Welcome 2007: January Decluttering Challenge... - Page 6

[kittn]

Originally Posted by Vixenmama

Maybe you should start a spinoff thread called the "January Laundry Challenge" .

I just read a really good thread I can't remember where exactly, about keeping a limited amount of outfits for each child s o laundry can't pile up (clothes have to be washed 'cause there aren't any clean to wear).


I'll try and locate it---it sounds like it might have some useful ideas for you---plus with baby on the way, you'll need a plan....

hey any help I can get on getting this under control is welcome. I got this bad habit from my mom. I can get rid of just about anything guilt free except clothes.I mean really DS1 does not need 19 pairs of jeans

[hellyaellen]

Originally Posted by hellyaellen

Well I'm in. I'm not going to count by individual item either though. I'll go by bag/box/container.

I just dropped of 3 bags of stuff at good will this week. If I go through my papers I bet I can throw away at least 1 bag. I have 3 boxes boxed up and ready to ship that i'm going to e-bay. I gave 1 box of stuff to a mama to be friend of mine. So that makes 8 boxes total so far. I'm going to go with a small challenge and say I can find 15 bags/boxes to give/donate/sell or throw away.

I'm going to take today and tommorrow and do some purging in my dd's room. I know I can find 3 boxes worth in there. It really needs it and I think it will be eaisier for her if I do it now while she's visiting my dad. So she can have a clean slate this year to work with.

It really is exciting now that i've hit the point where I can start to see the space around my stuff ykwim? I have looked enviously at these challenges before and now I'm ready!

UPDATE

Well today I sold some books to our local used bookstore for $19!!! They didn't take most of what I brought in so I've got 3 boxes in the car but they are ready to donate to the library (wich is still closed for new years' argh!) I dropped of 3 boxes at good will.

I didn't actually get around to working in dd's room the other day :
or going through any paperwork :

but i sorted through the trunk of the car so it is clear for hauling

I went through some of whats in the garage and decided what to donate what to keep what to sell. decided its ok to sell the carseat b/c i have my eye on a different model for the next baby anyway.

so my total that has actually left the house is at 7.
then i have a total of 7 more boxes that I am commited to getting out of the house via donation and e-bay or tp.
we brought a box home from dh's dads' last night though but it was mostly stuff that will get used though.

I'm thinking about upping my goal to 25 boxes of stuff

ok off to read what all ya'll are doing

[hellyaellen]

Originally Posted by boheime

oooo..the garage. Yeah, I've been decluttering all our stuff INTO the garage to get it out of the house - so all the stuff that we have decluttered needs to get out of the garage and elswhere...

I've been doing this too...I actually did a few yardsales but the time has come for me to just let go of most of it. (some things that are unique or useful I'm selling but from now on my e-bay stuff is going to limited to a very small space in my pantry)

[mommietime]

Well, I was just going to lurk all month and feel lighter vicariously through the good efforts of others, but....

since my other resolutions have already failed to make it to the second day of the year, I will have to sign up!

Today I can count 10 out of my eventual goal of 300

[hellyaellen]

i just had to share this with ya'll:

dh "rescued" the 2005-2006 phonebook from the trash TWICE guess we'll be keeping that

and i forgot that i did sort out a few of her too small shirts for giving away. and forgot about a (very small) box i tossed in the trash. it was full of holey socks.

my current tally then is

8 boxes gone
7 boxes and 1 big ticket item (carseat) commited to go
1 box came in :

[Wild Flowers]

Okay, I am trying to pace myself and not go on rampages...So I went through my housecloth, it really is insane to think how much cloth I have. I have put aside just about everything for cloth because it was reusing. But now I can fit the diapers in with my house cloth, I have a nice shelf for this. Which freed up a basket which I had been keeping the diapers for the baby...So 31 kitchen cloths, so far at least. I have enough there and when I go through my laundry that needs to be folded I might end up with more. And I went through my scary room(the room I have been piling things into) and got a decent bag of garbage and 19 toys. After I got rid of 31 cloths I figured i would try to get rid of 50 things today. I might be changing my goal of 200. That was a little too easy. So I am a fourth of the way to my goal. So now I am going to do my laundry for the day, the dishes and maybe do another 20 clothes items. Trying to work small, trying so very hard...

[cbmr777]

Update:

Today to the salvation army went:
1 kitchen playset
1 christmas tree stand
3 christmas dcoration items
1 baby toy
2 pairs of shoes
60 books (childrens and adults)
-----------------------------------
69 items!! :


I also posted 6 items (all toys) on Craigslist, so hopefully they will sell quickly and be out of here!!

[earthmama369]

Bags upon bags of holiday catalogues and newspapers out for recycling this morning, all the holiday boxes broken down and put out, random sweeps of three rooms resulting in bits and pieces thrown away. . . .

And two heads of hair shorn, while we're at it! (Does that count as decluttering? I certainly feel less burdened!)

http://ynfytyn.livejournal.com/279432.html




(I didn't count the hair. Heck, I haven't mailed it off for donation yet! But I did count the two broken-but-still-useable hairbrushes I tossed.)

[mommietime]

Holy Cow!!!!!!
that is some hard-core decluttering.
You mean some serious business, hats off to ya!

[earthmama369]

Originally Posted by mommietime

Holy Cow!!!!!!
that is some hard-core decluttering.
You mean some serious business, hats off to ya!

No, no, no -- hats ON. It's cold out there!

[paganmum]

Jan 2 update!

Well I've decluttered *80* items out of my wardrobe!!! :

I didn't realise that it was as bad as that!!! I've listed the *huge* bag with everything to the local buy sell trade list since I'd like to get something out of it so that I can get a few things (non clutter items I swear!) to start pampering myself since I deserve it.

