2013 Declutter & Organize Thread[{locked}]

[Wisconsin Beth]

Probably but at this point it's in multiple boxes/bins. I think I need to start by sorting between which artwork is whose. DS doesn't have a whole lot but DD does. Maybe when I get home she and I can start of that part. She's going to have to go though her stuff with me anyway. And I can't make dinner until DH gets home from work as he's bringing ingredients. So we'll have about 45-60 minutes between us getting home and me needing to start dinner.

[Waffle]

Jan 17, 2013 14:43:26 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Go to Post Office (trip I didn't make yesterday)
Enter YTD ebay sales into the 2013 spreadsheet - the plan is to stay current with sales this year instead of letting months of info pile    up.
Remove things from the Ebay room that don't belong there (I know for example, that I've got dvds and vhs tapes in there, that need to be put away)
1 load of laundry
I'd love to add some more things to my eBay store, but I think I might be too tired to write the listings, we'll see.

For the second day in a row, I didn't leave work early enough to get to the post office, so I'm going to go during my lunch break today.
On a positive note, in addition to removing the stuff that obviously didn't belong in the ebay room, I consolidated two shelves of empty boxes into one - so now I've got an empty shelf.  

This weekend's list:
 Wrap ebay sold items.
Go to Post office (Sat. morning).
Spend at least 1 hour cleaning/organizing ebay room.
Call Kodak for help - hopefully they can get me to the point where my computer and printer "talk" to each other again.  (I'm dreading that call - the last time I called I think I was on the phone with them for about an hour).
Declutter master bedroom (won't take long - I haven't been letting the clutter pile up - there are just a few stray things here and there).
Vaccuum
Submit Indiana sales tax (on-line) form.


Beth,  I really don't remember exactly how I started with ebay.  I sell a mix of vintage stuff.  There's always some costume jewelry and vintage handkerchiefs in my store.  There's usually perfume bottles and salt and pepper shakers, vintage glassware and china.  And then misc. things that I get a good deal on - like right now, I've got a bunch of Coca Cola memorabilia to list.

Some ebay sellers will sell things  on consignment  see this link (if I can link) ebay trading assistants   Other ebay sellers won't sell on consignment but will buy things outright. You could also try going to a good (busy) antique mall and telling the manager you have somethings you'd like to sell, they can usually connect you with one of their dealers who will buy items for resale. Of course, the quickest, but not necessarily the most profitable, would be to consign it to an auction house. They sell everything and you get a percentage of the proceeds.

[startsmart]

moosmommy- I remember what that was like living in Virginia! No one in our city could handle snow so it was a big deal. Of course in my 3.5 years living there for college we also had a hurricane and the sniper so there was always something going on!

My dog JUST brought me one of my slippers (that he stole) and now I need to negotiate for the mate. He's such a kleptomaniac!

Got rid of 2 bags of egg cartons on Freecycle today and the guy said I can call him back when I have more to donate and he'll bring me eggs. So glad those are out of the garage (which is a disaster zone right now).

Working on finishing up the guest room and then the living room/dining area before my parents arrive. I did put away 2 loads of clothes, wash sheets, empty the dishwasher and take out the recycling today. It would be great if the blinds were dry enough to hang tonight and I could finish painting the bathroom ceiling...

[Deleted]

Wow Smart you are definitely on a roll again! So glad you got the guest room done before your parents arrive!

I saw another bag in the basement for Goodwill, so hopefully I can take all three bags there tomorrow. It snowed a lot here tonight (for this area of course), and they are NOT good about salting or plowing the roads because it doesn't snow here very often here. I really hope I can make it there tomorrow!

[jenpen]

What a week. I'm trying to catch up on everyone's posts, and getting very jealous of all you're accomplishing at home! I've put in 11 to 12 hours/day at work the past 4 days, and another 6 today. I realize that's probably a normal week for a lot of people, but I couldn't do it on a long-term basis. I did absolutely nothing at home all week. I did do some organizing and workload planning, including meetings with 4 PIs and a couple meetings with my director. When I added up the estimated hours for what people are expecting me to do over the next 3 months, it totaled 1014 hours. There are only 480 work hours in 12 weeks!!! I'm so glad I finally sat down and did this, and shared it with my director. He's working with the PIs to get us all back on a realistic schedule. And, he pretty much told me that I can expect a promotion and possibly move into more of a management role later this year. I think/hope that is good news!

