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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2021 15:49:34 GMT
Happy New Year everyone! This is one of my favorite months because it comes with fresh optimism that THIS will be the year I get my guest room in proper order! As they say, hope springs eternal! Today I am taking down all the Christmas trees (3 small) and decorations to put back in the storage boxes. This should go fairly quickly because of the downsizing and organizing of Christmas stuff I've done in the past two years. My main areas to work on this year (besides the guest room!) are the photos/slides/scrapbooks as well as the eBay listing (lost my mojo on that this fall). I still have 8 slide carousels to digitize and many boxes of photos to sort and purge. At least they are in chronological order, but so many duplicates in there from when they would give you duplicate prints. The sewing room is in pretty good shape, I just need to continue to sew from my stash and complete the projects already in progress (or that I have the supplies for). I will continue to purge as I work in there. What is everyone else hoping to tackle and conquer in 2021? If you have participated in past years, were you able to accomplish all you wanted to? ****************************** 2021 goals: * Labeling the old family quilts. I will order pre-printed labels because there are 50+ quilts to do. * Digitize family slides * Digitize the camcorder tapes (sending these out) * Scrapbooks - finish the 4 that are nearly complete * Conquer the eBay pile * Finish dealing with the last of my parents' stuff (old baby clothes, memorabilia, yearbooks, etc). Memory stuff is my hardest category to work with. * Inventory jewelry (photos and descriptions/provenance) * Conquer the memories/memorabilia (both mine and the inherited)
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Post by alsomsknit on Jan 1, 2021 16:16:01 GMT
My plan for the month is:
Laundry room...declutter and clean Pantry...declutter and clean Storage room...declutter, clean, organize.
After 2020 events, I have been buying things when I find them, instead of buying when I need them. Most of that stock is in the storage room. It needs to be reset so we can actually walk through without difficulty again. I also feel ready to get rid of some of the Boy’s things. There are a couple of backpacks from elementary and middle school. Some art pieces which I just realized I could cut apart for his scrapbook (garland type project).
Office...declutter, clean.
Mostly the desk. I am not ready to tackle the closet. In prep for that, I will be getting rid of some of the worn towels from the linen closet and moving the two sets from storage into rotation. I also need to find a place that cuts plexiglass for the wire shelving. I would like to move all of the purses I wish to keep into that closet.
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Post by fiddlesticks on Jan 1, 2021 16:31:30 GMT
I’ve started doing Motivated Moms again and I have DH and DD (11) on board so I am very hopeful. Just doing that will help a ton. I need to really work on the hidden areas in my house. The closets, under the sink cupboards, the baskets in end tables...that kind of thing.
My DD is at the age where she really doesn’t play with some of her things like she used to but can’t part with them yet. I have a feeling this year might be the year. Trying to come up with a plan for that.
And the garage. Holy hell the garage. We do park our two cars in the garage, so that’s good, but it needs some serious help. I can only do so much in there though. DH will need some nudging in that area.
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2021 16:37:46 GMT
Happy New Year!
I'm starting off with some crafty organisation - I bought a storage bin for cards (and card envelopes and blanks) and need to to get that put together. I also need to organise the photo prints from the past few months into page protecters and order the last of the 2020 photos. And either turn the remaining Christmas scraps and leftover embellishments into cards or let them go.
Overall? My January goals are to get enough stuff moved to the new house to be able to live there. Plumber is coming early next week, we're still trying to reach an electrician (apparently they take the last week of the year off), and once they are both done, we have a cleaner coming in. Then we can start moving. In the meantime, we're doing some task - yesterday we took down three interior doors. Next is painting the two new garage-to-house doors and getting them hung. Hoping to move some of DH's tools into the shed there also. We got his zebra wood moved yesterday so I can now reach my storage totes in the shed here to go through them, get rid of stuff, and get them ready to move - so that's also on the list for the coming week.
2021 goals?
