Post Christmas PURGE! the race is on! - Page 2

[momtoS]

I went through a few more things..but I can't count them until I have them packed to go.

[Kerr096]

Hubby and I purged 12 rubber maid containers of stuff we have had stored for 2 1/2 years in the garage. My thing was it has been here that long and we have not used it. 8 of the totes of stuff I put on freecycle most of it is being picked up sat, 2 of the totes went to good will and the last two I let friends pick through. I also put in the recycle bin all of my notes from nursing school (freecycled 4 nursing text books as well) those have moved with us for the last 8 years and I have pulled out what I want. It feels good to be able to walk in the garage again. Now for the rest of the house my totes are ready!

[sunnysandiegan]

I doubt I will physically go count all the items.

DD decided she was ready to start making her dollhouse and in order to do that, we had to empty the dresser she has been using that is going to become the new dollhouse. Which also meant we had to go through her "too big" and "out of season" clothes in her real dresser in her bedroom. Whew! We went through every single article of clothing the child owns and I let her give away anything and everything she no longer likes regardless of how many times she has worn it or if it fits, etc. She has excellent taste and really loves clothes. She has been raised with regular decluttering and understands the concepts of giving to others, etc. All of her clothing now fits in her one dresser nicely and easily!

She continued onto her entire bedroom, too. Her nightstand drawer is now easily opened and closed, which is amazing! LOL She also has decided she no longer enjoys dress-up and gave away all the dress-up clothing that is too small for her anyway. She kept two Halloween costumes that are still slightly large on her. She has an Ikea Trofast tall wood structure with four bins in it (2 shallow and 2 medium)...all were overflowing and now only two have anything in them (1 shallow and 1 medium)...she already has a plan for the other shallow one and I have a plan for the other medium one. LOL Tomorrow will see if both ideas work.

Her bookcase was thinned out recently, but she also pointed out a blanket in the top of her closet she has never liked and a Dora tent/sleeping bag set she no longer likes. She is 7, by the way. I also rearranged her closet a bit and now she has a reading nook in there and she is beyond thrilled! She explained to me that she no longer wants her babydoll in her bedroom, but she isn't ready to give "Brooke" away.

Her bedroom doesn't really look any different, but she says it is nicer now.

DH & I feel like her entire bedroom moved into OUR bedroom! ACK!!! The usual giveaway spot is at the bottom of our closet under my hanging shirts. Um, yeah, it exploded out into our bedroom quite aways today! I bagged it all up and we are planning to load up the car and take it away tomorrow (not her babydoll, though). There are at least 10 bags, including the stuff that has been in "the spot" since the last time I took a batch to charity, plus a picnic basket and "princess" dress that are "loose". Maybe I can stuff that dress into the basket??? LOL

We really need to go through our family office next!!!

[lucky_mia]

Wait for me...I said I was in last year but I never did much. Now that I know we are not having any more children, I can get rid of lots of things. Can't wait to get started.

[Getz]

Have to brag a bit on myself to stay motivated!

It is 50 degrees here today, so the kids and I tackled the garage. I got rid of so much stuff!!! Most of it was garbage, but I now have more empty plastic bins than full ones!! I still have 5 more tubs to go through but I will wait for nap time.

Of course, the inside of my house looks like a tornado hit it. But, now I have room in my garage to put the garbage bags that will be coming from the house.

[sleepypeanutsmom]

I'm feeling inspired mamas! I feel like I am constantly purging around here...I always have a box in the garage that I'm filling to donate. Where does it all come from?? I am so tired of picking up toys, toys and more toys!

I am trying to really have "theme boxes" in the playroom...kitchen set, dollhouse, babies, etc., with only one box of "misc". The grandparents gave my twins 6 (yes 6!!) puzzles. I'm really not a fan of puzzles as it is so much clean up. They are at least quality, wooden Melissa & Doug, but the thought of cleaning up all of the pieces over and over again is exhausting. I already put one into the donation box. I'm conflicted what to do with the others.

I was very careful yesterday when we unpacked the Christmas gifts from the car after visiting the grandparents. The stuff that I don't want went straight into the donation box. I know the kids won't even miss it.

I'd love to hear how everyone deals with toys and books. We homeschool so I love having alot of books around but putting them away is getting tiring.

[Getz]

Originally Posted by sleepypeanutsmom

I'd love to hear how everyone deals with toys and books. We homeschool so I love having alot of books around but putting them away is getting tiring.

