2013 Declutter & Organize Thread[{locked}]

[Deleted]

Thanks Busymom! I'd go with the decluttering lol. Well done Sheila and Nuttin! Oh, poor Beth, it just doesn't stop for you! I hope everybody gets better soon!

Lunch was great! Delicious, and fun to be served by DD and her classmates / friends. Her teacher let her leave early to go home with us, which was cool.

I did the seventh basement shelf, which was kids' artwork and camping equipment ... and a corner of the shelf was chewed up! Ugh! We have no idea whether that happened recently or not. We are going to set some humane mousetraps. We had one mouse a few years ago, hopefully it was him (or her)?!

There's still a plastic tub and one VERY messy shelf left (I keep adding to it as I do the other shelves).

So, 7/8 basement shelves done (but not perfectly).

[Wisconsin Beth]

You go!  And glad you have fun at lunch. 

We've got these electronic noise emitters that mice and other critters don't like.  You just plug then into an outlet in an area where you think/feel you have them.  They're not supposed to work though walls, but they did in my house.  We had something inside the walls when Cabe was younger.  And I keep one plugged in the basement, just in case. 

[Deleted]

Beth thanks! Are they safe to leave plugged into a bedroom? If so I will look into that! I think I still have to set the traps though.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jan 25, 2013 11:35:37 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

Beth thanks! Are they safe to leave plugged into a bedroom? If so I will look into that! I think I still have to set the traps though.

Yes.  Because Caleb was my baby at the time and due to the layout of the house and where the sounds were coming from, I had to put one in his room.  I was worried I'd do damage to his hearing, etc. since he was just a year old.  I think I left it in his room about 3 weeks, to make sure whatever was in the walls stayed out. 

But if you set the traps in an area where the emitter is, they won't come to the trap.  We discovered that when DH saw a mouse in the house in 2012.  Once I took the emitter thing out of the outlet, we caught the mouse the next day.  That was in the basement. 

We had something like this except I got it at Lowe's.  Home Depot only had poison/baits/traps, nothing that would be ok with a toddler and a baby.  I don't think the brand name was Victor though.  But I don't remember offhand. 

Victor® PestChaser® Ultrasonic Rodent Repellent

model #: M753S |M753CAN

Best Used For:

Why deal with having to dispose of dead mice caught in ordinary traps? No messy traps to set and no poisonous bait to set out where children and pets might find it.
read full description »

(not rated)

$31  $20.00

[Wisconsin Beth]

I want to say I paid about $15 for 3, in fall of 2011?  So $20 for 3 sounds ok.  Not sure what that would run in France though. 

I took them out when we didn't need them, except for the basement.  I'm leaving that one run forever now.    My SIL has something similar in a kitchen cabinet where they had mice.  Hers has been running for several years now and no mice. 

[constanz22]

No decluttering plans this weekend. I have to do a general pick up and cleaning. Every square inch of counters is covered with crap. I came home sick Tuesday, feeling like I was getting the flu and now I've had a migraine for two straight days, so, I'm barely functioning this week...

[Deleted]

Beth, thanks! I had never heard of that, but I will definitely look into it! I have to go to a "home depot" type store soon, so I will look at them then.

Constanz, I hope you feel better. I saw on another thread that you were considering hiring somebody to help you clear out the basement. I really think you should, it would help you "get ahead" and make your life easier.

My sister in NY did it last spring (after 35 years). It was SUCH a burden lifted from her shoulders! The guy took away 3 truckloads, I think he charged her $100 per truckload. She told him to come whenever it suited him, so he charged her less. Good thing she finally did it, because her basement flooded badly during Sandy. She still talks about how relieved she is that it is finally done. Like you, it had been weighing on her for years.

I took everything off Basement Shelf 8 and dumped it on the floor. Ugh! I put some of it back neatly, added some to the donate bags, put some things aside to go into the shed (tomorrow, since it's dark here). The rest is still on the floor, and still needs going through. It may take me a day or two.