-MOVE -get the old house ready to put on market and hopefully sell it -set up good organisation at the new house and maintain it -continue working on organsing the family archives
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scrappinmama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,879
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Jun 26, 2014 12:54:09 GMT
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Post by scrappinmama on Jan 1, 2021 16:58:57 GMT
I'm on board! We did a lot of purging in the house while on lockdown. However, I may have accidentally thrown out our wedding photo proofs. I have looked everywhere and can't find them. So lesson learned there. I'm going to take my time and not rush. My goal for January is to go through my home office and get rid of things that I no longer need. It seems like charities are not taking donation of goods right now. What are you all doing? Are you just throwing away things that you normally would have donated? I'm not interested in selling anything, so it's either find a place to take donations or just throw it away.
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Gravity
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Jun 27, 2014 0:29:55 GMT
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Post by Gravity on Jan 1, 2021 17:15:55 GMT
I spent the morning cleaning out my email boxes and unsubscribing to things that no longer interest me, deleting things I no longer need to keep, and organizing the emails I need to keep so they are easier to locate. I decided to do this task because I am procrastinating the big job of cleaning off my mess of a desk.
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Post by volunteergirl on Jan 1, 2021 17:18:35 GMT
scrappinmama , what has been working for me is when I get a pile of stuff to donate, I spread it out on a sheet on my driveway. I post a picture in the free section of Craig’s list. By the end of the day, the stuff is almost always gone. I don’t have to see or talk to anyone, so I feel it is a safe way to get rid of stuff.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2021 17:36:01 GMT
It seems like charities are not taking donation of goods right now. What are you all doing? Are you just throwing away things that you normally would have donated? I'm not interested in selling anything, so it's either find a place to take donations or just throw it away. Some options to consider: * check to see if any churches accept clothing to provide to families in need * homeless shelters might take clothing donations * Put on the curb with a Free sign * Post a photo on Next Door/Facebook Neighborhood Groups/Craigslist for Free porch/curb pick up. If you add "Resellers" to your title/description you will find takers among those who sell on eBay, etc. More are doing that now with so many out of work/under employed. Make sure you are offering stuff in good condition. If it is broken, damaged, stained, etc it is better to toss.
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2021 17:49:32 GMT
I'm on board! We did a lot of purging in the house while on lockdown. However, I may have accidentally thrown out our wedding photo proofs. I have looked everywhere and can't find them. So lesson learned there. I'm going to take my time and not rush. My goal for January is to go through my home office and get rid of things that I no longer need. It seems like charities are not taking donation of goods right now. What are you all doing? Are you just throwing away things that you normally would have donated? I'm not interested in selling anything, so it's either find a place to take donations or just throw it away. I hope you find the proofs. Donations - we held onto ours over the spring/summer until GW started taking them again. If we weren't so rural, I would have offered up free for kerbside pickup on a local page just to get them out of the house. Amazon does a fill a box donation program though - www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/verify-is-give-back-box-program-reusing-shipping-boxes-for-donations-legit/65-618271823
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2021 17:50:07 GMT
I spent the morning cleaning out my email boxes and unsubscribing to things that no longer interest me, deleting things I no longer need to keep, and organizing the emails I need to keep so they are easier to locate. I decided to do this task because I am procrastinating the big job of cleaning off my mess of a desk. I need to do this again too
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Post by maryland on Jan 1, 2021 17:50:55 GMT
So excited to get some decluttering and organizing done. There is a decluttering challenge that I am printing out so hope to somewhat follow!
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Post by deafpea on Jan 1, 2021 19:29:18 GMT
Hi all! I'll come back later with my goals and projects for January and 2021 but for now I'm reporting that Christmas is getting put away.
My boxes are quite dirty so I'm taking the opportunity to give them a good cleaning and then I'm going to line them all up and put things in them, spreading them out to distribute the weight more evenly. I made an inventory a few years ago that worked quite well so I'm going to follow that for the most part, deleting things that I don't have anymore and adding in new stuff. I did a pretty good purge when I made that inventory so I don't think I have much to get rid of.
