How about a June declutter thread?

[Koalamom]

I am feeling like I am too late for the 2011 thread and I couldn't keep following it although I would have liked to. Anyone want to join me for a no pressure June de-clutter thread? I need some motivation to get rid of junk. Or set some simple goals of simplifying.

[Koalamom]

For now I will blab to myself. I have too many clothes that I don't wear, too many pyrex pie plates, saved every cool looking jelly jar that should probably be recycled (ooh but they have so many great uses right, help me part from these!!), piles of unmended clothes on my sewing machine I should probably toss (where is that missing button anyway? lol)

And gift bags, way too many. Do you all think there is a good reason to keep these that I never seem to use barely? And wrapping paper that is half a roll and always in the way. Keep or toss?

[sweetjasmine]

bluebirdmama, this is a great idea! That long, 2011 thread overwhelms me but I like to peek at it now and then. I like this thread!

My dh and I decluttered, or thought we did, before we moved a couple months ago. We couldn't believe how many moving boxes we still took to our new place. So we're still decluttering. Yeah, we paid the movers to move stuff that we are now giving away/tossing.

I'm glad you mentioned gift bags and wrapping paper. I tossed the half rolls (toss yours!) before the move but brought all the tissue and gift bags with us. I've been deciding recently that I have too many. In fact, alot of them are years old. I think I'll go through those this weekend.

I have a slow cooker and a food processor that I'm going to give to Goodwill. I rarely ever use either machine and they just take up cabinet space. I've already gone through my clothes but I have so few already.

[Amys1st]

I am so in!

We dont have a lot of clutter, but the whole house needs a 'go thru'.

I intend to:

Clean out garage and shed- actually DH does

All kids dressers go thru and take out outgrown clothing, make box for giveaway and for donate.

go thru our dressers, I lost weight recently and I need to weed out things. I plan on buying all the sale deals after 4th of July, this is an incentive!

Basement: we have an extra sofa a friend is taking this weekend, we need to go thru the toys, the pantry and put bricks under appliances in case we get more water down there.

We have an extra bedroom, go thru the closet.

DD1 is outgrowing that kid hanger so I want to replace those with adult sized hangers. That will be easy since I hang all shirts. As they come out of the washer, I will hang them on adult hangers.

There is a large tub in DD2's closet of hand me downs from her sister. I will then take the leftover kid hangers and hang the stuff up. We also want to add another elfa shelf in her closet, it goes on sale in July. another incentive!

June 30th- take donations to goodwill and to other friends who enjoy the bags of clothing I give them.

Do we want to keep an item count?

[Amys1st]

Oh reading the replies, I add wrapping paper storage to that as well! I usually use it all up, but that also needs help.

Also hall closets and refold all the sheets and towels.

[wannabesmc]

I'm in! Right now I live with my parents so I am only responsible for my bedroom and part of the bathroom. But the flip side to that is that everything I personally own is in this one room. So, here are my goals for June. go through my clothes and throw out anything that is ripped, stained, too big (I'm dieting so too small stuff can stay so I have clothes later) or just doesn't "work" for me. Go through my books and magazines and take everything I don't want to the second hand bookstore if still in decent condition or the recycling bins they have for books and magazines if not in decent condition. Go through the rest of my random junk and just PURGE what I don't want or don't need. Get a tote for my bathroom supplies to get most of my bathroom cabinets cleaned out. I'm sure I'll find more that needs to be done but I won't know what else until I've at least STARTED on that.

[clutterwarrior]

Well this is a good idea, I would like to join in too, so I can clarify my decluttering goals for the month.

I won't be bothering to keep an item count here.  I don't think it is has to be an either/or in terms of posting in the 2011 thread, as that is more of a list thread, just for itemising what we get rid of, and I post there as well.

My decluttering goals for June are:

1. Make sure I list any of DS's old clothes that I want to sell on ebay for this season, before it is too late!

2. Get rid of magazines, let's face it no matter how great those issues are I haven't got time to re-read any of them!

3. Begin to declutter my craft room cabinet.

4. Declutter one area of garage.

5.  Lastly, go through top cupboard in DD's room to sort through bags of stored clothes and toys.

Edited by clutterwarrior - 6/13/11 at 12:10am

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by clutterwarrior 

Well this is a good idea, I would like to join in too, so I can clarify my decluttering goals for the month.

I won't be bothering to keep an item count here.

I don't think I am personally going to keep an item count but others could if they wanted. I am thinking that I may gat overwhelmed by decluttering if I have to keep count. I can hardly remember how old I am. 25 or is it 26? Oh I give up!

