2016 Declutter and Get Organized Thread

[debthaven]

Later (and others) I don't always post the routine things either, although I do sometimes (like tonight) if I feel I look like a slacker.   Also, true confessions for you newcomers, I have a cleaner. So it's true I don't usually do routine cleaning, although I do sometimes (she goes away a lot) as well as all the extras / seasonal stuff.

But it certainly makes life easier. Especially since I don't have to clean up just because the cleaner is coming. 

I have been on this thread for many years. I have always been neat / tidy / clean / decluttered but I have raised / am raising 4 kids, and DH is from the hoarders. So it was a CONSTANT battle to keep my home neat while the kids were all growing up. 

Three of the kids are neat too. So just one slobby kid, plus DH lol. 

Also, when I think to myself, I don't need to do that Peter Walsh challenge ... some of that is tempered by living with my hoarder-tendency DH (although he has gotten a LOT better!) For example, I've learned there's no need to get rid of my books because he will just fill up the available space on my bookshelves. Um, I don't think so. 

I do need to clear up the floor of my car, but it's been -2° here these past few days, so I'll wait till it warms up a bit!

[debthaven]

Ombud, I like the principle of that chair, but IMO it's WAY too busy. Can you choose fewer colours? It would be easier, cheaper, and easier on the eyes, IMO. I love the idea of the black and white music / notes! You could always add a cushion for color. 

[Ombud]

I agree which is why I'm turning a broken kids rocker into one and not buying it (that & the $650 price tag). Colors will be black background, blue, green, touch of peach.

So this is an alternative but black not brown, musical instrument not flowers: www.mackenzie-childs.com/Furniture/Kitchen-Dining-Room/Dining-Chairs/Dark-Flower-Basket-Side-Chair.axd

I love their stuff but I cannot justify the cost ($650 - $2995)

[tcu2003]

Debt, I'm jealous of your cleaner. I would LOVE one, but DH is opposed as he thinks it's wasteful to pay someone when we're perfectly capable of doing it ourselves. And so, he gets to do the majority of the cleaning. It doesn't get done as often as I would like (though he does a great job when it does get done), but I refuse to always do it when we both work full-time, have kid stuff, family stuff, and volunteer and social stuff as well, and I know I don't have the capacity to do it all. Which means I generally cook, and do laundry, and keep up after the kiddo (making sure his stuff gets put away with his help, clothes are swapped out as needed for size or season, etc). DH does most of the rest.

Decluttering is all me, as his dad is a hoarder and DH leans that way, though not nearly as bad.

[Wisconsin Beth]

I have a salary point in mind, where once I hit it, a cleaner is coming in.

Dh and I once argued out hiring a cleaner and he said he'd deal with vacuuming, etc. I hate vacuuming. Needless to say, he doesn't do it unless we're prepping for a party and I vacuum more than I want to.

He's not really impressed with the bathroom. Which I get because the bulk of the patterned paper is long gone. So it's walls that are whiter or corners or hard to reach spots that got done today. I wasn't going to tell him, I wanted to see if he noticed but the kids were telling him about it.

[moneysquirrel]

Updated Goals for this week:


Lesson plans 
Grade any (late) assignments that are submitted this week  
Begin thinking about presentation -- general terms now -- specifics later 
Maintain cleared areas
-- ongoing (I find that listing this here makes me more focused to keep the areas clear)
Keeping up with daily routine -- laundry, dishes, etc 

Focus on LR this week 
Change flag 
One new stringing project 

Four rows on scrap afghan
-- 2 Done 2 left for this week's goal (I have been neglecting working on this for several months.  Listing only a few rows to be done a week makes this easier to focus on completing this project.  Trying to use up all the yarn given to me a few years ago by someone who decided that she wasn't going to use it.  Keeping it across the foot of the bed also helps to remind me to work on it as well.)

One new beading project 
Appointment with T 
Send application for craft show

Got a few items off the list plus I completed a few additional things that I didn't list.  Got a couple of errands done that were not on the list but I was in the area and decided to knock them out.  Hope to get a few more off the list tomorrow.  Everything that has been submitted has been graded -- I just have to check daily for the last few late and/or corrected ones.

[midjd]

Jan 18, 2016 0:53:37 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

What does CLE stand for? That's not part of my alphabet soup vernacular. 

