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Post by Linda on Aug 15, 2024 11:57:23 GMT
Unexpectedly had to declutter both refrigerators/freezers due to 5 day power outage from a macroburst storm. I'm so sorry LOL I think I could save more time than that if the other people I live with would just put stuff where it belongs when theyāre done with it truth Also, they were a nice memory of someone elseās house for me and me alone, my children have no attachment to them and they werenāt selected by me/mine so I didnāt use them. Iām spending the cash I got in getting tickets to an art display weāll go to on holidays that I know my kids will love and that will be an amazing family memory for my family, and I know what I sold is going to houses that will love and cherish the new items in their collections! way to go! the huge pile of assorted stencils and cutting stencil things that I honestly wonāt ever use. I need to pull out the handful of cute ones from Pebbles in My Pocket that I could possibly see myself wanting to do something with at some point and see if DDās elementary school wants the rest that are basic shapes or alphabets. I still have some contacts at that school that I could ask, otherwise put up the lot on Buy Nothing. someone on the scrapbooking board was looking for stencils recently to use for her students - I think artbabe - if you don't find a local home |
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Post by Linda on Aug 15, 2024 12:00:01 GMT
not much decluttering happening here. We did get rid of a HUGE pile of branches and tree limbs (storm debris from Debbie) that the county picked up yesterday.
I'm still working on photos. I'm scanning photos from a 1994 scrapbook - I just organised and labelled the 1994 digital folder and realised that many of the photos I scrapped never got scanned. And I'm working with DD24 (via phone) to organise and label the photos from her 2017 Euro trip.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 15, 2024 13:23:52 GMT
someone on the scrapbooking board was looking for stencils recently to use for her students - I think artbabe - if you don't find a local home I did a quick search on the scrapping board but didnāt see her post. Can you link up the thread here? If she would like them Iād be happy to send them her way. I still need to go through them but there will be a lot that I can pass along. |
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Post by Linda on Aug 15, 2024 13:25:27 GMT
someone on the scrapbooking board was looking for stencils recently to use for her students - I think artbabe - if you don't find a local home I did a quick search on the scrapping board but didnāt see her post. Can you link up the thread here? If she would like them Iād be happy to send them her way. I still need to go through them but there will be a lot that I can pass along. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 15, 2024 13:57:55 GMT
Why Everyone Needs a 'Digital Death Cleaning' Plan (gift link) Saw this in the WSJ this week and thought it was appropriate for our organizing and decluttering thread. I know several here have mentioned purging/organizing digital files in the past (self included).
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Post by Linda on Aug 15, 2024 14:11:43 GMT
Thanks **GypsyGirl**Digital housekeeping is one of my always tasks - I keep making progress but there's always more to do. My email is in good shape and I have someone set up to take over my gmail accounts if I pass. I probably need to look over my other online accounts and make a password list - I think I set up a person for FB but I need to doublecheck. As for my harddrive/google drives...that's a work in progress |
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Post by cecilia on Aug 17, 2024 16:47:34 GMT
My Dad bought another shed for $10. Hopefully it will keep him busy.
I am planning on working on laundry and marking stuff for booths today.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 18, 2024 14:38:28 GMT
Although the weather doesn't feel it, summer is coming to a close (well, school will be back in session in a couple weeks or so, and then all events and obligations that come with it, then autumn and its holidays, then Christmas, then we're staring at a new year already......!) and I'm quite down about it.
The PTA did a pop up used uniform sale with less than two days' notice, held on a weekday between 11 am and 12 noon, so I wasn't able to drop off outgrown uniforms. I'll continue to hold onto them, and hopefully mid-year they will ask for donations and I can bring them then.
Between new uniform pieces, book report books, and school supplies, there is a lot coming into the house right now (plus all the shipping boxes, etc. I'm trying to keep a handle on it as it comes, and get those boxes out & recycled quick.
I also picked up a few Christmas gifts already, so they are on a top shelf and taking up space.
I'm starting to think about the garden wind down already, though that won't happen until late October. It's always bittersweet, though.
