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Welcome 2007: January Decluttering Challenge... - Page 5

post #81 of 459
1/2/07 at 2:36am
Well, I'm off to a good start. DH and I cleaned out one tiny kitchen cupboard today and I found a few larger items to get rid of, plus we determined that our old crockpot could go, since the new, much bigger one works well.

So...

Freecycled:
10 misc. kitchen items
1 hideous bowl with a cat picture on it
1 crockpot
1 woven basket with flowers, also hideous

Recycled:
4 magazines

Threw out:
6 misc. kitchen items that were so broken or disgusting no one would want them (which begs the question - why did we have them still?)

Total to date:

23/150. Yay!
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post #82 of 459
1/2/07 at 2:39am
Today I've cleared out 1 garbage bag of clothes to donate, 1 box of diapering stuff for the consignment store and one bag of garbage. I'm up to 10/20 boxes/bags. Not bad considering it's only the 1st!
post #83 of 459
1/2/07 at 3:21am
Oh rats! I don't feel like I can count the stuff I cleared out of the hall closet a few days ago in good faith (though I did clear an extra shelf, so now all our sheets and towels aren't crammed in on one tiny shelf anymore!). My goal for the month is 500.

I AM going to count the stuff I'm trying to Freecycle out at the moment, so my current total is:

1 unused bottle of perfume
6 packages of birth/nursing supplements
9 items of clothing returned to store (almost $300 in credit, woohoo!)
----------------
16/500


I just read through the treasure map thread and got a bit of a buzz off it, so I'll spend the next few months preparing for sure.
post #84 of 459
1/2/07 at 4:54am
woohooo, worked on taking down the christmas stuff and cleaning out the coat closet today. two more bags of stuff going to goodwill. plus, our recycling can is full and i still have a bunch more to put in it after trash pickup tomorrow!! this decluttering is addictive. i hope i can keep my steam up for the entire month . . .
post #85 of 459
1/2/07 at 10:12am
Thread Starter 

I guess it's time for me to commit to a goal----750!

I'll do 750 items this round, I went for 500 in December and had no problem at all reaching it, I surpassed it by more than 100. I know we have 750 items here, but they're more covert and pernicious---things shoved in drawers and in plastic storage containers. This thread is off to a rockin' and rollin' start!

Quote:
Originally Posted by renaissanceed View Post
After lurking on the threads for several months, I've decided to officially join in and count the items we get rid of. Since I'm going back to work full time this month, I'll aim low - say 150. Can't wait to get started!


Welcome! I'm excited to see what your impression is after lurking for so long. I think you'll find it addictive and liberating.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chanibell View Post
I'm getting rid of half the shoes in my closet that I can't and don't wear. This is mostly due to the fact that my insoles won't fit in them. Is anyone a fan of Keen shoes? Those are now my fav shoe in the world AND my insoles will fit in them nicely.


Yes, when I first discovered them I went overboard and bought like 3 pair. The only problem with them is that they don't have a "dressy" style.


Quote:
Originally Posted by renaissanceed View Post
Well, I'm off to a good start. DH and I cleaned out one tiny kitchen cupboard today and I found a few larger items to get rid of, plus we determined that our old crockpot could go, since the new, much bigger one works well.

So...

Freecycled:
10 misc. kitchen items
1 hideous bowl with a cat picture on it
1 crockpot
1 woven basket with flowers, also hideous

Recycled:
4 magazines

Threw out:
6 misc. kitchen items that were so broken or disgusting no one would want them (which begs the question - why did we have them still?)

Total to date:

23/150. Yay!


This bowl belongs with the two cat face tea bag rests i decluttered last month AND the six cork cat faced coasters....I'm not a cat "thing" collector--really!

Quote:
Originally Posted by momtokay View Post
woohooo, worked on taking down the christmas stuff and cleaning out the coat closet today. two more bags of stuff going to goodwill. plus, our recycling can is full and i still have a bunch more to put in it after trash pickup tomorrow!! this decluttering is addictive. i hope i can keep my steam up for the entire month . . .


It is so totally addicting. And yes, it's really easy to keep up steam. For me, I'd declutter like mad for a day or two, then take a breather. However, when I would come here and see that people's totals were continuing to grow, I wanted to play along so I'd find something to start cleaning. I even have a tiny decluttering notebook I would list my items in so I would be sure I wouldn't forget anything.


Also, told a friend that I got rid of over 600 items last month and she looked at me with amazement (this is a super-person who has NO CLUTTER anywhere in her life). It made me wonder, how could I have gotten rid of so many items and have it not affect me one iota---and there is still a lot of work to do.



Fling!Fling!Fling!
post #86 of 459
1/2/07 at 10:57am
I'll be lurking this month.
I'm doing the pantry and no spend challenges so that will declutter and not add at least.
There's some x-mas stuff that I should get rid of, as well as some things to be shipped out.
I also want to post some stuff for sale in the trading post.
All in all I ~could~ set a goal of 150 items.

I don't want to set a goal I am not 100% commited to though.

I'll be watching and learning
post #87 of 459
1/2/07 at 11:02am
Wow. I'm completely inspired by y'all! Although we've DESPERATELY needed to declutter for .... uh .... years, it never occurred to me to commit to a declutter challenge until today. Since I've gotten rid of a BUNCH of stuff in the last 24 hours, I'm going to set my first goal at 750. I KNOW I can meet that, no problem. Here's what I did yesterday/today:

1 bag of clothes to Goodwill (approx. 25 items)
1 basket of old papers & junk mail in the trash (approx. 25 items)
1 box of kitchen-themed toys sent to my mom's house (approx. 50 items)

Ticker so far: 100/750

This is FUN!!
post #88 of 459
1/2/07 at 12:45pm
I'm in!