I can see my closet floor though and found a couple of pairs of missing shoes!

I'm going to hit the kitchen and declutter there when I make dinner and finish hitting my clothes while I fold the clean laundry.

[anthasam]

I'm in...

nak,
subbing,
will add more later

[Vixenmama]

Originally Posted by kittn

hey any help I can get on getting this under control is welcome. I got this bad habit from my mom. I can get rid of just about anything guilt free except clothes.I mean really DS1 does not need 19 pairs of jeans

check out this thread---so much good information I won't try and summarize---but yeah, if they have less to wear you wash more often, but never get to the "mount washmore" stage (yeah, that's a flylady expression....)

Originally Posted by hellyaellen

i just had to share this with ya'll:

dh "rescued" the 2005-2006 phonebook from the trash TWICE guess we'll be keeping that

and i forgot that i did sort out a few of her too small shirts for giving away. and forgot about a (very small) box i tossed in the trash. it was full of holey socks.

my current tally then is

8 boxes gone
7 boxes and 1 big ticket item (carseat) commited to go
1 box came in :

Try writing him a "Dear John" letter from the phonebook...."Dear Dh, this last year has been wonderful and amazing in so many ways---I'm so glad I was able to be there for you, but now I just have the feeling that it's time to move on, and I'm sure very soon another like me will come along and fill the void, Love 2005-2006 yellow pages".

[lmonter]

I'm in.

My goal will be:

* 6 boxes of stuff to Goodwill (or ARC, whoever's most convenient)
* (at least) 2 bags of garbage to the dump.

I don't wanna count items, and this'll give me incentive to actually start putting stuff in the car for Goodwill rather than piling it up downstairs 'just in case' (dh is way too attached to some stuff - he started freaking out when I culled the kitchen implement drawer... I do 85% of the cooking and 95% of the dishwashing, I *know* what actually gets used).

[MCsMom]

I am setting my goal for 150.

On Jan 2 I took to thrift store:
2 pots
1 lid
1 potty chair
2 breakfast in bed trays (lol - when would those get used again?)
1 cutting board
1 microwave (let's see how long it takes dh to notice - lol)
3 plastic hangers
1 top
1 dress
1 blanket
1 wipe warmer
1 toy bag
1 pair ballet slippers
1 leotard
4 coffee mugs
1 doll
1 box of nursing pads
Running total: 23 items/150

[Star]

previous: 72/400

Donated:
1 christmas stocking
3 textbooks from college
2 children's books
1 knife block
1 mirror
1 easter picture frame
4 candles
2 thimbles
1 unicorn figurine
1 book end
1 children's mirror with a picture sketched on it
1 2007 calendar
1 incense holder
3 figurines
2 fold-up laundry hampers
1 candle holder
4 teacups
1 cream holder
1 sugar holder
4 glass dishes
1 bell
1 bookmark
1 makeup case
1 coupon organizer
1 blanket
2 mini drawer organizers
1 disney purse
1 musical piggy bank
3 christmas ornaments
2 potpouri bags
1 glass ring holder
1 package of temp tattoos

current total: 124/400

This is so much fun!

[loon13]

I'm in. And by that I really mean I'm subbing to the thread. We're still in the midst of moving in our new place, and with my babes to arrive in spring, I'm certainly in a decluttering mode. But I'm also taking it easy on myself for those 2 reasons.

I'm glad to have this thread and other challenges to remind and inspire me to keep on the decluttering track.

[renaissanceed]

Quote:
Originally Posted by kittn
hi Annemarie and I am clutter challenged. I have decided enough is enough. My worst problem is laundry. I have too much... way too much. I had 8 huge garbage bags filled with clothes to wash. went through them and have made it only 3 so I am going to try this declutter challenge thing here. Im going to say 200 items. and not bad I have 5/200 hey its a start

Maybe you should start a spinoff thread called the "January Laundry Challenge" .

I just read a really good thread I can't remember where exactly, about keeping a limited amount of outfits for each child s o laundry can't pile up (clothes have to be washed 'cause there aren't any clean to wear).

This is how we got the dishes under control. We can only fit a small number of dishes in the kitchen cupboards now that most of them have been torn down. As a result, we have to wash dishes every day! I imagine it would work well with laundry too...

Speaking of laundry, DH and I went through his tshirts again today. The scary thing is we did this in late September and got rid of 15 or so. Today, we got rid of another 10, to be given to Sally Ann.

So, updated total is:

23 previous
10 new
--

33/150 items done!!!

Thanks for all the support! Good to see those houses being cleared and hear about other areas that I need to tackle.

[Awaken]

Originally Posted by VnJW

Okay, I am trying to pace myself and not go on rampages...

LOL, rampage is exactly what I'm on!

I did a major scrub of our bedroom, which was covered in dust- when we looked up and saw huge spider webs hanging from the ceiling fan, I knew it was time to clean! So in the midst of that, I got rid of,

1 pair of sandals that just never really worked

big pile of dh's t shirts, underwear, and socks that the elastic wore out on that he stuffed beside the bureau

more women's clothes that someone gave me postpartum, that I'm admitting will never fit me

makeup mirror/light taking up tons of space on my bureau

pair of scrubs

I"ll estimate 13 more items. 83/300 and it's only the 2nd!

[megincl]

OK. We're in! This is a bit confronting, but we (me and my wife, KTCL on here) are in for 200. We're aiming high because, as she says, "it's a challenge!"

We live in a small apt with little storage (except the deadly basement ), so hopefully this will free up some much-needed space, both physical and mental.

I love it already!

So, today I sold 10 books at the used bookstore. 190 to go!

megin