Anyway, I didn't declutter nearly as much as I thought I would this summer. In fact, since the kids are off school but I'm still working, there seems to be even more clutter. Maybe autumn will be a good reset.
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Post by lg on Aug 19, 2024 1:43:26 GMT
Hi peas. To share some love to decluttering content creators on the internet, and if you are needing motivation to keep on keeping on, I thought I would highlight the following channel. Her tone can be hard for me to listen to HOWEVER sheās just a girl, filming her clean out process, and I appreciate that and love having it on in the background as I clean etc. As a summary/background to her content, her hoarder parents both recently passed away and she is now having to deal with and clear out their hoarded house and multiple storage sheds so she can rent out the house: m.youtube.com/@chickabiddies/videosIf you ever want to know what it will feel like for your children if you donāt go through the declutter process now (or at least start!) and leave it for later or a better time and pass away unexpectedly instead this is it. The amount of items sheās having to donate, sell for $1 or give away for free is insane, and it just keeps going and going as she just does not have the bandwidth nor the ability to stay at the house for years to sell the items to get āwhat they are worthā. |
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Post by cecilia on Aug 19, 2024 12:32:06 GMT
Not feeling good today so I don't know how much I will get done today. Do plan on marking stuff for booths again.
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Post by Linda on Aug 19, 2024 13:16:35 GMT
The PTA did a pop up used uniform sale with less than two days' notice, held on a weekday between 11 am and 12 noon, so I wasn't able to drop off outgrown uniforms. I'll continue to hold onto them, and hopefully mid-year they will ask for donations and I can bring them then. That's not helpful to anyone - those who wanted to donate like you OR those who need to take advantage of the sale. What a shame The amount of items sheās having to donate, sell for $1 or give away for free is insane, and it just keeps going and going as she just does not have the bandwidth nor the ability to stay at the house for years to sell the items to get āwhat they are worthā. btdt and while I was already decluttering, the experience definitely motivated me to do more Currently I'm not exactly decluttering but going through cookbooks I downloaded to my kindle and pulling out any recipes I might actually try and adding to Paprika. Then I'll remove them from the kindle. Not true decluttering since I'm not entirely sure if I can delete completely from Amazon but decluttered from my to-read and to-do lists |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 19, 2024 13:57:21 GMT
Anyway, I didn't declutter nearly as much as I thought I would this summer. In fact, since the kids are off school but I'm still working, there seems to be even more clutter. Maybe autumn will be a good reset. I feel the same way. I had pretty high hopes of moving more stuff out the door than I did, but itās HARD when kids are home and especially if they are somewhat uncooperative lol. My kid has a desk setup in our first floor office that Iāve been after her to clean out and sort the stuff she has holed up in it all summer so Iād be able to tell what she actually still needs from the store for school. I know there are new glue sticks, full boxes of #2 pencils, unused notebooks and folders, etc. in there. Has she done it? NO. Am I irritated? YES! And school starts a week from today, ugh. I bought her a binder that I knew she didnāt have and four notebooks. Thatās it. Iām so sick of paying for school stuff that never gets used. Plus I really want to get rid of the desk itself because it takes up a ton of space, the drawers are small and they stick and itās just not an efficient use of space. I could fit everything in that desk that needs to stay in that room on a single shelf if there was a bookshelf in that space instead. And to complicate things more, this week is jam packed with appointments and other have to doās, so itās not likely to happen this week either. š |
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Post by lg on Aug 22, 2024 9:22:58 GMT
Is starting a project youāve been stashing things for decluttering?
If so I decluttered today š
Now to finish all the half done projects, but this gal has to strike where and when the inspiration hits!
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Post by cecilia on Aug 22, 2024 16:01:51 GMT
Took a load to thrift store yesterday. Hope to take another load today prior to baseball game.
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,613 
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
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Post by milocat on Aug 23, 2024 16:02:31 GMT
I just found the best decluttering tip: if dog poop got on this item would I try to wash it or would I just throw it away?