As of a few minutes ago, I am at 3/2013 items! I got rid of one box and two bags of recycling (moosmommy, I also toss junk mail, newpapers and other papers into a paper grocery bag--also jars and cans, since we have single-stream recycling and don't have to separate things--and I'm counting one bag as one item. I'll probably count magazines as one item each; I try to take a stack of them to our library's magazine swap box every couple months. My list for this evening:

Clean kitchen - wash dishes, counters and sink done
Wipe down the refrigerator shelves - shelves done, will add door and drawers to tomorrow's list
Sweep and mop kitchen floor - done, both swiffer wet mopped AND steam mopped
Clean off coffee table and stray items on my desk - Yay, done!
Scrub toilets
Vacuum and dustmop downstairs
Hang painting I brought home at Xmas and put the box away for next year (I co-own this painting with a friend. We meet halfway between our hometowns every year on the day after xmas, have a day-long visit and exchange the painting.)

[Edited to check things off ]

[startsmart]

bathroom ceiling is done! It's a small space and the paint matches the walls so it was literally just slapping it on with little edging to worry about. As soon as that dries the new vent is going in

Okay, I've got to get away from the computer and deal with the living room.... situation before my parents arrive.

[jenpen]

smart - I'm so amazed at all you have managed to get done before your parents' arrival! You rock

debt - I was really happy to read how things worked out with you and your DH and all you two have accomplished this week

[moosmommy]

90/2013 - 10 more to go to meet my 100 goal by Sunday. Suppose to meet some people to pick up some items tomorrow and Sunday so 10 more should be gone by than. I am going to count all the papers I cleaned out of computer cabinet as one item once it is shredded.

[startsmart]

jenpen- I work well under pressure but I have soooo much junk in the living room to deal with I'm setting my timer for 15 minutes per room to get it all done.

update: done with the master bathroom, rehung the blinds in the guest room, done with the master bedroom (except vacuuming), done with the main bathroom (except the last door to hang), done with the hallway, beat the drop cloths from the guest room project outside and working on the living room and kitchen/dining. About halfway done!

Still haven't heard if my parents are coming up tonight with their dogs. If they wait until morning that gives me time to steam clean the living room carpet, really scrub the kitchen floor and clean out my car.

Also. I need more coffee!

[Saving4Norway]

First 23 hours:
puppy - cute. adorable. poop machine. up all night. kinda stinky.
me - tired. bloated. crampy. up all night. kinda stinky.

[moosmommy]

95/2013 - Through out a few things that were no use to anyone. Tomorrow want to get everyone's bed stuff washed.

[grits]

I packed 6 boxes to be mailed tomorrow. It will get so much out of my apartment. I shall pack a couple more boxes to be mailed at a later date. One thing I am sending is a cute book that has 3 characters. Two of the characters names are the same as the first and middle name of a friend. The third character's name is the same as said friend's nickname. I know he'll get a kick out of it.

[startsmart]

Norway- we want pictures of the puppy! Hope he settles down to sleep tonight so you get some rest.

Well I cleaned the living room up and it looks good! Burned down 3 large candles and then tossed Em out. I also whittled down the DVD collection and have 57 to sell on amazon (probably 10 more in the car). My DVD shelves actually don't look crammed full! I do have a basket of kid movies but that's just so I can host Disney & Pixar movie night easily

The kitchen still has a lot of crap to deal with and there are piles galore on the kitchen table. Ironically the guest room looks the best and my parents aren't coming up until Saturday morning so it probably won't even be used! Sad.

I do have the family picture tubs stacked up so I can go through those with mom and send her home with photos. I'm not sure what I'll do with my reclaimed space just yet.

I think I'm getting to that stage of decluttering where I need to reassess my storage bins. I bought a bunch of bins at the dollar store, some I love, some I hate. And there are a few baskets I have that just don't work anywhere so I need to find new storage solutions and sell what I'm not using.

[Deleted]

JenPen
Congrats on the future promotion! What does PI stand for? It's very hard to work hard at work and at home. One of the reasons I pushed so hard about the basement is that my semester is starting up slowly, so I'm not busy at work yet.

Grits well done on all the boxes!

Norway sounds like you and the pup have a lot in common LOL. What's his name?