I have a storage cube thingy from Target that holds canvas storage boxes. We have musical instruments in one, dinosaurs in another, blocks in another, etc. I also have canvas storage boxes under our train table, one is for cars, then trains, etc. I am totally anal about toys going into their specifc boxes. The kids are really good about it too, it actually cuts down the mess because when my son wants to play dinosaurs, he knows exactly where to find them. The canvas boxes are at Target, 2 for $11 and come in a million colors. They hold alot too, including kids! (my kids will line them up and make a train)

We aren't as organized as far as books go. We have one book shelf and there is no order. No point as my kids pull most of the books off the shelf at least once a day.

[momtoS]

Another 41 items
equals
13
41
___
54/1000

Okay if you have a box of stuff just estimate...say one box...is equal to 25 items or whatever.

Okay......to make the stakes higher....I am NOT going to buy anything until 1000 items are gone. Well...except food and stuff like that!

[Earthy Mama]

Another 75 pieces of clothing...that's 67+75=142/1000

[mommabear207]

i'm in! although 1000 seems like most of my house lol but i'll see how close i can get. maybe it will motivate me to let go of some of those items i'd otherwise hold on to...
so is every item separate like each piece of paper? can we count a pair of shoes as 2?

[Earthy Mama]

I say count however you want to.

[ReadingMama]

I'm in need of a purge to serve as therapy after acquiring lots of little things for my birthday and Christmas. (Is that weird?) I have LOTS of scrapbooking stuff that I know I won't use (I have a hard enough time motivating myself to scrapbook AT ALL to want to root through a bunch of materials to do it.) I also want to get rid of some decorations--because they just add to the clutter. We have too many VHS tapes, so I'll weed those out. I always do a pre-Christmas toy purge, so we're good there.

I do better with little goals, so I'll count 100 at a time and see how that goes.

[Carlin]

Yay! I'm in. So far I have 26 items of clothing bagged for donation and a long way to go, but with a house overflowing with stuff and baby number 1 on the way, I need to make a major dent!

[Limabean1975]

I've been inspired by a house we stayed in for the last three days. It's my sister's neighbour's place, attached to her place. They were away and offered their house to us for the duration since there's not enough room at my sister's. The house was lovely - totally uncluttered yet warmly and beautifully decorated. They don't have kids so that makes a bit of a difference, but still - INSPIRING!

[mommabear207]

ok haven't actually tackled any of the spots that need it but i got a start with stuff that i've been stepping over/walking by. it feels great!so far:
20

heres a question: how long do you hold on to stuff given to you? MIL sent some decorations but i feel they're more clutter. except i can't get rid of all of it cause a few things were dh's grandmother's and i know she'll be checking for them when she visits...
but anyways....do you toss stuff if you're going to eventually anyways or is there a certain amount of time that has to pass before its impolite?

[Oliver's Mama]

I'm in, and I didn't even know it! I've done about 3 bags since Christmas.. some are gifts and silly knick-knacky things like those gift card holders, and some are older toys, clothes that needed to go to make room for the new ones (one in, one out!)
I'd estimate I'm around 90/1000.
To add to it, our crawlspace flooded today, so all our stuff from down there is piled up in the living room with all the gifts, and dh actually said "what can we get rid of?" A huge breakthrough for my dear packrat...

[wife&mommy]

I'm in! Does returning things to the store count? I have some things given to us and some stuff I over bought for that I'd like to return.

[ReadingMama]

I think getting stuff out of your house--however you do it--counts!




I decluttered 100 things yesterday! Whoo hoo!

[momtoS]

Todays update
36 items


so

36
54
___
90/1000

I am getting there!

[sassafrass94]

Getz:

I am slowly working on it! I have probably thrown out 5 big garbage bags of stuff and have a donate box. Problem is, DH is off work and he is a total packrat, so he stops me and wants to keep what I am trying to get rid of!

That's too funny! The roles are totally reversed in our house. My husband dreams of an austere, minimalist decor. It drives him nuts when I thwart his purging efforts. While I agree that we need to whittle down a little, I get a crazy about things we "may use someday". Just today I rescued from the pile a Readers Digest "how to fix everything in your house" sort of book and a beautifully illustrated kid's bug game. Now I better quickly fix something and play a game with the kids!
Despite my resistance, we're doing a pre-New Year purge too! I'll sleep better when it's over.