amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,318
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jan 2, 2021 21:51:21 GMT
I just purged a large kitchen garbage bag full from our master bathroom. In this new year I plan to go room by room looking for more items to purge. My big goal again is the basement storage area. I didn't get to it like I had planned to last year.
|
|
|
Post by dewryce on Jan 2, 2021 22:20:12 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** ! I get this feeling so, so much. I try not to think of it as a goal. And I try not to put any time frame on it. I just do what I can do when I can do it. I prefer to think of them as ideas. And I'm bad. Truly bad. I just the other day opened my mail. I hadn't opened mail in 6 months! Thank God for online bills. I had one ER bill from this summer that was unpaid. That was it. And I paid it. So don't get down on yourself. Not opening mail for 6 months is pretty bad. Sometimes I truly feel as if we are one person...and I’d take a picture of my unopened mail baskets to prove it to you if I had an account opened to post it to I used to thrive on lists and goals, it was a fun, productive challenge. Now, depending on the day, they can be overwhelming. But just playing it be ear often doesn’t work either. We did really well for a long time last year just using our extra time to do things around the house. But towards the end we really just hunkered down and relaxed together and got bupkus goal-oriented items done. Which I don’t regret at all, but now we need to get back to it to take advantage of all this extra time and motivation. Paper is my hardest declutter challenge by far, and I will think I’ve conquered it and have a system so it isn’t an issue again and then I’ll cycle into depression or have anxiety issues that stop me in my tracks. I’ve figured out enough through the years that I’ve organized well enough it’s easy to catch up. But time consuming and that starts ramping back up the anxiety. **GypsyGirl** I was so impressed and envious reading a recent post about your short list of things to do to close your files for the year. I need to ruminate on my very specific issues and then boy, do I have questions for you! I do the auto payments wherever possible and get very few paper bills. Ages ago I got on the do not mail lists and I know I need to re do that. Off the top of my head one my biggest issues is that I can’t automate the downloading of monthly automated files and then I lose free access after a certain amount of time. Anyway, any advice on paper related issues would be appreciated from anyone! maryannscraps YES!!! It is actually very true, and I’ve read recommendations in one of those highly effective people type books. The issue is, you can miss things; but for me it’s more that there is then physical and, more importantly, mental clutter weighing me down knowing it’s building up.
|
|
|
Post by cecilia on Jan 2, 2021 22:55:13 GMT
I have Christmas taken down, just need to get it to the shed. About to go through cards from swaps (other than the 2020 one). Plan on keeping homemade/photo cards and composting the rest. I am also trying to take photos of stuff to list on eBay.
|
|
|
Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 2, 2021 23:11:25 GMT
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 3, 2021 0:12:29 GMT
Making progress here and there today. About halfway through the downloading of 2020 files. Took a break when DH drug out the 3 bins of shoe cleaning supplies. We ended up tossing over half the polishes and creams, as well as the largest bin. Now we have all the brushes and polishing clothes in one bin and the creams/polishes/sprays in a second bin (these are shoe box sized bins). When I put them back in the cabinet, I pulled a weird art thingy he came home from a trip with. Since he is in a decluttering mood, hoping he agrees it can be donated. If not, it will move to the garage. Hideous! All I have left in the bathroom cabinets is one small drawer I keep some medicines/bandaids in. It's only 9" x 19" so not a huge project. Will have to make a stop at Container Store this week for bins before I can tackle it though. However, I have realized we are going to have to replace the bathroom towels soon. The gray ones are 10 years old and are now splitting apart at that woven border. Once I get some new ones in, all the old ones will be donated to the local SPCA. There are 4 white sets in the Master as well (bought for the photo shoot after the remodel), so those will move up to the front bathroom (or go to DD) and then I will do some towel culling in that bathroom. We never have guests and I am the only one to use the bathroom in there