MAY Decluttering Challenge (gearing up for summer!) - Page 5

[clothdipemomof2boy]

just wanted to mention that i was getting really lazy on my goal this month and forgot about it. Well I got rid of stuff in my drawers that was about 20 things and then got rid of a entertainment center, a couch, and a table yesterday heheh on my birthday yep that will be my present for myself if i can get this house cleaned and decluttered by the time hubby comes back from deployment. Anyway that makes it 73 out of 250 and still getting rid of stuff today so we will see what it is tomorrow. hope everyone makes their goal i am really going to try this time. thanks

[Ilovelife]

: I got rid of a bunch of sheets & curtains, two more big bags of clothing, a toaster, 2 flashlights, a duster, and the bike is sold.

423+42=465

I'm definitely upping my goal next month to 500

[boheime]

I asked dh to go through his closet last night, as it was getting out of control again. He pulled out a ton of shirts and all of his jeans. Then I found a home for them all with someone else who can use them. Wooohooo! Although, I wish he would have kept some of these and gotten rid of some others...

[Tilia]

I got rid of these on freecycle:
1 slushie maker
3 sippies
1 box of puzzles
1 comforter set
1 box of kitchen utensils

I am giving these back to MIL when I visit her this weekend:
1 sweatshirt
1 dress she gave me that didn't fit
7 parenting books
1 bag of Pampered Chef stuff she ordered
1 bag of wrapping paper she left here

threw away
1 broken flashlight

sold
6 items of clothing


152/300

[oneKnight]

I viciously attacked our 5-shelf bookshelf today. My goal is to make everything fit into our two-shelf bookshelf. I think it just might fit now, but I boxed the "keep" books to move so I haven't tried it yet. I have a box of textbooks to sell (closer to the start of fall semester) and a pile of books to sell on amazon or donate to the library.

I threw out all of DH's old game CD's that he hasn't touched since we moved in here (about 1.5 years) Figured he wouldn't miss 'em if he hadn't needed/wanted them by now.

ETA: I am contemplating trying to convince him to ditch the (his) TV in this move. We don't pay for cable or use it for rabbit-ear channels either, we only use it for a movie maybe once a month - and that requires a substantial amount of duct tape to get anything in color. Lemme tell ya, it's a real keeper
He has this collection of John Wayne DVD's that we never watch, but I think it might be asking too much to ditch those. They don't take up too much space, so I guess I can live with them.

[CaraNicole]

Originally Posted by CaraNicole

i spent 5 hours cleaning yesterday...mostly "psycho neat freak" cleaning as dh calls it...
my basebords are all purty again... along w/all the outlits...
did the linen closet AGAIN and dh has his marching orders...

umm...i've done just about EVERYTHING except for stuff on my list...i can't really figure out if this is a good or bad thing!

[clothdipemomof2boy]

yeah! I got rid of 5 garbage bags full of tupperware that had 20 or so things of tupperware 2pitchers and 6potholders wow that is 151 /250 wow I might just make this yet still getting the kitchen done today and have to go throught pots and pans then next is my room and office wow i might just go over my goal this time : I am so excited.

[crunchymomof2]

Well I havent been on this thread since March sometime I think. It's kinda late to set a goal but I think I can get a couple hundred items. I went through a chest this morning and got rid of at least 50 items put into the garbage and another bunch of stuff to give away. Im going to count that in a few along with the pile of stuff in the laundry room.


Ok so a question..what do I do with the box of barbies that was in the chest...I dont want to add to the toy collection they play with(trying to cut it in half as it is) My mom told me not to give them away because they are special. Which I know I can do what I want with them. Do I offer to let her keep them at her house? (she is also half heartedly decluttering) Do I just stick them in a bag for goodwill? Any thoughts would be appreciated. I threw away a bit of barbi stuff this morning. Somehow some of them had sticky legs. None of them are really in good shape because their hair is weird. Ken looks ok though he didnt have actual hair its just plastic. I have such a hard time getting rid of things I am "supposed" to keep.

[clothdipemomof2boy]

ok tried to post this earlier but didnt work. I got rid of 5 garbage bags of 20 things of tupperware,2 pitchers and 6pot holders plus the 73 already that makes it 151/250 wow i might make this yet. I have two more garbage bags of about 20 pots and pans (all were handme downs) that i will be getting rid of today so that will make it 171/250 I think i might make my goal this time yeah!!! wish me luck

[clothdipemomof2boy]

May i ask a stupid ? How do the barbies make you feel is it sentament that makes you keep them or your mom. If it is sentament keep the better looking ones and take pics of the rest or if they were your childrens if you have pics of the kids with them make a collage picture with them that will be better then keeping them if you dont want them. Also you can always get the pictures copied and make one for mom as well if that is why she is keeping them. If it is just mom then throw them in a bag and tell her if she wants them she can have them. (that is if it makes you feel overwhelmd to keep them, I too am working on this) Anway that is just my two cents on it hopefully there will be more answers to your question. hopefully i helped out a little.

[crunchymomof2]

I dont see any reason to keep them. They werent my favorite thing to play with or really hold any sentimental value to me personally. Most of them were gifts from family members and I can remember them without the gift kwim Its been beaten into my head that I need to keep barbie's and cabbage patch dolls.: I have no desire to keep them personally other than I dont really want the argument if she figures out I got rid of them. I think I'll just take them to her house. She can do what she wants with them.