Oops! It's Continuing Legal Education. We have to get 36 hours of CLE every 3 years to keep our law licenses active. Now they are predicting 2-4" of snow tomorrow morning, so maybe I will have very few attendees and can take home all the Panera catering for myself.  

I was pretty productive yesterday... got 5 big boxes packed up for Goodwill and cleaned out DH's medicine cabinet, all the kitchen cabinets, the laundry room cabinets, the filing cabinet upstairs, and our closet. According to Fitbit I hit 10,000 steps before DH got home (usually at work I get 2,000 - 3,000 max, and that includes walking at lunch). Exhausting! 

Now I need to get off here and write this damn presentation...

[debthaven]

Well done Mid!

TCU, the cleaner is sort of a throwback. When DS1 was born I didn't get a spot in daycare because I was only working 3 days a week. So we had someone at home who took care of him and cleaned as well (that's how it works here). Then came DS2, then DD, then DS3. So we have always had someone at home, but as the kids have grown up, that time has been reduced from full day care 3-4 days a week (depending on how many days I was working) to just after-school hours, and then to just 3 hours of cleaning a week (here you pay per hour, not per job).

Since that amount has always gone down, but never up, to me it was never an additional expense (or at least that's how I chose to look at it and present it to DH lol). 

[Martivir]

Debt, we did just redo the basement. Toys migrated from his bedroom down( before we could not actually clean his room because of the sheer volume of toys), my MIL started picking stuff up for me at every blasted yard sale and charity sale she found and things kept getting put down there when they outgrew their use or whatever. The funny thing is that we have a decent looking storage area and former pantry. I say former because I kept forgetting we had stuff down there and it went bad. So things just got put at the bottom of the stairs. Where DS's play area is. Or at the end of the path at the bottom of the stairs. Where my sewing area is. I'm just happy some of it is leaving today because I was storing it for a friend who is moving back to NY. She arrives tonight and since it's stuff she needs right away it won't linger. 

I did get some of the junk in the play area organized/ gone through. I'm looking for things we already have around to organize and get the toys on the shelves that are down there. Yep everything got shoved in totes on the floor and we had empty shelves. For the first time since DS was a baby my entertainment center is clean. Granted everything is in totes to go through but it's cleaned of toys and other junk. I have more room to fill of stuff to go through. Two steps forward and one step back down there. 

And I got rid of one grocery bag of stuff Saturday night because I did an Amvets run. Didn't actually buy anything for the house. Ok I bought something but nothing for me. Just a few things a friend is looking for.

[debthaven]

Martivir it sounds like you have to stop your MIL from buying so much. Or at least refusing to take what she buys. It's not because she buys everything that you have to accept everything.

Can you send her on specific missions instead? 

[Martivir]

Tried that before. Didn't really work. However since it's winter and we don't have garage sales around here now, she's stopped. She was trying to do a thrift store type thing over Facebook but it didn't work out. This was stuff she found while looking for stuff she wanted to sell. Now she wants to make jewelry. Which means cutting back on the garage sales thankfully. And yes the holidays didn't help us. Let's say we could fit all the presents in the car or the kid. But not both. We have mid size four door sedan. The trunk was full and so was the back seat. But quite a bit of what she got me is headed for Amvets. I think all she heard was sewing business and got every sewing thing she came across. 

[Deleted]

Martivir , your MIL is just like my Mom.  I donated/tossed 71 pairs of jeans last month.  Most garage sale finds from her.  Granted this is mostly kids clothes acquired over many years, but she just likes to get STUFF.  She asked what to get younger son for Christmas and I said he could use some headphones for his Kindle.  She got two sets.  She got me two winter coats.  Older son several pairs of boots.  It goes on and on like that.  I don't mind the help at all!  I love having all these free clothes, but...so many...

Thankfully, she seems to have gotten off the garage sale kick. Partially because I've been getting a lot more vocal in not wanting all this, but she is the admin for all the Facebook sale pages in our area. Ugh!  Sending her on quests was very helpful for a while, but I really don't want ANYTHING.   

[Ombud]

debthaven, thanks for the feedback. Got started this morning and before I realized it I painted 4 vertical suports, runners, and top bar black. Still works.