After getting everything situated, I'm going to make vinyl labels (Christmas #1, Christmas #2, etc) to go on the boxes. DH brought in two boxes that weren't Christmas because they were near the Christmas boxes but not labeled and he didn't bother to look in them. He also missed one Christmas box. So labels will really help!
I will also print out each box's inventory, put the paper in a sheet protector and tape the sheet protector to the underside of the lid so next year I will know exactly what goes in each box. I will keep the master list on my computer so if I need something early, I know exactly which box it is in. I'll tape the sheet protectors in a way that I can easily remove the paper if I need to add or subtract something.
It'll feel good to have all the Christmas stuff put away. I did the wrapping supplies the day after Christmas so that's done.
After getting Christmas put away, I will dust and vacuum the living room and family room.
Happy New Year! Hope you all are off to a great start!
Merilee
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,916
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Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Jan 1, 2021 19:34:14 GMT
Today (and probably tomorrow and the next day...) I'm trying to figure out how to store my craft stuff and my clothes in the same closet. So far the craft stuff is winning...
I did purge a ton of kid "memorabilia" like old math worksheets and put those spiral books the teachers like to make but that won't work in a scrapbook in a box in the attic (each kid has one bin of mementos) so both of those made a little bit of difference.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 1, 2021 19:34:48 GMT
My goal this year is to really work on purging things that I have been holding onto but that we don't use or need. And really thinking hard about how much of something I really need. My goal for the weekend is to tackle my donation/selling piles that I have going on and to organize the bathroom supplies. I have a ton of products that I have been trying to pare down (a result of past beauty box subscriptions as well as bad habit of buying). I want to get rid of some things, but also re-organize what I keep so that it at least doesn't look as cluttered.
I also have bins of clothing that I was trying to sell but Clothes Mentor didn't take much. I had some more things to take there (things that they said they were in need of) but I should just donate it all and be done with it. They have been sitting here for awhile already so I must not be that motivated to sell.
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2021 19:44:34 GMT
Hi all! I'll come back later with my goals and projects for January and 2021 but for now I'm reporting that Christmas is getting put away. My boxes are quite dirty so I'm taking the opportunity to give them a good cleaning and then I'm going to line them all up and put things in them, spreading them out to distribute the weight more evenly. I made an inventory a few years ago that worked quite well so I'm going to follow that for the most part, deleting things that I don't have anymore and adding in new stuff. I did a pretty good purge when I made that inventory so I don't think I have much to get rid of. After getting everything situated, I'm going to make vinyl labels (Christmas #1, Christmas #2, etc) to go on the boxes. DH brought in two boxes that weren't Christmas because they were near the Christmas boxes but not labeled and he didn't bother to look in them. He also missed one Christmas box. So labels will really help! I will also print out each box's inventory, put the paper in a sheet protector and tape the sheet protector to the underside of the lid so next year I will know exactly what goes in each box. I will keep the master list on my computer so if I need something early, I know exactly which box it is in. I'll tape the sheet protectors in a way that I can easily remove the paper if I need to add or subtract something. It'll feel good to have all the Christmas stuff put away. I did the wrapping supplies the day after Christmas so that's done. After getting Christmas put away, I will dust and vacuum the living room and family room. Happy New Year! Hope you all are off to a great start! Merilee awesome idea - I need to go through ALL the totes in our storage shed in preparation for moving and I'm stealing your label and inventory idea!
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2021 19:46:46 GMT
first project done - I bought a plastic box for my cards yesterday - it's perfect now I've cut the lid off. So all my cards are in it by theme (which should help me know what I could use more of vs what I have years worth of (looking at you Valentine's Day cards, lol). and I put blank cards and envelopes at the back.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2021 19:56:42 GMT
Today I have gone through every shelf of the pantry, baking drawer and fridge. Expired stuff tossed, drawers wiped out and contents reorganized. I do this at least once a year and still I found a half full jar of hot fudge sauce in the fridge that expired in 2019. How does this happen? There were a few things added to the donation bag that were "covid panic" purchases that are not going to be used. The last four Hershey Kisses have been eaten. Cleared out the candy bin and rewarded myself. I deserved it, right? After my coffee break, I will start taking the trees down. I am the daughter of a quilter and when my mom passed away, I was the receiver of all of her stash. BTDT. Thankfully we had helped her do a major stash purge a couple of years before she passed away. The quilt group at a local church was able to make 95 quilts from what mom donated! Mom had a serious stash! Since DD doesn't sew (and is an only), I am trying to whittle mine down as much as I can.
