August declutter challenge - Page 8

[Rikki Jean]

I'm finally getting somewhere! I just gave away all of our plastic dishes on Freecycle. Whoohoo!!! It was 64 pieces. The other day I also threw away about 10 things. So, I'm at 74/500 for the month.

We're moving this weekend, and I um, have yet to do much packing... Anyway, I'll be throwing out/giving away tons of stuff as I'm packing, so I have no fears about reaching my goal.

[Ilovelife]

I'm in. Last month I tried to target goals instead of counting and it didn't work for me at all. It's much more motivating for me to be able to count every paper clip I toss. So I'll shoot for 500 this month. We just got back from vacation yesterday and I purged 22 things (dd clothes, towels, a blanket, and a few toiletries that had been in dh's travel case). 22/500

[superstella]

All right, weekend's over, time to get busy! I didn't get rid of one single thing this weekend. Shame, shame on me! But I'm going to make up for it today! I'm already sitting here with a big stack of paper that's going to the shredder and the recycle bin, so I'll start off the week with:

1 stack of paper, gone from my desk!
1 box of clothes to goodwill
1 big PT cruiser car thingy toy ditto
8 bags of cans to the recycle place (oh this is great fun, let me tell you about our recycling center...)
1 box of trash from around here and there

[veganf]

Ugh, I just when shopping at the fabric store for no good reason (well, I had a 40% off coupon), so I'm gonna purge 10 extra items by tonight for the bag of fabric I brought home.

[Curlita]

Here's my progress report... I set my goal at 15 units, which I've surpassed. I kind of wish I had counted individual items, but I think that counting would really take away my momentum. This month has been an intensive room-moving, space shifting one, so progress this month is probably not indicative of what I'm likely to do in months ahead! Although, once baby is born and starts growing, I will be able to permanently ditch maternity clothes and anything he outgrows as he outgrows it!

Packed to take out of the house:
1 box of books to trade at the book exchange
1 bag of random household objects

Already donated/taken to book store:
1 boxes of books
5 boxes and bags of clothing and toys and random housewares
1 wicker CD rack
1 set of holiday mugs we never used

I gave away:
1 Costco-sized box of leftover milkbones from our dog that went to heaven

I have shredded the equivalent of:
1 file box of old papers

I have thrown away:
2 shopping bags of random debris out of medicine cabinets, nightstand, and son's dresser.

I have listed for sale on Craigslist:
1 canister vacuum

I have gotten rid of on Craigslit:
1 iron railing leftover from split-level remodel

[Stace]

I tossed out three old candles that I don't plan on burning anymore. I also have 30 items that will be sold this week. On top of that, I've scanned in and tossed hundreds of photographs (I decided that I will simply have new copies printed as I'm ready to scrapbook certain events or put them into albums). But I haven't exactly counted each and every photograph, so we'll say 20 handfuls.

[kissum]

I got rid of a few things over the last 48 hours, but I also brought some in, so let's just call it even, k?

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by kissum

I got rid of a few things over the last 48 hours, but I also brought some in, so let's just call it even, k?

I know that feeling!

Well, our new carpet is in (yay!!! it's so pretty and clean and softer now), and almost all the painting is done, so it's time to move back in. I realized that even with all the decluttering we had been doing, we have so much cr*p. It took moving everything into the front room (not carpetted) and the kitchen for it to really dawn on dh and I how much stuff we have. So, I'm only putting back in the bedrooms and living room the things that belong there and have a home. We are sticking with the advice from Peter Walsh's book about the function of the rooms. If something doesn't serve the function and/or make it beautiful, it doesn't belong. Once the minimal basics are in, everything else is going to the garage and getting sorted - trash, store (for instance, we rotate toys in and out of the bedrooms, so a few things will get binned and stored neatly on shelves in there), or garage sale/Goodwill. And it is getting pretty easy for us both to say "garage sale/GW that item!" Dh also said he's been throwing things away like mad lately. So ... we are getting there.

[queencarr]

70/175

I cleaned off the top of the fridge today WooHoo! theoretically, only boxed stuff is supposed to go up there, along with disposable plates/cups/flatware for when we host large groups. But it had become a catchall. The final staw was today when a something slipped, knocking over and spilling an oatmeal container filled with yummy, made this week homemade granola and spilling about 4 cups onto my kitchen floor. I quickly was able to get rid of 48 items, including old cereal that we didn't like but I held onto "just in case", misc. papers, bags of valentine, halloween and easter candy, stale crackers that weren't very good to begin with, ziploc baggies of take along snacks that were now very stale, almost empty bubbles bottles, and a few pieces of kidart that were well past their prime (faded, ink had run, etc). The worst was that I found really good imported chocolate that had gone bad because I didn't know it was up there The only things I put back were foods we were currently eating out of, take out menus, and a few disposable items, neatly in my server basket. I still need to dust, but that requires climbing, and so will have to wait.

so my new total is 118/175!!

ETA: In the interest of full disclosure, I did pick up a few mostly kid books from the TP this weekend, so I suppose I will subtract that from my total when they come in. But ds2 LOVES books, and they will be perfect for him. I also got a decluttering one for me

[lulugemini]

Hello everyone! I am new to these boards but I have been lurking the past 2 days while waiting for my account to be activated and I could not wait to post!

