2013 Declutter & Organize Thread[{locked}]

[sheilaincali]

Work on getting the Boy packed for his trip
Drop the dvds off at the post office
Shred the papers that I didn't get done yesterday
Finish the last load of laundry
Get the Boy's hair cut
Tell the Boy to stop growing ;D

I think if you look at it on an individual item basis I could probably purge 2013 things out of my house this year. Especially if I can count the individual magazines (16), the DVD's we've sold this week (10), the items in the goodwill box (8), etc. So looking at it that way I'd be at 34 so far this week. If you look at it the other way - DVDs, Magazines, Goodwill I'd only be at 3 things.

[WholeLottaNothin]

I was thinking of it in terms of individual items - like the cups I was talking about, I counted them 1 per cup not 1 for cups as a whole. I hope that made sense. That is how I am doing it anyway.

[redwagon]

Making slow progress:

1. Organize closet in nursery.
2. Clean bathroom
3. Dust
4. Put away laundry
5. Return stuff to Kohls to get it out of my house
6. Deal with baby shower thank you cards (ie likely recycle them)
7. Organize coupons
8. Put away Christmas stuff (sadface)
9. Put stuff in attic (DH has to do this)
10. Health insurance claims
11. Finally deal with filing
12. Pantry inventory (this is more long-term)
13. Meal plan for next week
14. Reorganize top shelf of glasses cabinet
15. Put up paintings in our room

[constanz22]

The 2013 things in 2013 is definitely individual items. It can be a piece of junk mail...I could meet 2013 items in that alone! I haven't done any decluttering yesterday or today. My furnace went out yesterday, came back on briefly, and went out again overnight and now is completely out. I called the repairman at 8:30 am and still have not heard from him. No heat or hot water and it's getting pretty cold in here. So, me and the pups are gonna head to bed soon. I can probably keep that room the warmest with a space heater. Fun times...

[jenpen]

waffle - taking and editing pictures for ebay sounds like one of those things that takes a few words to say, but a lot of time to do, so I'd bet you actually got quite a lot done! My piles of paper on the dining table and desk were pretty small, so really didn't take too long. Most were either recycling or just needed to be popped into the 2012 taxes folder.

It was driving me crazy to have the stuff on the dining table. For years, it has been covered with stacks of paper -- every time I'd clear it off it'd be covered again within 2-3 weeks. I did a major clean back in September, and instituted a "5-minute rule" for that table. I'm allowed to set papers on it (like the mail when I come in), but they're only allowed to stay on it for 5 minutes. It really has worked -- I immediately get rid of the junk that can be recycled, and anything that needs to be attended to has to go elsewhere -- either next to my computer for scanning/filing/paying, or on the coffee table where it will be in my way and drive me nuts until I deal with it. The stuff on the dining table yesterday was the 1st time I'd broken the rule.

start - your glitter comment really did make me LOL! My glitter came from ornaments and xmas cards, not crafts, but I do believe last year's sneaky hold-outs have some new company. Hey, my home may not be sparkling clean, but at least it's sparkly!

oh, constanz - I hope you get your heat back soon

This evening: I went for a walk after work, so there's not much evening left and I'm making an easier, short list:
Put away the blanket washed/dried yesterday, wash/dry the next one (5 mins)
Scour the kitchen sink (3 mins)
Clean up the lethargic ants that have been wandering in under the living room baseboard the last couple days . Why, why, why? Maybe need to spray there in the morning before I leave for work. Ugh. (1 min)
Deal with today's mail and go through stack of mags/newspaper/coupons in living room (can do while watching tv)

[moosmommy]

I am going to do the 2013 items. I sold 5 shirts and a pair of pants so that's 6 already. Going to work on the filing cabinet. Shred last years items. Maybe post more items to get rid of on FB.

[sbcalimom]

Updated January Goals:
January Goals:
Finish with DVDs
Decide what books need to go - mine and the girls
Continue decluttering bedroom
Finish organizing kitchen cupboards
Keep kitchen neat and organized - got rid of all the extra stuff and organized, but now need to keep it that way (ongoing)
Start on the toys
Submit FSA Claim form to get $$ back
Make chore chart
Stick with chore chart (ongoing)
Return baby gate
Eat all odds and ends out of freezer

I really like the 2013 things in 2013! I think I'm going to shoot for at least that too, assuming I count individual things. I'm going to estimate since we already took a bunch of toys to the GW last weekend and say probably 20 stuffed animals and 20 toys plus maybe 5 things of mine.

So I'm at 45/2013 so far!

Tonight, I need to do some work for my clients and hopefully get a little cleaning done. I sent in the FSA form so assuming that doesn't get rejected I can cross that off my list and get some $$ next week which is sorely needed.