so we don't need as many towels as we currently have. **GypsyGirl** I was so impressed and envious reading a recent post about your short list of things to do to close your files for the year. I need to ruminate on my very specific issues and then boy, do I have questions for you! I do the auto payments wherever possible and get very few paper bills. Ages ago I got on the do not mail lists and I know I need to re do that. Off the top of my head one my biggest issues is that I can’t automate the downloading of monthly automated files and then I lose free access after a certain amount of time. Anyway, any advice on paper related issues would be appreciated from anyone! If you lose access to old statements after a certain time, then set up a recurring reminder on your phone or calendar to jog your memory. You could set it up for monthly, quarterly or annually. Considering I've just downloaded 12 months worth of statements for two different accounts, I'm not sure there is anything to be envious of! My system is pretty simple though. On my computer I have a folder named Finance. Under that are sub-folders for every account I need to save documents for, which each have a sub-folder for the year. When I save a document in the annual sub-folder, I just use the mm/dd/year format. If it is something besides a statement, then I name the file so I know exactly what is in it. (see examples below) Statements I do not save: electric bill, gas bill, water bill, phone bill, cable bill. These are easily accessible online and not something I would ever need five or ten years down the line, so I don't waste my time or hard drive space. Finance > ABC Bank > 2020 > 10.31.2020 Finance > XYZ Insurance Company > Certificate of Insurance As for paper? As little as possible is kept. Pretty much the only things I keep hard copies of long term now are house/mortgage related, a hard copy of all income tax returns for 7 years w/receipts, life insurance policies. We also have hard copies of credit bureau security freeze information. What are your specific paper challenges? That might help with giving you ideas to tackle them.
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Jan 3, 2021 0:16:06 GMT
Helped DS go through his clothes today. Got a trash bag full of donates.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jan 3, 2021 2:51:39 GMT
cleaned out the fridge - goodbye Christmas leftovers. Added the plastic containers to the donation bin once washed/dried.
That's it so far - we mostly worked on the new house - painted the two new doors (will go back tomorrow and paint the other side), got the freezer plugged in and running, took down a pegboard (SO much dust and cobwebs behind it and apparently the previous owner had painted after it was put up - adding that to the to-do list, at least its in the garage so...), added downspout extenders and splash guards to the gutters...
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 3, 2021 3:01:41 GMT
Update on the 'weird art thingy'. Unbelievable. Showed hideous art object to DH. Man does not remember it and can't recall bringing it home. I reminded him and he kinda remembered. In the donation bag already! I'm thinking if his memory has gotten that bad (it was never good to begin with), it's going to be really easy to ditch more stuff!
|
|
|
Post by alsomsknit on Jan 3, 2021 4:14:51 GMT
I can walk through my storage room! The laundry room is still in process. Plus, I emptied the top drawer of my family room desk to use for the manicure items.
Decluttered 1 large kitchen trash can, the small trash basket, and 1/2 of the kitchen trash can due to shredding. 2 planners, two 2 pillows tossed. A bunch of Starbuck’s coffee jars put into recycling.
Donate: Christmas pillow, a game, some infant undershirts, 4 books, and a light fixture.
My poor manicure is toast.
|
|
|
Post by cecilia on Jan 3, 2021 8:58:28 GMT
Can't sleep so I am trying to organize scrapbook punch outs. They are going into 3 piles: 2 based on size. 1 is to add to destash lots on eBay.
|
|
|
Post by jeremysgirl on Jan 3, 2021 12:06:41 GMT
I think my task for today will be to organize my shoes. It's time to get rid of some pairs that have seen better days or I no longer wear. It shouldn't take long.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Mar 28, 2024 18:53:50 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2021 15:11:56 GMT
New to this thread. Since DS2 was "evicted" I only have DD (14) at home. We have been changing rooms over. DD's old room is now my craft space. I also gained a dressing room which resulted in a massive clothing purge. So chugging along.
Q: What do the peas do with 4 year old college textbooks? Donate? Recycle? TIA!