2. Get rid of magazines, let's face it no matter how great those issues are I haven't got time to re-read any of them!

Oh come to my house and help me with this. So hard to get rid of mother earth news but I know I will never open the ones from 5 years ago.

[sweetjasmine]

I've got a few old magazines that I keep just because. A handful of Southern Living to which I no longer subscribe and a couple of local mags. They don't take up much space but I've been wondering if I should keep them or not. Still divided on that one. But this weekend I am going to go through my gifts bags that I mentioned earlier, my old photographs again which I've culled and pared and am really afaid to get rid of too much more, and my books and dvds. Again. Plus old cards I've decluttered in the past but I still have too many. My Sunday will be busy!

[clutterwarrior]

The magazines that I keep are scrapbooking ones...they are filled with tips and techniques so I sometimes think I should keep them as a reference, but I never seem to look at them, and they are taking up a lot of space on my bookshelf. I am thinking that I may go through them and tear out the best pages and put them in a folder which will take up a lot less space.

I have decided not to bother with the ebay listings, just going to take all the clothes to the recycled clothing shop...it usually works out pretty much the same overall, by the time I take into account ones that don't sell on ebay plus the cost of listing and the time spent doing it too.

[enkmom]

I'd like to join you, too.  My immediate need is to weed through our books (we have about 10,000 and I'm not exaggerating much).  The Friends of the Library is having their used book sale next month, so it would be perfect timing.  I have started this and have a copy box full and ready to go.

I need to weed out magazines, too.  I love Reminisce magazine and keep every issue, but I have 2 stacks both almost 2 feet tall, and I never re-read them.  I just don't want to part with them.  To think about how I used to roll my eyes at Mom and her National Geographics.

My basement needs a serious de-clutter, starting with my daughter's formal dress collection.  She had a new one for every dance, but she is 22 now and will not be wearing them again.  I could kick myself for missing Prom season.

[mamayogibear]

Hello and happy summertime to all. I have been pretty busy this month but have still gotten some decluttering beyond normal house work done.

So far we have:

Donated two large trash bags of clothes.

Taken all the cardboard boxes outside to be recycled.

We need to:

Pack up a bag of well loved books to donate to book store (one reuable shopping bag filled!)

Pack up another bag of clothes to donate

Give away newborn size cloth diapers and covers

Create portfolios of kids art to give to grandparents. (created now I only need envelopes and postage)

I am moving in the begining of August and need to get my belongings down to whatever will fit in my VW Westy so some serious decluttering will occur soon. I also need to find time or money to get my van running.... so i can sell it or trade it for a bus.

Edited by mamayogibear - 6/7/11 at 12:03pm

[Koalamom]

I am determined to declutter (or atleast clean the house) today!! :joy
My MIL in coming in 3 days and havent seen her for a year. She always has something to say about my parenting skills so I will not give her something more to call the family about, the clutter. This is actually good motivation.

[clutterwarrior]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clutterwarrior 

5.  Lastly, go through top cupboard in DD's room to sort through bags of stored clothes and toys.

Did a few bags today...feel good that I made a dent on the soft toys!
 

[mamababamba]

Joining in...need to got through the wrapping paper/craft paper box as well! Then...

• donate the three boxes waiting downstairs
• sort and donate surface clutter and stuff I brought in from the car
• go through laundry room storage closet
• evaluate outside toys and deliver to sister or thrift store

[MamaFern]

joining! it feels like my life is in a constant state of de-cluttering

we have 4 kids and live in a tiny house.. moved in here a year ago and are still in the midst of renovating and getting settled. i had a baby in November,

she is 6 months old and kind of clingy and life is kind of busy.. not sure where im going with this.. but i do have things to sort out and get rid of. i guess im having a neighborhood garage sale at the end of the month so for now anything we get rid of will just go into our tiny shed til then, and after whatever is left will go to the free store. i have been working on kitchen and living room and clothes lately but just in snippets and so far everything is piled in my laundry room, the tiniest room in the house! i think tomorrows goal is to get the laundry room a bit more usable.

*sort through and store (in shed) winter gear for next year

*put up more hooks for hanging jackets

*reorganize pantry shelves

* find new washing machine (ours is on the fritz)

*de-clutter baby clothes.. babies grow fast!

*sort through baby clothes already in bags.. make one bag for sister who is trying to have babies and one for thrift store/garage sale

* find home in house for the dollhouse

[sweetjasmine]

Things I did on Sunday:

Went through gift bag box. Some were years old that I had bought on sale thinking I might use them some day but guess what. Alot of them I've never used because I never liked most of the assortment. They are gone now as well as most of the tissue paper. Hoarding stuff like this on the chance that one day I may need this color or that size was starting to wear on me and I feel much relieved to have the space back. I've only kept one large gift bag to hold a small amount of other bags and tissue.

