40 bags in 40(ish) days declutter challenge. Who's with me!?
rebeccamomof123
6 years ago
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rebeccamomof123
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorebeccamomof123
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Anyone interested in a decluttering challenge?
Comments (66)Moving update ... after spending the summer getting the new house re-plastered it's back to packing and decluttering. So let's get this challenge under way again. The criteria is "Do I want to pay to move and store this?" If the answer is no, it goes. 13 boxes (Trader Joes wine boxes are wonderful for this) to the local charity book sale, 2 boxes of bookends to the same source. One antique, lovely, but rickety cupboard to a local charity boutique for display furniture. Chair to them too. Clothing purged (again) with more donations. One bathroom purged of outdated stuff and drawers and cabinets cleaned. I'm marking them with a tag of blue painter's tape as a signal that it's DONE and that I shouldn't use it. Kitchen blind cabinets emptied and unused appliances and cookware from them to charity. Quick pass through garage for a couple of tools we don't need. Still to go ... yet more books to purge/donate and pack....See MoreDecluttering has turned me into a Scrooge:)
Comments (36)In my ILs' family, we spend Christmas together, so-gifts. But we don't always know one another really well. We try to be personalized, but it's not always something that work. Then one year I opened a gift that was corn holders! I'd apparently said at Thanksgiving that I was nearly out, bcs they break, and I wanted GOOD ones. So one of the cousins ran out and got them for me. It was a HOOT! I felt very loved. I think sometimes people get hung up on the idea that something should be a gift-type gift, and that they have to cost a lot of money. But the gifts I most strongly remember receiving were those corn holders; a package of Pearson's salted nut rolls (can't get them in NY); and a pizza cutter w/ a plastic cover (I'd admired my friend's). Re: cookies-- One year I gave a cousin a loaf of my pumpkin bread. Because he raved about it so much at Thanksgiving. He was the only one who got one, too. It was very definitely a gift I gave to him alone. It may have been edible, but it was about him. However, I agree that if someone is giving cookies to everyone, it really isn't that personal. And mommabird, I do like the idea of "save me the stress!" gifts. I could totally imagine buying you an entire year's supply of toilet paper. (Now that you have room in the garage to put it, right?) Partly bcs then you don't have to remember to buy ig, and partly bcs it would just be funny. (annual cost for a family of 4: $140 http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organ/msg101959151401.html?31 ) Here is a link that might be useful: how much toilet paper one guy used in a year--42rolls...See MoreHuasband and decluttering?
Comments (47)Steve has a good point. But... it depends on the husband. Mine will not throw out or get rid of ANY article of clothing. Doesn't matter if it's ripped and stained, doesn't matter if it doesn't fit and he hasn't worn it in 15 years. At one point (before Flylady!) I let him get another dresser to hold his t-shirt overflow. Since then, we're back to an overflow on the top of the dresser. He NEVER opens a drawer, just wears whatever is setting on top. And I'm currently trying to convince my husband to get rid of his flannel shirts. He hasn't worn any of them in 15+ years. The shirts don't fit him. And he HATES flannel shirts and NEVER plans to wear them (he admitted this). Am I the only person he thinks it's totally ridiculous to keep 2 dozen shirts hanging in the closet for no reason??? If he doesn't agree to this soon, the shirts will start to disappear one by one. In a year or two, he won't remember how many he started with. And the 2 down vests. He has NEVER worn them (they were gifts--and he didn't like them but couldn't be bothered to take them back to the store). They don't fit him now. He wouldn't wear them if they did fit. And the 6 windbreakers. He hates windbreakers. Never wears them, some were gifts and never worn. He has no intention of ever wearing them, and has admitted he can't think of a time when he would possible want one. Originally he said he was saving them for our sons (who don't want them either). Now we're saving them in case the sons change their minds someday?? Keep in mind these have ZERO sentimental value. Several are now out of the coat closet in a "holding cell" for a while. If he doesn't notice the closet it less crowded, out they go for good. And sweatshirts. Another problem. He has 3 he will wear, ten he won't. Says straight out he hates them. Why are we keeping an extra 10 sweatshirts?? And no, the boys don't want them either. And socks! Don't get me started on socks! Everytime I see a holey pair in the laundry, I toss them. That man is hoarding new multi-packs of socks in his drawer, but won't throw out the ratty ones. He has so many socks there is an overflow to the top of the dresser again. Same with underwear. Don't complain to me that your elastic is shot if you've got 4 multi-packs unopened in the drawer. Throw out the ratty underwear for pity sake! So, like I said, it depends on the husband. If I didn't take action at some point, he would NEVER throw out anything. True confession: I tossed an old broken paint-type white plastic bucket in a dark (no see-thru) trash bag last fall. I'm sure he was saving it until the day came when he said, "Gee, a broken bucket sure would come in handy right now". We have a bunch of identical unbroken buckets just like it....See MoreDecluttering for selling home and long distance move
