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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 22, 2021 15:33:23 GMT
Just a heads up if anyone is planning an Elfa project. The annual Elfa sale started today and runs through Feb. 13, 2022. This year it is 20% off Elfa purchases of $500 or more, and does not include delivery or installation. That seems rather low compared to past sales. I'm a bit disappointed because I usually will pick up a few things at this sale, but not $500 worth. I hope you'll start one for 2022 and I commit to bumping it. I'll do my best to help keep it bumped. Keeping the thread bumped every few weeks would be a big help on the thread. In January the thread is typically bumped almost daily, but things start to slack off after that.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 22, 2021 15:35:34 GMT
Whoever said you can’t organize clutter was wrong! Then they never met me!
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Post by alsomsknit on Dec 22, 2021 15:41:23 GMT
DH took a truck load to the dump last week. I know Girlie’s love seat was included, as was Mom’s my MIL) chair. Wasn’t there to know how he handled it. Our son went with him to unload. I came home to an almost empty garage. (Still has the shelves with the crates and soda/water bottles, etc…) At the point, I don’t want to know what went. He isn’t as careful about things that should have gone to Goodwill instead. And, he probably didn’t care whose the things were. Everybody else’s things are junk. His is gold.🙄
He has decided to sell the 65 Ford. The buyer is to come to get it today. He is practically giving it away. Dad and Mom had bought it brand new. Dad is struggling with it being sold. (Not handling Mom’s absence well at all.) Think the Thunderbird is next.
For 2022, going to delve into the storage room because it has gotten a bit out of hand. Kitchen needs a good purging, too. It is never ending.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 22, 2021 15:55:02 GMT
Just a heads up if anyone is planning an Elfa project. The annual Elfa sale started today and runs through Feb. 13, 2022. This year it is 20% off Elfa purchases of $500 or more, and does not include delivery or installation. That seems rather low compared to past sales. I'm a bit disappointed because I usually will pick up a few things at this sale, but not $500 worth. That’s super disappointing. Most years we usually either pick up small things to upgrade our existing systems or start a new one with the 30% off sale. This year I was hoping to upgrade my craft room closet along a small wall. Guess not.
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Post by Linda on Dec 22, 2021 16:22:13 GMT
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 22, 2021 16:24:07 GMT
That’s super disappointing. Most years we usually either pick up small things to upgrade our existing systems or start a new one with the 30% off sale. This year I was hoping to upgrade my craft room closet along a small wall. Guess not. Same here. I'm trying to figure out why they would cut the discount amount and add the minimum spend. Maybe less product available? It surely can't be that sales are bad. I've made many trips to CS this year (hazard of living so close to one) and every single time the store is packed and shopping carts are filled to the brim. alsomsknit - I'm so sorry to hear he wasn't thoughtful when clearing out things. It just adds to an already stressful time for you. What is with the dense SO's? There seems to be an epidemic with them. Just read Just T's thread and now your post. I'm sorry for both of you.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 22, 2021 16:48:22 GMT
That’s super disappointing. Most years we usually either pick up small things to upgrade our existing systems or start a new one with the 30% off sale. This year I was hoping to upgrade my craft room closet along a small wall. Guess not. Same here. I'm trying to figure out why they would cut the discount amount and add the minimum spend. Maybe less product available? It surely can't be that sales are bad. I've made many trips to CS this year (hazard of living so close to one) and every single time the store is packed and shopping carts are filled to the brim. alsomsknit - I'm so sorry to hear he wasn't thoughtful when clearing out things. It just adds to an already stressful time for you. What is with the dense SO's? There seems to be an epidemic with them. Just read Just T 's thread and now your post. I'm sorry for both of you. I thought sales might be bad, but I haven’t been in store in 2 years so that was just based on news reports a few years ago stating the same and how they were in danger of closing shop if it didn’t turn around.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 23, 2021 5:29:12 GMT
Well, between all of the trees I gathered about 75 to 100 ornaments that we aren’t in love with. There weren’t any other decorations we don’t love, but I know every little bit helps, and they add up to a lot over time! We also hung several items we had been procrastinating on, and I fixed a few things as well. Feels good!
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Post by mikklynn on Dec 24, 2021 14:23:33 GMT
I cleaned out my pantry this week and got rid of some expired things. I am generally careful, but it still happens. I am trying to reduce the amount of food in the pantry and freezer before we move. But, with DS and his family coming for a week, they are full again. My 13 year old grandson has a big appetite!
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Post by alsomsknit on Dec 24, 2021 15:41:23 GMT
Do trees count in the decluttering? We had some huge, beautiful pines that fared poorly over a 3ish year period of excessive rain. They have been slowly dying since. Had been asking DH to fell them. His hesitancy was beyond me, since a few years ago, he and Dad felled a number of trees on our property. I swear, it looked as if that famous lumber Jack came through and left a mess of downed trees behind…for freaking weeks.
One of the trees had its top fall into the road that runs past our property. Imagine if it fell on a car that had been traveling past! DH drug it off the road. State roads agreed to come by an fell the trees that needed to be taken down. 3 huge ones and 4 others of considerable size. What a thing to come home to? LOL! Dad forced DH’s hand in cleaning them up…since they were so visible along the road. *roll eyes*.
