2015 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[Malarky]

Jan 25, 2015 10:34:26 GMT -5 WholeLottaNothin said:

I need to go to the store but I am lacking motivation. It is starting to look like old mother Hubbard up in here. I have spent the weekend trying to potty train the 3 year old. I'm looking to declutter some diaper changes from my life.

I know this is unsolicited advice, and please feel free to ignore it if you choose.  I've had two people in RL talking about the same subject this week, so this has been on my mind.

When it came to potty training DS, he kept backsliding even though he seemed to be ready.  I got some advice from my pediatrician that worked wonders.

She said big boy underwear and pants.  No pull-ups, no diapers.  If he chose not to use the toilet, he had to stay in his wet clothes for 15 minutes.  He wasn't to sit on the furniture or the rugs.

Fifteen minutes is an eternity to a toddler, but it isn't long enough to do any damage to his skin.  It was a frustrating three days and I did a lot of laundry, but then it was over.  He was fully potty trained and we never had to deal with it again.  

Just a suggestion and I hope it helps.

Now back to our regularly scheduled decluttering.  Which I have done none of today.

[stillmovingforward]

I'm really having trouble keeping track of the number of items I am getting rid of! I think I'm going to NOT do that challenge. Or I could just count the boxes

What I will do is just keep going through the rooms. My goal will be to finish a specified room each month. This month; kitchen. Next month; finish kitchen (there's a lot of storage in the room!)and the bathroom (am I cheating because there are only 2 cupboards in the bathroom and they are both super small? )

Yesterday I:
- cleaned the fridge (2x a month with all these kids and they STILL can't seem to rummage around and finish leftovers without direction)
- consignment store took ALL the clothes I gave them. I have one more bag to take in next time I'm in that area.

Today I want to:
- wash all my bedding
- wash and fold all the laundry
- put my 2nd sofa on Craigslist for free, I just want it out of here and its not worth selling
- finish going thru all the cabinets so I only have drawers left in the kitchen (and some open shelves I keep ignoring)
- stack my empty boxes so it looks neater. I've been keeping some empty boxes for taking stuff to the thrift store. I've been taking A LOT
- lower the price on my bookshelf for sale
- grocery shop

[Saving4Norway]

Stillworking, I was the same way when I was trying to count the numbers of objects I was decluttering. In January and February I was good with counting every single item but then I was just bagging/boxing things up and forgetting to count so I'd round off to an easy number depending on the size of the bag and the size of the items I had put in there. By April I had quit counting all together. It's a great motivator for some people, but just not a workable method for me.

[dogmom]

I also tried to "count" items, but, when you're clearing out stuff, sorry, the count doesn't matter (at least to me).  The end result is what I'm looking for.  Less stuff, USE what you are keeping.  (really wish DH would go thru some of his stuff.  But, he's cute, and a keeper, so I do some of it for him. .  I LIKE so much of everything everyone is doing, and after the first couple likes (I'm not on much) it doesn't let me like anymore.  I did get under the kitchen sink cleaned out.  Looks good now.  I think I will use everything that's there. 

ETA:  My deep cleaning today was the humidifier.  (I try to do at least one item a day.) 

[WholeLottaNothin]

Malarkey - I will try that thanks

[stillmovingforward]

nuttinhoney7 - I've used the same method Malarkey used on all my toddlers. Once we both decided they were ready to be housebroke, I just switched them to standard underwear and moved on. Weekend worked best. Remember though, you still need to remind them to stop playing and try go to the bathroom. Otherwise, they get engrossed in life and forget. Until it becomes a habit for them.

[busymom]

I LOVE that new dishwasher a lot! It even gets my frying pan mostly clean, & I used to always have to do a lot of hand scrubbing on that thing whenever I used it.

Unfortunately, I really brought home too much stuff from Mom's house.  I've got boxes all over the livingroom.  I need to do a sort into donate, sell & recycle (she had a lot of old aluminum pans that I don't need, which can be sold for scrap here, as they're too scratched up to sell otherwise).