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 3, 2021 15:44:09 GMT
New to this thread. Since DS2 was "evicted" I only have DD (14) at home. We have been changing rooms over. DD's old room is now my craft space. I also gained a dressing room which resulted in a massive clothing purge. So chugging along. Q: What do the peas do with 4 year old college textbooks? Donate? Recycle? TIA! Welcome to the thread! How nice to have a space for your crafts and wardrobe. It's one of those bonuses of kids leaving the nest. Much better use than letting it become the junk/storage room DD's old room has become! For textbooks that are fairly current, you could look into selling them online. Otherwise, I would just donate them. There are plenty of pickers who search the bookstores and thrift shops looking for books that will sell. I personally would not recycle anything that current.
|
|
caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,412
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
|
Post by caangel on Jan 3, 2021 16:13:34 GMT
We cleaned up 90% of Christmas yesterday and I'll tackle the little bit left today.
I also pulled out my two Easter bins and purged it down to one. Posted on my local FB Buy Nothing group and have a few takers. Will do a trip to Salvation Army at the end of the week with any left overs.
I also have two very small bins for Valentine's Day and St Patrick's that I should go through.
We did some rearranging of shelves and stuff. I'm loving the new look clean and sparse look. I got a larger aquarium for xmas and need to rearrange the whole bookcase.
Not sure about my over all goals as I have done a lot since March. One thing I know is that I need to go through my kids' school stuff that I've saved and pare it down. I also need to figure out a system for our drop zone area. It always gets out of control.
|
|
|
Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 3, 2021 17:23:51 GMT
Today I'm not doing any big projects.
But I am cooking from the pantry and freezer.
And I have hopes of scrapbooking this afternoon, using only what's in my stash.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jan 3, 2021 18:14:19 GMT
packed five more boxes last night (books) and added 2 more books to the donate pile.
Today's plan is grocery shopping and perhaps painting the other side of the doors. As well as getting more boxes - apparently if all goes well and we are able to schedule the electrician this week, we'll hopefully be moving the following week - DH doesn't seem to grasp how many boxes that is going to require.
|
|
|
Post by tracyarts on Jan 3, 2021 19:51:24 GMT
I also organized my glasses and some jewelry yesterday.
My eyeglasses prescription hasn't changed since 2015, so I've accumulated about a dozen pair of glasses from Zenni and other online glasses vendors. I labeled all my cases finally.
And my silver jewelry is all in little jewelry gift boxes in my jewelry armoire, so I labeled them too.
DH went and picked up my cube organizers at Ikea today (FYI, their online order and curbside pickup service is a massive mess right now) and half of the fabric bins I ordered arrived today, so we can start on that project today.
|
|
|
Post by MZF on Jan 3, 2021 20:07:02 GMT
This morning I cleaned out the kitchen drawers. I re-organized my dishtowels and dishcloths, hot pads/oven mitts, and knives. I pared down the knives, and by putting the birthday candles and balloons in a small bin in my new pantry, I did away with the 'junk drawer'. I also cleaned all the shelves in the refrigerator. Everything feels so much nicer!
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 3, 2021 20:58:32 GMT
The filing is done and I have gone through all the folders on my Mac. Through backups, changing computers, etc I had ended up with multiple copies of all my document folders. I worked on that last year, but never finished it. Took care of that this morning and now I can find what I need quickly. Made sure it was backed up to my iCloud account and then installed the Big Sur update. The next thing up digitally will be to do a bit more organizing of the Photos app. Recent years are fine but the 2008-2012 period needs work. There are photos from 3 different cameras, as well as a few duplicates left. Not to mention the many different shots I took of the same thing that need to be thinned out. I will work on that later this month.
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on Jan 3, 2021 21:14:49 GMT
I would keep the paper tax returns (maybe not all the supporting documents) forever. it can be hard to get these from the irs. I know I am sitting on my 2004 returns.. which had to be amended so that I can correct my social security record in 2 yrs when I file for social security. right now, I can't walk in with my papers. having the physical papers will make this doable. and paper documents related to any property.
