2019 - Organize Your Life & Declutter Your Stuff

[bean29]

I’m home sick today-not feeling well. I realized this am, my new glasses are in, and I want them! I also want Panera Chicken Soup, but have not gotten off the couch yet.

I decluttered 4 big clunky silver/gold stocking holder/frames from my christmas decorations. DH first asked me if I could get rid of any decorations, I told him what I was getting rid of, and he wants to make into coat hangers. I think I should go put them aside-out of site, out of mind. My kids and I try to get rid of stuff without him seeing it, b/c he always objects.

My Christmas decorations go in rubbermaid tubs under the stairs, as long as everything fits, I am good for another year.

The last thing I had to put away was the Nativity Scene. Did that yesterday.

I am working on the baskets/overflow in my bedroom. It has been warm, if it stays warm, we need to clean the garage.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh’s 31 Days to Get Organized Challenge:


Day 1 -Set up a donation bin. And, everyone in your house finds 5 items to place in the bin.

Day 2 - Shoes. Gather all of your shoes up from your closet. If they have dust on them, don’t fit, etc, put them in your donate bin. Only keep shoes you love, wear, and that fit you well.

Day 3 - Home Safety. Being organized is not just about closets and files, it's also about ensuring the best life for you and your family. The New Year is a great time to check smoke detectors in your home. Make this your 10 minute challenge for the day and make your family a little safer in the process!

Day 4 - This year’s challenge Mantra is “No more later” aka stop procrastinating. Today's challenge is to contact someone, preferably by phone, that you’ve been putting off. It could be a friend, family member, for more coworker, etc, but do it today!

Day 5 - The Junk Drawer.

Day 6 - Holiday Decorations. The holidays are over and it's time for the decorations to come down.

Day 7 - Bathroom cabinets! Pick one bathroom cabinet, and get rid of anything too old, expired or you don’t use, and put everything away in its proper space.

#31Days2GetOrganized

[imanangel]

I really need to declutter my pantry, but it is such an overwhelming task. I don't even know how it gets so out of control. 

Maybe I will do the bathroom cabinets instead so I don't make myself totally miserable.

[WholeLottaNothin]

Had a fairly productive weekend. Went through one drawer in my dresser - the underwear/bra/tank top drawer. I have no idea why I kept so many bras that don't fit or I just don't like the material. My DH got rid of 2 pairs of pants, and I added some kids movies the boys no longer watch and are too babyish. I am at 78/1000 so far. The weather is crappy (20 degrees and windy, with a weather advisory for tonight), so I will have plenty of time to keep going.

[moneysquirrel]

Jan 6, 2019 17:01:14 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

Goals for this week:
*Keep up with the usual laundry and dishes.
*Finish putting away all Christmas items.-- Tree, Wreath, Linens, Flag, Nativity Collection
*Dentist Appointment -- Tuesday
*Vacuum LR -- once Christmas items  pare put away.
*Change outside flag
*New beading project
*Exercise -- at least twice this week
*Pick up yarn from my cousin 
*at least many other things that I can't remember.

Additional Added Items:

*Insurance adjustment payment for car -- Tuesday

House looks so empty now that all of the Christmas decor is stored away.  I also did a little rearrangement in the garage.  Revamped the shelving unit and consolidated enough items to almost empty one storage area.  Plan to spend some additional time in there whenever and try to rearrange things that will make more sense to me. 

Have a lot of vases and will try to get them all in one place so that decisions can be made as to keep for craft projects, donate to goodwill or to the place I volunteer for.  May do a little of each.  I do use quite a few of them for storage of craft supplies.  Think it will help to put like sizes and shapes together just to see what I have and what I can eliminate.

[TheOtherMe]

I'm another one who isn't feeling well.  My day has consisted of falling asleep on the couch and watching Lucy sit on a piece of tissue paper that was wrapped around a catnip toy I bought her.  