[3catslady]

I worked 6 days again this week from 6 in the morning until 3:30 pm watching the grand kids and from 4 pm until 10 pm at the store.  I got nothing accomplished.  Today I got groceries and put them all away, did laundry and put it all away, took out 3 garbage bags and 2 litter bags and an empty litter box.  I balanced my check book, paid the electric and now I am posting where I need to post.  I have my meals planned for the week and my projects for the week.  I just hope I don't have to work 6 days this week.  I hate when people call off because they are stuck on ice and they knew it the night before and had until 4 pm to get it cleaned off.

My goals for this week are to get all the colors sorted and that is it.

[startsmart]

Yay! Got the new kitchen lights installed and they are fantastic. I need to patch the hole for the original light and then paint the ceiling that we uncovered. It honestly feels like we lifted the ceiling by 3 feet! 

We made plans to do another work day in the next month. I'm adding an outlet to the hall closet, another can light in the master bath and additional outlets in the garage.

Back to the scanning station - I've got my kitchen table set up with my printer, scanner, laptop and a stack of papers. Slowly scanning, backing up and then shredding docs as I get all my paperwork together for tax season. 

This is going to be an epic shitepile! 

[kath74]

I had a pretty productive weekend, managed to get a bunch of old junk boxed up and out the door.  I also cleaned out the medicine shelf...and I'm embarrassed to admit that I cleaned out at least 20 items that were expired.  sigh.  such a waste.
130/2015
I hope everyone who may be affected by the eastern seaboard blizzard coming in tonight and over the next couple of days stays safe and warm!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 24, 2015 17:02:09 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jan 19, 2015 0:07:55 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Weekly Goal
for the week of January 18
Big Goal List
Kitchen
Office
Living Rooms (should be done on Monday!)
Laundry Room
Master Bedroom
Garage
Girls' rooms
Linen Closet
Organize Camping Trailer

---

For this week, 
1. Label cords in living rooms; purge any no-longer used cords
2. Clean and label bench seat in laundry room
3. Clean, purge, label, reorganize white cabinet in laundry room
4. Clean, purge, label, reorganize cupboards above washer and dryer
5. Clean, purge, label, reorganize open cupboard in laundry room
6. Clean, purge, label, reorganize water heater storage area
7. Finish detail cleaning in laundry room. 

(This is mildly cheating on my part as the laundry room is the room I would detail clean this week anyway.)

I am not as far with this week's list as I thought I'd be by today (Saturday). I plan on finishing it today!

Sigh. I ran out of label maker tape. Apparently, that gave me permission to stop cleaning the laundry room. 
I did get a lot of work-work done , so I'm less behind when I show up to the school this morning.

[Saving4Norway]

Pick a number, any number...

I have the day off today and I'd like to be productive. I've made a list of 25 things that need to get done. Some are 10 minute jobs, others might take 45 min to an hour. So far, it's not looking so good; I've had a cup of coffee and played 15 games of Spider Solitaire.

I could use your help to help me get up off my big fat do-nothing. Will you pick a number between 1 and 25? When numbers get posted I'll do those chores next.

Thanks!!

[WholeLottaNothin]

17!

[Chocolate Lover]

12  

[WholeLottaNothin]

Went through some of Roggie's clothes and weeded out some that were too small and I am not particularly attached too. I am going to get them to my cousin for her little boy by the end of this week. Need to pack up baby D's clothes too as he needs the next size already. He is growing like a weed! Praying my friend gets pregnant soon so I can start giving her stuff. They have been trying for a couple months now so fingers crossed it happens for them. She wants it so badly. And I want the bulky baby gear out of my place and into hers!

I'm going to go through the bib drawer tonight and weed out the ones that don't do their job very well. That won't take me long but its something that needs done. We actually have an entire kitchen drawer just for bibs, that is how many we have. And i probably used the same 4 or 5 ones for Roggie when he was littler. No reason to keep the rest!

[Wisconsin Beth]

2!

[Malarky]

For Norway:  Number 11.  Hop to it and get it done!!  

