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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2022 15:10:06 GMT
Happy New Year! Time for a new thread to go along with new goals and resolutions to organize and declutter our homes and lives. Some of us hang out here all year, while others come and go. Hope to see many of faces, and many new ones through the year! Does anyone have any specific goals this year? How did you do with your 2021 goals? Last year I made progress in my sewing room, donating and giving to friends at least 50 yards of fabric. My wardrobe got a good purge of both winter and summer clothes. A big chunk of the eBay pile was donated. Had several things framed that had been sitting in drawers for years. Minimal progress was made on the photos, scrapbooks, memorabilia and jewelry inventory. Overall, the house is in pretty good shape. The problem area is still the guest room which will remain my focus. Goals for 2022: * Photos & Scrapbooks: Complete scrapbooks, purge and organize physical photos. * Sewing Room: Reduce stash by use and donation * Slides & Videos: Digitize slides and videos * Jewelry Inventory: Just do it! * Memorabilia: Sort, purge and figure out storage of what's left * Garage: Organize the stuff better on the shelves * Quilts: Label the old family quilts, pass along some to the cousins. ************************** LINKS TO PRODUCTS RECOMMENDED AND/OR LINKED THROUGHOUT THE THREAD: External Floppy Disk Reader - Great for sorting through old floppies we run across Museum Putty - Use it to hold drawer organizers in place, keep artwork from shifting on the wall, keep breakables from being knocked around Clear Museum Gel - Same as the putty but in a clear formulation, good for the clear organizers or glass shelves Big Board - Extra table that is adjustable and can be used for crafts, sorting, etc. Art Bin Thread Storage - holds the large spools of thread, latching lid and stack well
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Post by craftedbys on Jan 1, 2022 15:20:13 GMT
**GypsyGirl** I need to do pretty much everything on your goal list, so thank you for saving me time to try to think of where to begin to try to get all of my clutter and stuff under control.
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Post by Linda on Jan 1, 2022 15:42:54 GMT
Thank you **GypsyGirl**2021 goals? well...I had to go back and look -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 Well...we moved - the final pieces of furniture came over just before Christmas - there's a few more odds and ends in the shed and yard for DH to deal with. The old house is NOT ready to market so that'll go on this year's list. I think I've done a decent job of setting up and maintaining organisation here so that's a win. I didn't get as much done on the archives as I had hoped so that's going to go on this year's as well. Goals for 2022House -get the old house on the market and hopefully sell it -organise and purge Christmas items as I pack them up at Epiphany - and do the same for the other holidays as they come along -keep tweaking organisation, limit stuff coming in, and continue to declutter Scrapbook space -declutter a bit but mostly use up more stash. I'm starting the year on a spending freeze -complete some albums and get them scanned Sewing Space -I'm aiming to sew at least once a week and focus on using patterns/fabric I already own. Not freezing though because I'm giving myself permission to buy for specific projects that I'm going to work on right away (not for future needs) -get my treadle up and running Family Archives -finish pulling photos from CDs and photo cards -organise printed photos chronologically and purge as needed -go through at least one memorabilia box and decide what to keep and how to best store it and label it -continue attempting to date and label pre1900 photos Genealogy - finish updating my Irish lines research - write the Irish lines up
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,275
Jun 26, 2014 5:46:37 GMT
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Post by lindas on Jan 1, 2022 15:53:05 GMT
I already started in the kitchen. I’ve purged, reorganized and wiped down all my cabinets inside and out, just need to finish the pantry.
My goal is to do one room a week from top to bottom, clean, declutter and reorganize. Might even do some repainting in a few rooms. Now that I’m down to only one day a week babysitting it shouldn’t be that hard to get it done. I really let my flower beds go last year so some major yard work is scheduled for spring.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 1, 2022 16:08:36 GMT
Thank you so much for starting this thread for us again! I truly appreciate it!
This year I hope to better stick to my goals. Last year I went off the rails and things feel like they've become a mess.
My yearly goals:
Work on a routine for dealing with incoming items that will work for me. It is easy to craft The Perfect Way That Things Should Be Done on paper, but realistically sticking to it is another story.
Paper. Paperwork. Things that come home from school. So.Much.Stuff.
My binder system needs a revamp, and a clean out.
My wardrobe. Every year I say I'm going to revamp what I own, throw out worn items, and replace with better quality. And I am good at tossing worn things, but not as good at replacing with better quality. It does not help that I don't enjoy clothes shopping, and always feel that I'm overspending on myself. Bleh. Maybe I need to add a line in the budget monthly solely for clothes for myself. I ultimately would love a capsule wardrobe.
