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Post by katlaw on Jan 13, 2020 0:31:59 GMT
I really need to get rid of stuff that we no longer use. We have 3 boys, way too many older video game systems and games and only one DS15 still playing them.
My goal this month is to organize the gaming systems, get rid of the ones no one uses.
My DH has old computers and old laptops. And a box of stuff from my MIL's apartment he needs to go through. The goal is to recycle what is no longer usable and sell or donate whatever is still good.
I cleaned out the medicine cabinet the other day.
The weather here is cold this week so hopefully I can get some stuff done.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 13, 2020 0:38:27 GMT
I have finally made my Organize/Declutter resolutions for 2020. Last year was hard in that our time and energy was taken up by his triathlons, we both had some long depression cycles (at the same time, ugh that’s the worst!) so some old systems went kaput and I didn’t make as much progress as I would like, and to top it off I went through a hypomanic phase at the end of the year that brought a lot of stuff into our house. There are still a few details to be decided but with motivation from @refugeepee to take a gentle approach I am trying very hard to out my perfectionist tendencies aside and not freak out that I don’t have a binder set up for this already, with perfectly labeled everything! It’s mid January and I am just really starting and that’s okay. I am not going to type out a detailed plan here right now because I am not up for concentrating, and that’s okay. But I’m putting the basics out here to hold myself accountable. Even though my goal statement will be poorly worded, I’m putting it out there. Go me. I want to do what’s needed to make our home feel as “us” and as serene as possible. I want to complete the process of making our home function as efficiently and be as streamlined as possible, including creating habits and routines to keep it that way. I want everything in it to be something we love, need, or find incredibly useful. I want to have enough of a handle on things that I can sit and read while DH watches something stupid on TV and not feel like I should be up doing something.
I want to complete all of the unfinished household projects we have the supplies on hand for, I’m tired of these things being a mental weight on our shoulders. I want to get back to enjoying crafting daily, and to do that I need to get back to my routines and finish some of the projects that are weighing me down, and get a good handle on the rest. I want to improve our triathlon trip preparation system, so we enjoy our trips even more. I want to be able to park in the garage and have room to work on household projects in the other side. I WANT OUR PAPERWORK UNDER CONTROL![/i] No biggie, right? I’ve revamped some of my old systems and have a basic plan to make this happen and it comes down to breaking each room and category into weekly slots, having a detailed task list for each, and breaking those tasks up into manageable daily pieces. Some rooms and categories get multiple weeks (like the garage and paperwork). I’ve also got daily goals for hotspot and big task things like (declutter calendar, emails, paperwork, garage) set with maximum times to work on each thing so that I don’t get burnt out. Mostly 5 or 10 minutes per task. We redid our cleaning schedule a bit to take into account where I am with pain right now, so I have reasonable daily chunks. All of these are broken down so that it feels less overwhelming. I’m having huge control/anxiety/perfectionist issues right now so, as DH said, it’s all good as long as I’m taking my meds and going to my doctors appointments, everything else is a bonus. One of his favorite sayings “ do what you can and don’t worry about the rest.” I’m trying to keep that, “ progress, not perfection,” and “ be gentle with yourself” in mind. I’d print them out and hang them around the house but that would drive me nuts. I’ll probably just put them on the front of the binder. I’d love any other encouraging quotes to write down, including those about organization and decluttering and cleaning. Peter Walsh says something like what I wrote above about having nothing in your home that you do not believe to be beautiful or find to be useful, so I will find that one. I got his new book in the mail the other day, so reading that should be motivational, and I’m considering joining a declutter group that starts on the 20th, but I think it’s mostly on Facebook which I no longer use so I’m undecided. I will definitely talk y’all’s (that can’t be grammatically correct) ears off about my progress or lack thereof! So, to start, we had a couple of boxes of things ready to donate so today we added to it and he is dropping it off as we speak. Good start!
