My DH and I have been cleaning out daughter and son in laws house so they can move. We have been working on it for over 4 weeks. During that time I have washed about 70 loads of childrens clothing - most too small for my grand boys - and we made 6 seperate trips, car loaded to the gills with donations of that clothing, books and magazines. That's the good part! My DH also cleaned out 2 bays of a 3 car garage which was loaded with garbage, recycles and boxes that had been moved twice and never emptied. He's made at least 3 trips to the recycling center to get rid of that stuff.
We threw out thousands of dollars of very pricey make up my daughter bought and never used - pitched it, as old make up can be loaded with unpleasant bacteria. We donated at least a thousand dollars worth of 'scrap booking' material, also never used. If I added up the original cost of the donated clothes (some never worn) and other stuff that was donated, the estimated total of original purchase price is around $12,000!
Had to wash the clothes because clean and dirty were mixed together. In the clothes were at least 150 pairs of socks and 100 pair of underwear. Apparently, buying new is easier than using the washer and dryer!
We're leaving on the 26th with my two grandboys and I an actually looking forward to the 12 hour drive home!!!
If my DH EVER coomplains about how our home is kept, I'll buy him a 1 way ticket to our daughters home!!!!