So 7.5 basement shelves done (but not perfectly) and a bunch of stuff still on the floor.

ETA: DS1 helped me carry the rest of the Stuff up to the basement landing, so now I can go through it in the LR, without going up and down the stairs. That's all for tonight, my hip feels pretty shot.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Obviously I like them.   

Hugs Constanz.  I hope you feel better soon. 

[Deleted]

Beth since I already have the (humane) traps, I'm going to do it the other way around. I'll set the traps as soon as I finish in the basement, and see what happens.

We are pretty flummoxed. There is only one corner of one shelf that was eaten, the corner with the kids' old artwork on it. But the food pantry right next to it has never been touched. Weird!

The one and only time I ever saw a mouse, about four years ago, was in the dining room. I asked my DS1, whose room is in the basement, and he has never seen or heard one either. So maybe it only happened once, years ago? Dunno.

DS1 signed his next contract today, he's off to the Middle East mid-February. It's supposedly safe, where he's going.

[constanz22]

debt, yes, I know in my heart that is the only way the basement will ever get done. Finances are pretty tight right now and it's way too cold here to work on it, but, I am planning this spring to figure out the logistics and just get it done. I know it would be a huge weight lifted, and maybe I'd then have the energy to deal with the rest of the house, which isn't much better...

[Wisconsin Beth]

Bribe Swamp with wine.  And get the rest of the posse who went to a concert with her.  Turn them loose on the basement. 

[Deleted]

Constanz, if the basement was dealt with, I KNOW you'd have the energy to deal with the rest of the house! Because the basement is ZAPPING whatever energy you do have!

Plus, once you took that step, I know that dealing with the rest of the house would become much easier. And even if you need help with the rest of the house too, it would be for a good cause!

Perhaps getting all that Stuff out of the basement (much of which is not yours) would enable you to look forward more, and move towards the life you wish for yourself? I truly wish you that.

My sister has found SUCH PEACE since getting rid of all that Stuff! She had the stuff from her late husband's store (broken electronics from the 70s and 80s, he had a repair store), our late parents' stuff, her late in-laws' stuff, her adult kids' childhood stuff, etc etc etc. She finally figured out that the people she loved were in her mind, and her heart, and her soul, and she didn't need to treasure all their "stuff". Which wasn't being treasured anyway, since it was all in a mess in the basement!

She kept some of our late parents / her late in-laws' artwork, furniture and jewelry, and all of her late DH's paintings (she won't even give her kids or me one lol).

I KNOW you can do it, but I believe it needs to be a major "one-time event", like ripping off the band-aid in one go. Lots of hugs. You know we are all rooting for you! You can do this (although I understand it's easier to wait for warmer weather)!

ETA: Also, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but STOP bringing any more Stuff in. It sounds like you don't need ANY more Stuff.

[Deleted]

I moved the Basement Stuff from the basement landing to a corner behind the DR. That means I can now go through what's left without worrying about whether or not DS1 is home or awake. 

I'm planning to sleep late tomorrow, then we'll be out all afternoon.

OMG I am so close I can almost taste it LOL.

[moosmommy]

Constanz, do you have any friends you could enlist for help? Maybe make them a meal and some drinks and spend some time together. Also I would get some bins you probably already have some and label trash, donate, and one for sell items. Make it one if your daily routines to go in the basement and put 5 items total into one of those bins.

[moosmommy]

Finally got my bathroom cabinet cleaned out and rearranged. Need to get a basket for the washclothes. Went through my books and got rid of 4 and also put some aside for my brother.

[constanz22]

Jan 25, 2013 19:16:07 GMT -5 moosmommy said:

Constanz, do you have any friends you could enlist for help? Maybe make them a meal and some drinks and spend some time together. Also I would get some bins you probably already have some and label trash, donate, and one for sell items. Make it one if your daily routines to go in the basement and put 5 items total into one of those bins.