I found that making a larger goal and carrying over totals month to month kept me more motivated last time around. So I'm making an entire 2007 goal; 5000 items. I did 1000 in November-December alone, so this seems reasonable for 12 months.

The plan is to make major house changes this year - Dd gets moved into her own room (now currently occupied by Dh's crapola) and the basement will get finished off to make a playroom (now currently occupied by Dh's crapola). So I will have plenty of opportunities!

So far: 10

Including 1 birthtub bartered to my midwife for homebirth services, and 4 assorted serving plates returned to my mother. Fun!
post #89 of 459
1/2/07 at 1:16pm
I have a lot of unused stuff. and I got rid of some yesterday and I'm going to get back to it right now...
I want to clean out my closet.
pull the broken futon out of the bedroom
continue to organize the kids toys.
Put away the 10 loads of clean laundry on my couch...

long term:
I want to keep the clutter down. (damn goodwill for having stuff I want)
I want to manifest a home with more storage space. (we have none)
I plan on continueing hte cleaning momentum I started yesterday.
post #90 of 459
1/2/07 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavournin View Post
Including 1 birthtub bartered to my midwife...
NICE!!!!

I'm up to 26/500--a Freecycler stopped by this morning.
post #91 of 459
1/2/07 at 1:58pm
I'd like to completely declutter my closet and give away all the items that no longer fit, and toss items such as ratty old underwear, old shoes, lone socks. Also I need to get my perfume and makeup collection under control (which is also in my closet). Then I want to work on the living room. I have lots of old magazines that I don't really need, including years of Real Simple mag (they've put a lot of their back issues online which is great!).

I'm sure I can get rid of 500 items total.

Hannah
post #92 of 459
1/2/07 at 2:30pm
I'm just getting started, very slowly.

Sent 4 things with DD to preschool for crafts.
Listed 4 things on freecycle.

I have about 4 bags of clothes to give to charity, so I'll have to list those as bags instead of the dozens of things in them. I'm sure I can add to them though.

I have 3 bags of stuff to be recycled that I accumulated, that I'll put in my car in the morning.

Right now that's 4/100 but there's much more on it's way out.
post #93 of 459
1/2/07 at 2:47pm
I am starting some major decluttering as of today. Let's just say that freecycle is going to get a 'it's on the curb come and get it before the garbage man does' message from me.

I'm starting with my stuff and the kitchen and radiating out. Let's just say yesterday I had an eppiphany of sorts. If I don't get my own stuff decluttered how can I expect to get everyone else's stuff in order? Yeah a duh moment I know! I did a mental 'doh!'

So today it will be my closet, drawers clothes books etc. And, I will be hitting the silverware drawer since we just got a new (actually complete) hand me down set of silverware that serves all of us instead of the mismatched peace mealed together set we had. the silverware drawer is bowing under the weight of it all so it's time for the old stuff to go. So that is that What the count id going to be I don't know. I'm not setting a goal since there is so much to get rid of I'm just going to keep a running tally.
post #94 of 459
1/2/07 at 2:53pm
i'm in! again!
my goal for december was 500 and i think i reached 250, so i'm going to have the same goal
we'll be moving in the spring and i need to get ready for that!
post #95 of 459
1/2/07 at 3:29pm
i'm joining you all - i'm going for 400 in january. off to tackle the kitchen...
post #96 of 459
1/2/07 at 3:42pm

I'm in!

I am starting (for what seems like the millionth, and, I hope will be the last time) in my bedroom and decluttering one room per month.

So, I won't set a numeric goal, but I will keep a running list of everything I remove from my room this month.

So far:

1 bag of rubbish (hey, it's a start!)
post #97 of 459
1/2/07 at 3:43pm
This really is addictive, I can't stop looking around and getting rid of things!

So far today- and I still have all afternoon/eve-

-returned bag of loaned baby clothes and gave the people some of our outgrown clothes for their baby (I think I will count bags as "10" even though they are probably more than that)

-baby tub seat, 2 toys, 5 more books,

-neck pillow made by previous chiropractor that never worked for me

-old LLL handouts from 1996

-3 care bear stuffed animals my kids have never looked at

-stacks of dh's old computer magazines that have been sitting in the baby's room

-3 yr old tube of sunscreen

So let's say that was 34, and 36 yesterday- 70/300

I also listed some diapers for sale, and some books on paperbackswap.com but since they're not actually sold yet I"ll hold off on counting them.

And I still have the baby's room to clear out (was our storage space so has lots of old papers/clothes/junk in there), many junk drawers, VHS tapes, 2 closets, and much more.....I'm realizing that we have tons of unused storage space- a lot of it is being taken up by poorly organized random items.
post #98 of 459
1/2/07 at 4:32pm
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
post #99 of 459
1/2/07 at 4:35pm
2 matresses
1 trundle

= 3 items gotten rid of.


Hmm. I think I'll make my goal to be 200 mainly because I work overnights and it's just too freaking hard for me to be motivated enough to get rid of 500.

200
- 3
--------
197 to go.
post #100 of 459
1/2/07 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kittn View Post
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).


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....
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