September decluttering challenge! - Page 2

[Turquesa]

Oo, oo! Me! Me! <Frantically raising hand>

I'm 110 13-gallon recycled bags toward my goal of a decluttered house. :

Many, many more to go!

[MonkeyPrincess]

[QUOTE=Turquesa;12081774]I'm 110 13-gallon recycled bags toward my goal of a decluttered house. : [QUOTE]

Wow! Good job, momma!
You've been working hard.

[eleven]

Woohoo!! So ready!!

We're hoping to move in a few months ( and I don't want to move all of this stuff!

[annettemarie]

So what are some typical decluttering goals or courses of action? I need some sort of 12-step program.

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

So what are some typical decluttering goals or courses of action? I need some sort of 12-step program.

step one- let Amy harass you! Yay!

step two, in your OP in this thread keep a running tally. Better yet, put it in your siggy like others have done to keep you honest.

step three- set up rules. Like a file in the back of the cabinet counts as one item. a box of pictures in the attic from 6th grade counts as an item. Those 5 trophies from soft ball season of 1992 count as 5.

also use this as a reference:

The Decluttering Questions:

Do I love this item?

Have I used it in the past year?

Is it really garbage?

Do I have another one that better?

Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?

Does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see it?

What does this represent?

Why am I afraid to get rid of it?

How long am I going to carry it around?

Does it bless my fmaily? Could it bless someone else's family?

HTH and looking forward to you making room for your family by doing this. You will be amazed how once you stop what it does for your home, life, and everything else.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

So what are some typical decluttering goals or courses of action? I need some sort of 12-step program.

I'd highly recommend reading or thumbing through Peter Walsh's book It's All Too Much. It was a huge inspiration to me the first time through last year, and I still pull on the wisdom to get me seeing things more clearly now. (Of course, my bookcase shelves are so cluttered with more books right now I can't see it from where I'm sitting ... maybe I need to work on that. )

[MyLittleWonders]

I went through ds#2's closet and two drawers and pulled out too-small or soon-to-be out of season clothes to box for ds#3. I'm almost done going through ds#3's clothes; his get donated to Goodwill. Next will be ds#1's.

[Amys1st]

So Labor Day, perfect day to start! DH Bob was trimming the tree and I tied that up for pick up. Then after he installed lighting in our bsmt so I used it as a chance to rearrange and declutter. I am at 37 items. I packed up a bunch of stuff for dd2's preschool since the director is always looking for different items and I have two boxes of items from her wish list.
Then I found a few boxes not unpacked from our move last year so I did just that. We plan on hanging a few pictures in the bsmt we unpacked. Plus from the declutter I now have a few empty storage bins I transferred some toys too after sifting thru those.

Now I have to start the Good Will box for all the decluttering treasures.

Tuesday I will finish the battle of the bsmt.

Also, dont forget the pantry! This time of year, I must have a couple of groups knocking on the door for food drives. That box of forks, extra paper towels, cans of this and that are great give aways for them.

Hopefully by the end of the week, I can hit one of the girls' rooms

[mikaela]

Wow... sounds like we'll be a busy bunch of mommas this month! Lots of home-moving and baby-growing and school-starting -- the best time to change a habit is in the midst of other changes, right? It's so nice to do this together, I'm already feeling more inspired!

Carla_KY: There aren't real rules for the declutter challenges. Just post here what your goals for the month are (get rid of 100 items, clean out pantry, organize closet, etc.), fill us in on your progress, and offer encouragement/motivation the other mommas. Easy-peasy!

Happy September, ladies!

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

step one- let Amy harass you! Yay!

step two, in your OP in this thread keep a running tally. Better yet, put it in your siggy like others have done to keep you honest.

step three- set up rules. Like a file in the back of the cabinet counts as one item. a box of pictures in the attic from 6th grade counts as an item. Those 5 trophies from soft ball season of 1992 count as 5.

also use this as a reference:

The Decluttering Questions:

Do I love this item?

Have I used it in the past year?

Is it really garbage?

Do I have another one that better?

Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?

Does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see it?

What does this represent?

Why am I afraid to get rid of it?

How long am I going to carry it around?

Does it bless my fmaily? Could it bless someone else's family?

HTH and looking forward to you making room for your family by doing this. You will be amazed how once you stop what it does for your home, life, and everything else.

Thanks, Amy! I need to think of a goal. I'm thinking of starting small, with maybe at least 1 thing a day.

[PabloHoneySF]

Count me in!

