intended recipient or charity.
- If not, try the same exercise on another item from your stash.
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
Hello All (I was unable to re load my original due to power outage)yet I wanted to say thank you for the visual and this weeks topic = […] Journey or Destination?
Powerful image of the pink Cadillac? with thoughts included. Such a burden was lifted off my shoulders as I realized this IS a simple “journey” for me while I continue to de-clutter my home and my life. I pack for a trip then un-pack when I return home. A new inner strength with stronger confidence was renewed as I simply realized that I may need “a bigger suitcase” to keep packing out my clutter! Such gratitude for this weeks Tittle…Marsh
Perfect Timing!
My husband has gone out of town for a week, and I immediately began “gifting” all the products I have been taking mental note of lately.
The decluttering journey is a solo trip for me. It makes him uneasy and in turn stalls my efforts. Not this week!
Food we will never eat before it expires to the local food pantry.
Towels that have been replaced but could potentially come in handy some day to the local animal shelter.
Candles I decided were not my scent, lotions, potions, etc., that I tried but didn’t like, and cleaning products that were not the miracle I had hoped have all been rehomed via Buy Nothing group.
All expired food and miracle products for personal care or household use have been trashed/recycled.
Electronics to Staples for recycling.
Lightbulbs and batteries to Home Depot for recycling.
It’s only Monday, so should be a productive week!