The Galaxy has been sold. Happy someone has it who will appreciate it and put some love into it.
The boy and I cleaned out the snack drawer in the kitchen, when I was home sick on Wednesday. The condiments and such need to be culled from the refrigerator. It’s a bit full with leftovers and whatever was needed for Christmas dinner. My kombucha making doesn’t help matters, either.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Dec 24, 2021 20:29:21 GMT
With New Year's approaching, I'm starting to get that decluttering itch.
The kitchen is always the easiest place for me to start. It's not in too bad shape. This past year I've been careful to date food (on masking tape), so it's an easier task to toss older foods.
I need to buy new clothes to replace what I own. I have not done a big shop in two years, with the pandemic closing stores and no where to try them on first.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Dec 25, 2021 15:50:57 GMT
I just made (premade dough) chocolate chip cookies, and organized the food cabinets and back pantry while they baked. We've used down a lot of staples after building up during the pandemic crush. Feels good to have empty space in cabinets & shelves. Later this week I'll start a list to restock thoughtfully, without the panicked mentality.
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Post by MissBianca on Dec 25, 2021 18:08:05 GMT
Jumping back in to say I’m back in for 2022. I have finally gotten the rest of my stuff moved to the new house after 6 months of shuffling, you can cram a lot of stuff into the back of a Subaru! The only thing left is the RV which we will get next week. But now the real work begins. I swear the stuff expanded as we moved it. We went from an 1100 sq ft 2 bedroom house with a small garage to a 3 story, 3400 sq ft 4 bedroom house with a full size professional 4 car garage and loft space, and an apartment and we have filled it! I told DH we are to be agressive on editing and purging because our next house will either be a single story home for the just the two of us or a boat if he gets his wish! Hopefully I can get him on board next year.
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Post by MissBianca on Dec 25, 2021 18:09:00 GMT
I just made (premade dough) chocolate chip cookies, and organized the food cabinets and back pantry while they baked. We've used down a lot of staples after building up during the pandemic crush. Feels good to have empty space in cabinets & shelves. Later this week I'll start a list to restock thoughtfully, without the panicked mentality. I need to start doing this. Thankfully it’s soup and stew season so we will be making big batch soups with all the beans DH bought. The. I’m going to freeze it all.
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Post by anniefb on Dec 25, 2021 19:03:25 GMT
I need to clean out the pantry. Also have a number of bags of things to take to the o-shop. Was supposed to get there before Christmas but just didn't make it as work got so busy. The decluttering will start all over again in the new year!
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Dec 25, 2021 19:35:17 GMT
I just made (premade dough) chocolate chip cookies, and organized the food cabinets and back pantry while they baked. We've used down a lot of staples after building up during the pandemic crush. Feels good to have empty space in cabinets & shelves. Later this week I'll start a list to restock thoughtfully, without the panicked mentality. I need to start doing this. Thankfully it’s soup and stew season so we will be making big batch souls with all the beans DH bought. The. I’m going to freeze it all. Love soups & stews! It's crazy because I seem to be the only person in the household that will eat leftovers. So I end up freezing lots of individual meals for another day from dinners I make. I had lots of canned beans that I've nearly used all up by making three bean salad.
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Post by dewryce on Dec 25, 2021 21:22:27 GMT
Whenever possible we make multiple of the same meal at once and freeze the extra. That works out great for us, and we do a good job of eating and restocking. But we also stated keeping a sick box of food/drinks and an emergency one of items we can prep and eat on our gas stove. And since these are almost all foods we don’t eat on a regular basis, it’s harder to go through them and replenish like we do our freezer options. Any suggestions? How long is canned food good for? We need to add it to our calendar to give away and replace but aren’t sure when to do that. If anyone is interested, there are a lot of ‘Declutter Calendar’ options online. Every day there is a small item/area to declutter, and it’s great for both maintenance and doing a complete overhaul of your home over the year. Even if you only want to take a couple of months you can always work multiple days at a time. It’s not overwhelming because some days aren’t applicable to everyone. Sometimes I skip ahead, sometimes I spend more than one day on a particular task, some days I slightly alter the recommendation. I like them because they’re mostly broken down into tiny chunks (go through your underwear drawer, magazines, etc) of things that wouldn’t always occur to you or you procrastinate on. My Simple Life does a good one. I don’t remember the name of the other one I do, I’ll go look it up, something 101. There are others, these are just the ones I use. www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/declutter-calendar.htmlNot sure why Beth doesn’t have her 2022 calendar up yet, I’ve got them going back over a decade. Here is 2021. www.mysimplerlife.com/declutter-calendar
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 25, 2021 21:26:45 GMT
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from the GypsyGirl household!
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Post by mikklynn on Dec 28, 2021 13:31:23 GMT
Since we are moving in the spring, I am tossing all the boxes from our Christmas gifts. I usually save and re-use boxes. It's a small win!