This year I am going to worry less bout the toys, and how they're contained. They kids aren't super little anymore, and have been doing a pretty good job keeping their stuff together.
I love the accountability this thread provides, and also just being able to talk with like minded people.
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Post by ntsf on Jan 1, 2022 16:20:05 GMT
organize paperwork!!!!!! clean out spare room so ready for my daughter when she comes for a two month visit. finish cleaning out the basement so I can move a car into there (the garage/basement are one thing under the living floors)
put back and organize my study after new windows go in in 2 weeks. all the books and scrapbook stuff are in my living room and dining room and after 6 months, time to put that room back together in a useable situation.
organize genealogy stuff and get restarted
organize my dad's photos and slides. last night I went through two boxes of pictures, threw away some, and a stack to digitize.
bring home anything I or my kids want from my dad's house. (spring task)
thinking about trying to talk my dh into doing a major remodel.. I have dreams of digging out the basement, redoing foundation, putting in some rooms, redoing the kitchen and powder room, painting the interior.
on the list, but not wanted: dealing with the fact that my mother in law is declining, and there will probably be the task of dealing with the house, her stuff and so on. my kids would like to keep the house, but we will see.
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Post by scrapmaven on Jan 1, 2022 16:40:39 GMT
I'm going to jump in, albeit at a slow pace. I have two closets and a scrap room that need decluttering in the biggest way. I need to go through old shoes and purses in order to clear out closet space. Also, I need to get ride of anything not worn in the past 2 years. So many of us have a bad case of "Oh, that'll come back in style". It never does. I want to greatly declutter my scrap room. I might list stuff on Ebay, though I doubt that will do much. If it doesn't sell I'll try and donate the motherlode of cardstock and paper to our old elementary school. My scraproom became the space for our server and printer and lost it's charm. I'll start w/simple projects and if needed I'll add more to this threadd. Thank you **GypsyGirl** for giving us a home and fellow declutterers w/whom to work.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 1, 2022 16:46:10 GMT
I'm going to jump in, albeit at a slow pace. I have two closets and a scrap room that need decluttering in the biggest way. I need to go through old shoes and purses in order to clear out closet space. Also, I need to get ride of anything not worn in the past 2 years. So many of us have a bad case of "Oh, that'll come back in style". It never does. Slow is the name of the game for some of us. I'm embarrassed to admit how many years that dang guest room has been on my list of annual goals! As for things coming back in style, sometimes they do but the odds are great they aren't going to fit. Just pass them on.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,401
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Jan 1, 2022 16:56:58 GMT
I don't have any specific goals except for reducing the amount of retail crap I/we bring into the house. Buy, declutter and donate is a terrible cycle to be in. Otherwise the house is in pretty decent shape.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jan 1, 2022 16:57:57 GMT
My first goal is to get Christmas put away and the house returned to it's natural order. It always looks so bare after Christmas!
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styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,932
Member is Online
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
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Post by styxgirl on Jan 1, 2022 19:23:28 GMT
Oh yeah! New year, new thread! My goals are pretty much the same as always ... Actually get the house in order! This past year has gotten way better, but also way worse if that makes any sense at all!
Looking forward to making progress this next year, that's for sure!
We have our last family Christmas, tomorrow. After that the X-Mas stuff can come down! Have a great year everyone!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 1, 2022 19:31:38 GMT
Thanks for getting us started in the new year. Not sure what I want to accomplish this year. I'd LIKE to buy a new piece of furniture for storage, but can't find anything in the right dimensions for the area I have to put it!! I can't access my top shelves in the closets unless I get on a ladder which everybody thinks I'm too old for a step ladder-- So, my extra sheets and blankets and towels are on the top shelves. When I want anything, I have to call someone into my room to help me get it down. So until I figure that out--I'm stuck with no access. I have boxes of pictures on top of my wall unit. Again, if I want anything from up there, I have to call for help, but I'd love to go through the photos and get them marked with who is in the photos. Getting old is the pits sometimes!! But I really don't want to fall off of a ladder either. I'm stuck. I'll think on it and see what I can come up with as goals.
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amom23
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,401
Jun 27, 2014 12:39:18 GMT
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Post by amom23 on Jan 1, 2022 22:05:51 GMT
All of the holiday decor came down today. I am still happy with my storage setup that I put in place last winter. Made putting everything away easier. Now I just need to give the house a good cleaning. I'd like to add a few new decor pieces to my dining room and front door entryway, but I'm not exactly sure what I want and I'm also doing a no spend January so there is no rush LOL.