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 13, 2020 0:42:47 GMT
I like doing smaller tasks like this as well, because the entire space is finished. And then I go back and open the drawers/closet and stare and sigh happily at all the pretty. No, seriously. All the time I will admit to doing this as well. It's soooo satisfying to go back and just gaze lovingly on a declutter/reorganization job that was well done.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 13, 2020 0:44:17 GMT
The box of hard goods that are going to be donated finally made it into my car. I tried to talk my husband into bringing the student desk and the giant bear to Salvation Army yesterday, seeing how it was an absolutely beautiful day here, it didn't work. I thought he would have been happy to finally get them out of the house. I guess the soccer game on t.v. was more interesting. I've starting researching some things I have set aside to sell. That should help me start taming the clutter. Ugh, I hate when you are motivated and ready and all things are a go and then some outside force stops you in your tracks! I hope you’re able to get them out of your house soon, those big items being gone will make a huge visual impact.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 13, 2020 0:44:58 GMT
I mentioned earlier about my spare bedroom that is the junk room. We finally started clearing it out in November. We took everything out of the room, did things the drastic way. LOL! But, it did help us to see everything that was in there. We ended up getting rid of a couple pieces of furniture, which really helped. The boys took some stuff with them. We only put back into the room what we really wanted to keep. I got rid of a lot of older fabrics and miscellaneous craft supplies. Now, almost two months later, we are done! YAY! Nothing is piled up on the floor. Everything is on a shelf in the bookcase, or neatly stored in the closet. Nothing is piled up on the bed or on any flat surface. Someone can actually sleep in there now. LOL! I may use the room as my reading room. I've always liked the room because it is quiet and sunny. It used to be my craft room until one child moved out and I took over his larger bedroom. Now, what happened to all my scrapbook supplies you ask?! Well, that is all piled up in the dining room. That is my project for the rest of this month (and probably into February). I am going to sort out what are works in progress, and really pair down what I keep. I only want to keep what I need to finish the WIP. I do mainly photobooks now, and I am thinking of doing digital, so I don't need all the paper and stuff. If it is in the dining room, it is visible and will give me incentive to clear it out! I love having a clutter free spare room again! Feels good! That is a huge accomplishment, go you!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 13, 2020 22:53:30 GMT
Today I cleaned out a shelve in the linen closet. I got rid of about 10-12 pillowcases, a sheet for a baby playpen, and a bathroom rug. From the bathroom, I got rid of 6 towels.
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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 14, 2020 3:19:57 GMT
dewryce, I love your goal statement, I think it's a great goal. I've spent a good part of the evening researching and tagging things for our Spring tag sale. It is seriously going to be epic.
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Jan 14, 2020 7:26:52 GMT
I'm so glad this thread is continuing, I'm hoping to be an active participant. Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress Goals for 2020 *Try to be more conscious about what I bring into the house * Get my digital photos on my phone and laptop organized and purge the crappy ones and duplicates. *I worked really hard last year on getting my scraproom cleaned up and organized but I have several areas that need a re-working. Hoping to do a organizational series on my YT channel. I've worked on a few areas so far this month. *I have a crap load of old utility bills, credit card bills, receipts etc I need to destroy. * The linen closet is a mess and needs revamping *continue scanning all my pre-digital photos and purge the blurry and unnecessary ones *tackle my bin and the 2 bins of memorabilia I have for each of the four boys and pare it down and give it to them. My hubby says just toss it all as he thinks they won't want it. *I want to use my planner more effectively to keep my life organized, stick to a budget, meal plan, track spending and due dates for bills. *our cold room, garage and basement are sore spots but it has a lot of crap hubby has been hoarding from his childhood to old magazines, paper work, cassettes ugh. He just can't seem to throw or purge anything. I had purged a whole lot of stuff last year from movies to dvds, cds, games, dishes, kids toys, christmas decorations and when all my boys were down they picked what they wanted. As I purged hubby went thru stuff first. He was not really on board at first at purging a lot of movies mostly DVd but there was a box of VHS and cds but we had so many we never watch and we mostly watch movies on netflix and use spotify but he came around and agreed to almost everything I thought we should purge. So after the boys took what they wanted I finally got around to taking all the boxes of the stuff left to goodwill and what does hubby do but grab 8 movies and a handful of cds from the boxes and a few VHS as he is putting the boxes in car seriously WTF. We have not watched a VHS movie in years but he insists he will UGH! January *I've managed to get thru 3 grocery bags of papers I'd like to get thru the other 2 or 3 bags by months end. *I still need to take down Christmas it is a 2 or 3 day project and plan to tackle it next week as I am getting ready for a scrapbooking retreat this weekend *I started on the areas in my scraproom so far I've revamped my ribbon storage. Added a 2 tiered wrought iron basket and arranged it better and even managed to purge some ribbon yay! I also re-vamped one of Alex drawer units that stores embellishments. Put like items on binder rings and items with bulky packaging I replaced with small bags or put them in bead organizer type storage. I also went thru my cupboards under my countertop in my room ugh that was a big job. *I'd like to organize the other tall alex unit and my 4 raskogs this month. *cleaned out pantry cupboard, spice cupboard and fridge of outdated crap and wiped down everything *cleaned out a few drawers in spare room closet that had the kids left over school supplies seriously my last one graduated 3 yrs ago LOL Here is a before and after of my ribbon storage.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 14, 2020 7:44:49 GMT
