2015 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[Sam_2.0]

kittensaver - what's the website you can go to that prevents most junk mail from coming to your house? I did it once a long time ago, but now that I moved it's time to do it again.
**ETA** I found it - www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0262-stopping-unsolicited-mail-phone-calls-and-email

I need some motivation to catalog the donation items. And they won't take the bassinet so I need to find somewhere to give that.

[Martivir]

I am about to do some percussive maintenance on my washer. I have a load of pee sheets in there and the washer won't start. Not only that but the door locked like it was going to start and now it won't unlock. It's loaded with DS's pee sheets from last night. Grr. 

[kittensaver]

Thanks so much, Sam_2.0!

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 6, 2015 14:28:09 GMT -5 Martivir said:

I am about to do some percussive maintenance on my washer. I have a load of pee sheets in there and the washer won't start. Not only that but the door locked like it was going to start and now it won't unlock. It's loaded with DS's pee sheets from last night. Grr. 

  Hope the washer starts behaving himself.

[Martivir]

Chocolate, I found a way to get it open. It's been having issues for quite some time now so the repair guy is scheduled for Thursday.

[Chocolate Lover]

Sorry to hear it didn't magically heal itself. Thankfully, Thursday isn't far away!

[Martivir]

You can manually unlock it but I need DH to move the washer out from the wall. DH did do some laundry a few days ago so we won't run out of clean clothes before then. 

And I have someone coming over to grab some old baby clothes. I'm slowly turning DS's old new born stuff into doll clothes but I don't do sleepers or sleep sacks. It's just not the kind he's looking for.

[Deleted]

Welcome Kittensaver! You don't need to count unless you want to. :-) Personally, I don't.

Martivir, good luck with the washing machine, I hope it's a cheap fix! 

Every year Peter Walsh has a "31 day challenge" in January, if anybody is interested. All he "asks" is that you do as many daily tasks as you can, for 15 minutes. I "liked" him on FB last year so I get it on my FB feed, but I know you can find it elsewhere as well, I can't remember where though. Maybe Smart remembers, since I think she's the one who told us about it last year. I'm not planning on doing it this year but I'm still checking them out so who knows. 

The tree is out of the house although DH dumped it on the front lawn instead of putting it on the woodpile   so I'll do that tomorrow. All the Christmas decorations are put away, but we still have a few holiday/winter decorations out (reindeer candles / objects. I have a thing for reindeer lol.) 

For those who have followed my dental saga, yesterday I paid him for the last 4 crowns he did in Nov / Dec 2014 (he offered to bill me for in 2015 for insurance reasons). He did quite a bit of work yesterday as well, so there are just 3 silver fillings to replace, and the last wisdom tooth to pull. Yesterday was my 30th dental appt since April.  I have 3 more scheduled, but I'm guessing I'll need one more.

[stillmovingforward]

I cleaned 2 more kitchen cabinets tonight! I only found 4 items to send to the thrift store though. But my plates and bowls have been pretty well cleaned down to the necessary ones by kids over the years. Same with the glasses.

Only 10 cabinets and 18 drawers to go! I think I've done all the easy cabinets now. I'm going to have to move on to the harder ones. The ones will all the food, cool mustards, vinegars, etc.

[busymom]

Hiya Kids! Looks like there's a lot of high motivation here.

My new dishwasher wasn't delivered today.  They took it out of the box, & discovered it was broken.  So, I'll be waiting for them to order me in a new one.

The weather tomorrow is supposed to be AWFUL, so, most likely I'll keep DS home from school, & work on cleaning the house.  Since one of the deliverymen needs access the area underneath my sink (to hook up the water to the dishwasher), I did some "re-purging" in that area.  Amazing how it doesn't take long for stuff to pile up, after you've gone through an area, even if it was recently. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

Blankets didn't happen last night.  but I did confirm with my manager this morning that I can bring the blankets here and we'll get them to one of the official collecting points. 

[kath74]

Happy New Year to everyone!

I'm coming out of lurkdom here too, I've read along to keep up, but I definitely didn't keep up decluttering.
So I'd like to join back in for 2015.
So far, 10/2015.

[startsmart]

Last night I got a whole lot done in my office and put the trash out but that's about it! I'm getting annoyed stuck at home until I can get the gas cap off the truck and refill the tank. 2 more days... 

