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Post by ecvnj58 on Jan 20, 2020 16:30:36 GMT
I placed my stuff on free cycle and started making another donate pile for next weekend on free cycle.
So far the pile is 2 pairs of pants and some makeup bags. I also used up a small vial of perfume and got rid of some contact solution and a baindaid holder I no longer need. I’m trying to use up things and then not replace them.
I want to tackle my toiletries this week and under my bathroom sink.
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Post by catseatcheese on Jan 20, 2020 21:25:55 GMT
Everyone is doing so well! One thing I have found in the past few years (this de-cluttering thing has been an on-going life mission of mine for a while now...) is that once you get the "bug" you become better and better about what you buy. After a big purge of clothing a couple of years ago I now really consider what clothing I purchase to see what is needed. Don't get me wrong I'm no minimalist but I really do my best to think about what I am purchasing to make sure I need it and then consider if I should donate older clothing to make room. Same goes for crafting supplies. A few years ago I did a "no spend" year on craft supplies. At the same time I made myself some goals around the number of layouts and projects to complete. I was so happy that year and felt so accomplished...but I also realized HOW MUCH stuff I had. That led me to give away so much last year. Now I love to look online at all of the new and pretty collections (especially during this time of year and creativation) but if I want to purchase something I will go online and put it into my shopping cart, then wait a few days and go back to see if it really is something I need. I can usually find something similar in my current stash.
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Post by ss on Jan 20, 2020 22:53:14 GMT
I feel so accomplished lol Easily tossed 60plus items from my medicine cabinet in my kitchen. Old meds/ expired meds and just miscellaneous crap! Will dispose of meds properly in a locked box at work.
Will restart on Wednesday. Where should I go??? So many choices lol
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Post by joblackford on Jan 21, 2020 1:58:16 GMT
crimsoncat05 I just read a book called Garbology that talked about having a boring, routine diet being best for wasting less - weird and novel items are the ones that get wasted the most. Like fancy breads and unusual cuts of meat and special spices. I did a big clean out of my spices a few years ago and decided to stop trying to cook certain cuisines at home. I have spices for the recipes I get off budgetbytes.com - she uses the same spices constantly, ingredients for basic Japanese food - not much more than sake, sugar, mirin, soy sauce with some sesame oil and rice vinegar, and anything else I buy in the quantity I need for the recipe from the bulk bins or decide not to cook. We have no pantry so I can’t accumulate much. Still working on cutting back in condiments though. I haven’t been counting but I have been taking things down to the donation pile (which I need to take to Vinnies soon). I went through my closet and took all the things out of a hanging organizer that was my dresser. I have a better hanging organizer to sub for a dresser now, but I still had some things in the old one. A little worried I’ll be pushed for space when I switch to summer clothes, but I guess I will have to donate more clothes. I have something of a bag/pouch problem that we’re not going to talk about right now - that’s mostly what was in the organizer. While I was in the closet I started looking at two shoes boxes in the top of the closet. One pair of classic, timeless black pumps... which I have worn once or twice in 15 years and would do almost anything to avoid wearing, if I’m honest with myself. Resisting the logic that they’re quality and timeless and therefore should be kept. They need to go to someone interviewing for corporate jobs or something. One pair of shiny silver strappy heels which I bought for a cruise and wore exactly twice on that cruise. They should go to someone who loves shoes and doesn’t mind that the vinyl will probably flake apart within a few more years whether they wear them or not. I have a photo light box thing (ShotBox) that Stacy Julian convinced me I needed, that my SIL bought me as a gift, that I think needs to go. Still on the fence about that though. But I think it probably should go... I’m working up to going through my bookshelves, which are actually quite empty considering how much of a bookworm I am. But I’m asking myself why I keep books I haven’t picked up in 10 years. I love books but I think I’d rather share most of these with other people. But the first one I picked up I started reading instead of decluttering, so maybe tomorrow I’ll try again. The shelves are built-ins so having them half full isn’t doing any harm which is why I’ve left them for a while. And it’s hard to do rainbow book organizing when you don’t have many books! Finally, we decluttered quite a lot of dryer lint and dog hair from inside our tumble dryer. Apparently you’re supposed to crack the whole thing open every couple of years! It could’ve been worse after 15 years of use, but it should work a lot better now, and be safer.
