2013 Declutter & Organize Thread[{locked}]

[constanz22]

I did not work in the stockpile room last night so that is on the list for today...
Last night before bed, I did work on my meal plan for the week (trying very hard this month to use what I have, not spend extra $) and got a load of laundry put away. I also threw an air pump in the garbage that fell apart the first time I used it.

Today:
Make WW soup (HAVE TO DO THIS). I bought the veggies last weekend and need to use before they go bad! Plus I need it for lunches this week.
Spend 15 minutes in stockpile room although I still did not come up with any new storage ideas...
Get cans and bottles together to return this week
Laundry
Finish picking up kitchen, wiping down counters
Clean some crap out of my car
Go thru some piles of mail/paper clutter and sort to burn/recycle

[Wisconsin Beth]

im in a horribly cranky mood and have the kids as dh needs to go to work. so its unlikely i will get anything done today.

[grits]

My mother gave us jobs to do. We had safety stools. When you were 5, you washed all the dishes except the sharp knives. We vacuumed, dusted, folded clothes, cleaned the bath tub, and vanity. We even waxed wood floors. It kept us busy, taught us how to take care of ourselves, and helped her out. When we got older, we cleaned the oven, mopped, ironed, and anything that came into her mind.

[constanz22]

I made my soup!
Second load of laundry is in the washer now.
Threw some more old food out.
I emptied a bag of food that has been sitting on my dining room table since I closed my camper in OCTOBER. Most of it went in the trash, but I'm glad I don't have to look at it anymore.
Stripped the bed.
Really need to work on my list, but I'm procrastinating...

[Deleted]

One year I bought him a DVD-rom set of 100 years of NatGeo issues

This is a GREAT idea Start! It's not the same as actually having the mags, but I think he'd really enjoy that!

LOL Savings! I'm not sure you got that we had two identical collections, and I only got rid of one of them.

Last night in total frustration I started a thread on YM which I know some of you have seen.

The great news is, after three days at it non-stop, I feel like we have FINALLY "turned the corner"! The key has been to keep telling DH, you can keep ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you want, just get rid of what you DON'T want.

[Deleted]

K to Constanz and Dogmom, the rest of you are due when I recharge.

[constanz22]

Well, I'm done for the day. My back started hurting/feeling like it might go out, so time to wrap it up. I finished my list with the exception of working in the stockpile room. I still have a few bottles in the garage that water/soda needs to be poured out before I can bag them, but most of it's done. Only other thing I need to do is remake the bed. And, as much as I got done this weekend, it doesn't look like I did a thing, which just leads to a cycle of frustration and not giving a crap...sigh...

[grits]

I cleaned the toilet bowl. It was a hard job but lysol need to do it.

[Waffle]

I didn't make any lists for this weekend, but I did get rid of a few things, so my total is now 26/2013.

[moosmommy]

82/2013 Got rid of an extra backpack today. Haven't done anything else have a major migraine.

[redwagon]

hope you feel better soon! i hate migraines.

stepdad fixed our front door. wind ripped the storm door half off its hinges a few weeks ago. we also priced out some kitchen renovations that will hopefully help us sell.

[sbcalimom]

I'm feeling ambitious this weekend so here's my list:
Laundry
Finish misc. living room boxes (2)
Clean counter
Pick up master
Pick up girls' room
Craigslist stuff - bike, stroller, music table
Find DD1's 5T clothes and put too short stuff away
Get rid of DD2s 12 mo and under clothes
Blog posts for girls
Office - outside goal probably not going to happen.

Well, pretty productive weekend!! I got all of my stuff done except the office which I knew was probably not going to happen. The ONE thing I asked DH to do (craigslist stuff) he still hasn't done so we'll see. I highly doubt he'll do it tonight but whatever, I'm not going to stress about it. I also got a bunch of work done and will have a few hours tonight to work as well.

DH and I discussed how weekends are supposed to be for me to work and that hasn't been happening. I basically have been teaching my classes and then helping him out the rest of the day and trying to get my work in piecemeal which given how much I have to do, is not cutting it. So, starting next weekend he'll be on duty from 9-5/10-6 depending on my teaching schedule and I'll be able to work that entire time.