LOL! This could work. Way better than asking if it brings me joy.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 23, 2024 16:14:46 GMT
If you ever want to know what it will feel like for your children if you donāt go through the declutter process now (or at least start!) and leave it for later or a better time and pass away unexpectedly instead this is it. This thought is a huge motivation for me to not bring things into the house. To the point that I get stressed out if someone gives me a gift that isn't consumable (I don't mention it to them if they are giving me it, but I do always ask for consumables if asked beforehand what I would like.). Is starting a project youāve been stashing things for decluttering? YES! Absolutely. Took a load to thrift store yesterday. For the win! I had pretty high hopes of moving more stuff out the door than I did, but itās HARD when kids are home So true. That's not helpful to anyone - those who wanted to donate like you OR those who need to take advantage of the sale. What a shame Very, very true. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 23, 2024 16:28:19 GMT
I just found the best decluttering tip: if dog poop got on this item would I try to wash it or would I just throw it away? LOL! This could work. Way better than asking if it brings me joy. LOL! I *did* try to clean the actual dog poop off of my robot vacuum after my dog had a seizure, pooped on the floor, set off the vacuum in the process and messed it all up. Then DH took it out on the deck and HOSED IT OFF with the garden hose. š¤¦š»āāļø Yeah, thatās NOT the way to clean it. I took it all apart, cleaned it better, let it dry out and still havenāt had the courage to reassemble it to see if he killed it. |
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 24, 2024 12:54:11 GMT
Yesterday I tackled 3/4 of the china cabinet (which barely holds any china to speak of). The worst of it is the remaining 1/4, but it is also all the important paper stuff, etc, that has no other home. I'll tidy it up and be okay with it.
I still have to pull school supplies from the stash and order the rest of what we need. It would be oh so helpful if the school would send out the finalized lists, and not just a you may or may not need these items for the school year list. Not to mention, individual teachers will be adding to these lists during the first weeks of school. Mostly I need to pick up boxes of Ziploc bags, several containers of disinfecting wipes, and several large hand sanitizers.
Yesterday I also helped a household member tackle their ignored/abandoned stash of toiletries. They bought new ones, and dozens could either be repurposed (to other family members) or tossed because they were essentially empty.
So that's a win because now we have more bathroom & storage shelf space free.
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Post by cecilia on Aug 24, 2024 16:24:54 GMT
Donated another load to GW yesterday. Apparently now they have to wear gloves while handling donations. Employee was complaining about it when we dropped the stuff off. There was something I donated I wanted to price and out in booth. I would only have put $2 or $3 on it so I just donated it.
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Post by lg on Aug 25, 2024 2:14:04 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady I love what my school does (private) - at the start of the year you get a pack of books and stationery for the year to use that the school orders and organises for you (cost included in fees I already pay). No trips to the store, no stash for next year, itās AmAZINg!!!
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Aug 25, 2024 2:28:48 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady I love what my school does (private) - at the start of the year you get a pack of books and stationery for the year to use that the school orders and organises for you (cost included in fees I already pay). No trips to the store, no stash for next year, itās AmAZINg!!! The elementary school DD attended (private) did the same! It was a great system and saved me lots of time and aggravation. |
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pantsonfire
Drama Llama
Take a step back, evaluate what is important, and enjoy your life with those who you love.
Posts: 6,239
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Post by pantsonfire on Aug 25, 2024 3:06:15 GMT
I got rid of a bunch of dried out, non sticky, or ripping washi tape rolls as well as my holder for them all (looks like a spice container).