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Jan 3, 2021 23:01:23 GMT
I took down our Christmas tree today. I got rid of many of the boxes the ornaments were in. They were just storage boxes, not collectibles. I also purged some ornaments that don't spark joy, LOL. I can fit all my ornaments in a canvas zipper tote designed for ornaments, instead of 2 bins.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jan 4, 2021 0:04:52 GMT
packed up another dozen or so boxes of books and dvds. Still plenty more to go - I'm purging mine as I pack but DH said to just pack his and he'll purge (maybe) when he unpacks.
finished painting the two new doors at the new house - hopefully we can get them put up this week.
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,318
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jan 4, 2021 1:04:09 GMT
I drove back to the town where my mother lived to load what was left in her townhome. My car is full of random cleaning supplies and garage stuff, but we can now list the place for sale. My SIL passed away right before Christmas and we are all helping clean out her apartment. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everyone's crap. Add in my college kids being home since Thanksgiving and I am really ready to have my house back.
|
|
|
Post by dewryce on Jan 4, 2021 1:27:00 GMT
packed up another dozen or so boxes of books and dvds. Still plenty more to go - I'm purging mine as I pack but DH said to just pack his and he'll purge (maybe) when he unpacks. finished painting the two new doors at the new house - hopefully we can get them put up this week. Wow. A dozen boxes? Very impressive! I drove back to the town where my mother lived to load what was left in her townhome. My car is full of random cleaning supplies and garage stuff, but we can now list the place for sale. My SIL passed away right before Christmas and we are all helping clean out her apartment. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everyone's crap. Add in my college kids being home since Thanksgiving and I am really ready to have my house back. Welcome to the thread! I’m very sorry about your SIL. Having to go through things when the loss is so fresh can make it so much harder so please be sure and show yourself some grace when not able to make decisions or feeling like you aren’t doing “enough.” Hope the sale happens quickly.
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,318
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jan 4, 2021 1:45:26 GMT
packed up another dozen or so boxes of books and dvds. Still plenty more to go - I'm purging mine as I pack but DH said to just pack his and he'll purge (maybe) when he unpacks. finished painting the two new doors at the new house - hopefully we can get them put up this week. Wow. A dozen boxes? Very impressive! I drove back to the town where my mother lived to load what was left in her townhome. My car is full of random cleaning supplies and garage stuff, but we can now list the place for sale. My SIL passed away right before Christmas and we are all helping clean out her apartment. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everyone's crap. Add in my college kids being home since Thanksgiving and I am really ready to have my house back. Welcome to the thread! I’m very sorry about your SIL. Having to go through things when the loss is so fresh can make it so much harder so please be sure and show yourself some grace when not able to make decisions or feeling like you aren’t doing “enough.” Hope the sale happens quickly. I'm a regular decluttering poster on this thread. I hate clutter and nothing brings me greater joy than to toss crap LOL. We moved my mom into an assisted living apartment near us last week. That meant having to clean out her townhome so it can be sold. Too many boxes of stuff came back home to my house until mom gets settled and comes to her senses that none of it will be of any use to her. My SIL also passed suddenly from cancer. She was divorced and had no children to it's up to my DH and his siblings to clean out her apartment. Our family keeps getting asked if we want XYZ and we keep saying No No No. Not everyone in DH's extended family is as good at letting things go just because, but I'll be damned if DH didn't tell them all that nothing is coming here to be stored in case someone someday might want some of it. I was pretty proud of him!