[Deleted]

I went back to school Mon but my semester is starting up slowly and I don't have many classes this week or next.

So today I tackled three of the bigger kitchen cabinets. I completely emptied two of them, threw some stuff out, and rearranged them. The third I do regularly so I didn't empty it out. I also got rid of a bunch of stuff that had accumulated ON the kitchen cabinets. Feels good!

I'm trying to get DH to spend some time clearing out the basement this week. We'll see how that goes.

[sheilaincali]

Finished yesterdays list Woot Woot!

Holding at 34/2013 things. BUT - I found 6 pairs of dress pants that are too small for DS in his closet (embarrassingly most still have tags on them- but were bought on clearance).
DH is going to list them on eBay tomorrow- along with a few more dvd Box sets. So that will be like 10 more items.
I noticed this morning while looking for another book to read today that I have some duplicates in my library and a few series that I don't want to read again. So hopefully tonight I'll be able to do another purge.

Today's List:
Get out cash for DS' trip
Help DS finish packing
Pick up travel tooth paste for DS
Weed out library bookshelves
Cancel cable (switched to Roku and love it)
Load items in DH's truck for him to bring to goodwill tomorrow.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I was in bed by 8:30 with my Kindle. Woken up at 10 by DH for snoring and moved to the couch. Heard DD get up and knock on our bedroom door and opted to let DH handle it. Turns out she peed in her bed so he dealt with changing sheets at 2am. Of course, he had to ask me where the sheets were and then DD wanted me to snuggle with her. And when I was done snuggling (around 3am), DS was up so I went to snuggle with him. So I"m tired.

Tonight:
1. Fold laundry.
2. Do laundry as I now have 2 sets of peed on sheets, blankets and pillows to wash.
3. Deal with last of Christmas stuff in the living room.

I need to vacuum the entire main floor but it's not likely to happen tonight.

[Waffle]

Today's (after work) list:

Go to post office
1 load of laundry
take out trash
Spend at least 30 minutes on business record keeping (I have info I have to get together so that I can fill out an Indiana tax form that is due at the end of this month).

I've been toying with the idea of writing one huge to-do list. I have all of these things rattling around in the back of my head that need to be done - but I'm not sure if writing them all done will help me do them or just make me overwhelmed. Anybody ever tried something like that?

[teachermom]

I always make a huge long list. I try to take the time to sit down and think room by room what needs to be done and make the long list. Then I break it down to the smaller tasks to make it more manageable. From there, you can choose 6 to do each day.

Teachermom

[Wisconsin Beth]

I'm overwhelmed just thinking about making the long list. But I'm intrigued by the toss 2013 items in 2013. Don't know what that says about me though.

[bean29]

Waffle,

My Mom is a master list maker. I always see stuff crossed out so I think it works for her. I have problems getting things done, I think b/c I still have family living at home...someone is constantly interrupting what I am doing and asking me to do something else.

Beth, I was going to ask you if you actually used your extra sheets, but it sounds like you do. My kids are much older, so I usually just wash our sheets and put the same sheets back on the bed. One reason I found myself doing this is even if you have extra sheets you probably only have one mattress pad, hence the need to wash everything and put it back on the bed.

I did four loads of laundry last night and started another one this am. You would think my laundry would be caught up, but no, there are several more loads to go. We plan to get a second washer and dryer, but to avoid drowning in debt that has been pushed off for the forseable future.

Constanz - stay warm. Hope your HVAC guy calls soon.

DD clarified that she is spending so much time in the office b/c her bedroom is too cold. Yep it is cold. I don't like to be in there. When the basement walls were still open I tried to schedule an HVAC person to come and address it. DH refused said it was not necessary and heating the basement would fix the problem. I don't know, he still has not connected the thermostat for the basement, but I don't think it is going to happen. The "guest" bedroom is in the basement underneath DD's bedroom and I suspect it will also be colder than the rest of the house. I think DH lost his intended office by refusing to let me have an HVAC guy address the lack of heat in DD's bedroom.
In the process if we have a "guest" bedroom it will have to be DD's bedroom and the intended guest bedroom will probably become the office. The desk I have in the office is too big for the other room. It might have to go live at DH's office of DD will keep sleeping on the sofa in that room, IDK.

[Deleted]

K to Sheila for finishing her list! I got a bunch of you yesterday too.

I'm on my second load of laundry today. I also just cleared out the buffet in our kitchen, which was VERY full. Took everything out, wiped down the shelves and whatever was inside, put most of the things back. Amazingly enough, DH agreed to let me get rid of some stuff from in there! So it's much more organized now.