canadianscrappergirl Your ribbon space looks great, and it seems like you purged quite a bit! I love the idea of before & after shots. Last year I took photos of all of the stuff we donated when it was boxed up in the car so I could look at them and realize that while it was slow going, it was going. But I didn’t think to do the bags of trash or some loads I gave to family. So I think I will borrow your idea and take before & after shots. Thanks
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Jan 14, 2020 7:54:56 GMT
canadianscrappergirl Your ribbon space looks great, and it seems like you purged quite a bit! I love the idea of before & after shots. Last year I took photos of all of the stuff we donated when it was boxed up in the car so I could look at them and realize that while it was slow going, it was going. But I didn’t think to do the bags of trash or some loads I gave to family. So I think I will borrow your idea and take before & after shots. Thanks Awe TY, I wanted to make it easier to get at as it was starting to just pile up like jenga blocks. I try to remember to take photos but somethings I don't think of like the 6 or 8 boxes of stuff for GW or the movie storage before and after I purged so much. It is a satisfying feeling when we can see that difference.
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Post by tentoes on Jan 14, 2020 18:50:23 GMT
Today I went through both bathrooms to get rid of towels. I got rid of 11 bath towels and 15 hand towels. The vision is real. I now have 10 bath towels and about 10 hand towels. If I get 9 guests at one time I'm in trouble! The most visitors I get would be 6 at any one time--and I make them reuse towels when they visit! I'll only be here until July--and probably will only get one visit of more than one or two at a time.
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Post by tyra on Jan 14, 2020 21:18:36 GMT
Thank you for the detailed description! You are so kind and I am very grateful! This gives me a great place to start creating my inventory. I know I am late to the party, but wanted to share... back when I was blogging regularly I posted a semi-detailed tutorial on using Evernote for stamp inventory Might help to see a visual tutorial. Evernote Stamp Inventory
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Jan 14, 2020 21:23:59 GMT
dewryce I struggle with anxiety and depression too and I really relate to what you struggle with especially the perfectionism and not having the energy to get stuff done. I am a huge list maker but I've learned to really break the tasks done into multiple steps. I find it helps me stay on task and I think I feel a better sense of accomplishment at the end. When I'm finding it hard to get motivated to start I will set a timer for 15 minutes and then at the end of 15 if I'm still into the task I'll restart the timer. Sometimes when I have bigger task list I will even put the amount of time I think it will take beside the task and then prioritize them and it gives me a better idea of the time I'm needing to get thru the list. I can so relate to the paper organization I have bags and stacks of old bills/bank statements to purge ugh! I think letting go of the perfection idea is hard for sure and even small steps towards a more organized home and life are huge!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 14, 2020 21:50:25 GMT
I can so relate to the paper organization I have bags and stacks of old bills/bank statements to purge ugh! I think letting go of the perfection idea is hard for sure and even small steps towards a more organized home and life are huge! I took a HUGE box of paper stuff to my son's home this past weekend. It was full of old tax statements and paperwork. They have a wood burning stove, so they will burn them for me! I don't know why I still had 1992 -95 tax papers!! and old check stubs and cancelled checks, and I don't know what!! Geeze!! Talk about a pack rat!!
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Post by canadianscrappergirl on Jan 14, 2020 22:01:27 GMT
I can so relate to the paper organization I have bags and stacks of old bills/bank statements to purge ugh! I think letting go of the perfection idea is hard for sure and even small steps towards a more organized home and life are huge! I took a HUGE box of paper stuff to my son's home this past weekend. It was full of old tax statements and paperwork. They have a wood burning stove, so they will burn them for me! I don't know why I still had 1992 -95 tax papers!! and old check stubs and cancelled checks, and I don't know what!! Geeze!! Talk about a pack rat!! Oh I am glad I have some fellow paper hoarders here LOL. I have so many bank statements that I haven't even opened as I just go online to check it. We have a shredder but it scares me LOL so tore up the stuff I'd normally shred and hubby will burn it for me in our firepit. Once I get thru the rest of the piles I'm never getting in this predicament again! I'm going to try and go to paperless bills for as much as I can to help me not get in this situation again.
