February Decluttering Challenge - Page 3

[Stone Fence]

I'm in

I had 125 items at the very end of January, but most of them are waiting for the dump run on Saturday (our transfer station had a Salvation Army drop box).

I cleaned out my closet, my dresser and the cedar chest (sweaters). I only kept what I wear and emergency dresses. I'll post pics of the closet soon.

I really need to dump videos. It's going to be tough to get them away from DH (there plenty to keep, but most we never watch). Also DH needs to purge all his textbooks (he finished his MA in December). In the meantime, I'm just trying to set a good example.

125/500

[Ravin]

Okay, this is my first challenge, and I don't want to get overly ambitious. I graduated college in Dec., so:

Organizing my desk, including drawers.

Purging notebooks and textbooks (which will really put me ahead of the game because I didn't purge my high school notebooks until 9 years after I graduated!)

Organize the stack of Important Papers That I Should Keep (which currently look like a pile of chaotic clutter on my desk, beside my desk, in a chair where they got put last time I cleaned up my desk...)

Empty a big plastic tote so I'll have one more for my stuff at Estrella War, since it's supposed to rain and I want to have dry bedding as well as clothes at night.

Having all Estrella War gear cleaned up and put away before the end of the month (this is a 6 day camping event for us this year, so not a small feat).

Clean bedroom (this one might be facilitated by leaving for a week, as it tends to be the first thing DH cleans up when I'm gone).

Go to bed each night with a sink devoid of dirty dishes and the living room tidied.

[elephantmargaret]

OK, I'm in for a large garbage bag a week of stuff to donate. I can drop it off on my way to work.

[ollineeba]

Joining. My goal will be 250 items out of the house

[flapjack]

I'm in. It's my first challenge too, and I'm aiming for 100 items this month.

[nova22]

Originally Posted by CDS

How do you all mamas do it with young kids (especially newborns) while we dig through our junk???

I have two preschoolers and a baby, and it can be difficult. It's important for me to make use of very small amounts of time. I am a perfectionist so sometimes if I can't get everything done at once, I get frustrated, so I have to get over that for this challenge.

Some things I did today to make use of very small amounts of time:

- When I went to the bathroom, I noticed a bath pillow that has been unused for at least a year. On the way out, I tossed it into a garbage bag full of my decluttering challenge stuff (non-trash).

- When I took socks out of my drawer this morning I noticed four pairs that I don't really like. As I left the room I took those out, and tossed them in the bag.

- While nursing the baby in my rocker, I was looking through the living room and seeing if I could find anything to get rid of. I saw a mylar balloon that has been sitting under a shelf for a week, the towel DD used in the bath - I noticed a large tear down the side, a toy that apparently got broken. When the baby was finished nursing I immediately grabbed those things and tossed them.

[frogguruami]

So I started working on my hall closet and found a box of old files. I went through it last night and consoidated the few things in it we wanted to keep into our existing filing system and will be converting the old file box to a planter for my garden. It looks like the perfect depth for carrots!!!! I have found storage areas for all my empty wine bottles and various wine additives and my primary fermentor for the wine has a home. Now I just need to clean out the floor so I have a place for the secondary and terciary(is that spelled right?) fermentors. My bedroom is still kinda ruff but it is going to take a while for it to get done. I have to find a place for a wine rack and a dog crate. I have a feeling the dog crate will be my new night stand!

[anthasam]

Started the month with a sale!

- gameboy, case, light, linking cord and 2 games - SOLD!

Woo hoo! I'm thinking of taking the $ from selling our clutter and setting it aside for something special. We have someone coming by to purchase our tv tomorrow - can't wait for that to be out of the garage!

[nova22]

I'm not keeping track of everything I'm getting rid of because I think I'd spend too much time writing lists, but I do add a tickmark everytime I get rid of something. I have 34 things so far, including socks, underwear, and bras w/ broken elastic; broken toys; a bath pillow; pieces of toys that are useless without the other missing pieces; one of DH's old ties that isn't even fit to be used as a yoga strap.

Now I'm at 34/350.

[ollineeba]

My first few items are out of the house

5 maternity items that weren't my style are getting picked up tomorrow (love freecycle!). I already set the bag on the porch, so I'm going to count them.
9 expired items from the cupboard
1 book to paperbackswap
45 toys freecycled
1 broken picture frame
4 ratty bras (although I did buy 3 new ones but they were on clearance at Target and now I have 3 to my name, so I'm telling myself it's ok )
65/250

[AntoninBeGonin]

Hi! I'm in. I'm going to start small and aim to get 100 things out of the house for February.