I will feel like I have had a successful day if I clean Lucy's box and get the trash out.  The winds are to be very high, so I'm just putting out one bag and no recycling.  

I've had to find my bins several houses away in the past and I'm not doing that again.

It has stopped raining and there is no ice on my driveway.

[sheilaincali]

Jan 7, 2019 15:13:09 GMT -5 imanangel said:

I really need to declutter my pantry, but it is such an overwhelming task. I don't even know how it gets so out of control. 

Maybe I will do the bathroom cabinets instead so I don't make myself totally miserable.

We did it a couple of months ago and again this past weekend. I'm shocked and disgusted by the amount of food we end up throwing out. One of our problems is that the corner cupboard is pretty deep so stuff gets pushed back when new food is added. Then we think we are out of something and re-buy it. With the Boy at college there is only two of us. We rarely use peanut butter but had 8 open jars of peanut butter in the cabinet  

Good Luck. It feels good once it's done but man does it suck.

[finnime]

Sickness is going around. I've been down with a virus for 2 days now, doing better today. Vile symptoms. Now I'm just a dishrag.

But: I'm so pleased about having unearthed that living room closet. Trash goes out tomorrow. DH will be carting All the Stuff to the curb. Poor Franklin the Dog doesn't understand why I'm not walking him, but he's patiently waiting.

When I'm up for it I'll weed through the hundreds of CDs. Almost all are from my first marriage, and so are more than 20 years old, some much more. You're right, that's when the best music was recorded. I do have a Bose CD player in the Florida room that I'm going to move into the living room and begin listening to some. Also, need to move some photos from the closet into more proper storage - boxes and books. These can go back into the top shelves in the closet and also on display. Amazing seeing pictures of my kids from 23 years ago. I'm glad I re-found them.

Crazy how I ignored that closet for so many years - since I moved here, 15 years ago. It's at the back of the living room and too easy to overlook.

[TheOtherMe]

Photos can perk me up, even when I'm feeling sick or down.

[Iggy aka IG]

A quick post to say hugs to everyone who is sick and under the weather.  DH and I were down with whatever it was for about 2 weeks.  The worst was the fever and chills.  Oh, and the hallucinations.  I know... 

Adults really don't get enough sympathy when we're sick, IMO. 

[muffyinthered]

We are planning to put our house up for sale in about a month, so we are going through everything.

How do I go through our closet and keep what I think we will want and sell, donate or throw out the rest.  I am not sure how to do this.  Any suggestions?

[debthaven]

Yes please feel better soon everyone! I am not sick (thank goodness) but I am losing my voice.

Tonight was our first rehearsal in three weeks. We only did Act I but I am SO THANKFUL that I was not That Person who didn't know her lines. I still have 8 pages to learn, now I'm desperately trying to learn them so I'm not That Person on Wed either LOL.

Thank you tcu2003 for posting the PW challenges, I really appreciate it!

[debthaven]

How do I go through our closet and keep what I think we will want and sell, donate or throw out the rest. I am not sure how to do this. Any suggestions?

Welcome!

muffyinthered  whenever you go through a storage space (ie a closet, or a chest of drawers, or the garage), make 3 piles: keep, donate, sell.

Try to go through all of X at the same time (ie all your clothes, all your linens, all your kitchenware, etc). because it helps to have everything in one place, it makes it easier to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

You may not want to bother selling, depending on the value of the items. Some people prefer to just donate everything they don't want to keep.

I don't sell but I know startsmart and chiver78 do, so I'm tagging them.

countrygirl2 , since you seem to really like to shop, can you do one in/one out? You always talk about wanting to have fewer possessions yet you continue to buy more. With one in/one out you and DD can renew your wardrobes, but you still have fewer clothes. My DH has hoarding tendencies so at one point I put him on a one in/two out "diet". DH was very much against that idea. He only got on board once his closet shelves collapsed LOL!