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Post by dewryce on Jan 14, 2020 22:03:13 GMT
Today I went through both bathrooms to get rid of towels. I got rid of 11 bath towels and 15 hand towels. The vision is real. I now have 10 bath towels and about 10 hand towels. If I get 9 guests at one time I'm in trouble! The most visitors I get would be 6 at any one time--and I make them reuse towels when they visit! I'll only be here until July--and probably will only get one visit of more than one or two at a time. I can tell you are really making a dent in your home one area at a time! IIRC animal shelters like donations of used towels if you don’t have other plans for them. dewryce I struggle with anxiety and depression too and I really relate to what you struggle with especially the perfectionism and not having the energy to get stuff done. I am a huge list maker but I've learned to really break the tasks done into multiple steps. I find it helps me stay on task and I think I feel a better sense of accomplishment at the end. When I'm finding it hard to get motivated to start I will set a timer for 15 minutes and then at the end of 15 if I'm still into the task I'll restart the timer. Sometimes when I have bigger task list I will even put the amount of time I think it will take beside the task and then prioritize them and it gives me a better idea of the time I'm needing to get thru the list. I can so relate to the paper organization I have bags and stacks of old bills/bank statements to purge ugh! I think letting go of the perfection idea is hard for sure and even small steps towards a more organized home and life are huge! I really like multiple steps for the bigger tasks too. Because you probably can’t get it all done at once, it’s still very motivating to have an item to check off. Otherwise, for me at least, it can get overwhelming. Timers work for me too! When I am into watching TV and movies, that helped too. I’d being a show and say okay, I can work on this for the length of one show. My therapist is going to get an earful about the issues with perfectionism causing me so much paralyzing anxiety this next visit for sure!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 26, 2024 16:16:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 12:25:33 GMT
I can so relate to the paper organization I have bags and stacks of old bills/bank statements to purge ugh! I think letting go of the perfection idea is hard for sure and even small steps towards a more organized home and life are huge! I took a HUGE box of paper stuff to my son's home this past weekend. It was full of old tax statements and paperwork. They have a wood burning stove, so they will burn them for me! I don't know why I still had 1992 -95 tax papers!! and old check stubs and cancelled checks, and I don't know what!! Geeze!! Talk about a pack rat!! A small note of caution: when purging old financial records, make sure your social security earnings history is correct before shredding old tax returns and W-2's. My mom had to petition to have her earnings record corrected.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 15, 2020 13:05:45 GMT
I love to hear the progress everyone is making. I get inspiration and good ideas from it.
We've been playing "Claim That Item" on our family group text the past few nights. As I'm going through everything I post photos of some things not going to the new house -- an electric skillet, waffle iron, extra soup pot, placemat sets, lamps, pair of small glass-topped tables, and so forth. Three of my four boys are married/engaged with two of them closing on their first homes this month. Perfect timing! They are chiming in on what they 'claim' out of my purging. I have a big pile going for each of them. It's made it a lot of fun!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 15, 2020 14:17:44 GMT
I love to hear the progress everyone is making. I get inspiration and good ideas from it. We've been playing "Claim That Item" on our family group text the past few nights. As I'm going through everything I post photos of some things not going to the new house -- an electric skillet, waffle iron, extra soup pot, placemat sets, lamps, pair of small glass-topped tables, and so forth. Three of my four boys are married/engaged with two of them closing on their first homes this month. Perfect timing! They are chiming in on what they 'claim' out of my purging. I have a big pile going for each of them. It's made it a lot of fun! That is what I'm doing also.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 15, 2020 14:41:59 GMT
We've been playing "Claim That Item" on our family group text the past few nights. Fun! I've quickly realized with all this decluttering/purging that this is the one instance when having an only child puts you at a disadvantage! Fewer to offspring to pass all the belongings on to. I sent off numerous boxes and bags with the housekeeper last week, so one corner of the guest room looks nice. Went through the clothing that was in that closet and also gave her two fringed leather jackets from DD's high school days. Worn maybe 2-3 times each, and just the housekeeper's size. She was thrilled because rodeo is just around the corner. Also sent a Columbia hooded jacket for her mom that had been mine. Wore it less than 5 times. It's been rainy this week and I've really enjoyed being able to get a coat from the foyer closet without a major struggle! Haven't made any progress this week due to a packed schedule. Looking forward to making some more progress this weekend though!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 15, 2020 15:20:13 GMT
We've been playing "Claim That Item" on our family group text the past few nights. Fun! I've quickly realized with all this decluttering/purging that this is the one instance when having an only child puts you at a disadvantage! Fewer to offspring to pass all the belongings on to. Yes, I have four children, and LOTS of grandchildren--one of which is married already, and two more to join that category later this year. I figured since they are all just starting off in life, I can bless them with some stuff!! Right? I've also told them NOT to feel like they HAVE to take something, so they don't start out with clutter, but if it's something they like and will use, then I want them to have it. I took two demitasse tea cups to the little girls that live next door. They were thrilled. I have three more in my car for three little girls at church. I was going to give them to them this past Sunday, but couldn't find them after service!