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Post by ecvnj58 on Jan 21, 2020 14:25:29 GMT
I’m working on my bathroom cabinet. It’s slow going but I do a little each day. I have gotten rid of 13 items the past 2 days including a gel nail kit that I have just decided I will never have time for or desire to do. I have been trying to use all the bottom bits of my toiletries and downsizing to just one travel set. This is my current toothpaste stash. Like why do I have so many. I don’t bring the half tubes on vacation because they have barely anything left and just toss them in the storage container.
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Post by anniefb on Jan 21, 2020 18:08:29 GMT
Back at work now and surviving my first week. I have pre-decluttered some more items for the next few days:
Day 22: 9 plastic plates, 4 paper plates, 9 plastic bowls Day 23: 23 plastic cups Day 24: collection of stamps and 1st day covers
I just cannot believe all the stuff I 'discovered' as I gave the cupboards a good clean. Feeling so much better about the overall state of the house.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 21, 2020 20:04:07 GMT
Days 20 and 21 in one go. I attacked the insides of my handbags and backpacks, including my emergency backpack. 'Twas fun! And by fun, I mean holy-crap-why-is-this-in-here-tastic. Found over 30 things: perfume samples, old handcreams that were almost empty, old chapsticks, hair ties that were too stretched out to still function properly, etc. To get to 41 items, I added 1 handbag, 1 wallet, 3 little pouches, 1 foldable grocery bag and a set of unused kitchen towels to the donate pile! anniefb You are living in the house of plates! ss Where to go next? The world is your cluttered oyster. ecvnj58 What even is a band-aid holder? (I've got a feeling this is a typical mum thing! ) catseatcheese Totally agree. Once you really get going for a longer term type of declutter project, you start becoming more aware of your purchases. I've gotten used to asking myself: "What do I need this for? How often will I use this? Where will I store it? What would I rather spend my money and/or storage on?" It truly helps! joblackford I understand your fear of letting go of books. I tend to be ruthless with the non-classics. If I haven't re-read it in a while and don't particularly feel like I will in the next 12 months, I usually let it go. The classics I love or still want to get through get a pass. When in doubt, I add a title to an Evernote file in case I want to re-purchase it in the future as a Kindle read. My bookshelves aren't an accurate reflection of my actual literary knowledge and everything I've read. And that's fine. No impress-the-guests Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer effect here.
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Post by ecvnj58 on Jan 21, 2020 22:42:50 GMT
sleepingbooty a bandaid holder is a a little container that holds like 3 baindaids and gets lost in your purse only to be found when we do this challenge next year🤣good job tackling your bags. I recently got rid of all my purses except 2 and somehow I misplaced my work badge in one of them for 3 weeks. I can’t keep track of anything.