I have been buying a lot of clothes these days (by my standards), so I know I am somewhat guilty of this myself. It's very exciting for me to be able to buy regular-sized clothing in a regular store instead of waiting till I'm in the UK or the US to shop. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon.

But, I also got rid of MUCH more than I brought in. I got rid of ALL my size 12 clothes (French 44). I wore that size for YEARS, so they have accumulated.

[startsmart]

Miffyinthered- I would start with creating a staging area for your closet stuff, maybe a guest bed or dining room table. As you pull things out do a rough sort to “keep” / “donate” / “sell” and if you can set a price for items you sell. For me, if it’s under $30-50 then I’ll donate it because it takes so much time and effort to arrange a sale.

Clothes for me go to a consignment shop or Goodwill. Furniture is usually sold via Craigslist.

If space is an issue then I would pick up a dozen boxes from Home Depot or a couple of plastic bins (everything is on sale right now!) and pack up things you want to keep but don’t need day to day. These can be stacked up in the garage while the house is shown. This might include holiday decorations, summer stuff, spare luggage, extra linens, games and toys, family albums, pictures, etc.


List for the week:
1 Finish chapters 4-6 of my book
2 Write down quotes from last year’s books
3 Take donation to goodwill
4 Cull magazines
5 Finish scanning loose pictures
6 Touch up front door paint
7 Begin planting bulbs

[imanangel]

I didn't declutter my pantry today, but I DID dig in there and pull out some things that were close to expiring and used them to make my dinner go farther tonight since I am feeding 2 people I hadn't anticipated feeding today. That counts as cleaning....right. 

[debthaven]

I bought a coat and 2 cardigans today. So 3 items in. I have a donation bag with 11 items to drop off tomorrow (including my old coat and a couple of old cardigans).

That's just the hanging clothing, I still need to finish going through my shelf closet. 4 new items came in over Christmas.

ETA: I went through my folded sweaters. So far I'm 7 items of clothing in for/since Christmas, and 16 to go out. They're in the car, I'll drop them tomorrow. And that doesn't count what I dropped off the other day, maybe 10 items?

The vast majority of people only wear their new clothes, per PW. Same from what I can observe except for a few favorites.

[nidena]

A story of bringing stuff *into* the house.  I was at Boscov's last week--it's an East Coast dept store--and they had a sale on slippers and socks.  They also offer a 15% military discount.  So, because I tend to go through slippers quickly--I wear them all the time when I'm home because my cats tend to get cat litter EVERYWHERE--I stock up when I can, especially when they're under $10/pair and these were between $7.99 and $9.99 per pair.  I got eight pairs of slippers and three 3-count packages of socks for $78. I won't have to get slippers or socks for the rest of the year.  The slippers stacked nicely into a little pile in the front corner of my closet.  When I need them, they'll be easy to get to.

I have to back up the idea of people wearing what's newest.  I think, for me, that's true because, if I wear any color to work, it has to be something from the collection that we're selling currently.  I tend to wear a lot of black to work instead because it needn't be current collection.  I also wear what is newest because it fits best.  My newest black clothes are four to six months old.  Jeans, about two months.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Oh my, I hope everyone feels better soon! 

Yesterday, I cleaned our pantries. Now, the person who designed our kitchen was a genius: We have two pantry cupboards that are shallow. Long-ways, a regular bag of flour or sugar takes up the depth of the pantry cupboard. Or, another example would be one box of cereal can go sideways into the pantry cupboard. It definitely prevents losing items in the back. 

Also, I clean out my pantry almost every month. That definitely helps keep everything under control too. 

Today, deep cleaning included the microwave and the threshold of the sliding glass door in the back of the kitchen. It's amazing how much dirt gets in there. 

Monday is always dusting day, and that's done. 

I cannot seem to tag anyone, so muffyinthered: 
For purging, we also follow the keep, donate, trash piles. To keep something, it has to fit, we have to like it, and it cannot have any stains, holes, or massive worn areas. 
We prefer not to deal with selling stuff, so we take our donations to Goodwill or give to a family who can use our kids' stuff.
The mass majority of the time, I refuse to purchase "storage" or "organization" tools/tubs/cabinets. If we cannot fit everything into the space that we have, then we have too much stuff. 