[Ilovelife]

Yeah, I would probably bring them back to my mom & tell her they aren't special to me, so if they are special to here she can keep them. Well I would say it nicer than that, but YKWIM. I hate when other people try to tell me what I need to keep, what to do with my stuff, etc. My mom asked for almost 4 years if she could buy clothes for dd/what she needed, etc. I always said we had enough. Finally, dd got to a point where she really did need dresses, so I told mom what type of dress she liked & if she would like to get her one, that would be wonderful. She bought her one & sent it for Easter. Great! Well, she was visiting a couple weeks ago, helping fold laundry. She pulls that dress out & starts complaining because it has a couple small spots on it. I shouldn't have let dd where THAT dress when she was doing whatever it was that made spots on it. Blah blah blah. Aargh! I got so ticked off!

Sorry : just had to get that off my chest.

In other news, I threw away a nasty cup, a piece of some sort of tile that was in my junk drawer, some random business cards from the same drawer. Donated 13 things to the library, and dropped off another bag of kids clothes at the donation center.

[lovemysunshine]

Originally Posted by CaraNicole

umm...i've done just about EVERYTHING except for stuff on my list...i can't really figure out if this is a good or bad thing!

Me too. :

Nothing on my list is done, but I cleared out my box of candles and pared way down. Now I'm burning them like crazy to get them out of here. All our extraneous plastic food storage is gone, only a couple good containers and the glass storage remains. At least I'm getting something done, right?

[ColoradoMama]

I've actually lost count in the past few days - I think that's a good thing! I took a van load full of stuff to a friend's house for an LLL garage sale. I have another garbage bag full to take her. I put some old carpet that's been hanging out in a basement corner out for trash pickup yesterday. It's gotten weird because I'll lay down in bed and think of something that I have that I should get rid of! I really need a life!

[tessamami]

Spots I've marked for decluttering

Originally Posted by oneKnight

I threw out a bag of stuff from my "junk box." I put one decorative pillow in the donate pile, tossed the ugly one, and am giving away my neti pot on the TP.
Pretty sure we are moving next month, so the more I can get decluttered - the better!

I hit the junk drawer too, and threw out a bit, but I had to laugh when I saw you gave away your neti pot, I had to get rid of mine, because I will NEVER use it, too strange

Still need to go through extra cosmetics in my clear shoe box in bathroom. Also need to do a lot of paper decluttering in my home and work offices. And to try on everything in my closet, I'm just putting away suits for Fall and Winter now, in the event that they will fit then, but I still have the baby weight to lose. . . .SIGH

My closet looks pretty good, and I only have 2 dresser drawers full of clothes, one for underwear and 1 for work and play clothes. I share a sock drawer with my husband. So I don't have a lot of stuff, but I also don't know what fits.

The big plan is to downsize from an large office sized filing cabinet, to a smaller one, creating room for a new home office desk, I hope to accomplish this before September, when DH goes on tour. The other major plan is to cull out items that don't fit, and put a decent Spring/Summer/Fall wardrobe together, until older items fit, or until I'm pregnant

[Em T]

I've been working at a modified deep clean room by room since Tuesday & so far have done the foyer, living room, back porch (enclosed & a room but one step down from the kitchen) & bathroom. Today am working on the kitchen. Have been filling a bag for the donation bin since yesterday--went & dropped two off on Wednesday already--& am continuing with that today. Also threw out two raggedy pair of underwear in the laundry today so I'd quit forgetting they were holey & putting them back in the drawer. Also have been pitching chipped or cracked dishes as they show up too, & sorting out books to take to Half Price Books & donate to the library sale. I'm going to go back & work on the kitchen with emphasis on the table & bookcase behind it where there is a lot of stuff I use to wrap books sold on Amazon & ebay. Also want to do something to make the top of the fridge look better, what's up there now isn't especially attractive, clean the top of the stove & fridge interior. Both of those are huge chores so guess I'd better go get busy.

[ollineeba]

I don't know what my total is right now. We had to go buck-wild before the realtors came over a few days ago and then again yesterday because he was coming back today to take pictures.
Can I brag for a sec? My place looks awesome. It really does I do have a few boxes of random 'stuff' that I had to just throw in there, so I still have a bit of decluttering to do, but the volume of things we either threw out or freecycled or put into our yardsale box (which we're having tomorrow) was just incredible! It feels awesome!

[NullSet]

Just adding to my total!

I freecycled a bunch of stuff the past couple of days...cat toy, salad bowl, 2 candle holders, bread dish, 2 tablecloths, and 2 prs of dress pants!

49/80

I've started the process of getting rid of the old paint cans that were here when we bought the house. I did some local research and had no idea that latex paint is just supposed to be dried out (no liquids) and then thrown away. It is the oil based that is considered hazardous. I never knew that! And these things are really gross and rusty inside the cans. I will be so happy to get rid of these cans!

[maisiedotes]

I am late joining in for May- I am anxious for June! But for now, I am starting to collect some stuff for a yard sale in late June. Then we are having a company that takes donations come and pick up whatever doesn't sell... I have 3 big boxes of stuff for the yard sale without even trying. It is a good feeling....

[Tradd]

I'm already pretty well pared down, but I'm going to be getting rid of six books in the next several weeks. A wonderful family with five girls I'm close to has a triple graduation party in several weeks for their three oldest - college, high school, and grammar school (8th grade). I wanted to give them something nice, but not spend a bundle. I went through my books and have found great ones to give them. The oldest is getting The Total Money Makeover (she has college debt), and different titles for the others.

Another few are going to a friend.