AND!!! I got rid of a ton of stuff ;D I tossed 21 things (I counted by handful for some stuff), I sold 18 dvds, and took 41 items to goodwill!! So my weekend total is 81 items! I'll have to find my prior total to figure out what I've done so far but I'm pretty excited about that. ;D

ETA: Found prior total so now I'm at 126/2013!!!

[startsmart]

My laptop is being, and I believe this is the technical term, wonky. Thankfully it calmed down long enough to video chat with the boy I have an appointment with apple tomorrow to diagnose it.

Off to the grocery store to get a few ingredients for dinner tonight.

The guest room ceiling is about halfway done, I got exhausted and ended up taking a midday nap. I'm taking tomorrow off to work on house projects and the laptop but should be able to finish the ceiling in a few days. Definitely by the time my parents arrive next Friday.

[Saving4Norway]

WOOHOO!!!! I finished my whole list!! Lemme tell ya, that hasn't happened in quite a while. This weekend I went out Friday night but was home most the weekend. Maybe that's the secret, actually being home during a weekend to get stuff done! I think we're essentially all ready for the puppy on Thursday, which is a relief. I guess these are my last few days of freedom so-to-speak.

I want to give another big shout out to constanz for such a productive weekend. She says she can't see it, but I'm sure the rest of us would agree, she's made remarkable progress!

[grits]

Saving4Norway, how long until you get to take your trip to Norway?

[startsmart]

Okay, I'm disappointed that I only got half of the guest room ceiling done but I slept a lot today since I wasn't feeling 100%. Having the queen guest bed in the living room is a kick - so nice to work and watch TV and monitor food on the stove all at once. It's like the adult version of a sleepover tent.

At least my computer started working again so I could get my inbox down from 30 emails to just 9. Plus create a few more sales campaigns for one of my clients.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I tossed out 2 unmatching socks this morning, that I loathed anyway. Does getting the kids and me in for haircuts count? Poor Cabe hadn't had a haircut in like 7-8 months. I think T cut about 2/3s of his hair off.

Didn't do much over the weekend. Had the kids and lousy PMS - if the kids hadn't been there, I'd have cleaned like a demon but it's hard to do that when you're interrupted every 2 minutes by fighting, yelling, crashing, crying, etc. from little ones.

I did keep up on laundry, sort of. I've got like 3-4 loads to fold and put away tonight.

[sheilaincali]

Update: 174/2013

DH found 27 magazines he was willing to part with. All fitness magazines so we brought them to the Gym we go to and put them in their magazine box.

We sold 4 more DVD box sets on eBay so I have to mail those out today (didn't add them to my total above yet since they are still technically in my possession).

Didn't do much else this weekend. Saturday we painting half of the family room- it's a big room, DH is supposed to do the other half this week.
Replaced our bedroom curtains, bed skit, duvet cover, comforter, etc. But since something new came in I'm not counting those things that went out since it was basically a one for one swap.

Today's list:
Mail out the next set of dvd box sets
Laundry (goal is three loads)
mate the socks (I hate this job and avoid it until we run out of socks)
Get DS' stuff from YIG unpacked, washed and put away.
go through pots and pans cabinet and cooking utensil drawer with DH.

Debt- I'm sorry it's been a rough week for you. It sounds like you may be working your way through to the other side. I'm relieved to see that things are calming (?) down some with DH. Hugs to you

[startsmart]

Sheila - I hate socks too! The only thing that worked for me was a dedicated sock basket (one of the smaller ones from the Dollar Store) that I throw all the socks into and then match up later when I'm watching TV. then the socks get thrown down the hall like projectile missiles - or they did until I adopted a dog that takes anything thrown as a challenge to find, bite, run, evade and hide it.

Yay China! The contract finally came through for the new client so the boy and I are happy Here we come China!!!

[sheilaincali]

Start- that's what I do. Except with three people (all with adult sized feet) my "little basket" is an Large Utility Tote from Thrity One- That baby holds a LOT of socks.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I don't match socks. I sort by who they belong to and put in their drawer, unmatched. DD wants unmatching socks and , DS needs new socks again. I swear I buy that boy socks every 6 weeks and he's only 3! DH is a big boy, he can match his own damn socks. Esp. since the only difference in his dress socks is an itty-bitty seam by the toes. Some are orange, some are red and some are a weird shade of yellowy-orange. E that.