[debthaven]

This week
- prep for Job 1/Mon
- pick up coat/Mon
- donation bin/Tues
- bottle bank/Tues
- call about wheel/Tues
- prep for Job 2/Tues
- Quickbooks

- lines (ongoing)

[tcu2003]

Brought in a sack of baby clothes that DD just outgrew to a coworker with a daughter in that size - Woo hoo! I need to go through some of her outgrown shoes and bring those in as well.

[sheilaincali]

The only progress we made is related to the Boy. The Hubs had him try on all the old suitcoats he'd left behind when he went to college to see if he still wanted them- most he did not so they are bagged up for donation. We are also converting his room into a guest room so I basically gave him a bankers box from work (letter sized, file storage box- decent sized) and told him to put anything he for sure wanted us to keep for him in the box. Everything not in the box will be considered fair game and donated or tossed.

* I'm not being a bully- he has the bulk of his stuff already at school with him and he isn't a kid that has a ton of just "stuff" that he keeps. All that's left in his room is like old pokemon cards and random computer games or music cd's.

Won't get much done today- work all day then good bye dinner with my folk as The Boy leaves in the morning to head back to school.

[TheOtherMe]

When my parents were convinced I had finally moved out, my bedroom was turned in to the dining room.  My bedroom had a door to the kitchen and a door to the hallway where the 3 bedrooms were.  It was perfect for the dining room.

Sister's bedroom became the guest bedroom.  However, it was so small that only a twin bed could fit in there.

So they put a pull out couch in the living room.  

The memories of living in a 950 sq ft house.  

[gs11rmb]

Jan 8, 2019 10:45:29 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

When my parents were convinced I had finally moved out, my bedroom was turned in to the dining room.  My bedroom had a door to the kitchen and a door to the hallway where the 3 bedrooms were.  It was perfect for the dining room.

Sister's bedroom became the guest bedroom.  However, it was so small that only a twin bed could fit in there.

So they put a pull out couch in the living room.  

The memories of living in a 950 sq ft house.  

We have a 'bedroom' just like that as well.  We use it as an office and our girls share.  I really wish we had an additional bedroom it would make life easier!

[Iggy aka IG]

Jan 8, 2019 0:18:03 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Oh my, I hope everyone feels better soon! 

Yesterday, I cleaned our pantries. Now, the person who designed our kitchen was a genius: We have two pantry cupboards that are shallow. Long-ways, a regular bag of flour or sugar takes up the depth of the pantry cupboard. Or, another example would be one box of cereal can go sideways into the pantry cupboard. It definitely prevents losing items in the back. 

[snip]

I second this!  I had this very conversation with DH Sunday after he lamented about things getting lost in the pantry.  IDK who designed it, but it's illogical as it's very deep, and things get lost in it very quickly.  Because he's tall, "his" is the top shelf for his lunch items, boxes of tea bags, etc.  No matter what I try (baskets, shelf organizers, etc.), it still can quickly become a black hole.  Luckily, we have a small wash room in the back hall, which has a sink on one side, and an empty area on the other.  Our Target closet organizers from our previous home fit in the empty nook perfectly, so stock items such as boxes of Kleenex, PTs, canned goods from Sam's, light bulbs, etc. have a home.

[TheOtherMe]

There are still two of the original families there from 1960.  Both of them have converted that room in to a dining room.  

The official dining room was at the end of a very small living room.  

[nidena]

I have four long, deep cupboards--clearly whoever designs these things are not the sharpest crayons in the box.  Thankfully, I'm able to forgo using those cupboards altogether because I have that little of crap in my kitchen.  On the 2018 thread there was a whole discussion about number of kitchen cupboards and drawers.  I use less than half of what I have but that's easy when it's just me and three furbabies.