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,706
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Dec 28, 2021 17:50:04 GMT
I am starting another round of garage organization. I've already gone through everything I wanted to get rid of. Put a bunch of stuff out for heavy trash, but as usual, it all disappeared before the truck made its way through the neighborhood. Yay for not going to the landfill! I had all my Christmas decorations in my attic, but I have always been uncomfortable with that bc my gas ac/furnace/water heater is up there. I have an irrational (or not) fear of something catching fire up there. I hired a handyman to install ceiling-mounted shelving in my garage yesterday, so now I have the green light to take down my decorations and store in my garage. The guys are coming back later this week to install some wall-mounted shelving as well. Now my only challenge now is what to do with all of our bikes. I have 3, DS has 1, and SO has 4. We keep 2 of them at our condo, but we are about to rent that out, so they'll need to come here. I just don't know what to do!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 28, 2021 17:58:17 GMT
Now my only challenge now is what to do with all of our bikes. I have 3, DS has 1, and SO has 4. We keep 2 of them at our condo, but we are about to rent that out, so they'll need to come here. I just don't know what to do! Anyway to do wall mounts for storage? Or do you not have enough wall space for that?
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Post by tentoes on Dec 28, 2021 18:20:00 GMT
I'm not sure what else I can get rid of, but I'll be around some in the new year. I could spend some time in the "organization" part of decluttering!! I bought some handy stuff to help organize things.
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,706
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Dec 28, 2021 19:03:31 GMT
Now my only challenge now is what to do with all of our bikes. I have 3, DS has 1, and SO has 4. We keep 2 of them at our condo, but we are about to rent that out, so they'll need to come here. I just don't know what to do! Anyway to do wall mounts for storage? Or do you not have enough wall space for that? Right now I have 5 of them on the wall (flat against the wall so you see the profile of the bike). However, with the shelving, I need to remove 2 of them. I'm going to try a bike rack called Steadyrack and see how they go. They hang on the wall vertically (tire against the wall), and then you can fold them to the right or left so they don't stick out so much. They are expensive though - about 90 bucks per, so I want to test first before I invest 700 bucks. I suppose I should get SO to contribute half of that since he is half the problem LOL.
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Post by Linda on Dec 28, 2021 21:42:29 GMT
DD21 moved out this morning - DS30 is driving her Uhaul and she'll be living with him. In addition to her stuff - they also took 3 pantry cabinets and a small chest freezer that we were getting rid of. Yay!
Dh just finished building a 2nd Billy bookcase (narrow/tall) for CDs - he refuses to get rid of them (he does still listen to them) or take them out of the jewel cases. He's alphabetising them (bless his heart) asnd has found about a dozen duplicates so far - most of which DD21 took with her.
We're headed to IKEA on Friday I think. I need one more cube storage for my craft room (8-cube) and DH wants another bookcase for his room and a couple more for the library/guestroom. Might pick up a bedframe for DD21's old room as well.
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Post by natscraps on Dec 28, 2021 22:57:00 GMT
We did get the fridge and freezer decluttered last Wednesday but only because the fridge stopped working and we didn’t realize until the entire freezer drawer had defrosted. Luckily we were able to find a new one and had it delivered on Christmas eve
Things have been hectic and crazy. I had (unbeknownst to me) an infected tooth that took me down for about a month and a major bout of depression along with dealing with DS’s issues. All this has put the house completely out of control. I haven’t looked at the thread in a while because it just frustrated me to not be able to do anything myself. Mentally I’m feeling better and we finally have DS under control so hoping to make some progress. One step at a time. .
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Post by Linda on Dec 29, 2021 0:50:45 GMT
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Post by mikklynn on Dec 29, 2021 14:06:38 GMT
I think I'll try to get my tree down today. DS is here, so he can muscle the pieces downstairs for me.
After they leave, I am going to start packing for our move. There is a lot I can do now. I plan to be ruthless in purging as I go.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,329
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Dec 29, 2021 14:37:49 GMT
I just did a quick pantry clean out. I told DH I think our goal for the new year should be to eat out less. We have plenty of food that needs to be eaten and it's dumb to spend the money eating out. He agreed, but stated it is sometimes just easier to go out to eat when it's just the 2 of us. So I think we'll just try our best to eat at home.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Dec 29, 2021 15:35:53 GMT
He agreed, but stated it is sometimes just easier to go out to eat when it's just the 2 of us. So I think we'll just try our best to eat at home. It does become too easy to just go out or do take away when it's just the two of you. DH and I have this issue as well. A couple of things that help is to have a meal plan and having some meals in the freezer.
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Post by tentoes on Dec 29, 2021 15:45:09 GMT
I took my tree down yesterday. I didn't get rid of anything because I didn't have much on the tree this year--which goes to tell me I don't need much on my tree!! The other boxes were inaccessible, so maybe next year I'll reduce stuff. There were a few things I missed, but not much. Today I have a dr appointment around noon--and I've already had my shower, so I don't want to get dirty!! Otherwise, I'd probably do some dusting and rearranging of some things. I guess that will wait until tomorrow! Have a good day everybody!!
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