Mid Year Organize/Declutter etc Challenge - Page 3

[wonderwahine]

cleaned out some more of ds's stuff and have a huge pile of stuff to freecycle.....I'd estimate around 50 items.

[Amys1st]

My parents are taking dd1 tomorrow for some grandchildren/cousin fun. I can attack the playroom then!!

[TwinMom]

Does it count if all my items come from my refrigerator?? You wouldn't believe the stuff I found in my vegetable drawer. I'm scared to look in the other ones!

[monkeys4mama]

Oh man, this is exactly what I needed. I have so much clutter it's shameful and I really need to do something about it. But frankly, the enormity of the task overwhelms me and scares me totally off. I like the idea of setting a goal for a number of things to get rid of. I'm going to take a bag around the house in a few minutes and put in 100 things. Once I get my 100 things, I'll go for the next 100 (either today or another day, depending on when I have time and how long it takes).

I like this idea. I don't feel so intimidated by the hugeness of the clutter in my house when I think of it this way. Instead of thinking how will I ever declutter this room or that closet or whatever, I *know* I can find 100 things to give away. That will be easy! Heck, it even sounds like fun. Or at least it sounds doable. If I kept this up through the summer, weekly at least, I'd be in much better shape.

Thanks for the challenge!

Off to visit my basement of sheer clutter (which DH refers to as "Ell's H*ll" LOL!)

[member]

I am making a drop-off at the thrift store today. A t-shirt, blouse, fleece jacket, magazine/file box, 2 small cutting boards, DH's skateboarding mags, an acrylic cardigan, brown skirt (too short, too big!)... I think that's it. This is a very small trip, LOL.

I've also decided to get rid of my stereo/boombox. DH has a great set-up with speakers, turntable, etc. so I don't need this one and I've really only been using it as an alarm clock. Eeek.

[monkeys4mama]

I can't believe it. I far surpassed my goal of getting rid of 100 things today. I bagged up 350 items to either throw away or give away. I have two bags of baby clothes and toys (the clean, good ones) to donate to the crisis pregnancy center. And I have two more bags of things to take to the Gospel Mission store. Then there are two huge bags of stuffed animals that I am going to freecycle. And assorted stuff that was too junky to donate so I just threw it away. I might have actually finished the whole 500 items today if not for my kids. They figured out that I was throwing out/donating stuff (including theirs) and then they started getting into the bags and trying to tell me they still liked this or that or that I couldn't throw away some odd thing (that they hadn't even played with in two years) b/c it had some special meaning... Sigh... So I quit at 350.

I'm feeling happy and pleased to have unloaded so much. But in a way, I am also discouraged. If it only took me a few hours to find and pack up that much stuff, what does that say about our home? It's a disaster. I confess, I am the queen of clutter. I have such a hard time parting with things. I look at everything and see that it has potential for reuse, recycling, etc. So I am forever hanging onto stuff. I need to learn to let it go. :-(

[wonderwahine]

we have started another bag of clothes for goodwill, we went through my chest of drawers and got rid of more clothes......just gotta attack the seasonal and prepregnancy clothes that are in storage. went through some more of ds's stuff, got rid of samples of baby products we will never use on principal etc........so thats today, still got more organising to do.

[Thalia]

It's July 1st...

how did everybody do? Did you meet your goals?

[wonderwahine]

i think i surpased my goals

[Thalia]

We did pretty well. I didn't quite make it to 500 things, but we were close! I think we'll just keep going for July and see if we can make it to another 500. We still have most of the closets to do and DH is a bit of a clothes horse.

Here's what we freecycled or tossed this time:

one humidifier
a big pile of books
two bags of old clothes
33 pieces of old flatware
one bag of magnetic poetry magnets
21 dishes
a sugar/creamer set
41 things from the top of my fridge
wood carving
old TV set
20 old magazines/catalogs
25 pieces of junk mail
one1 old newspaper
Buddhist prayer flags
an almost empty container of muffin cups
19 videos
old coin bank
old wallet
three water bottles
coffee table book
old bottle of mustard
five odds and ends from the bedroom bureau
eleven old batteries
75 more old magazines and catalogs
two more magazines
DVD player
two cat toys
seven things from my freezer
one insulated lunch tote
42 more old magazines and catalogs (um...sensing a theme here? )
one old glass milk bottle
two glass candleholders
133 plastic and paper grocery bags
one old bottle of lotion
____________
Total: 468 things!

