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Come join the November 500 Items Decluttering Challenge!!! - Page 9

post #161 of 312
11/8/06 at 12:41am
This has been great fun! I even rearranged my living room!

I've cleaned out:

Food
Books
Clothes
Hangers
More Hangers
Toys
Weird Stuff

I'm just getting started. So far 30/500...this is truly an addiction...I think about it all the time.
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post #162 of 312
11/8/06 at 12:56am
95/100 now.
Anybody notice when decluttering how much of the stuff is just junk that needs to be thrown away?
post #163 of 312
11/8/06 at 1:52am
I hope it's not too late to start...I need to clear out my dd's room (so that it can finally be her's and not the reminates of our office) and clear space in the basement to move that office there!
post #164 of 312
11/8/06 at 3:09am
More rotten/expired food from dead refrigerator... 15 items.

115/500
post #165 of 312
11/8/06 at 5:35am
Along with 5 things of bad food... 11 pieces of mail... 5 books...

I got rid of TWENTY things to a Mom In Need this year!! Knowing that a family will get much use out of my things I would have otherwise thrown away or donated to the Goodwill... It makes me feel SOOOOOO nice to help out a fellow MDC mommy.

I even sent them my Tempurpedic Pillow.
post #166 of 312
11/8/06 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crunchymomof2 View Post
95/100 now.
Anybody notice when decluttering how much of the stuff is just junk that needs to be thrown away?
Last night, my husband asked me if I was storing all the stuff I'd tallied off on my list. Sadly, there is only one box as a lot of it was stuff just to be thrown away.

I felt very lazy and dirty after realizing that. Not sure why...but I did.

**Not storing as in, keeping it in the basement. But storing as in, keeping it in a box so we can take it to goodwill.**
post #167 of 312
11/8/06 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by corhorvath View Post
I felt very lazy and dirty after realizing that. Not sure why...but I did.

Me too. I am so unorganized. THings get stuffed everywhere.
post #168 of 312
11/8/06 at 6:33pm
Alright I did some more
Didn't keep super close tabs on the #'s but I'm guessing about 50 items

I cleaned out most of the drawers in the kitchen the mantle in the LR and the countertops (everything gets dumped on the island when we come in the house I also mananged to toss some old food and little toys that are always getting kicked around.

So that brings me to
70/500

I better get my butt back in gear. nausea and fatigue are killing me.
post #169 of 312
11/8/06 at 6:53pm

Update (X-post)

I didn't keep a total of how many items I got rid of, but I just had to share about my successfull week end. I completely de-cluttered and rearranged my kids' "study area". It looks so great!

DETAILS:

There is a little "area" (for lack of a better word) between my entryway and my kitchen. The deep-freeze lives there, and there is also a table that is too small to seat my whole family, too nice to get rid of, kwim?

I moved everything out from against the walls and vaccuumed thoroughly. Then I sprinkled the floor where the deep freeze goes with lavendar oil. (The carpet had a funny smell, and I don't want/can't afford to have it steamed at the moment, so... The heat created by the deep freeze also sends the fragrance of the essential oil into the room. ) I put the three 5-gallon buckets of wheat that were in my bedroom between the wall and the deep freeze. Now they are closer to the kitchen, (which means I may actually remember that I have all that wheat, and, more importantly, feed it to my family ) but they aren't immediately visable. I topped the deep freeze with a mattlesse tablecloth that I forgot I had : and placed a basket of fruit on top (to be eaten for after school snacks). Next, I put the table against the window, and placed an antique suitcase underneath it. I moved the extra school supplies that were under my bed in a Rubbermaid tote into the suitcase (please tell me I'm not the only one who buys two cases of notebooks when they are on sale for 10 cents per notebook during back-to-school!) I plastered the outside of the suitcase with some really cool travel stickers that we had received from some children's magazine. Then, I put a piano bench that had no permanant home (mainly because we have no piano ) next to the table for seating. I put my eldest son's collapsable music stand, the English dictionary, and the Spanish dictionary inside the seat of the piano bench. (The piano bench is positioned so that the "open side" is away from the table, for ease of access.) I placed a large wicker basket between the table and the wall as a place for backpacks, and left room between the wall and the basket for my eldest son's cello. Then I put a porcelain jar (without a lid) in an old wooden cheesebox on the table to hold pencils. (The box holds the pencil sharpener, et cetera) Finally, I placed a straight-backed chair against the last wall for my son to sit in while he practices his cello. (The piano bench would work, but this way his brothers still have a place to sit and do their homework while he practices.)