I am a clean and organized person. The thing is, I live @ home with my mom, older sister and younger sister and my older sisters 2 children(6 & 3) and Ohh myyy is our house a MESS! My room is the cleanest room in the entire house and I can't take it anymore! First off, my older sister is the messiest person I think you will ever meet(and she doesn't care) and on top of that, she doesn't make her kids clean up either(I'm the one that tells them). I need help! Our house is a disaster! I am ready for this challenge to declutter our home.

I started with reorganizing my own closet, which was clean except for my shoe collection . I gave away 10 pairs of shoes...now I have room for new ones .

I am glad to be apart of this and can't wait to move onto the rest of the house! weeee

[superstella]

I am so slacking.



I had to take my teenager for school clothes today. Ouch. I brought in a bunch of stuff, but it had to be done.

Nothing decluttered, maybe I can get *something* out the door before dinner!

[queencarr]

I did a little more while putting away dishes today, and got a few more toys out of the new office.

5 plastic or glass cups recycled or thrown away

1 plastic marble run
5 happy meal type toys
10 bouncy balls bagged for the sale
1 jacks set
1 electronic battleship game
5 assorted small animal figures
and 1 small stuffed camel all bagged to donate to an upcoming Boy Scout garage sale
and 2 handfuls of broken toys, etc thrown away.

Not so sure how much more I am going to get done--the AC is not working properly, it is 100 outside, and the repair co can't come until Thursday. but my new total for today is: 150/175!!!

[tsume]

books? What do I do with the books? There is a bookshelf in the kids' room with some books on the bottom shelf. Less than 20. And we have 2 huge rubbermaids full of children's books that are in the closet.

A huge part is afraid of going through there because I'll be tempted to keep the books. But they've been in the closet for over a year. And no one has missed them since.

Okay, I'll open the boxes and I'll keep the 'good' books and donate the others. Give me strength!

[Ilovelife]

Started emptying out our closets in preparation for some home improvement work. So I loaded up a bag for donation & threw away a bunch of random stuff as well. 61 items. Total now 83/500

[clothdipemomof2boy]

my goal this month

I havent done this in about a month or two but made my last goal in the middle of june yeah!! so I know that it is late in the month but we are moving into a new house and I know that I will be able to declutter as I unpack so my goal will be small but I am going to try anyway to either get the goal or go over my goal even though again it is late in the month is 120 items this month. I know low but I dont have that long and my hubby is coming home sometime this month. Anyway thanks for giving me tips and helping me to get rid of stuff. :

[veganf]

What to do with tiny hotel soaps, shampoos, lotions, bath salts, etc.???
My husband travels a lot and collects these from all over the world. I used to think it was cool; I bought a big pretty basket for them when we moved thinking they'd be great for guests--yeah, what guests? my MIL? She never uses them. We don't usually have guests. I could use the basket for something else. I'll keep as many that fit in a tiny basket on the back of the toilet instead of the several HUNDRED we have right now heaped and dusty in the giant basket by the bathroom door.
Do you think goodwill will take them? Some of the them are crappy Ramada and Comfort Inn stuff, but others are super high end stuff from The New Yorker, hotels in the Ginza district in Tokyo, etc.
I'm not even going to tell him, I just want to do it while he's away this week.

[superstella]

Originally Posted by veganf

What to do with tiny hotel soaps, shampoos, lotions, bath salts, etc.???
My husband travels a lot and collects these from all over the world. I used to think it was cool; I bought a big pretty basket for them when we moved thinking they'd be great for guests--yeah, what guests? my MIL? She never uses them. We don't usually have guests. I could use the basket for something else. I'll keep as many that fit in a tiny basket on the back of the toilet instead of the several HUNDRED we have right now heaped and dusty in the giant basket by the bathroom door.
Do you think goodwill will take them? Some of the them are crappy Ramada and Comfort Inn stuff, but others are super high end stuff from The New Yorker, hotels in the Ginza district in Tokyo, etc.
I'm not even going to tell him, I just want to do it while he's away this week.

Homeless shelter? They'd probably love that stuff.

[Stace]

Donated 34 hangers to another mama that's doing some consignment, which brings me to 160/300.

[AlaskanGrown]

Gave away

6 candles
6 candle holders
1 carrying tote
2 pairs of shorts
2 skirts
6 tops
1 yard of fabric
2 large glass mixing bowls
1 wooden cutting board
1 glass cutting board

Off to find more...will update this evening :

[PeacefulSeams]

So I was sitting here today thinking about all the left over garage sale stuff I had in my garage. My DH seems to think we are just going to keep having garage sales until all the stuff is gone. I am tired of my garage being used to store crap so I posted an ad on Craigslist that all the stuff left over is free. I'm not holding anything and people can come get stuff until 7PM. DH should be pretty unhappy about that, but he'll get over it. End rant.


Anyways, someone just came and got all 22 board games that belonged to DS, a baby gate and some other toys.

Hopefully someone will come get that big furniture out for me. If not, I can always do it again next week when DS, DH and DH friend are all gone fishing for the whole day.