Revised list:
Clear off and wipe down all the kitchen counters
Wash and put away all dishes
Scrub the sink
Fold and put away clean clothes
put away projects on kitchen table until the weekend
put away extra bags/purses
Make up my bed
Put away DVDs
Shred one bag of paper for recycling
Put out as much cardboard in the trash as possible

[Martivir]

Was happily having a lazy day today. Extra lazy even since I only needed to put real pants on for a few minutes to take the kid out to the bus this morning. And then I remembered tomorrow is garbage day and we have a ton of stuff to round up. 

But I had an amusing morning. DS was trying to find the iPad and sneaking into our room at 6am to find it. Complete with commando crawling on the floor with a flashlight in his mouth. It's currently on the top of Mt. Laundry that DH keeps on my dresser. I really wish the man would get his own darn dresser one of these days instead of using the top of mine as landing place for all his pants. 

[aprilleigh]

I don't post much, but I love following your progress! I'll post my decluttering list from last night, for your amusement (maybe):

(18) empty toilet paper tubes
(5) empty bottles of whatever from the shower
(2) pillows that have been laying on my floor since being replaced about 2 months ago
(1) sheet set, see above.

That's it for now.

[Jaguar]

Jan 7, 2015 17:56:48 GMT -5 aprilleigh said:

I don't post much, but I love following your progress! I'll post my decluttering list from last night, for your amusement (maybe):

(18) empty toilet paper tubes
(5) empty bottles of whatever from the shower
(2) pillows that have been laying on my floor since being replaced about 2 months ago
(1) sheet set, see above.

That's it for now.

Every little bit counts........just saying.

[Malarky]

I haven't really made any progress on the home from but I went back to work after my 10 day vacation.

I spent the better part of 9 hours organizing and purging the bakery from the holiday season.  We get so busy and have so much going on that every flat surface ends up being a workspace.  I found the bucket of piping dough we lost setting on the shelf next to my desk!   Lots of half used boxes of colored sugars to be combined.  The missing tape dispenser and scissors.  We have 20 pair, they shouldn't be so hard to find!  The linen order was in three different place.  The list goes on and on.  

Anyway...not counting the usual amount of stuff we toss or recycle in the course of a day-I filled half of the cardboard dumpster, three giant trash bags of stuff I deemed unworthy of occupying space in my world, sent a ton of catalogs and three medium size boxes of out of date printed items with one of the employees to be recycled and put at least 500 items back into their rightful spots.  The only thing left to do was bag up two giant boxes of packing peanuts to be recycled.  I'm saving that for someone else who donates it to her brother's business.    

All this so I could figure out exactly what I had and what I needed to order.  

It was a day well spent.  It starts the year off on the right note.  And I got thank you's from everyone who worked today because every time they needed something, I knew whether we already had it, if it was ordered or it was where it belonged.  

Then, most of the stuff I ordered yesterday was delivered today.  So there are more piles.  

[mizbear]

I'm back!

I know, I don't call, I don't write...

I already have 6 bins for the yard sale in March going. Mostly clothes, but I have done some mad kitchen decluttering as well. I am still in school and working full time. I have had to declutter my closet because my clothes are too big!

I also decluttered Mr. Bear because he didn't want to be a part of my life anymore when he got sick a few months back.

Doing a lot of repurposing right now while I declutter.

My DB is employed FT as an office manager in a job he loves now and MommaBear is going to be moving as soon as we get all of the details ironed out.

Things are looking up!

[busymom]

Great to hear from you, mizbear!  Hope you'll be back soon. 

Well, I don't get my new dishwasher for a couple more weeks.  But, I can make do with the old one for now.  I just have to wipe up when it's leaking, & sometimes rewash some dishes.

The big focus now is getting DD, & her things to her internship.  I feel a bit like Santa.  Making lists & checking them twice. 

[NastyWoman]

Jan 7, 2015 22:41:08 GMT -5 mizbear said:

I'm back!

I know, I don't call, I don't write...

I already have 6 bins for the yard sale in March going. Mostly clothes, but I have done some mad kitchen decluttering as well. I am still in school and working full time. I have had to declutter my closet because my clothes are too big!

I also decluttered Mr. Bear because he didn't want to be a part of my life anymore when he got sick a few months back.