Culled greeting cards. I am doing this more often as I receive them during the year. I have a large extended family and friends that likes to give cards for birthdays and Christmas. They add up fast. My younger sister has the right idea; when she receives a card she places it on the mantle for a week then tosses it. lol! I've done pretty well though and only kept a few of the best and most sentimental ones from deceased relatives and from other family and friends. I now have only a box slightly larger than a shoe box with the cards.

Organized and decluttered the junk drawer in the kitchen. Could probably do a more thorough job but I'm satisfied with it for now.

Got the slow cooker and food processor boxed and ready for Goodwill. I had decided I rarely used them and they just take up valuable shelf space anyway. The small appliances I have left that I love are the immersion blender, coffeemaker, toaster, grill and fry daddy.

[mamababamba]

So happy for the renewed inspiration to go through another layer of stuff....thanks for all the ideas and push forward. Yesterday I dealt with a lot of surface clutter and organized the wrapping/cards stuff. I made a clear area in my desk for addresses, cards and stamps which will make it so much easier to get mail out, my nemesis! I also sorted and organized ds' dvd's and story cd's. Hoping to get a dump run in this week for some of the outside debris and junk and then also a thrift store stop for the growing four bags I am at now.

[lucifugous]

We're living pretty minimally, but there is always room for improvement. Right now our financial situation is a huge factor; our place feels pretty spacious because we only have the bare minimum of furniture, but I'm also more motivated to keep things that I wouldn't be able to replace, so it goes both ways. For example, one thing I do have is a lot of clothes that are still too small (never got quite back to pre-pg weight, then gained back up to "very pg" weight, definitely do not plan on staying there!!!), but they are neatly folded, organized and stored in bins, along with the off-season clothes, so they fit into our closet space and get reevaluated each season.

The exercise ball that got a hole in it, however, that has to go!! Unless there is a way to patch it because I did use it daily... hrmmmm.... :/ what do you think??

I have a couple weeks worth of mail that pretty much just needs to be shredded. I've kept things in a binder in the past but it seems silly to bother when so many things are paperless these days, the binder would just be such an incomplete picture, ya know? So that will be easy ...

and everything else is fine. laptop gets put away, small portable DVD player gets put away, no TV or entertainment center or disc collections of any kind, we generally have maybe 3 or 4 DVDs for my daughter, half of which are from the library and the other half we swap out every so often with her stash at her dad's house, or trade with a friend. My daughter's play area has a chalkboard, shopping cart, her little cabinet, and one small bin full of things that gets put away easily & regularly. The kitchen cabinets aren't even half filled by our space-efficient stacking bowls and minimal amount of baking dishes, mugs, etc. The only thing that's ever left laying around on surfaces are clothes, which get picked up every two days at worst, twice an hour at times :p So I think overall we're doing pretty well.

ETA: Whoops realized a couple more things! I do have a very large bag of cloth dipes I've been trying to sell for AGES and just not getting it done! No one wants them! Poo! ...and I have one paper shopping bag full of stuff for the thrift store, but it includes a few things that people have claimed and not picked up yet... grrrr.. and I really could just pitch (donate) it all and say oh well had to get rid of it, but I've needed a lot of help/favors lately and feel like it's worth holding on to things, like the karma points are greater if I keep it within our circle of friends   But soon it will have to go... so I guess my main issue to focus on right now is the closet space! I keep these things out of sight and just let them sit. Pfft.

Edited by lucifugous - 6/6/11 at 3:00pm

[mamayogibear]

Originally Posted by lucifugous 

The exercise ball that got a hole in it, however, that has to go!! Unless there is a way to patch it because I did use it daily... hrmmmm.... :/ what do you think??

ETA: Whoops realized a couple more things! I do have a very large bag of cloth dipes I've been trying to sell for AGES and just not getting it done!

I could have written these two sentences! I still have the exercise ball I labored on to have my dd. It has been deflated for a few years because the dog bit it yet I just can't part with it. I've gotten,popped and recycled two other ones since then. Let's make a deal you toss yourse and I'll toss mine:)

I too have way too many cloth diapers that have to go! Have you posted on diaperswappers Free for shipping. Tha'ts where I got most of mine when they were 'new' to me. I need to put about two dozen newborn prefolds and four covers on there since neither of my kids fit them. I also have 15 pockets that I only used for my son at daycare that I'm holding onto just in case when he goes back to a different daycare in the fall they'll let him use them...

Good Luck and good work!