[Alkenny]

No tally, but I did get rid of a whole garbage bag of clothes that were....TOO BIG on me! Woo-hoo! I've lost 28 pounds in 2 1/2 months, and the clothes went to my cousin (much needed) but boy did that feel good!

[crunchymomof2]

I keep forgetting to post my progress. I am at 139/750-1000. Not sure where I will stop. I am almost done in the kids room. Ill post more later.

[chasmyn]

Talked it over with DH and we've decided to donate it all to charity rather than try to do a yard sale - we just want it out of he house! We have literally filled our office with stuff to donate. I'm going to inventory it this weekend and then I'll be able to tell you how many things I'm getting rid of - woohoo!

[Stone Fence]

I'm feeling good

I sold my futon frame, and sent my wok, a cheval mirror, 4 coffee mugs and some other stuff to a new home with it. We can actually move through the basement. I have boxes of outgrown baby clothes yet to go. I'm going to start free-cycling a bunch starting on Monday (when I can be close to my computer). Our house is slowly getting clutter-less (not free). I've got a VCR, stereo tuner and an OLD TV yet to go (that's the big stuff).

[wonderwahine]

2 bags of stuff just went to a freecyler.......2 more to go

[crunchymomof2]

I finished the kids room about 200 total now for july probably 500 things fro their room. Its so nice and clean. I love it. And my decluttered living room stays clean all the time or within 5 minutes of clean. When I am all done I plan to post pictures.

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by Alkenny

No tally, but I did get rid of a whole garbage bag of clothes that were....TOO BIG on me! Woo-hoo! I've lost 28 pounds in 2 1/2 months, and the clothes went to my cousin (much needed) but boy did that feel good!

[ollineeba]

I am trying to gather things for a yard sale..
we had a yard sale in May and made about $200 and I have lots more stuff to put out this time! It will have to be on a Sunday, though, since that is DH's day off.. so we'll see..

I still have sooo much to do!

[Amys1st]

where I am at since I started

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Okay, July 1st is almost here. If you want to call this a July Challenge or whatever- I want this done by the mid year date.

I need to get rid of another 500 items. I also need to clean out areas etc so that is where the 500 items comes from again. Also our church is having its annual rummage sale next weekend so I can delcutter things to there.

I need to go thru all storage areas etc, clean out the fridge/freezer, go thru the pantry, clean out the garage, storage shed, and attic. Also go thru my kitchen cabinets. And really bad- go thru DD1's old stuff to use for DD2 and store it properly or hang in DD2's closet. All of her shoes that she did not wear out, I can clean up and store for DD2.

since dd2 is our final, I can slowly get rid of things as she ages out too.

Big aspirations but I so need to do this. I want it done by the 1st but this Challenge is good until the last day of July.

Any takers? List your goal this month and how you plan on getting there!

ok feel like Dora at the end of the show- I DID IT!

went thru pantry, playroom, dds' bedrooms, our bedroom, freezer, fridge, attic, got rid of close to 500 items this morning!!

DH took dd1 to the pool and after a few huge nursing sessions, while dd2 slept off her milk drunk I ran threw the house w 3 bags at one point tossing crap. The last few weeks we ate out the freezer before the heat set in and we wont eat those winter meals, cleaned out the fridge and if there was too many containers, had a leftover night for dinner. (pad thai is really good w guacomole on the side )

I have shredded, cleaned out files, just gotten rid of stuff. Even now I have a pile for the TP of outgrown dipes and clothing.

I think the playroom has toys that multiply by the hour. I also made a deal with my 4 yr old. If she wants something new, she needs to give away 2 toys to another child who dosent have them. I went thru there today while she was asleep and weeded out the party favors, bad costume stuff, happy meal toys, old playdoh, tidbits etc that seem to pile up.
what else could I do now?

[Amys1st]

ok caught my breath,

I need to freecycle a rocking chair, bassinet and a few other items too