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,178
Location: Western Illinois
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Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jan 1, 2021 20:00:42 GMT
I have a new kitchen sink in the garage waiting to be installed. When that happens (depends on contractor who is working on a home addition for others now) I will clear everything out from under the sink to purge and reorganize.
When I pick up my new car on Monday I can get the stuff into the car that is currently sitting on the garage floor since I cleaned out the old car (shopping bags, snow brushes, the coat I keep in there, etc.). Then I can finish putting things on the new shelves I set up in the garage.
I have two big projects that are on top of my list - my den/office and the craft/guest room. I’ve done a little in my den already but seriously need to deal with the closet. That’s the priority right now. Once my den is in shape, then the craft space. That needs a huge purge.
Once I get these two areas done, then I can more easily handle other smaller areas that need a re-do. The basement is a bigger job, but not a priority right now,
Lots of other projects to tackle too.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 1, 2021 20:15:48 GMT
I've been excited to post to this new thread since last night's posts about it on the old thread.
Early this morning I took down the tree, put away all the ornaments, and vacuumed all the pine needles off the floor. Then rearranged the furniture to its normal, non Christmas arrangement.
I then vacuumed the whole downstairs, and the stairway.
Dusted the tv stand and shelving.
Took everything off the china cabinet top. Stacks of board games, two bags from Halloween, and a few miscellaneous items just stuck up there. All either tossed or put away.
Also had the kids take all their toys to their room. There were toys everywhere.
Tackled a basement Rubbermaid tote of books that I guess I thought I'd read again. It's sat there two years and I haven't touched them, so out they went. I do all my reading on a kindle now.
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Post by simplyparticular on Jan 1, 2021 20:35:21 GMT
Just finished putting Christmas away - last year it got done in stages and drove me batty into mid-January. We purge as we pack it up - got rid of a few more kid books, and generic ornaments.
My big goals for January are: To really sell on eBay in earnest. I’ve gathered two large stacks of items worth selling and made some headway photographing in Nov, but only got about 20 items listed before Christmas. All but 1 sold, so that was nice. And my oldest has winnowed down her American Girl collection to make room for more books, so that’s also piling up.
To get our former office set up as a craft area. But the eBay piles are in the same room...
Finish moving “into” the new Mac I bought in the fall - I had to switch in a hurry when my old one died, so still some apps and OS things to tweak before I can focus on scanning/archiving again.
ETA: our Goodwill is doing contactless donations. They either roll out a bin for you to fill, or you can pop your trunk and they’ll empty it.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 1, 2021 20:43:16 GMT
I also handled digital tasks today too.
Uploaded and ordered prints of December photos.
Did online banking tasks. Paid bills.
Then I also wrote the birthday/card list. Now I just need to make sure I have a card for each person on the list. Will need to buy Mother & Father Day cards when they go on sale.
I feel so good right now. I'm hoping to keep this momentum going.
I also want this to be the year that I buy less. Especially cheap stuff. Stuff that looks cute in the moment. Stuff from the Dollar Tree. All those dollars here, dollars there add up. And I'm tired of having stuff.
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Post by freecharlie on Jan 1, 2021 20:48:43 GMT
Happy New Year!!!
My 2021 goals- Get paperwork under control and purge what we don't need. File as it comes it. Get the basement under control. Purge the kids' old stuff. They are 19 and 16 and don't need 7000 beef nerf guns anymore. Get rid of some of my old teaching g stuff. I've taught pre-k, elementary and now high school. I am not planning on leaving my current school/grade so I really no longer need the pre-k/elementary stuff that is now at least 7-15 years old.