Doing a lot of repurposing right now while I declutter.

My DB is employed FT as an office manager in a job he loves now and MommaBear is going to be moving as soon as we get all of the details ironed out.

Things are looking up!

 YEAH!!! mizbear is back 

[bobosensei]

I've been sick for about a week now, and the house is showing it.  I am starting to feel better today so I am going to donate the puzzles, get rid of the broken mixer and laptop cord that I have, and then do some grocery shopping.

[kath74]

My DH has begun the Great Purge and Organize!  I love getting texts from home asking if he can throw stuff out or pass things on to friends.  I just have to get him to take a count as he goes   The garage sale bins are filling up!  I just can't count those things until they're gone.

I cleaned out the drawers in the china cabinet, and found at least a grocery bag full of half burned candles.  I guess we didn't want to waste the remainder?  They're gone.  And seeing as there's also enough new, unburnt candles in there to last us through a weeklong black out at least, we don't need them.

25/2015

bobsensei - glad to here you're starting to feel better
Mizbear - nice to see you back!

[Martivir]

Great, the washer guy just left and the washer is basically toast. Pump and door assembly need to be replaced. So parts+labor and we are already at over half of what it cost new. So it looks like it's the year of big purchases for us. First a new furnace and A/C unit and now a washer. 

I will admit this is making me think more about trying to sell stuff first rather than just blanket donate except the big things. We don't have a huge EF and it's not close to the almost 6k in stuff we need to do this year. On the bright side we'll have a washer that I don't have to fight with to get to work . Or have to wait till DH gets home and then have to explain why I want him to wash several yards of fabric. 

[Chocolate Lover]

Sorry about the bad washer news Martivir    On the bright side, if you're not extra picky, there's cheap washers to be had. I think mine was around $300. Top loader, with agitator and gets the clothes clean. All I was looking for at the time.

[Martivir]

Chocolate, nope not picky. Except it has to be a front loader. DH's pants kill top loaders before their time. 

And since I'm cold I'm doing research on the couch while under a blanket. I've been looking up a few things because my craft show thing isn't as simple as make stuff, show up, sell stuff. I need to get a NY Sales tax number and charge it. I also have to be careful because since I'm on disability I can't make more than $770 or work more than 80 hours in a month. But I can be self employed and still collect. Oh and in NY state if you sell an item for more than $600 you have to pay NY the sales tax for it. This craft fair thing is turning out to be interesting.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Why did I think you were in the lower Midwest states?  Beth scratches her head at her own folly. 

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 8, 2015 12:57:19 GMT -5 Martivir said:

Chocolate, nope not picky. Except it has to be a front loader. DH's pants kill top loaders before their time. 

And since I'm cold I'm doing research on the couch while under a blanket. I've been looking up a few things because my craft show thing isn't as simple as make stuff, show up, sell stuff. I need to get a NY Sales tax number and charge it. I also have to be careful because since I'm on disability I can't make more than $770 or work more than 80 hours in a month. But I can be self employed and still collect. Oh and in NY state if you sell an item for more than $600 you have to pay NY the sales tax for it. This craft fair thing is turning out to be interesting.

That's not complicated at all :S

[startsmart]

Today is steam cleaning day! I'm still stuck at home until I get my car back tomorrow so I've been doing a lot around the house. 

And I think I've figured out that the musty, nasty smell in the guest room is NOT the dogs sneaking in to pee... which I've been blaming on them for awhile. Instead, I saw a stain on the ceiling and think that the roof leaked 

Revised list:
Clear off and wipe down all the kitchen counters
Wash and put away all dishes
Scrub the sink
Fold and put away clean clothes
put away projects on kitchen table until the weekend
put away extra bags/purses
make up my bed
put away DVDs
shred one bag of paper for recycling
put out as much cardboard in the trash as possible
steam clean the office
steam clean the guest room
steam clean the master bedroom

[snapdragon]

I have done nothing around the house. 

But I did get my hair styled using a GC I got for Christmas. - That has to be some type of good deed. 

I will keep reading hoping that I will get motivated. 

[busymom]

I'm doing laundry like crazy today. DH knows how, but I want everything clean before I leave town.

DD FINALLY is dragging out her suitcases & starting to organize what she's taking with her.

I'm going to get the bills caught up, too...