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Aug 25, 2024 15:35:50 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady I love what my school does (private) - at the start of the year you get a pack of books and stationery for the year to use that the school orders and organises for you (cost included in fees I already pay). No trips to the store, no stash for next year, itās AmAZINg!!! I truly, truly wish my kids' school did this! |
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Post by cecilia on Aug 25, 2024 17:37:55 GMT
Have about 50 books and a tote of stuff marked ready to go to booths. Going to take stuff out that has been there a while and donate it.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 25, 2024 17:53:35 GMT
LavenderLayoutLady I love what my school does (private) - at the start of the year you get a pack of books and stationery for the year to use that the school orders and organises for you (cost included in fees I already pay). No trips to the store, no stash for next year, itās AmAZINg!!! The elementary school my kid attended is switching to that this year. Parents still have to pay for the pack but I think itās less than what youād pay buying the same things yourself at the store. The benefit to both teachers and kids is that everyone is using the same supplies so you donāt have some kids stuck using dollar store stuff that sucks. |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Aug 26, 2024 2:25:37 GMT
I haven't been doing any major decluttering projects but we had a water leak in both of our bathrooms. We had a bunch of extra bedding in the basement bathroom closet so I went through that stuff and have some things to donate. I also did a quick run through of my closet and have a few other bags of things to donate. I hope to get back to making more significant progress soon but have been so tired and unmotivated lately.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 26, 2024 14:40:56 GMT
I haven't been doing any major decluttering projects but we had a water leak in both of our bathrooms. We had a bunch of extra bedding in the basement bathroom closet so I went through that stuff and have some things to donate. I also did a quick run through of my closet and have a few other bags of things to donate. I hope to get back to making more significant progress soon but have been so tired and unmotivated lately. Right there on that bench with you!  Today is my kidās first day back, first day of high school. DH is off to work, the house is quiet and ugggh I have a lot of stuff I could do and should really do, but donāt want to do any of it. We were at the lake for the weekend (Thursday night thru Sunday) and came home to discover that the refrigerator door at home had been left ajar all weekend (thanks DH!) and the inside fridge temp was 58Ā°. A full gallon of milk, half of a half gallon of heavy cream, two dozen eggs and countless other things all went into the trash for pickup this morning. š There were two big pickle containers in there that I kept moving so the door would close, but DH kept moving them around too as he packed the cooler for the weekend and didnāt notice that the door didnāt close once he was done. š¤¦š»āāļø So I guess thatās decluttering, but not the kind I like to do. After working overtime all weekend long trying to keep cool, thankfully the refrigerator still worked right again after it was reset. We realized last night when we dug out the book for it that itās 25 years old. š± And also thankful that the freezer has its own compressor, so that stayed cold and everything in it was still frozen. Which means going to Costco today is added to my to do list of stuff I donāt want to do. š |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Aug 26, 2024 14:56:20 GMT
@crazyscraps that stinks about the refrigerator! I am glad that your freezer was ok, though. That could be a huge loss if you had to throw out all of that food (at least if you have yours as packed as we do lol). Yesterday I felt like I just wanted to take a nap so I ran some errands and did some returns instead so at least I got some of that done. But it is so hot and gross out today that I am hoping I can just stay home (already went to the dog park). Good luck at Costco!
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Post by Linda on Aug 26, 2024 17:34:29 GMT
I hope to get back to making more significant progress soon but have been so tired and unmotivated lately. please slide over and make space for me on that bench also crazy4scraps - I'm sorry about the fridge contents but glad it wasn't worse |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 26, 2024 19:59:54 GMT
@crazyscraps that stinks about the refrigerator! I am glad that your freezer was ok, though. That could be a huge loss if you had to throw out all of that food (at least if you have yours as packed as we do lol). Yesterday I felt like I just wanted to take a nap so I ran some errands and did some returns instead so at least I got some of that done. But it is so hot and gross out today that I am hoping I can just stay home (already went to the dog park). Good luck at Costco! We wouldnāt really be out too much if this freezer defrosted, just some open bags of frozen vegetables, some ice cream and miscellaneous stuff that probably ought to be tossed anyway. Most of our expensive stuff is out in the two garage freezers, and weāve been there done that with the bigger one of those totally thawing out several years ago. We lost over $1500 worth of various meat that time because the guy who installed the invisible fence unplugged the freezer to do the install, never plugged it back in and then pushed the freezer back into place against the wall. šš± And we didnāt discover it for two weeks! Now THAT was fun. OMG it stunk so bad. And worst of all once the freezer was plugged back in it didnāt work anymore so it had to be replaced too. The gift that kept on giving, LOL. |
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