Comments (28)We moved in June. We were moving into an apt. because our house wasn't ready, so we couldn't take too much. The cost wasn't a factor for us since it was a job-related move. We knew we had a lot of stuff that needed to go even if we didn't have to pay to move it. We just didn't want to have to deal with it again. We didn't even attempt a yard sale. I did put a few things in boxes to try to sell on Ebay. Guess what? I haven't gotten around to that yet. I only have about five small boxes, though, & hope to do that around the first of the year. We filled a dumpster with junk & donated a a lot to charity. They sent a large panel truck to pick it up & it basically filled it. My tastes have been changing over the past few years to a cleaner, less cluttered look. I love the cottage look & wanted to have something similar in my new home, but not quite so fussy. I was able to get rid of a lot of things just because I knew they wouldn't work with what I wanted. Julie mentioned decorative items & knick-knacks. That was a difficult one for me. Although I knew I wanted a less cluttered look, I still had a hard time letting go of a lot of decorative things. We'll go through the boxes again when we move & will probably gid rid of more stuff. Some major things we were able to get rid of: Tupperware: I had too much & it was all odd sizes & shapes that didn't stack. Plus part of it was missing lids. We kept only a fraction of it that we actually use. Pots & pans: We had bought a new set about a year before the move, but still had some odd pieces that we didn't use. Small appliance: We had some things like a sandwich maker & baked potato maker. They were gifts, but we never used them. The George Foreman does double duty making grilled sandwiches & the microwave works for baked potatoes. Out they went. Clothes: We kept a few too-small pieces. I kept more than DH, as I have some classic things that I love that I've outgrown in the past couple of years. Anything that looked really dated or frumpy went even if it fit. We also got rid of our worst "around the house" clothes. How many stained t-shirts do you really need for cleaning? Books & magazines: We got rid of a lot. We only kept reference type books & a few hardbacks by DH's favorite authors. We got rid of almost all magazines. I kept a few for reference for the house. We don't really buy DVD's except exercise & a couple of movies, so those stayed. If we'd had a big collection it would've been thinned. CD's & DVD's: We use iTunes & have the device hooked up so we can play our music wirelessly thorough the stereo. We ripped all CD's to digital format & stored the originals in one box. An even better thing is that now I don't have to arrange storage for those CD's in the new house. I think this is one of the best clutter-busters I've even seen, even better than one of the large CD changers. CD's take up so much space in most people's living rooms. We only have a few DVD's because we don't really buy them (usually rent movies), so all stayed. If we'd had a large collection we would have thinned it. Linens: We tossed anything really ratty. Paperwork: This has always been a problem area for me. We purged a lot of old paperwork that we didn't need. A shredder was an excellent investment. Electronics & computer stuff: DH is a programmer. We had all sort of software, as well as various cables from purchases like DVD players. He kept only what we'd need to hook everything up in the apt. & then in the new house. Hobby/craft supplies: I like to work with silk flowers, making wreaths & arrangements. I had accumulated way too many flowers, in large part because of not saying "no" to donations from my sister. I purged a lot of that. I also purged quite a bit of old fabric that I'd been keeping to practice sewing. A lot of this again was due to donations from my sister. When she cleaned out her stash, she offer me what she didn't want. I won't fall into that again unless it's something exceptional. Tools: We kept the majority of them. We kept the majority of our furniture, but only until we move into the house. We were planning to buy new family room furniture before we moved, so we moved what we had & will buy once we're in the house. Good luck!...See Moreteeda
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