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Post by joblackford on Jan 22, 2020 1:43:35 GMT
joblackford I understand your fear of letting go of books. I tend to be ruthless with the non-classics. If I haven't re-read it in a while and don't particularly feel like I will in the next 12 months, I usually let it go. The classics I love or still want to get through get a pass. When in doubt, I add a title to an Evernote file in case I want to re-purchase it in the future as a Kindle read. My bookshelves aren't an accurate reflection of my actual literary knowledge and everything I've read. And that's fine. No impress-the-guests Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer effect here. I definitely don’t worry about whether my shelves look impressive. I have no guests, but I never shut up about books I’m reading. I actually own almost no fiction, classic or otherwise. The scary books to let go of are the non-fiction/reference books, the ones that are a little obscure, that I had a hard time tracking down, that I know my library is about to weed because they’re older and less popular. Some are for hobbies I no longer do, but the memory of finding the holy grail guide to hand quilting patterns or whatever make them hard to let go of. Even though I know I’m more likely to look up YT for instructions these days. I’m going to keep some of them, regardless of how long since I last cracked them open. (at least until I become a snowbird or van-dweller or move to Copenhagen) But today I pulled out a 10” stack of books that might be on their way out, and as I leafed through some of them I was shocked as how dated the photography looks now (and they were intended to be inspiring photography books). They don’t hold the same heart-sing feeling they used to, so I will send them away. I also need to get over the feeling of “this book is so good everyone should read it, therefore I must have a copy so when I tell them they have to read it I can give it to them!” I know that’s not logical. My library book sale and local Little Free (street) Library are going to get some nice books soon. Also cleaned out my bag of reused tissue/bags/wrapping, to put the Xmas stuff away with the Xmas stuff, give away some bows, and toss the dusty old bag I was storing the stuff in, cute though it was. While I was in the closet I pulled out the cheap crappy sunglasses I bought when I used to wear contacts. They were very dusty from not being used. And I’m passing on the hand knit hedgehog I adopted from my knitty friend when she moved. Cute but only good for catching dust.
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Post by Jessica on Jan 22, 2020 1:56:43 GMT
This morning, I pulled out bins of old movies, books, and CDs that I'm planning to go through today when I get home from work. I have been looking forward to this project all day.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,458
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Jan 22, 2020 7:47:50 GMT
I've been a little under the weather lately so feel like I've fallen off the bandwagon. I did use some of my last day of illness but not quite healthy downtime to unsubscribe from some youtube channels I no longer find inspiring.
And tonight I sent my old camera onto its new home which feels great!
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Post by mikklynn on Jan 22, 2020 13:41:37 GMT
sleepingbooty a bandaid holder is a a little container that holds like 3 baindaids and gets lost in your purse only to be found when we do this challenge next year🤣good job tackling your bags. I recently got rid of all my purses except 2 and somehow I misplaced my work badge in one of them for 3 weeks. I can’t keep track of anything. I purchased a collection of clear zipper bags on Amazon for travel. I started using 2 of the small ones in my purse. One holds lip gloss, hand lotion, etc. The other is for my tiny packages of Tylenol, Tums, bandaids, etc. Now I can grab things quickly. There is not a bunch of stuff buried in the bottom of my bag.
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Post by joblackford on Jan 23, 2020 5:09:19 GMT
I took books to the library book sale, including some that were ones at thought I would keep. Tossed some old paper bookmarks too. (and found one I love about how to build a community) I also messaged two friends about two specific books I thought they might like and they were both delighted. So yay! My husband kept talking about purging and I said, no, I don’t like that word. I prefer to think of it as sharing
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 23, 2020 22:15:57 GMT
Days 22 and 23 in one go. I tackled the glass filled with old birthday candles, people! I got rid of 42 half-used up (or more in some cases ) candles. For the three extra things to get to 45 (eep!), I let go of three more books (still a few shelves to go). joblackford Glad to hear the book "sharing" is going so well for you. One step closer to Copenhagen! I have a friend who's just taken a year off to go live the van life through Europe for 2020 with his wife and dog. Very exciting! Achoo to you too re: dust catchers. My (ruthless) nose and eyes are always happy to see dust magnets go no matter how cute they are. mikklynn I finally found the pouch (Gleam S by Kipling) that works to hold my purse dwellers but, admittedly, I don't carry a lot. Definitely no bandaid holders like ecvnj58 . I don't even have a single plaster/bandaid in my purse. But then I have a tourniquet in my emergency backpack. Go figure! ecvnj58 Bwahaha, I couldn't help but laugh at misplacing your work badge after purging your handbags and only having two left. Jessica How did it go with the bins? I love that you'd been looking forward to it all day. Now that's the true Marie Kondō spirit! Chinagirl828 I hope you're feeling a bit better today. Your camera found a new home, yay! That's this month of decluttering come full circle for you...