DS #1 starts preschool this week and our babysitter will be back to watch DS #2, 2 mornings a week so I have NO reason not to declutter!

We have DS#3 coming in November and I am in serious nesting and decluttering mode.

Does it count towards 200 if I bagged up about 70 of those tiny plastic hotwheel type cars?

Was thinking about taking "before" pictures of each room and posting them with a goal to get it cleaned up by "x"time (ie- "this week's challenge" )...

[hellyaellen]

ooh ooh i haven't done one of these in ages

goals:

finishe my filing cabinet.......i am so close:
go through the extra closet:
get everything out of my moms house.........not much left really
find my mei-tei:
oh and organize my bookmarks

and the biggie.........
work towards getting rid of my storage building :

i already went through our bedroom closet and the kids' closet

even decluttered 1 float toy that died over the summer

[greenmamapagan]

Ok, I think I need to join. We are moving to NZ in January and there's no way we can take even half of what we've got. That said, I think I need to start small. Really really small. 2 items a day.
Hmmm, what to start with?

[SleepyMamaBear]

ok i'm in for 100.
NOT counting the stuff i already have set aside for the garage sale this weekend. 100, starting NOW!
thanks for the motivation

[Carla_KY]

APRONS & ACORNS - I'm flattered to be your inspiration! I just want this move to be a smooth and pleasant as possible, so I've been cleaning out and paring down BIG TIME for a few weeks. But now that I've started packing boxes...it still feels like we have too much stuff! So, who knows...I may get rid of even more stuff when I'm putting stuff into boxes.

I plan on posting pics of my new house and how I organized it and decorated it on my blog after we get settled in, so please pop by in a week or so and check it out!

[hillymum]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Does trimming a tree of huge branches count as decluttering? It is bigtime clutter looking at overgrown things.....

As long as digging up and removing spider grass also counts! My front flower bds look so much better without all that grass but my back and legs ache!

[Carla_KY]

Originally Posted by hillymum

As long as digging up and removing spider grass also counts! My front flower bds look so much better without all that grass but my back and legs ache!

I think those definitely count! Decluttering the outside of your home makes a big difference in your "curb appeal" and makes you feel peaceful when you go outside.

[dawningmama]

I'm in! I'm going to put it in my siggy. I'll start with 200, because I'm going to do books so that'll be a quick start. I'm in the process of moving around furniture and getting ready to redecorate and change the main purpose of the living room, so I need to clear some stuff out!

[JupiterSinclair]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I'd highly recommend reading or thumbing through Peter Walsh's book It's All Too Much. It was a huge inspiration to me the first time through last year, and I still pull on the wisdom to get me seeing things more clearly now. (Of course, my bookcase shelves are so cluttered with more books right now I can't see it from where I'm sitting ... maybe I need to work on that. )

I read that one and also his "Does This CLutter Make My Butt Look Big". Both really resonated with me. The annoying thing about both books is, I realized that I actually knew everything in them.HAHA! What I mean is, I KNOW the dynamics of clutter and how it effects you and I even know how to go about making the decluttering process happen, but I lack motivation. As my hubby says, "Maybe your motivation is in one of those boxes in the closets you haven't touched since we moved in ?" Um hmm.Funny guy.

Hopefully, this challenge will help

I think I'm going to aim for 200. But one question...when you say "things" ,is it really litterally 200 individual items? Like, a bag of clothes with 40 articles of clothing...that's 40 Things? Just double-checking

[aprons_and_acorns]

Originally Posted by Carla_KY

APRONS & ACORNS - I'm flattered to be your inspiration! I just want this move to be a smooth and pleasant as possible, so I've been cleaning out and paring down BIG TIME for a few weeks. But now that I've started packing boxes...it still feels like we have too much stuff! So, who knows...I may get rid of even more stuff when I'm putting stuff into boxes.

I plan on posting pics of my new house and how I organized it and decorated it on my blog after we get settled in, so please pop by in a week or so and check it out!

Yes I will do that, and thank you for giving us all a peek.

Right now I'm doing the first round of de-cluttering--the "no-brainers" if you will. And when I start to pack boxes I hope I will be moved to do another round of decluttering. Right now a lot of things have been moved into the garage to get ready for the move, and living in a simpler space is so nice. I packed or donated all of my special kitchen stuff--the novelty pans and things I use only rarely, and it is so amazing the difference I feel when I'm in there, puttering around and putting things away in cupboards with plenty of clear, open space. I love it!