September Decluttering Challenge! - Page 3

[crazyeight]

finally! i get to join in decluttering! we have been notified that we are moving by oct 13 and i don't want to do a half month so EVERYTHING must be cleaned, thrown out, and organized by Oct 1st! then that leaves me 2 weeks to pack in non essential order. I do mean EVERYTHING will be clean. i started my purging 2 weeks ago or so but i want to count it for this month. I am not really sure of a number but i am going to guess at least 600 items need to go. Course if we count every paper, onsie, reciept, shoe and shampoo bottle then i guess I will go with 2000. I have a huge closet thats full of my couponing stash that I will garage sale which is easily 1000 items but i am not really counting that. its organized and new.

1. filing cabinet
2. dd's closet
3. ds's closet
4. master bdrm closet
5. storage box of electronics, misc. items
6. computer table cleanup Mine/DH
7. kitchen cabinets
8. boxes of clothes at end of hallway
9. kids toys
10. tv center
11. dh's tool shed
12. outside misc. shed
13. kitchen table AND the stuff on it
14. wall filer
15. under sinks
16. hope chest
17. misc shelf by back door

TO DO:
get rid of carpet or cut down for new house
plan garage sale
organize to pack or prepack
ds in preschool before move or VERY soon after
tv/cable decision


I am sure more things will come up but these are the areas that get stuffed with stupid stuff. I really really really only want to store holiday items and i am sick of moving everything!

I WILL get rid of everything we are not using right now no matter how much i want to keep it! I will keep 1 MEDIUM box of things from our teens, pictures, or keepsakes but no more! 1 LARGE sterilite container of holiday items plus the xmas tree. ALL important paperwork will fit in ONE filing cabinet (might buy one for this and keep the one we have for installation cds, extra mouses, keyboards, office supplies, cords etc). If the clothes don't fit GET RID OF IT.

200/2000 (or limit)

[amyamanda]

Well, heck, this thread really is something.

First I attacked the kitchen and have it almost all the way decluttered and sparkly.

Then I went out to the shed and did all the tidying I have been putting off for months (years, to be honest) and all I have left to do is run some junk by DH and bring the shopvac out there to banish the dust and cobwebs, and it's done.

I also attacked a huge stand of weeds in the yard that we want to turn into lawn. It was so much easier than I ever expected it to be. I still need to drag the stuff I cut out to the hill (I also tidied up the branch pile there a bit) and do a bit more weeding, then have DH actually mow over the area, but otherwise...job done.

If I hadn't posted here I would never have had the inspiration to start these things. Magic!

[crazyeight]

Originally Posted by amyamanda

Well, heck, this thread really is something.

First I attacked the kitchen and have it almost all the way decluttered and sparkly.

Then I went out to the shed and did all the tidying I have been putting off for months (years, to be honest) and all I have left to do is run some junk by DH and bring the shopvac out there to banish the dust and cobwebs, and it's done.

I also attacked a huge stand of weeds in the yard that we want to turn into lawn. It was so much easier than I ever expected it to be. I still need to drag the stuff I cut out to the hill (I also tidied up the branch pile there a bit) and do a bit more weeding, then have DH actually mow over the area, but otherwise...job done.

If I hadn't posted here I would never have had the inspiration to start these things. Magic!

i know its amazing isn't it! when you tell yourself your going to do something you can just say you won't but when you announce it to the world well it had better get done! i really want to get some packing done but i don't have any boxes yet. i feel like it might be more work to go through all the stuff and organize it rather than packing as i go. i really should buy some boxes but we haven't been breifed yet and i don't want to spend money that we won't get reimbursed.
threw out 2 more dumb items: self made candle that couldn't burn anymore and patron bottle (empty). 202/2000

[meandk0610]

this is my first declutter challenge so i'm going to start small - 100 items. i tend to hold on to things because i hate to think of not recouping any money (that we're pretty desperate for). i'm trying to find an auction house that will take stuff. ebay is not practical for most items i want to sell.

sarah

total 0/100

[brittneyscott]

Well I didn't really do much today. It was an off day and I pretty much was lazy all day, even took a nap . But I did get the fridge cleaned out. I've been meaning to do it for weeks but keep forgetting to on Tuesday nights (garbage on Wed morn.) It's done now though. I still need to clean it but there isn't anything old or unused in there anymore. So yeah!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for me. I'm going to force myself into the shower first thing in the morning. That always helps my energy for the day.

[superstella]

I am SO proud of myself. I tackled a giant stack of medical bills today. There must have been 200 bills, but for the sake of counting I'm going to say it was worth 20 items. This was a mental challenge more than anything, because I've just not wanted to deal with the $100k worth of bills that we can't afford to pay. But today I went through and got rid of the double copies and sent in the necessary paperwork to ask for charity consideration on many, many more. Now I only have a few remaining in terms of actual bills, even though they are worth about $60k still : . I have 3 that add up to more than 50k, so if I could get those 3 to go away I might be able to handle the rest.