I am so pleased with the final results! I especially love that it cost me NOTHING, gave a purpose to a few things that had just been malingering in my house, and freed up space in my bedroom. (And all of my sons told me that it made doing their homework much simpler. Now if they would just stop leaving their homework until Sunday night...)

Keep up the decluttering, mummas. It's soooo worth it! (Now I'm inspired to tackle the sitting area!)
post #170 of 312
11/8/06 at 7:23pm
2 more bags today.

One with more outgrown clothes for a friend's baby.
One with clothes from both me and ds to give to a charity.

17 bags in all.

My mom's comment today: There is so much more air now.
And she is right. Much more breathing space.
post #171 of 312
11/8/06 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 
I am loving reading these posts! I just finished cleaning out my bedroom closet, and have pretty much gone through my whole bedroom already. I'm not managing to make things actually leave the house yet, but I'm tossing them into bins for Freecycle/Goodwill/eBay/TP. There are a few things in there that will bring some good money (like my beloved but no longer used custom Sachi mei tai ) and we could really use it right now.

Europeanmom, you're right, the main thing I've noticed so far, at least in that one room, is how much more breathing room we have!

Oh, I did Freecycle a Shark hand vac today, so I guess I'm officially up to 100 things! (Probably more since I've been tossing stuff in the fridge )
post #172 of 312
11/8/06 at 8:12pm
Ok, did a bit more picking up. Found lots more newspapers? I need to cancel that subscription.

So now 93/100
post #173 of 312
11/8/06 at 9:17pm
I've slowed down on the decluttering some. I've added a few things to the tally, but mostly I've been cleaning. I find that it is a pleasant side effect of both decluttering and having only the library computer to use. I've been cleaning my bedroom top to bottom and finally *finally* am painting the trim in my room. We've only lived here for three years...

Tomorrow is trash day, so I'll have a lot then.

And I always wind up throwing away food too. I never mean to, but it seems to be something that comes with the territory of buying too many groceries to begin with. I'm also doing the pantry challenge this month and it certainly has chnaged the way I approach the grocery and meal planning.
post #174 of 312
11/8/06 at 9:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mama2babybeans View Post
Just cleaned a grocery bag full of stuff (stained clothes, socks with holes) out of our laundry room.. I will count that as 5.
2 expired canned goods
3 books to the yardsale
1 book to a swap
2 broken VHS tapes
16 cracked CD cases
huge bag of shredded bills (count as 5)
= 152/500
Found 2 things to send to a needy mama from the Holiday Helper thread. Only 2 more things gone (pair of longies and a craft kit), but I'm so excited to send them to another mama I'm inspired to go through my house and see what else we're not really using that another family might appreciate more.

subtotal= 154/500
post #175 of 312
11/8/06 at 10:08pm
I have lots of stuff in my trunk to take to goodwill. 2 pictures I don't really care for and some posters, and a big bag. THink I am at about #200 now. Wish I wasn't fighting off a cold or something.
post #176 of 312
11/8/06 at 10:18pm
I just found the thread. Boxed up about 100+ things to donate (I forgot to count) to charity.

Tomorrow someone is picking up an exercise bike we sadly never used, and giving it to a blind and deaf woman she cares for - I look on the 'wanted' section of Craigslist to see if we have anything to offer.

I have a laundry basket of items to Ebay - maybe around 2-3 dozen items.

We're giving away our microwave because we never use it and I want it out.

We also have a computer monitor and possibly a hard drive to donate somewhere - any suggestions? It's a great computer.

I'm sure I can find more things to give away and declutter...
post #177 of 312
11/9/06 at 12:42am
32 items tossed- mainly gross stuff from my fridge, bath toys that had gotten nasty, and leftover Halloween and birthday party favors and gee-gaws. New total = 326
post #178 of 312
11/9/06 at 12:47am
Found some MDC Mamas in Need - giving a breast pump, camera, maternity clothes, a microwave possibly. Whoo!
post #179 of 312
11/9/06 at 1:45am
2 more things in the box.
26 items of outgrown clothing to pass on to a friend.

52/500

(working on another box to send to a friend, and hopefully two boxes for Families in Need. Hopefully I'll get those out next week!)
post #180 of 312
11/9/06 at 10:21am
5 catalogs. : those are so easy since they keep coming. but i don't let tghem hang around and clutter up, so they still count. right?
Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › Come join the November 500 Items Decluttering Challenge!!!