[WholeLottaNothin]

I got rid of 23 more things this weekend, and managed to make a run to the Rescue Mission to get it out of the house/car.

I'm at 53/2013.

[sheilaincali]

Beth- it's such a hassle at my house because all adult socks appear to be the same basic size, shape and color. DH and DS wear the same size socks but like different heights to them. Takes me probably 90 minutes to 2 hours to mate all the socks in the basket. The Boys' socks are like you described for your husband. Basically identical socks but with a different color stitching by the toes. Pain in the butt.

nuttin- way to go

[grits]

I got rid of 15 things this morning. The day is young.

[Waffle]

I should probably be thanking debt. My mother called me down to the basement and asked me about some things, my first instinct was to hold on but since I had been reading about debt's issues with her husband and their basement, I agreed to letting everything go. I helped her bring them up from the basement and dropped them off at Goodwill that same day. If I hadn't been reading debt's thread, I probably would have held on to at least some of that stuff.

On the other hand, I organized a 5 foot long section of my closet and only got rid of 5 articles of clothing, even though many of them don't fit anymore. (sigh) I think I come from a hoarding family and I never even truly realized it until yesterday. I recall sitting at my grandmother's kitchen table doing homework, and there was just a small clean section available for me to place my schoolwork. I don't even remember what was on the table just that it was full. I think it got cleared off a couple of times a year for holiday dinners. She also had a room that we referred to as the "back bedroom" - I was intrigued by it as a child because I wasn't allowed to go in it. There was just enough room to open the door and then it was pretty much full of stuff - not even a path - just stuff thrown upon top of other stuff.

I also have an aunt who rarely let anyone in her house, because of all of the clutter in it. She and her daughters moved in with me once, because she had plumbing issues and the house was in too bad of shape to let a plumber come in. So she spent evenings after work cleaning up (I don't even remember how long it took) so that she could call the plumber. The only time she ever had a clean house (other than cleaning for a special occasion - like the plumber or a visitor that she was expecting) was when she rented a home and worked evenings. My mother and I both worked days - we would go to her house and babysit her daughters - I was mostly babysitting, mom was mostly cleaning. Years later we ran into her former landlord who spoke fondly of my aunt and what wonderful condition she left her house in.

I think I'm rambling - sorry, but Debt's thread just really got me to thinking. Now, back to our regularly scheduled exercise. ;D

Today's list:

clean toilet
declutter top of dressing table
wrap 3 (small) items (ebay sales)
1 load of laundry
min. 30 minutes of bookkeeping - (plan is to be ready to complete that Indiana sales tax form by next weekend).


I have to figure out how to organize/clean the ebay room. I just looked at it a few times over this past weekend and felt overwhelmed. There is way too much stuff crammed into one little room.

[Deleted]

Thanks Sheila, I appreciate it. Good for you, Waffle! I'm glad my story inspired you lol.

I think I've given all of you K by now.

Not much got done in the basement today, just clearing out DS1's bedroom (which DH has been using to sort).

I realized that we started this on Thursday, so we have been doing it for five days! I guess we both needed a break.

The good news is, we have gone through 20/24 shelves and all of DH's things are off the floor! DH has agreed to go through the last 4 shelves, but since I'm going back to work tomorrow, it won't be at the same crazy pace (which is probably a good thing).

So, MAJOR progress! And most importantly, the storage room is again "safe" for when DS1 comes back this weekend! SUCH a relief!

[Saving4Norway]

Jan 13, 2013 21:51:45 GMT -5 grits said:

Saving4Norway, how long until you get to take your trip to Norway?

I've been twice and this summer will be my third trip. Dad and I will be stopping over in Iceland for a few days on the way there.

[Deleted]

Any stops in Paris, Norway?!

[startsmart]

made some naan tonight and it was awesome! I haven't gone in to paint today and I'm way behind on the old list. Hmmmm. need. more. coffee.

[Saving4Norway]

debt - Unfortunately, no. Maybe in the future?