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,328
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Jan 15, 2020 15:40:33 GMT
I was able to reorganize the Christmas stuff I store in the attic. I don't store too much up there. I haven't had time to straighten up the basement storage space yet due to being busy with kid stuff and then getting the stomach flu, but I will. For the life of me I can't seem to find or make time to load up all my donations and drop them off. My closest thrift store is an hour away so it does take a bit more effort.
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Post by jubejubes on Jan 15, 2020 16:15:28 GMT
I really need to get rid of stuff that we no longer use. We have 3 boys, way too many older video game systems and games and only one DS15 still playing them. My goal this month is to organize the gaming systems, get rid of the ones no one uses. My DH has old computers and old laptops. And a box of stuff from my MIL's apartment he needs to go through. The goal is to recycle what is no longer usable and sell or donate whatever is still good. I cleaned out the medicine cabinet the other day. The weather here is cold this week so hopefully I can get some stuff done. Do you have any games for a PS2 sytem? Looking for sports games or nothing violent. I am interested. Thanks!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 15, 2020 19:13:17 GMT
Today's chore was cleaning and discarding everything I can from the main bathroom. I went through the medicine cabinet, and the undersink cabinet. Got rid of everything except for 4 towels, the scrubbing bubbles, a 5 pack container of toothpaste, and a 6 pack of floss, and 3 rolls of toilet paper. I still have the shelf unit to go over. The "get rid" of pile outweighed the keep pile by a lot!! Onward!!
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Post by ntsf on Jan 15, 2020 19:20:41 GMT
I am starting to think about getting rid of things in light that I probably will not have grandkids..and there is only one current nephew who may have kids someday (not married, not in serious relationship). this makes me sad, but I am resigned.
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Post by tentoes on Jan 15, 2020 19:54:31 GMT
My goal for this year: Keep downsizing --a little each day-- Keeping in mind that I am moving from a 1340 sq foot home with 2 car garage and large shed to a 450 sq foot MIL suite with garage space for my car and some shed area for storage. This is to take place in July, so I'm going to be busy!!
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Post by katlaw on Jan 15, 2020 23:51:44 GMT
I really need to get rid of stuff that we no longer use. We have 3 boys, way too many older video game systems and games and only one DS15 still playing them. My goal this month is to organize the gaming systems, get rid of the ones no one uses. My DH has old computers and old laptops. And a box of stuff from my MIL's apartment he needs to go through. The goal is to recycle what is no longer usable and sell or donate whatever is still good. I cleaned out the medicine cabinet the other day. The weather here is cold this week so hopefully I can get some stuff done. Do you have any games for a PS2 sytem? Looking for sports games or nothing violent. I am interested. Thanks! I don't think we do anymore. I think just PS3. But I will look and get ahold of you if we do.
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Post by mikklynn on Jan 16, 2020 2:08:12 GMT
I purged 2 shopping bags of DVDs. We never watch them. I only kept the Christmas classics our grandchildren like to watch with us.
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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 16, 2020 3:33:51 GMT
I did meet my goal of maxing out the weekly trash and recycling containers.
I did get one of the kids and their friend to do my shredding tonight. Woot Woot. Pre-shredded, it completely filled a giant KitchenAid compact oven box. I'm guessing the recycle bin is now 35% full again.
Finally dropped off the box of hard goods to charity on my way into work this morning.
Slow but steady wins the race.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 16, 2020 3:45:21 GMT
I did get one of the kids and their friend to do my shredding tonight. Woot Woot. Pre-shredded, it completely filled a giant KitchenAid compact oven box. I'm guessing the recycle bin is now 35% full again. Does your recycling accept shredded papers? Ours won't so it has to go in the regular trash. I forgot that this past weekend I shredded all the papers I got rid of when I did my annual purge of the files. The shredding filled up 2 of those 13 gallon trash bags. I found an old dishpan full of old papers and bank statements that I need to shred soon.
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