I just got back from Goodwill, so those three bags are OUT of my house and car! The last road was unplowed and a bit dicey, but I'm home.

I made more room in the basement last night. My DS3 was in a play last year and the director bought an antique trunk for the set, and asked if anybody wanted to buy it after the play. I really liked it, so after the play I bought it for 20e (about $26). It ended up in the basement. Last night I moved a few things around and put it in the LR. It looks great!

[jenpen]

Jan 19, 2013 3:22:51 GMT -5 startsmart said:

Norway- we want pictures of the puppy! Hope he settles down to sleep tonight so you get some rest.

[jenpen]

debt - Thanks! And sorry, PI is Principal Investigator -- they're all on faculty at the university where I work in a research center. I manage all the data and help with analysis for their research projects. Nice that you're semester is off to a slow start! Do you teach?

[jenpen]

My expanded list, starting with what I got done last night:
Clean kitchen - wash dishes, counters and sink
Wipe down the refrigerator shelves - shelves done
Sweep and mop kitchen floor - both swiffer wet mopped AND steam mopped
Clean off coffee table and stray items on my desk
Wash load of dishrags

This morning, I'm working on these things I'd like to get done before BF calls. Aside from time we spend together over new years eve/day, between my being sick and the stuff going on at work, we haven't seen each other since before Xmas I CANNOT tell him I need to stay home and clean all day, so in the next couple hours I'm trying to:
Dry and put away dishrags
Wash/dry load of bath towels/washrags
Scrub toilets
Empty wastebaskets, take out all trash
Wipe down frig door and drawers
Dust downstairs
Vacuum and dustmop downstairs
Vacuum and steammop upstairs bathroom
Wipe down bathroom sinks (up and down)
Hang painting I brought home at Xmas and put the box away for next year

Finally, the minimum I'd like to get done this weekend:
Sort through box of car stuff - toss/organize and put it back in the car
Do something with chair and shelf that did not go to Goodwill on my December trip (they were in the goodwill pile, but I wasn't positive they should go)
Clean out purse, organize to-do stuff that's in there and put it on my work calendar
Launder bedding, 2 loads of clothes
Go through books on LR shelves, find things to donate

[constanz22]

No big decluttering planned for this weekend. It's been a rough week. I've been sleeping awful and had a migraine most of the day yesterday, so, am just trying to feel human again. This morning I am just doing my usual chores, unload and load dishwasher, vacuum living room, a load or two of laundry. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

[happyscooter]

Wow, I really like reading this thread. My 'resolution' this year was to clean out one closet/drawer/cabinet a week. I knew I could do more but if I didn't get to do more than one, I didn't want to feel defeated. I cleaned out a big walk-in closet in one of the bedrooms. You guys wouldn't believe what was in there. Anyway, I am on my way to cleaning out our linen closet. I am going to take pictures of quilts and afghans and write on the back who made what. We have things that our grandmothers and great grandmothers made and when we die, our kids won't know where they came from.

DH cleaned out a closet where he had 3 briefcases. He whittled it down to 2 and I am hoping in a few months, he will use the papers and files in one of those and get rid of it.

[startsmart]

I don't know why but after 11pm I turn into a stepford wife and all I want to do is clean! But it was nice this morning walking into the living room and havin it be shiny clean!

Today's goals are to hang the last cabinet door in the bathroom and replace the shelf that's broken, sort through family photos with mom, list those DVDs on amazon and steam clean my office carpet.

What else I get done depends if my computer is working right and if mom and dad spend the night.

[dogmom]

You guys certainly are stepping it up. I'm feeling like a slug. All I have managed to do is:

Sort one kitchen cabinet. Didn't get rid of anything, but just put it in order. It was a hot mess. It is all washed out, new shelf liner put in. Items that I'm low on are on a list.
Some computer work. Tax software loaded. Got about 1/2 of the center drawer of the desk sorted and from that time spent....1/2 thrown away..Guess that makes it about 1/4 taken care of. The rest is still there, but organized. I guess yea? Ordered replacement checks.
Paid ALL bills...including stuff that isn't due yet. Okay, I'm anal here. I use a credit card for rewards, I don't like outstanding that will show up on a bill at the end of the month, so, we're clean.
Ran a couple of errands. DF is having surgery on Monday. Prayers needed. Breast cancer. Picked up a card and a small gift for her. DH is going to the hospital to sit with another DF to wait during surgery. Yes, two hearts, one for Friends, one for DH.