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Post by alsomsknit on Jan 1, 2022 22:49:03 GMT
So happy to find this post!
I am starting over with fresh eyes. Kitchen, laundry room, and storage room will be first priority. Might throw the mudroom in there.
The mudroom needs to be made into an actual, organized space for the purpose of a mudroom. It tends to be a catch all. First hurdle is storing the Christmas trees. One needs to leave the house. This leaves a 6 ft full tree (new) and a 7 ft thinish tree (lived in the mudroom for the last two years of season). This room is a constant battle.
Already did a half-hearted tossing of the condiments out of the fridge.
Attrition: cleaning supplies and hand soaps
Need to ask if they want Girlie’s food for the office dog. Little Bit is down to one tooth on the top, which likely means soft food only. So his dry food will need to be offered to someone else.
The Boy mentioned going through his room. I offered my assistance for the cleaning and organizing aspect. He does not have a sentimental bone in his body.
It is a good start.
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lindas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,275
Jun 26, 2014 5:46:37 GMT
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Post by lindas on Jan 1, 2022 23:08:50 GMT
Accomplished one goal today, my scrap room is now decluttered, organized and clean! I can actually see the countertops now and walk around without tripping over something.
Tomorrow the Christmas decorations will get put away while I mutter unladylike words during the football game.
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Post by natscraps on Jan 1, 2022 23:27:06 GMT
Last summer I bought a 2 drawer filing cabinet for my office/scraproom and put all my memorabilia files in it. Friday I went and bought a second matching one and crammed all my lesson planning/ work stuff in it. It’s so much nicer than stacks of paper everywhere and small file boxes stacked haphazardly. I didn’t purge from the files themselves but got rid of quite a few things from the piles of paper that got sorted. Progress. Stupid sickness kept me from getting any big projects done over break. Back to the classroom Monday. A small part of me is secretly hoping we have to go virtual so I have some extra free time at home 😂
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lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
Posts: 7,292
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
Jul 6, 2014 21:50:44 GMT
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Post by lesley on Jan 1, 2022 23:39:00 GMT
I think I’m new to these threads, and it’s not a moment too soon! There is still a lot of my DD's stuff in my house. She and her fiancée live in a one-bedroom flat that is 200 sq ft on a good day, and she has several collections/items of furniture that I need to keep until they move to something bigger. It depresses me to have so much clutter that isn’t even mine. However, last night DD's fiancée helped me move around a lot of stuff in my bedroom to make things look neater, and it really helped. My goals for this year: - Deal with all of my used jigsaw puzzles. Either sell or donate 90% of them. - Sort out all of my crafting stuff. Purge my paper piles that I almost never use. - Finish cataloging my stamps and donate any I have never used. Same with dies. - Make my hall cupboard usable again. It currently holds my DD's powered wheelchair that she no longer uses, which leaves little space for anything else. If she doesn’t organise selling it in the next few months, then I will donate it to a local charity. - Find a way to store or display my books that doesn’t involve them being under the living room couch, or stacked in the cupboard in the craft room, or in boxes in my neighbour’s attic…
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Post by bunnyhug on Jan 1, 2022 23:51:31 GMT
I am, by nature, a thrower and not a keeper. I love to clean things out and reorganize, though, so sometimes I will let things pile up so that I can have the fun of un-piling! My goal for the year is to get into the little stashes of things all over the house that were 'put away' and then have never been looked at again. My family had covid (thankfully very mild!) in November 2020, so I was home for two weeks and did some 'Swedish death cleaning' of memorabilia in our storage room. I'd love to do the same thing to all of the 'extra' photos and stuff (school papers from 2005, anyone?!) from making my annual scrapbooks for the last 25 years. I'm about to do a purge of my closet because it always makes me ridiculously happy to see all the neat piles of clothes (now folded and stored a la Marie Kondo, natch) I also need to head out to our attached garage and put away the fall decorations properly--my teen boys helped take them down and put up the Christmas ones, but didn't put anything away. I'd love to get my kids to give their rooms a sort and purge now that post-secondary school is on line until the end of the month and they will all be here rather than sitting by themselves in university bedrooms. If nothing else, maybe it will encourage them to get back to the city before I want to strangle anyone I love this thread because I get to live vicariously through all of you--it's very satisfying for me in an odd way when you guys get something accomplished! Maybe I should see if my friends are really serious when they say they want me to come over and organize their lives ... my dh would probably appreciate someone else being the recipient of my tidying attentions once in a while!