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,573
Oct 2, 2017 23:20:46 GMT
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Post by mich5481 on Jan 1, 2021 20:51:03 GMT
My goal for January is to organize the paperwork in my room. I bought a mini file box and some folders, and I have a label maker.
I also want to organize my bathroom and use up more of my accumulated products this year. I made a dent in my sheet mask stash last year, but I want to keep going.
I am taking today to set up my planner and start my OLW album.
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Post by cecilia on Jan 1, 2021 20:51:28 GMT
I got 50 things listed on ebay and stored. I am going to start on getting Christmas down.
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,573
Oct 2, 2017 23:20:46 GMT
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Post by mich5481 on Jan 1, 2021 20:53:41 GMT
I also want this to be the year that I buy less. Especially cheap stuff. Stuff that looks cute in the moment. Stuff from the Dollar Tree. All those dollars here, dollars there add up. And I'm tired of having stuff. YES - lol, fortunately, I am now an hour away from Target, so that should help curb impulse buys.
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Post by natscraps on Jan 1, 2021 21:02:24 GMT
This morning was the long overdue task of cleaning out the pantry, fridges and freezers. The only groceries I’m buying in the next 2 weeks is a pack of chicken and bread for pb&j lunch for the kid.
Our families’ phrase for this year is “follow through”. A year for all the things we’ve started to get finished.
Some progress has been made today on decisions regarding the master bathroom renovation that started almost three years ago when we moved in to this house. The subfloor might finally get finished this month and the walls back up!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 1, 2021 21:21:28 GMT
I was just thinking about last year's goal of keeping control of my email. There had been 6000+ emails in my inbox last January. Most junk. But I had been too afraid of losing important ones to just mass cull.
The good news is that my inbox is still tamed. An entire year of making sure I didn't let it get bad again.
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,749
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Jan 1, 2021 21:35:22 GMT
Dh and I want to downsize and move to a cheaper area and build our own home. Ideally we want to do this soon because house in our area are going fast and for lots of $$$ over. But we have to find the right place and work out a lot of details and then deal with what we have going on in the house. We’ve lived here for 19 years. You can really pack a lot of crap in a house in 19 years!!
So for now my one goal is just an overarching purge/declutter/clean it all.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2021 21:48:45 GMT
I also want this to be the year that I buy less. Especially cheap stuff. Stuff that looks cute in the moment. Stuff from the Dollar Tree. All those dollars here, dollars there add up. And I'm tired of having stuff. This Fall I started a new page in Notes. When I get the urge to get some fabric or tool, I copy/paste all the details there then forget about it. Usually when I revisit it later on the urge to order has gone. Amazon is another area I'm working on. Unless it is something I have to have right away, it goes on my Wish list or Household Shopping List. Later I go back and look at the lists and a good bit of the items never get ordered. I'm realizing I have an issue with getting caught up in the excitement of the moment, but realize my follow through rate with some of these crafts/projects is no where near 100%. Heck, I'd bet that I don't even get near 50%! To really sell on eBay in earnest. I’ve gathered two large stacks of items worth selling and made some headway photographing in Nov, but only got about 20 items listed before Christmas. All but 1 sold, so that was nice. And my oldest has winnowed down her American Girl collection to make room for more books, so that’s also piling up. To get our former office set up as a craft area. But the eBay piles are in the same room... Welcome to the thread! I totally understand about the eBay piles. They are a big part of the problem in the guest room. Thinking I need to focus on pumping up my travel fund with eBay sales as my motivation!
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Post by dewryce on Jan 1, 2021 21:55:12 GMT
Before I read all of your amazing goals for this year and accomplishments from last year I am going to think of my plan...for this afternoon In truth, general anxiety has really been taking its toll on me off and on the past few years and right now any goals feel like pressure, which just makes the situation worse. So I will take a little bit to think of a good goal for today and then come back and get motivated by all of you amazing women. Thanks for doing this again For us **GypsyGirl**!
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