And I like your idea of 3 colors + cushion!! It's great to have input b4 making an error. (It's not a long suit of mine which is how I had DD, BF, 4 GKs for 7 yrs)

[Deleted]

It is confirmed that clean rooms...actually minimalistic by most people's standards...make me happy and clutter is incredibly stressful for me.  Like, I get angry and miserable and make everyone around me miserable (namely the kids).   Due to commitments every weekend I just got the kitchen/dining and attached sunroom cleared of all the Christmas stuff and it was like this huge weight off my chest.  The tree was up, there were boxes, wrapping and toys everywhere and I'd been living with it for weeks.  Now I'm happy to go on the porch...which is pretty much completely empty but a couple chairs and a tote of Legos.  This weekend I sold this humongous piece of exercise equipment that was in the garage.  I have a very large garage with plenty of room for it, but now that it's gone, when I pull in I think "jeez, isn't it nice, not having that thing taking up all that space anymore?"

So, I am back in this thread and more committed than ever.  I have a huge undertaking ahead of me and have to get past my habit of "hiding" the clutter, by just piling into closets or moving into other rooms.  Great van is clean (again), but it's all being piled in the laundry room.  Porch is devoid of all the Christmas stuff, but it's just in totes in a bedroom in the basement...

EVERYTHING NEEDS TO HAVE A PLACE!!!!  IF I CAN'T FIND A PLACE, IT NEEDS TO GO! 

Inspired by the sense of freedom (and the $400) from selling the Bowflex, I have decided to combine two goals.  One of my savings goals is to save $1000 for a summer vacation with the boys.  I think I'm going to see if I can get that $1000 by selling things I already have but don't want/need.   It's a pretty lofty goal because most of the high dollar things I've dumped already when poor and I needed the money for things like food, but it's worth a try. 

$400 down, $600 to go! 
 

[debthaven]

Martivir, you are nicer than me ... I would be pretty vocal about not wanting all that Stuff. 

Ombud glad it's working out! I'd love to see a picture! 

MPL that's a great goal, to kill two birds with one stone, as they say. 

[Ombud]

Does this mean I need to put away the wrapping paper now? I'm so cheap frugal I use the same paper for the holidays, birthday gifts, under paint projects!   


I don't know how to get pictures here 

[debthaven]

Nothing done tonight after work except a few work emails. 

I'm home tomorrow so will catch up on laundry / dishwasher. I have rehearsal tomorrow night, I need to practice my lines. 

I'm planning to visit my friend tomorrow. I'm also going on Thurs evening. I've been going to see her 4 times a week since going back to work (I was going every day at first). I won't be able to do that once my marking starts in very early Feb. She lives 20 min away (so 40 min round trip). But I'd like to keep that up till at least the end of Jan. We are going away the last weekend of Jan, to a friends 50th birthday party, so I won't be around that weekend. 

After Jan, if I go on either Wed or Fri (but not both) and either Sat or Sun (but not both) plus one evening, that's 3 times a week. That's OK, isn't it?

Sorry, I'm having a lot of angst about this. It's NOT coming from her. She's extremely gracious, understanding of others' obligations, and undemanding. It's coming from me. She was TOTALLY there for me when my ex left me with 3 kids under six (including a one-month-old). This said, neither of us were working FT in those days (she was working PT and I was on maternity leave). And in those days she lived practically across the street. But I never would have gotten through that dark, dark period of my life without her and her DH. So I want to give it back.  

ETA: Thanks for letting me talk about this here. 

[Deleted]

I'm torn. I need the motivational support, but I'm thinking two things need to go if I really want to make progress on all these goals. TV and the computer....

[Jaguar]

Jan 19, 2016 21:02:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm torn. I need the motivational support, but I'm thinking two things need to go if I really want to make progress on all these goals. TV and the computer....

Make yourself do something in between the posts. Last night I washed the dishes and swept up the kitchen while reading the posts on here.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh's #31Days2GetOrganized Challenge:

1. Set up a donation center (bin, basket, garbage bag, etc.) in your home and add 5 things to it
2. Look in your closet for the pair(s) of shoes that is most covered in dust, and add it to your donation pile. (He also mentioned the 80/20 rule where you wear 20% of your shoes 80% of the time.)
3. Pick any single room in your house and tackle the floor. Get every single thing that doesn't belong on the floor of that room off the floor, whether it is toys, books, clutter, etc.
4. Unmentionables - go through your unmentionables drawer, and get rid of at least 5 items that you don't need/love/wear because they're stretched out, don't like them, etc.
5. Bathroom - choose 1 drawer, cupboard, or shelf, and go through all of the lotions, makeup, medicines, etc. Throw away anything that is out-of-date, and items you do not use.
6. Kitchen plates and bowls - go through the drawers, cupboards, etc. that have plates and bowls in your kitchen, and get rid of any orphan plates and bowls that don't match, no one knows where they came from, you don't use, etc.
7. Emotional clutter - think of someone you have fallen out of touch with that you would like to reconnect with; initiate contact with them, whether that is by phone, email, or in-person.
8. Books - spend 5 minutes and gather books from wherever you have them all over your house and put them into one please. Apply the rule of 5 - if you're not going to read those books, or you're past loving them, pull 5 out that you can let go of, then another 5, then another 5, and so on, until you're happy with what you have left, and they can fit on a bookshelf somewhere.
9. Take down and put away all of your holiday decorations, but before you put them back in storage, go through them all and get rid of anything you don't use, need, or want.
10. Kitchen small appliances - if you have duplicates of appliances in your kitchen, get rid of one and add to your donation. Also, if you have any appliances that you don't need, don't use, or don't have space for, get rid of that and add to your donation pile.
11. Outdated Media - choose of 3 areas (VHS tapes, record albums, cassette tapes); VHS tapes - get rid of ones you can let go of, and ones to be digitized, put in the car and take them someplace today; record albums - if you're not listening to them, get rid of them, or download the digital album first if that helps; cassette tapes - again, let them go, and download digital files if you need or want to
12. Office - pick any 2 shelves in your office and go through them; get rid of anything you don't need or want
13. Secret Cupboard - choose one cupboard that you don't want anyone to see into, jump in and clear it out; get rid of stuff that doesn't belong
14. Phone books - go through your home and find any phone book (and catalogs, while you're at it), and get rid of them; it's the digital age, so phone books and catalogs need to go
15. It's the halfway point - look around and see if there is anything you need to catch up on. If you've fallen off the wagon, today is the day to catch back up and get re-enthused about it, and finally, invite 2 friends to join the last 2 week of the 31 days to get organized challenge.
16. Car - chances are you lead a busy life, and because of that, stuff accumulates in your car. Grab a trash bag, and throw away anything in your car that is garbage. Take anything that is in your car and doesn't belong there, and put in its proper place.
17. Freezer - go to freezer, and pull out any items that have been in there so long you have no idea what they are (aka Unidentified Frozen Objects - UFOs) and thrown them out. Also, make a list of what is in there so you can go through and use up those things over the next few weeks/months.
18. Laundry - go through a laundry cupboard, and get rid of anything in there you longer need or use, and recycle/dispose of in a proper way.
19. Other People's Stuff (OPS) - spend 5-10 minutes gathering things that belong to someone else that you have borrowed and haven't returned yet, put them in your car, and return them to their rightful owner.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 19, 2016 18:25:50 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Nothing done tonight after work except a few work emails. 

I'm home tomorrow so will catch up on laundry / dishwasher. I have rehearsal tomorrow night, I need to practice my lines. 

I'm planning to visit my friend tomorrow. I'm also going on Thurs evening. I've been going to see her 4 times a week since going back to work (I was going every day at first). I won't be able to do that once my marking starts in very early Feb. She lives 20 min away (so 40 min round trip). But I'd like to keep that up till at least the end of Jan. We are going away the last weekend of Jan, to a friends 50th birthday party, so I won't be around that weekend. 

After Jan, if I go on either Wed or Fri (but not both) and either Sat or Sun (but not both) plus one evening, that's 3 times a week. That's OK, isn't it?

Sorry, I'm having a lot of angst about this. It's NOT coming from her. She's extremely gracious, understanding of others' obligations, and undemanding. It's coming from me. She was TOTALLY there for me when my ex left me with 3 kids under six (including a one-month-old). This said, neither of us were working FT in those days (she was working PT and I was on maternity leave). And in those days she lived practically across the street. But I never would have gotten through that dark, dark period of my life without her and her DH. So I want to give it back.  

ETA: Thanks for letting me talk about this here. 

Yes, one or two nights per week is okay. It seems like you two are comfortable enough with each other that she would tell you if she was struggling and needed more. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I need to do these off of the challenge list. I'm really just posting this here so I remember which ones I need to do. Carry on. 