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auntmimi
Full Member
Posts: 471
Jun 22, 2018 18:55:37 GMT
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Post by auntmimi on Jan 23, 2020 22:48:57 GMT
I have been trying to use all the bottom bits of my toiletries and downsizing to just one travel set. I'm your long-lost toothpaste tube sister. LOL I've also made a conscious effort to use up all of those little bits, samples, and smidgeons I have left of these toiletries and makeup items. I didn't purge as much out of my house I wanted to this past weekend, but I did tackle a massive photo consolidation project I've been meaning to do since about 2015. I cleared off 5 external hard drives, two thumb drives, and my husband's tablet of tens of thousands of pics. We had two hard drives crash within 2 years and they had several baby/toddler pics of my daughter so I went a little crazy afterwards and triple backed up everything. I've since calmed down and figured out my back system. It was time to consolidate and delete what I didn't need. It feels so good to not have those drives collecting dust and having all of my photos organized in one digital filing system.
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Post by joblackford on Jan 24, 2020 1:58:35 GMT
The hand knit hedgehog/dust catcher was the first thing that disappeared from the “free table” where I left my stuff at work.
I put something in the donation pile that is labeled “mystery connector” - some kind of plug for a computer that we could never identify. Why have I kept that for 10 years?? I tossed out a CD-R that was probably blank but definitely unlabeled. I feel uneasy about that even though it can’t have anything important on it - I’m not the type to leave important things unlabeled, but when I put it in the only cd/dvd playing thing we have left, it didn’t do anything.
I’m going to stop procrastinating on here in a minute and start reading some books I decided I need to read parts of before I can share. And then I’m going to go through my small box of photography related gadgets. I thought of at least one thing in there that can go.
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Post by Jessica on Jan 24, 2020 3:10:26 GMT
sleepingbooty life got in the way but I'm going through them now. At this moment, I have 40 movies, 9 books in the pile, so I'm making up for the lost time. I think there is still some room to remove things but I'm happy with my progress for today as I also cleared out some misc receipts in my purse.
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jan 24, 2020 3:53:19 GMT
How did I not notice this thread until tonight? Count me in. Last night I went through a bunch of bits and pieces and Christmas cards deciding what I really would use to make tags next year. I went through more tonight. I'm definitely counting both nights worth of stuff! sleepingbooty, I'm really liking your positive, upbeat, supportive vibe. Thanks!
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 24, 2020 18:40:43 GMT
Going through the dreaded Disney boxes while watching the new season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix tonight (for a bit of contrast ). It's mostly stuff I got from a special reward programme from Disney France over the past few years, loads of DVDs, BRs, limited edition lithographies, art boxes, etc. Wish me luck! I've been putting this off since the start of the month but it's really time to get to it.
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Post by Jessica on Jan 24, 2020 18:59:45 GMT
Going through the dreaded Disney boxes while watching the new season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix tonight (for a bit of contrast ). It's mostly stuff I got from a special reward programme from Disney France over the past few years, loads of DVDs, BRs, limited edition lithographies, art boxes, etc. Wish me luck! I've been putting this off since the start of the month but it's really time to get to it. Oof, good luck. Some of the Disney movies were very hard to let go of and I was keeping them for sentimentality as opposed to need.
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Post by anniefb on Jan 25, 2020 7:40:20 GMT
Still going as I pre-decluttered some things last week.
Day 25: 3 boxes of old tax documents for shredding Day 26: 26 sheets old documents for shredding
The funny thing was that I had already noted the old tax documents could go - the boxes were marked 'destroy 2017'! I obviously then forgot about them again.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 25, 2020 13:39:23 GMT
My Disney boxes were stacked. I didn't realise what a neat game of Tetris I'd played to get everything in there. A lot of stuff currently up for grabs for friends and fam'. I do want quick pick-up for this because I know that I have some stuff in those boxes other people had claimed last year, the year before, etc. and never came over to get. Rude! Besides the things my SO's family in Spain claims, whatever's still in my home next Wednesday will be going to a local organisation working with low-income families. Planes 2 must've been a total bomb because I somehow ended up with 3 DVDs of the movie in my Disney stash. Disney France couldn't offload them quick enough apparently... "Here, have a free gift. It's Planes 2. Again!"