Went and picked up my new bicycle today.  It closer to a cruiser style with a big, squishy seat for me big, squishy butt.  My goal is to pedal to/from campus the two times a week that I have early afternoon classes.  I walked to the bike shop and pedaled home.  I haven't worked out in MOONS!!  Time for a nap.  lol.

[chiver78]

I finished a complete set of shelves (I'd say half or so were in place when I moved in) built into the overhead/bottom of the 1st-to-2nd floor stairs that you walk under when going down the basement stairs. there's also shallow (lg can-wide) shelving along one side of the wall down the basement stairs as well. I love all of that! and TBH, if half the overhead shelving wasn't there, I'd have never thought to put any in. the overheads are as tall as a stair riser, and house canned beans, soups, and pumpkin/poop bags on the dogs' shelf. 

[nidena]

Jan 8, 2019 13:14:30 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

I finished a complete set of shelves (I'd say half or so were in place when I moved in) built into the overhead/bottom of the 1st-to-2nd floor stairs that you walk under when going down the basement stairs. there's also shallow (lg can-wide) shelving along one side of the wall down the basement stairs as well. I love all of that! and TBH, if half the overhead shelving wasn't there, I'd have never thought to put any in. the overheads are as tall as a stair riser, and house canned beans, soups, and pumpkin/poop bags on the dogs' shelf. 

Don't you just love when shelving uses dead space and is done so in a very logical manner?  So often shelves are constructed in a such a way that you're storing air more than you're storing items.

[debthaven]

After 2 phone calls to customer support, I finally made good progress on Quickbooks today! Their customer support is fabulous. I'm still having trouble importing a certain file, but I got a lot done today. I'm starting to get the hang of it, which is a HUGE relief.   (For new posters, my DH is employing me to do the pre-accounting for his new company. That means I can teach 3 fewer classes/year, which is great for me, because less marking! But I really need to learn how to do it.)

This week (updated)
- Quickbooks (ongoing)
- lines (ongoing)

ETA: One thing I learned today is NOT to do QB on weekends. US customer support is open 7 days/week, but French CS is only open Mon-Fri. It's much better for me to do it on a weekday so I can call them when I get stuck (like I did twice today) rather than realizing I'm stuck on Sat morning and then fretting about it all weekend. For the first time since starting this adventure in Nov, I feel hopeful that I will eventually get there.

ETA2: I was also able to change my starting date as an employee from 1 Nov 2018 (as originally planned) to 1 Jan 2019. HUGE relief there too!!! I feared QB wouldn't let me change that. And if anyone is worried that I've been spending a lot of unpaid time on this, please remember that my new boss gave me a brand new Mac Air for my birthday in Nov so I could learn to do his books.

[tcu2003]

Peter Walsh’s 31 Days to Get Organized Challenge:


Day 1 -Set up a donation bin. And, everyone in your house finds 5 items to place in the bin.

Day 2 - Shoes. Gather all of your shoes up from your closet. If they have dust on them, don’t fit, etc, put them in your donate bin. Only keep shoes you love, wear, and that fit you well.

Day 3 - Home Safety. Being organized is not just about closets and files, it's also about ensuring the best life for you and your family. The New Year is a great time to check smoke detectors in your home. Make this your 10 minute challenge for the day and make your family a little safer in the process!

Day 4 - This year’s challenge Mantra is “No more later” aka stop procrastinating. Today's challenge is to contact someone, preferably by phone, that you’ve been putting off. It could be a friend, family member, for more coworker, etc, but do it today!

Day 5 - The Junk Drawer.

Day 6 - Holiday Decorations. The holidays are over and it's time for the decorations to come down.

Day 7 - Bathroom cabinets! Pick one bathroom cabinet, and get rid of anything too old, expired or you don’t use, and put everything away in its proper space.

Day 8 - #31Days2GetOrganized - Plastic Food Storage Containers.


#31Days2GetOrganized