At any rate, that was HUGE for me, and I also got rid of:

1 shoebox full of broken stuff
1 mystery puzzle
1 printer that works but wasn't hooked up to GW

So my total for now is 23/250 I'll take it!

[hellyaellen]

it is amazing what the accountability of the thread does, eh?

superstella, i know what you mean...while going through my two+ big cardboard boxes of papers i'm finding bills that haven't even been opened. Because i haven't wanted to face them. my student loan deferment is up this month and i don't qualify for it so i can't just re-apply. don't know what i'm gonna do...

keeping a tally and making it fun helps

that said i'm probably taking today off too. my mom brought her shredder over though so who knows how i'll feel after work, could be that i'll get all excited about it

[MamaRabbit]

So far this week I've tossed:
4 broken toys
2 magazines
4 containers of rotten food (the food, not the containers!)

returned to owner:
2 tupperware
2 books

14/200

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

10/100

They turn purple when I've finished, the numbers are Sept. dates that I worked on that area.

1. Filing Cabinet 1 2 3 4
2. Closet in the nursery 5
3. My clothes closet
4. My daughters' clothes
5. Garage
6. Storage Garage Outside
7. Closet in the Guest Bedroom
8. My desk
9. Kitchen Cabinets
10. Bathroom Linen Closet

I opened the closet door and looked in there. It is not pretty.

[superstella]

Cleaned out the fridge too (it really needed it!) and got rid of

1 old jar of jalapenos
1 nasty box of breakfast sandwich crap that dh bought and didn't like
1 expired packet of ham
1 bag of breast milk dated july 7, I was in icu then

27/250

[brittneyscott]

I didn't count any items today but I took out 2 boxes of food that we don't use to donate. I also cleaned up my kitchen and organized it some more. So still a yeah for today.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

10/100

They turn purple when I've finished, the numbers are Sept. dates that I worked on that area.

1. Filing Cabinet 1 2 3 4
2. Closet in the nursery 5 6
3. My clothes closet
4. My daughters' clothes
5. Garage
6. Storage Garage Outside
7. Closet in the Guest Bedroom
8. My desk
9. Kitchen Cabinets
10. Bathroom Linen Closet

Okay -- the next half hour will be spent in that closet.

Why am I still keeping jeans that haven't fit in four years and two children ago? Those need to go.

[superstella]

Can someone please tell me why do I have such a hard time getting rid of National Geographic magazines? Is it because I love the pictures so very much? I'm not going to read them again, chances are. And yet, I can't even throw out last month's issue... I have some back issues dating from the 60s : (although I have to say those make for some *very* interesting reading and I do revisit those on occasion).

At any rate, today I got rid of:

2 dipes (yay TP!)
8 dollars (oh wait, that doesn't count)
1 stack of crap from the corner junk holder (this must have been 10 items, but I'm being hard on myself so it's one stack of junk!)
1 book
1 digital camera that didn't work anymore

so that's 5 items so far today (jeesh I need to get busy!)

32/250

[Margot Adler]

i don't know, 150 items?

this is great! dh will be so excited to fall clean (he haaaates clutter), plus, there is no reason to wait until ds is crawling to get this house in shape...

[kissum]

Well, I was soooo ambitious starting this thread early, but of course didn't actually start anything until today.
32/300.

[superstella]

Last night, while the babies were sleeping, I managed to get rid of 5 printed out power point presentations from nursing school last quarter. Sad that I won't need them any time soon, and by the time I do need them I'll have to print new power points because these ones will be outdated.

This morning, 2 shirts to the trash.
Add to that... let's call it 5 handfuls of broken toys (where do these keep coming from???), 2 cds that won't play... I'm on a roll!

But anyway, that brings me to

46/250

to start the day.

[IamPink]

I've seen you guys have your totals in your siggys, but I didn't know what it meant.....
I am SO totally in!
I'm assuming that every single thing that you get rid of counts as 1 item as I've seen some of you talk about each paper.
So, I'll go to 400 this month. I have so much junk!
My bedroom is the biggest problem right now, so that's where I'll start.

[brittneyscott]

Okay ladies its been a lazy week for me. I've been slacking but I'm on a roll again today. So far:

36 bottles, lids, etc.
28 sippies, plates, spoons, etc.
40 clothing items, towels, toys, etc.


TOTAL: 1024/2000 items plus 2 boxes of food

[meandk0610]

i've been working on the yard - do weeds count?

1 old sippy cup 1/100

sarah

[crazyeight]

oy...does packing count? i packed all of the books (1 1/2 bookcases full) so almost 5 boxes. i actually threw out about 10 items...cards, papers, sales papers i stuck in the items i bought etc.

212/2000