I'm debating whether or not to do the same to the buffet in the dining room.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Yeah, I need more mattress pads too. Target ones are not cutting it. If the kids don't pee though, I leave the mattress pad on. But boy, will I be glad when DS is potty trained. Then it will be back down to once a week for changing sheets. We did go though several months where no one was peeing though.

ETA - both kids have hand-me-down mattresses from family as we expected some peeing. I think Keira will get new ones either later this year or early next year. Cabe will get hers and we'll toss his.

[sheilaincali]

Debt - thank you

[WholeLottaNothin]

I love making lists. Then I lose my lists. I bet I could find 5 or 6 lists to throw away!

I got rid of some boxes last night as our garbage/recycling get picked up today. Gave my mother a casserole dish I never use and thought she would want and she did.

So far I'm at 27/2013. I have a feeling I will get more done on the weekend. Some days after work I'm too tired to do much more than take care of my son. Still going to shoot for 5 or 6 things a day though.

[Deleted]

You're welcome Sheila

I did two more small kitchen cabinets, and I cleared out the second buffet! Even better, I switched some things between the DR buffet and the kitchen buffet! I put all the "good" plates in the DR buffet, and all the "good" serving dishes in the kitchen buffet, which makes much more sense! And there's more room in both!

Now I have a pile of stuff in the kitchen LOL. My cleaner comes tomorrow so I'm going to see if she wants anything. I'll take whatever is left to our version of the Salvation Army tomorrow or Friday.

[sheilaincali]

I talked to DH last night about the whole 2013 things in 2013 idea. He is on board and things it's a good idea. I don't know about how much physical stuff we have to get rid of so I may count pounds of weight lost, debts paid, etc as things I am "decluttering" from my life.

Too bad we did such a push right before the new year, otherwise I'd be able to add like over 100 things to my list if you could all the clothes and things we donated. Oh well. new year, new items to purge.

[constanz22]

Jan 9, 2013 10:16:52 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I'm overwhelmed just thinking about making the long list. But I'm intrigued by the toss 2013 items in 2013. Don't know what that says about me though.

Hey, you're in good company. If I really focused on throwing stuff out, donating, etc. I could do 5 times that. What does that say about me? Yes, my house is close to being featured on Hoarders...

I'm glad so many people here like the 2013 in 2013 challenge! I was doing it on another message board, but that one isn't very active. So, I will start tracking here. I put up a blank paper inside one of my cabinets to try and track, just making a hash mark when I throw out, donate, sell, etc. something. I think I was at 17 this morning.

I have heat but didn't get to take a shower today cuz they were there working on the furnace until 10:30 and I HAD to get to work by that point.

[Deleted]

We did a push before NY as well, especially that weekend marathon session on DH's papers: both of us spent 12 hours each on them one weekend before Xmas! I'm sure we got rid of at least 500 items.

Good luck to all of you doing the 2013 challenge! I'm not going to do it though. I don't think we have that much to get rid of except in the basement, and I'm not sure DH is on board with that. I'll be lucky if I get him to go through a box or two. Also I can get pretty compulsive, so I don't want to give myself another thing to get compulsive about.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Yay for having heat!

Does the stuff I sorted out in 2012 but didn't actually donate until 2013 count?

[Deleted]

I think so Beth! The idea is to get 2013 things out of your house in 2013.

[redwagon]

jen - i love your 5 min rule for the dining table. we need to do that too...

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jan 9, 2013 14:15:21 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

I think so Beth! The idea is to get 2013 things out of your house in 2013.

Ok, then I'm at 25 to dcp last week. Could be more but I'm not sure. 4 puzzles, some blocks, 1 ride on thing, 1 fire truck block sorter, 3 tshirts of DD's and at least 15 baseball caps.

And I've got 6 things to go to Goodwill. Just have to get them there.

[spartan7886]

Jan 9, 2013 9:56:12 GMT -5 Waffle said:

Today's (after work) list:

Go to post office
1 load of laundry
take out trash
Spend at least 30 minutes on business record keeping (I have info I have to get together so that I can fill out an Indiana tax form that is due at the end of this month).

I've been toying with the idea of writing one huge to-do list. I have all of these things rattling around in the back of my head that need to be done - but I'm not sure if writing them all done will help me do them or just make me overwhelmed. Anybody ever tried something like that?

I haven't done this at home, but what I do at work is two lists - the master list and the daily list. That way I don't forget things on the master list, but I only have to look at it once to make the daily list, then work off that.

[Deleted]

I just reorganized the shopping bags and rags on the floor of the broom closet. The shelves in the broom closet are fine (I did them a couple of months ago).

So I'm considering myself DONE in the kitchen!

[Waffle]

Congrats and karma to being DONE in the kitchen!

[Deleted]

Thank you Waffle! I'm really pleased, especially since I had no plans to do any of it when I woke up today LOL.