We must be on the same wavelength.  Seriously, not even an hour ago, I was sitting here on the couch (still trying to get rid of this migraine) and wrote tasks for this weekend.  It says "vacuum, laundry, dishes, 15 minutes stockpile room, 5 things out of basement sell/donate/trash"...LOL, I kid you not!  I can't commit to doing it daily, but I will try to do it on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday.  It is WAY too cold right now to work down there for any length of time, and it totally creeps me out to even be down there.  I can't stay for more than a few minutes.  But, something is better than the nothing I've done for months....

I don't have any friends that would/could help me.  I thought my friend might be coming to visit from CA and he was really wanting to help me do it, but he's not coming now, so, that's out.  I might be able to get my neighbor to help, if I pay him, which is fine.  I'll talk to him about it.

[moosmommy]

Constanz if I lived closer I would come help. I actually love organizing stuff. Could you bring a box up from the basement and do a box a week? That way you don't have to be down there and can do it while watching a show that you like. Than when it warms up some go down with post it notes and mark any big stuff.

[moosmommy]

179/2013 - I might just hit my 200 goal by Sunday. Going to go through my daughters closet tomorrow and get out the clothes she has outgrown.

[busymom]

I ended up working on DS's room some more.  Trying to organize his toys into bins, etc.  I threw out a small garbage bag of stuff.  If I can get one more day to work on that bedroom, it'll be magazine pretty! 

[moosmommy]

My DD's room looks like a tornado hit it. Never stays magazine pretty. Wish it did though.

[busymom]

Hey, a girl's gotta dream!    My DS isn't neat either, but his room finally got the major purge it's been needing.

[constanz22]

Oh boy...just woke up with the stomach flu...not good...it's gonna be a fun, fun night, and weekend. So much for decluttering this weekend

[grits]

I have been planning to do decluttering for the last 3 days.  So far, zilch.

[Deleted]

Congrats Moos and Busymom! I love those first few days of "magazine perfect" lol. Hope you find that extra day!

Grits, everybody needs a break! It will get done when it gets done.

I went through one more bag of papers last night. So three bags, one tub, and one box left.

This morning I took the riding stuff to the local club, and put the shed stuff away. We're going to a friend's house for lunch so I hope to do more when we get back.

[constanz22]

Well, even with the stomach flu, I've managed to get a few things done this morning. Dishwasher loaded and running, a couple loads of bedding in the washer and dryer, and cleaned some old food out of the fridge. I'm done...at least for awhile...will see how I feel later.

[Saving4Norway]

Constanz - I'm sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. That's fantastic that you were able to get the dishwasher and bedding going - it's being able to keep up with the little daily things that makes a big difference and not adding to the to-dos every day.

[Saving4Norway]

Speaking of To-Dos, here's mine:

Take shower
Go to Wolfe's Open House (friend has terminal cancer) 
Buy shavings
Rent steam cleaner
Steam clean puppy area
Rake up old shavings
Spread new shavings

[Deleted]

Well done Constanz!

We got home much later than planned. I went through the three small bags, but I still have the tub and the box to go through. I'm beat though.

ETA: I did the box. Just the tub left now.

So still at 7.5 basement shelves done (but not perfectly).

[Deleted]

So ... 8/8 basement shelves DONE! 

To be honest, I put the last few items into my Shitepile (aka my paperwork basket), until I go to Ikea for another "precious box" or two.

I need to consolidate the younger two kids' school stuff at some point, but there's no rush. Everything fits nicely on the shelves now. Maybe next winter?

I'll drop things off at Goodwill at some point during the week.

Now I have to concentrate on work, and finding more teaching hours.

My next decluttering project is Shitepile. Once I go to Ikea, it'll only take me a few hours.

Thanks for all your support! I couldn't have tackled that HUGE project without y'all! DH's half of the basement has been bugging me for 13 long years, so I'm really happy about this!

[grits]

i am doing some filing, and shredding.  Some day, we'll be togeettttttttttther.