|
|
|
Post by dewryce on Jan 4, 2021 2:10:40 GMT
Wow. A dozen boxes? Very impressive! Welcome to the thread! I’m very sorry about your SIL. Having to go through things when the loss is so fresh can make it so much harder so please be sure and show yourself some grace when not able to make decisions or feeling like you aren’t doing “enough.” Hope the sale happens quickly. I'm a regular decluttering poster on this thread. I hate clutter and nothing brings me greater joy than to toss crap LOL. We moved my mom into an assisted living apartment near us last week. That meant having to clean out her townhome so it can be sold. Too many boxes of stuff came back home to my house until mom gets settled and comes to her senses that none of it will be of any use to her. My SIL also passed suddenly from cancer. She was divorced and had no children to it's up to my DH and his siblings to clean out her apartment. Our family keeps getting asked if we want XYZ and we keep saying No No No. Not everyone in DH's extended family is as good at letting things go just because, but I'll be damned if DH didn't tell them all that nothing is coming here to be stored in case someone someday might want some of it. I was pretty proud of him! Seriously? Please read nothing into my ignorance other than a terrible, terrible memory and misreading Gypsy girl’s post welcoming someone. Since you have been here I’ve likely ‘liked’ many of your posts and even commented on them! I hope your mom figures it out soon. Otherwise maybe it would be worth the peace of mind to pay for a small storage locker! Good for him, I bet that was hard to say. Over Christmas I made the mistake of asking mom for my sentimental ornaments from growing up that she no longer uses; I’m afraid she has taken that as in invitation to try and start offloading her things on me. So I’m trying to figure out a ind way to get across the point that she is not her things and that not taking her “special casserole dish” has nothing to do with her or my memories of her. I’ve accepted one of her offerings and declined the other.
|
|
|
Post by Linda on Jan 4, 2021 2:21:57 GMT
I drove back to the town where my mother lived to load what was left in her townhome. My car is full of random cleaning supplies and garage stuff, but we can now list the place for sale. My SIL passed away right before Christmas and we are all helping clean out her apartment. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everyone's crap. Add in my college kids being home since Thanksgiving and I am really ready to have my house back. ((((Hugs))) and prayers. I'm sorry for your loss. Be kind to yourself - that's a ton of work both your mum's townhouse and your SIL's apartment and then the emotional aspect plus covid...it's a lot.
|
|
|
Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 4, 2021 2:57:32 GMT
We moved my mom into an assisted living apartment near us last week. That meant having to clean out her townhome so it can be sold. Too many boxes of stuff came back home to my house until mom gets settled and comes to her senses that none of it will be of any use to her. My SIL also passed suddenly from cancer. She was divorced and had no children to it's up to my DH and his siblings to clean out her apartment. Our family keeps getting asked if we want XYZ and we keep saying No No No. Not everyone in DH's extended family is as good at letting things go just because, but I'll be damned if DH didn't tell them all that nothing is coming here to be stored in case someone someday might want some of it. I was pretty proud of him! Wow! You've really had your cart loaded lately. I'm so sorry to hear about your SIL. Hopefully your mom will adjust quickly to her new apartment and agree to let go of some stuff. So glad your DH is looking out for you (and your space). Somehow DH and I both ended up being the "keepers of the cr@p" for our respective families. Once we were back from overseas and decided to remodel our home, the purging began. Not totally there yet, but we've made tremendous progress. Now we are down to the "memory cr@p" as I call it and I'm finding it the hardest to part with, even though much of it was either before my time or after I left home. Emotions are strange things. Any chance your kids headed back to school (with their stuff!) soon?
|
|
|
Post by anniefb on Jan 4, 2021 3:26:17 GMT
Christmas is packed away - re-organised the ornaments as I was doing that. The last few days I have been finishing off scanning various photos from travel in the 1990s. All uploaded to Dropbox and I have binned the old photo albums.
Over Christmas visited some family friends who have just sold their house and are moving into a retirement village apartment. They're having to downsize and sell a lot of stuff so that has helped motivate me to start decluttering again. Today I sorted out some books to sell and have a pile of donations for the op shop. I also have a pile of old documents to be shredded - just need to take them into the office. All sorts of odds and ends from the garage also tidied/thrown away.
It's a work in progress but this year I'd like to sell some more books.
|
|
amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,318
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
|
Post by amom23 on Jan 4, 2021 17:29:41 GMT
Does anyone else have thrift stores closed to donations in their area?
We ran into stores being closed to donations last week while cleaning out mom's townhome. That ended up being frustrating. I'm the type who wants the donations gone pronto. I hate the clutter of the donate clutter.
|
|