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Post by lisae on Jan 2, 2022 1:06:56 GMT
I woke up with a scraproom video idea this morning and went ahead and did it. The video is about choosing what stamp sets to purge (or purchase if you are shopping for new ones). I want to pare down my sets to fit in baskets on one shelf, not 2, of my precious studio closet space. Here is the video: Selecting Stamps to Keep or PurgeI also scrapped a page today. I haven't done much scrapbooking lately. Really, I've taken few photos in the last two years. So I do want to scrap the ones I have including a couple of pages about my mother. I've done several of her in the past but haven't been ready to do them since she died. I'm using my studio for far more sewing and it is time for some more scrapbooking supplies to be used or moved out.
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Post by deafpea on Jan 2, 2022 1:28:17 GMT
Hello everyone!
I had to take a break for awhile because I started graduate school and even though I only had two classes--they were TOUGH ones! That took all my extra attention and energy for the fall semester. Happily, I did very well--got better than 90% in both classes so I'm happy! My advisor tells me those two classes were the toughest ones so while I expect plenty of hard work ahead of me in this next semester, hopefully it won't be quite so demanding. So I hope to have some more time to work on projects in 2022.
The first project(s) are a bit of a merry go round. The ultimate goal is to get my study set up in the upstairs bedroom. My son (DS20) who was living in Italy came home at the beginning of December and is moving to his university dorm this weekend to start college. The bedroom he was using will be my office. So, what needs to happen:
1. Younger boys' bedroom in basement emptied and thoroughly cleaned. We bought new mattresses and DS20 was using one of them, with the understanding that DS10 would use the other, and DS13 would get the mattress DS20 was using when DS20 moved out. So in preparation for moving the bed from the upstairs bedroom to downstairs bedroom, we'll empty, clean, declutter, sort and organize. Set up new beds, get rid of old mattresses (they're old and need to be retired). Beds used to be bunk beds, still in great shape so I'm going to check with my school to see if anyone needs beds. If not, I'll check with my community group. If no one needs them, I'll take them to the donation center. Or maybe try to sell on FB Marketplace.
2. After boys bedroom is done, upstairs bedroom/future study will be mostly empty. I did a thorough clean when getting it ready for DS20 to come home so it just needs to be touched up. Then I'll move my office furniture from the downstairs office (that I share with DH) upstairs. I'll take advantage of this upheaval to go through stuff and toss old stuff, get papers filed, etc.
3. Once my stuff is out of downstairs office, we can clear out that room and give it a good cleaning. Then DH can set it up the way he wants. One of the reasons for this whole project was that DH will be working from home 98% of the time for the foreseeable future. There will be times when the team wants an in-person meeting, and they will have those meetings at the company HQ but for the most part, they'll continue to work from home. DH would like more space and a little bit different setup. We will probably need to buy some more furniture--I know he wants to make an L shaped work space, so we'll need to get another table top from IKEA that matches what he already has, and maybe another Alex drawer unit. He'll decide what he wants after he's able to move things around a little.
DH thinks we can do the project this coming week. We'll see. I'm going back to work on Monday, DS20 also starts college on Monday and since this is his first experience, we may need to make a few extra shopping trips or something to get him fully set up. Fortunately he's only about 40 minutes away but still, that uses time. I start grad classes again on the 10th so having all this done would be great so I'm all set for school.
Happy New Year 2022 to everyone and may we all make progress on our decluttering and organizing goals!
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Post by tentoes on Jan 2, 2022 2:48:28 GMT
Just wanted to chime in and wish you all luck with all your goals! I guess my goal is to make my small MIL Suite function well. I remember an old saying--a place for everything and everything in it's place--or something like that!! It does pretty well already--so not sure where I can go from here. I guess there is always room for improvement!!
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,637
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Jan 2, 2022 3:19:07 GMT
I'm so glad to see this thread pop up for the new year. The second half of last year went off the rails for me, and I know this year I need to focus on the outside of the house, but I'd still like to work on decluttering a few things. My main goal this year is to get DH to finally agree to get rid of the gym equipment that is sitting in our spare room that he has not used in at least 5 years as he much prefers to go to a local gym.
I also need to help my MIL sell off some of her husband's things. He passed away early last year and she's ready to move some of these things on.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jan 2, 2022 3:41:11 GMT
Today I organized my jewelry and ended up Getting rid of quite a bit. I also took down the Christmas tree and decor and ended up deep cleaning our crawl space. Got rid of quite a bit there as well. It’s always the finishing up that is the hardest part. My knees and back were sore from dealing around so I stopped and will do more tomorrow.
I don’t have any specific goals for the year but want to focus on one room a week. Generally I would say doing small tasks works better than tearing apart a whole room at one time.