I'm taking a break from preparing for the storm of the century.  I was making a giant batch of coffee so we'd have it for iced coffee and I SPILLED A QUART!!!  Mopping the kitchen floor and doing laundry just got added to todays list.    

I have a loaf of bread rising, another that will become a giant meatball calzone, lemon almond shortbread cookies, and mint chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies all prepped to be baked within the next hour.

I made it to a dr.'s appointment and the grocery store (with a thousand of my closest friends) this morning.  
I'm about to go around and plug in all the electronics and make sure everything is charged, in case we lose electricity.  I already filled my water containers.

LOL, one of the items I decided NOT to declutter is my old Sony Walkman.  It just so happens to run on AA batteries which I have lots of, and has an AM FM radio.  Now I'm going back through that box I already packed and taking out the candles I was donating.  The ones I haven't used in ten years, but apparently am going to need tomorrow.  We're likely to lose electricity if this storm is as bad as predicted.   

Off to bake bread and cookies.  I'll let you know if I actually manage to declutter anything.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Now I want cookies and bread Malarky!

[Malarky]

If you can get here, I'm more than willing to share!  

[Wisconsin Beth]

  How do you get from here to there?  What do you do?  

[Deleted]

Good luck with the storm Malary! 

Norway, 8!

[Saving4Norway]

Awesome, ladies!! After I posted I started with 4, 21, and 22. Now I'll jump to:
17 - Clean off the end table next to "my" rec room chair
12 - Clean off the bathroom counter, sink area
2 - E-mail the district sec/treas
11 - Clean the bathroom floor
8 - Call the local bank

[Martivir]

The one thing about listing stuff is that it's a learning process. And the one thing I'm taking away from this is putting 24 hour hold only on my listings. And going by comments not messages for who wants it. Someone PM's me on Facebook they wanted the dishes. Said fine and the dance began. Ended up holding for four days because she could get next day,before I went to the next person. Next person didn't get back to my by mid-morning the next day. So went back to first who said she could pick up that day if still there. Guess who I haven't heard back from. Satisfying when it works, frustrating as heck when it doesn't.

Working up a chore chart today. I realized that the kid is just not cleaning up when I ask him unless I nag, yell or bribe. Today I'm figuring out a chore chart with consequences if things don't get done. I know he's only five but it's not like I'm asking him to do the laundry on his own.  

[Saving4Norway]

So far, this has been working WONDERFULLY!

I'm on #8 right now but must take a 3 hour break. I have an appointment with the Chiropractor at 11am then a fitness assessment at the gym at 12pm. I should be back here by 1:30.

BTW - #8 was my last request, so I'm ready for you to throw some-more at me. I won't get to them until 1:30, but that's OK.

[busymom]

1!

I just HAD to share this.  It looks like my kitchen counter right now...

Does this mean we are ALL brilliant? 

[Wisconsin Beth]

6

[WholeLottaNothin]

23

[startsmart]

2 more jackets out the door to consignment! Plus I got the check for paying off car #2 and I go in 2 weeks to pick it up!!! So I guess it'll be a plus 1 but I'm okay with that  

Next up shuffling off to appointments all afternoon and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. 

Hope y'all on the East Coast are staying safe and warm during Snowmageddon. 

[WholeLottaNothin]

The drive home from work and school sucked and we aren't even in the direct path of the storm. Stay safe and warm everyone.

I went through the bib drawer and got rid of a few things. Mom is keeping the baby tonight so I should be able to get more done.

[Saving4Norway]

#8 turned out to be little a little more complicated that a simple phone call. I had to drive to the local branch. The great news is that while I was there I was able to take care of 3 other future to-dos. They'll just leave a note in the file to do the 3 things after some changes get made. YEA! 

My new numbers are:
#1 - E-mail the National Treasurer (I took care of that when I did #2 e-mail earlier)
#6 - Clean the stove side of the kitchen
#23 - Place a long-procrastinated Amazon order

Keep 'em coming, ladies!