17. Freezer - go to freezer, and pull out any items that have been in there so long you have no idea what they are (aka Unidentified Frozen Objects - UFOs) and thrown them out. Also, make a list of what is in there so you can go through and use up those things over the next few weeks/months.


11. Outdated Media - choose of 3 areas (VHS tapes, record albums, cassette tapes); VHS tapes - get rid of ones you can let go of, and ones to be digitized, put in the car and take them someplace today; record albums - if you're not listening to them, get rid of them, or download the digital album first if that helps; cassette tapes - again, let them go, and download digital files if you need or want to

8. Books - spend 5 minutes and gather books from wherever you have them all over your house and put them into one please. Apply the rule of 5 - if you're not going to read those books, or you're past loving them, pull 5 out that you can let go of, then another 5, then another 5, and so on, until you're happy with what you have left, and they can fit on a bookshelf somewhere.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 19, 2016 21:02:55 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm torn. I need the motivational support, but I'm thinking two things need to go if I really want to make progress on all these goals. TV and the computer....

Complete deprivation is not the solution. 

Start with cleaning/purging/sorting during commercials. 
Plan which shows to watch. C/p/s for the 15 minutes before and after those shows.
Set a timer and post/read for 15 minutes; then c/p/s for 30 minutes. Rinse, repeat.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 19, 2016 16:39:20 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Does this mean I need to put away the wrapping paper now? I'm so cheap frugal I use the same paper for the holidays, birthday gifts, under paint projects!   


I don't know how to get pictures here 

My wrapping tub is still behind the couch. DD's birthday is on Thursday, so I think I will have run out of excuses of not putting it away after that.


For pictures, do you have a photobucket account? 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

It is confirmed that clean rooms...actually minimalistic by most people's standards...make me happy and clutter is incredibly stressful for me. Like, I get angry and miserable and make everyone around me miserable

@minnesotapaintlady, this is definitely how I feel. It really will free you once you get it all cleared out.

[Ombud]

Jan 19, 2016 22:25:01 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jan 19, 2016 16:39:20 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Does this mean I need to put away the wrapping paper now? I'm so cheap frugal I use the same paper for the holidays, birthday gifts, under paint projects!   


I don't know how to get pictures here 

My wrapping tub is still behind the couch. DD's birthday is on Thursday, so I think I will have run out of excuses of not putting it away after that.


For pictures, do you have a photobucket account? 

no photo bucket account. Guess I should get one. Is that the ONLY way to get pics from Att.net cloud to post here?

[Ombud]

Test:

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 19, 2016 23:48:50 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Jan 19, 2016 22:25:01 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

My wrapping tub is still behind the couch. DD's birthday is on Thursday, so I think I will have run out of excuses of not putting it away after that.


For pictures, do you have a photobucket account? 

no photo bucket account. Guess I should get one. Is that the ONLY way to get pics from Att.net cloud to post here?

I'm sure there are other services; that's just a popular one. Posting directly from your cloud is a bit too non-anonymous for me.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 19, 2016 11:07:25 GMT -5 midjd said:

Jan 18, 2016 0:53:37 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

What does CLE stand for? That's not part of my alphabet soup vernacular. 

Oops! It's Continuing Legal Education. We have to get 36 hours of CLE every 3 years to keep our law licenses active. Now they are predicting 2-4" of snow tomorrow morning, so maybe I will have very few attendees and can take home all the Panera catering for myself.  

I was pretty productive yesterday... got 5 big boxes packed up for Goodwill and cleaned out DH's medicine cabinet, all the kitchen cabinets, the laundry room cabinets, the filing cabinet upstairs, and our closet. According to Fitbit I hit 10,000 steps before DH got home (usually at work I get 2,000 - 3,000 max, and that includes walking at lunch). Exhausting! 

Now I need to get off here and write this damn presentation...

Ah, we (educators) call them PDUs=Professional Development Units. We have to have 75 every three years to renew our teaching licenses. For awhile, (2000ish until last year) those who obtained their original teaching licenses during that time were required to earn nine graduate or post-graduate credits every three years. The licensing agency just went back to the 75 PDUs, but I'm not quite sure why.

[taz157]

We CPAs have CPE (Contining Professional Education) requirements.  Most states require 80 hours every 2 years, which includes 4 hours of Ethics CPE.  Some states require state-specific CPE for ethics while other states don't (FL does while MD doesn't).  I do have a license in both FL and MD, and I can use the same CPE for both states.