One of my next priorities is to organize my scrapbooking supplies.
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Post by ntsf on Jan 2, 2022 3:48:22 GMT
I got through all the boxes of photos I brought back from my dad's (he just died a month ago).. took photos out of three crummy old albums, and sorted all the slides and pictures to be sent off to digitize and have gone through all the media I have digitized.
found a bunch of my dad's work stuff.. pictures of his retirement party, pictures of office mates, old work product from the 1950's, pictures from the 1970's.. certificates. it was fun. my brother worked at the same office, so he can tell me who most of the people are.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 28, 2024 20:40:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2022 3:51:48 GMT
We moved into a house with a larger basement plus a BIG garage. After several months of purging stuff before we moved, my dad showed up with a truck full of stuff.
"Here, get your stuff out of my basement." And "Here, I'm not going to use this anymore."
We now have extra tools DH has to go through and organize, at least two boxes of paperwork that needs to be shredded, and a LOT of pictures I need to go through and find a better way to store them. Plus more stuff that we need to decide if we want to keep them or not.
Dad's not downsizing any time soon. He just wants an empty basement.
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Post by mikklynn on Jan 2, 2022 12:36:47 GMT
Thank you for getting us going in 2022, **GypsyGirl**! I'm going to try to finish putting all the Christmas stuff away today. DS and the grands are here for at least one more day, since their flight was canceled, so I won't get any cleaning done. I am always motivated to deep clean after they leave, to get my house back in order.
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Post by bunnyhug on Jan 2, 2022 19:56:39 GMT
We moved into a house with a larger basement plus a BIG garage. After several months of purging stuff before we moved, my dad showed up with a truck full of stuff. "Here, get your stuff out of my basement." And "Here, I'm not going to use this anymore." We now have extra tools DH has to go through and organize, at least two boxes of paperwork that needs to be shredded, and a LOT of pictures I need to go through and find a better way to store them. Plus more stuff that we need to decide if we want to keep them or not. Dad's not downsizing any time soon. He just wants an empty basement. When dh and I bought our first house, my parents came for their first visit with several garbage bags full of stuffed animals and the like ... I think my mom's exact words were, "you can keep these in your own basement now" I'm not gonna lie ... when we bought a condo for our kids to live in while going to uni, it gave me great pleasure to send boxes of their stuff off with them! I tried to be cool because I didn't want them to think I was anxious to get rid of them or anything, but I sure was happy to get rid of their crap
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jan 2, 2022 20:07:35 GMT
My main goal is to finish up the last bits of my four boys’ scrapbooks (they each have four volumes that take them through high school, but of course I’m way behind on number four’s and have a few more things to add to the older boys as well.) Then I can finally clear out the last of the scrapbook supplies. That opens up a lot of space in a guest room closet that can just stay open.
This goal has been my goal for way too long. The oldest child is thirty and the youngest is twenty. I’m getting this damn project done and setting my target as by the end of February.
Good luck to us all as we work on our goals!
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Post by MichyM on Jan 2, 2022 20:10:15 GMT
Ok, I'm ready to join in this year. I've been in my place for 4.5 years and it is amazing how much "stuff" I've accumulated in that amount of time. UGH! I don't know if I'll do well with a year-long goal list...too much pressure so I'm going to go with a January goal. And it is to deal with all the clothing/shoes/bags I have. My clothing size has changed substantially in the last few years (I've steadily gained in that time..BOO HISS) so I have multiple sizes that no longer fit. I have a lot of my old favorites in storage bins...and they haven't been touched in a while. So, this month's goal is to deal with all that. >>> This week's goal will be to completely clean out my dresser and closet. Sort out trash/donate/consign. <<< Then I will move on to the bins in the office closet. And lastly the built in drawers in my bedframe. It kills me because I tend to go with high quality clothing, so it's painful to watch all that money go down the tubes BUT...I'll FEEL so much better once I'm done and it's out of the house. If I don't come back to report in a couple of weeks....would someone please TAG & NAG me? I might need a little outside motivation! Thanks so much for starting this thread **GypsyGirl**
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luckyjune
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,687
Location: In the rainy, rainy WA
Jul 22, 2017 4:59:41 GMT
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Post by luckyjune on Jan 2, 2022 20:32:51 GMT
When we moved in November, we went from 3000 square feet to half that. We downsized considerably but it still feels like we have too much stuff. My overarching goal for the year is to continue to pare down. Some of what is a roadblock are projects he have started/need to start to create the spaces so everything works (if that makes sense). I just need to get really honest about what we use/wear and ditch the rest.
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