I have to admit, DH has been doing more around the house this week. (He retired last year and I think he finally has decompressed ) Our office probably looks much like Waffle's. 90% of it is his. He, this week has gotten rid of one box of stuff. I've been going through 5-10 items per day and deciding.  I won't have a count for 2013/2013 until they actually leave.  Unofficial:  218/2013. 

[jenpen]

dogmom - so sorry about your friend. good thoughts and well-wishes coming your/her way

[jenpen]

Final update for today: while cleaning the frig shelves, I got rid of a pile of stuff that'd been sitting on the top shelf forever (sugar packets, a chocolate bar I didn't like and would never finish, etc). I also put 2 boxes in the cardboard recycling dumpster, culled my stack of magazines/catalogs/investment prospecti and got rid of 6 items (also set 3 mags aside to take to the library, but I'm not counting those yet). And I forgot that earlier this week I knocked a basket off the lower shelf of my coffee table. It was full of office supplies and they went all over the floor. So those got sorted and in the process I threw out two pens: one that I signed my first mortgage with (the lawyer let me keep his pen) and one from a Disney trip I would like to forget. So I'm up to 14 of 2013. Whoopee

Dry and put away dishrags
Wash/dry load of bath towels/washrags
Scrub toilets
Empty wastebaskets, take out all trash
Wipe down frig door and drawers
Dust downstairs
Vacuum and dustmop downstairs
Vacuum and steammop upstairs bathroom
Wipe down bathroom sinks (up and down)
Hang painting I brought home at Xmas and put the box away for next year
Launder and put away kitchen towels

Still would like to get done this weekend:
Sort through box of car stuff - toss/organize and put it back in the car
Do something with chair and shelf that did not go to Goodwill on my December trip (they were in the goodwill pile, but I wasn't positive they should go)
Clean out purse, organize to-do stuff that's in there and put it on my work calendar
Launder bedding, 2 loads of clothes
Go through books on LR shelves, find things to donate
Make a list of projects I'd like to get done this year
Pick one, and write out steps to actually COMPLETE one of those projects

[Saving4Norway]

Start or anyone who knows how to give directions to the dumb - Can you give me baby-step directions on how to post a picture that is saved on a desktop? I'm computer-picture ignorant.

[startsmart]

Lol Norway. What I did was open a free photobucket account and upload my pics from the desktop to an album. Once it's uploaded you'll see sharing links. You want the one that starts with "img" just paste the link in the reply box.

There is also an image icon you can use and paste in the direct link to your image from photobucket.

[startsmart]

Bah. I can't edit my list on the iPad and my computer trackpad is still broken.

I cleaned out the car, didn't vacuum yet but that's fine.
Groceries are put away and I'm drinking a yummy chai latte!

Thinking of giving the little dogs a bath since its a nice day and they'll dry quicker... Of course I should just get outside and finish painting the bench frame (finally, right?) and cut back my roses

[moosmommy]

So hit my 100 goal. Actually my total is 105/2013. So my goal for this week is to get rid of 50 items. Already have 5 so pretty good start.
Goals for today:
1. Clean DS room
2. Clean my bedroom
3. Clean one of the bathrooms.
4. Wash and put back all the bed stuff.
5. Sort thru toys to donate to DCP

[Waffle]

Oh, this is going to take a while. But I did make some progress on the ebay room this morning. Then I left home - just got back a few minutes ago. I really want to add more listings to the store - but I'm going to make myself organize for at least another 30 minutes before I do that. While I was away today, i remembered something else that doesn't belong in this room. I've got a three drawer plastic cart that needs to be cleaned out - I know it's got extra gloves in it - I'm not even sure what else is in it. Maybe I can find something to add to my count.

I still haven't called Kodak - maybe tomorrow , or maybe not.

34/2013

[kjto1]

Hi Everyone
I used to be on years ago, then my login got messed up.  I took the plunge, and re-signed up recently.
I need to go through my house - declutter and pack up to lighten the load.  We need to do some painting, and want to move to a ranch house this year.  Did I mention that I am a pack rat?
Anyway, I have been following the old thread, and got caught up with the 2013 thread. 

I tend to follow YM and WIR.  I'll see you around!

[Waffle]

Hello Kjto. Welcome (back).