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Post by refugeepea on Jan 25, 2020 18:18:03 GMT
Okay, I did not do well counting things this month. I do have my dies, stamps, stamp platform, and manual die cut machine now stored in a doll cupboard. I have the rest of my space organized. I've done some scrapping and there's been a lot less searching! My next goal is to clear some shelves in the basement to store our dehydrator so it isn't taking so much of the little counter space we have in the kitchen.
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jan 25, 2020 22:03:44 GMT
I went through one food cabinet today. Tossed the "special occasion baking mixes and seasonings" for the parties we no longer have.
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Post by natscraps on Jan 25, 2020 23:43:57 GMT
I stopped counting things. I did go through 3 boxes from storage full of scrapbook and sewing stuff. At least 50 items made it into the “craft-get rid of“ box. I’ll take it to my next crop and let my friends have first dibs before it goes to goodwill. I still can’t seem to part with my pretty jars of Prima flowers even though I know I’ll probably never use them.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,458
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Jan 27, 2020 2:08:24 GMT
I feel like I've really fallen behind as we've been focusing on gardening this weekend, but this morning I went through my dresser and pulled out several more things I no longer wear to add to the donation pile. I'm hoping to convince my DH to work with me this afternoon on his clothes. And I've sold a couple of things I listed online, including a DVD box set that has been in my "must list online to sell" pile since my last major cleanout in 2015.
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Post by joblackford on Jan 27, 2020 2:26:45 GMT
Well, I almost feel like I've done the opposite of decluttering because we went to pick up a carload of stuff that FIL wants us to help him sell. So now the basement has a table of creepy dolls and old knitting and sewing stuff. Sigh...
It's good though. We really want to help him out. He's recently widowed and has reacted by finally getting rid of all the excess stuff that he and his (shopoholic?) wife collected over the years. Collections up the wazoo. I would say they collected somewhere between 20 and 40 different kids of things - various styles of pottery, glassware, figurines, lemon juice squeezers, pewter, brass nautical stuff, dolls that Arco gas stations gave away for free in the 60s... So we're just starting with the creepy doll collection and then we'll move on from there. I'm so thrilled he's letting go of all this dusty old junk, but boy, I wish we could just donate it all...
I doubt I'll be doing too much more delcuttering unless photographing + listing all this stuff motivates me to toss all my unfinished projects and last remaining tchotchkes. It might.
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Post by ecvnj58 on Jan 27, 2020 13:44:15 GMT
I added up the entire month and I’m only at 117 items. The good news is I have been decluttering every day. The bad news is I’m no where near where I thought I would be. Some things were multiples that I only counter as one item but still.
Other good news. Some areas that have been problems are now cleaner like my bathroom cabinet, my hall coat rack and my closet shelves. I’m just going to keep going. I may have mentioned that I have been doing this for 1.5 years. I actually have made huge progress towards minimalism and have really started critically thinking about every item that comes in my home. I still have a ways to go but I’m good with just continually making small progress.
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Post by anniefb on Jan 27, 2020 17:00:20 GMT
Here’s my numbers for yesterday and today:
Day 27: 20 sheets old docs for shredding, 2 pairs gloves, 1 cushion, 1 smash book, 1 toiletry set, 1 laminator, 1 collapsible coffee cup donated Day 28: 28 pieces plastic cutlery recycled
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Post by Jessica on Jan 27, 2020 18:45:37 GMT
Again, I got on another roll and found 51 items for the weekend -- some of these included throwing away old receipts, accumulated stuff at the bottom of my purses, old pens, etc so I'm not necessarily only looking about what I can give away but getting rid of "stuff" in any capacity. I need to address my closet still as I felt like I needed to work my way up to it.
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