So far I'm 0/100

~Nay

[anthasam]

My Freecycle pick-up just came. Yeah! 1 bag of about 30 items plus a bin. I'll count it as 30, sincr the items came out of the bin and I freecycled the bin as an after thought

[TxMominCT]

Last night I started cleaning out the bathroom closet. So far this is what I got:

3 items to take back to store because I found that I already had plenty
10 old make up things to throw away
30 makeup/skin care stuff to give to friends
1 bag of trash from my bedroom
2 books in B&N bag I'm taking back to store
2 outfits I just sold on the TP
1 bag of trash cleaning out a few files
1 old pillow that I threw away

That makes 50 more for Feb!!! YEA I'm hoping to finish up there tonight!

[MommyErin]

Well, Chicas ...

In January, I donated four (yes, I typed FOUR) full carloads (I have a Pontiac Vibe, which is the same as a Toyota Matrix) of stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, sent two black garbage bags and two medium boxes to the Vietnam Vets, another carload is going to my mother's for my sisters, and I have nearly another carload stashed on my dining room table for SVDP. PHEW! That's not counting the things I've freecycled, the bag of stuff to sell at Half Price Books, and the gobs of stuff I've thrown away.

And my sister's comment, "I didn't think you even had any clutter!"

I'm on a *rampage*, ladies. If you need some help, lemme know!!

Gosh, it feels good. Dontcha just luv it?

[Sihaya]

I met my goal for January, more or less (decluttered over 300 things, but about 50 of them haven't made it out the door yet). After figuring out what 300 things looks like and seeing how much crap is in our spare room, I decided to up the ante this month. Since I'm turning 24 : , I decided to declutter 24 things a day (on average) for a grand total of 672 for the month.

[AntoninBeGonin]

Originally Posted by MommyErin

Well, Chicas ...

In January, I donated four (yes, I typed FOUR) full carloads (I have a Pontiac Vibe, which is the same as a Toyota Matrix) of stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, sent two black garbage bags and two medium boxes to the Vietnam Vets, another carload is going to my mother's for my sisters, and I have nearly another carload stashed on my dining room table for SVDP. PHEW! That's not counting the things I've freecycled, the bag of stuff to sell at Half Price Books, and the gobs of stuff I've thrown away.

And my sister's comment, "I didn't think you even had any clutter!"

I'm on a *rampage*, ladies. If you need some help, lemme know!!

Gosh, it feels good. Dontcha just luv it?

Tell me, is there anything left in your house?

~Nay

[MommyErin]

Originally Posted by AntoninBeGonin

Tell me, is there anything left in your house?

Believe it or not, I'm just sitting here at work thinking of more stuff I can get rid of! I've never realized until recently how much all of the sh** can weigh a person down not just physically but mentally.

Have any of you Mommas seen _The Mission_ with Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons? Remember the scene where DeNiro is trying to climb the mountain with the huge bundle on his back? And how he wept joy when the natives cut it off of him? I'm beginning to feel that way with every load that leaves the house. I've been cutthroat but I feel so much lighter. Don't tell my DH that my wedding bouquet when out with the trash the other day -- he'd shoot me! I'm aiming for Zen as much as possible. In my decluttering, I found wearable clothes, even, saving me from buying more.

I'm also combining the decluttering with a de-chemicalizing of my home. We started treatment for metabolic disorders in my DS and the doctor recommended cleaning up his environment as much as possible. So I've also been replacing most of the plastic in our home with glass, replaced all of my cleaning supplies with more natural store bought and my own homemade stuff, and replaced laundry detergent with homemade.

So here's to a greener, cleaner, clutter-free home!

[my2girlz]

I'm definitely in! I went way over my goal for January. I'm in for February for 350 items. DH is gone most of next week so I should get a lot of stuff out of here during that time.

So far I've gotten rid of 36 items.

36/350

[2GR8KIDS]

Donated 20 books to the library today for the used book sale, plus recycled another 7 items. New total: 52/500

[crunchymomof2]

I wasnt really decluttering per say today. But I got rid of 52 items.

52/500