2023 Declutter & Organize Your Life

[TheOtherMe]

Oct 16, 2023 19:01:43 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

It could also be that I don't want to devote the time to setting up an electronic system that works because I spend 9 hours a day staring at computer screens for work. The last thing I want to do after work is look at more screens.

When I prepared tax returns for 10 or 11 hours a day, I didn't want to turn on my own computer.  I get that.  
 
Working at several tax firms as they were moving to all digital, I was able to see their filing structure and adapt it for my use.  It would have taken me a few years to figure one out on my own.  

Since I don't itemize, there is no reason for me to keep a lot of receipts and I don't.  

[Sharon]

Today I vacuumed and mopped the utility and the half bath off the utility, the dining room, kitchen, office, both hallways, and the main hallway bathroom.  It feels so good to have nice clean floors, too bad they won't stay that way longer than a day or two.  Left to do is the living room, my bedroom and my bathroom.  The other two bedrooms will just get vacuumed.

I also ran and emptied the dishwasher today.

[finnime]

I'm really bad with hardcopy. Paper organization just defeats me. I worked all my life on screens, as a computer programmer and then more, so electronic filing suits me. I do keep a live backup of everything by copying it all to the cloud as I work. Even when a computer has failed me I can access the copies from the cloud. It works for me with little effort, just what I need.

[debthaven]

We have a desk with a vertical file drawer plus a small filing cabinet in a niche off the dining room. The printer lives on the small filing cabinet. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Thank you for your input, everyone!  Moments ago, I texted DH asking if any of his filing cabinets have an empty drawer for our tax documents (we itemize due to my business) and he said he could make one available.  wvugurl26, regarding manila envelopes, is there a size which will hold a larger stack of papers?  I looked them up and don't see a thicker option.  Currently I have each tax year separated into old plastic grocery bags and paid off school and car loans are in manila file folders, all of which are messy.  It will be nice to get the two document boxes out of my home office closet.

Current documents are in my home office desk drawer.  Documents such as wills, birth certificates, divorce papers, etc. are in a fireproof box.

This morning:
-Administered Rid X
-Took out the garbage
-Bought water for the office dispenser

[TheOtherMe]

The worst thing homeowners in  Iowa have to keep track of is the land abstract.  Iowa doesn't use title insurance.  The buyer receives the original abstract of the land from it's first land patent to the current time.  It is then brought up to date by an attorney and the new owner gets to keep it.  

It's cool to read.  This property was in one family until it was turned in to a sub division.  But it starts with when Iowa was part of a territory.  

I know this land retains water and been told many years it didn't get a crop because it was too wet.  I know the land holds water.

[wvugurl26]

Iggy aka IG I have used plastic ones for larger stacks.

Something like this 24 Pack Plastic Envelopes with Snap Closure, Plastic File Folders for Documents, US Letter A4 Size, Clear Poly Envelopes Folders, File Bags, Reusable Document Envelopes, for School Office Supplies a.co/d/aZVEfjw

We itemize but our stuff fits in a regular envelope. The years I had lots of medical EOBs I actually just stored them in used priority flat rate envelopes. I was getting a bunch of them at the time. Not the most glamorous solution but I was pretty cash poor in those years. I'm also pretty sure I am at the point I can get rid of those now. It was 2010-2013 when I hit my out of pocket max every year. They are saved due to FSA reimbursement.

I'm pretty sure I bought my plastic envelopes in 2-3 packs at the Dollar Tree. The plastic accordion files might also work if you have a lot? Then you could sort the documents out for easy future reference?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 16, 2023 12:22:49 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Oct 16, 2023 8:01:22 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Got through all but five tasks. 
Need to plan the week.

Kudos!


not only did I not accomplish anything, I backslid.....oh well! singing monday morning blues....

i'm going to revisit this....I don't know why I am so quick to castigate myself!

I did not accomplish anything and backslid on my new list/routine......I did take care of a huge ugly issue in the basement....deep cleaning and sanitizing. Then at my mothers house, did a good amount of decluttering, furmiture moving and cleaning underneath...I was thinking about this today as I finally took that walk to the bank and while my foot was ok, my back was still aching from all the weekend work.....and I remembered I reported out I did nothing......

while I skipped "the routine" the last 3 days, today is cleaning day and I was able to whip into shape a bit easier than usual for the cleaning person....so everything is reset and another week to see how well I can DIY

[Iggy aka IG]

Thank you very much, wvugurl26.  I just ordered the envelopes with the help of a $5 Amazon gift card I won earlier this year and signed up for Amazon Prime to receive the free shipping, which I'll cancel later of course.      I'm going to the Dollar Tree later this week, so if they have them, I'll return the others.

[Sharon]

I did get the vacuuming and mopping done today, including mopping one of the extra bedrooms that I had originally said would only be vacuumed.  I took the children's lawn chairs to the shop for the winter and while I was there found some other random stuff to add to the garbage can for trash day tomorrow.  After dinner I went through the freezer that is part of the fridge and found several things from there that could also be added to the trash.

I know so many people like the fridge/freezer combo with the french doors and the freezer on the bottom, not me I loathe mine.  Stuff gets lost in the hole of a freezer and anything on the top shelf of the fridge is hard if not impossible for me reach.

[wvugurl26]

I hate the French door fridges as well. I find it hard to utilize all the freezer space. It's definitely difficult if you have a frozen pizza or something bigger like that.

[debthaven]

Work week over.   One more (very busy) week in this "chunk". 

[megaptera]

I did it. I FINALLY dropped off my Goodwill donations. 4 boxes/bags worth. I even added a few craft items to it before going.

Time to start a new box. 

[debthaven]

Great job megaptera ! I'm sure you feel lighter now. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 18, 2023 8:09:36 GMT -5 megaptera said:

I did it. I FINALLY dropped off my Goodwill donations. 4 boxes/bags worth. I even added a few craft items to it before going.

Time to start a new box. 

I need to start getting a donation together too!!

[Iggy aka IG]

Count me in with the not caring for the French door fridges.  I don't mind the fact both doors open, it's the goofy freezer basket drawers I don't like.  Things get lost on the bottom, like wvugurl26 said, pizzas don't fit correctly, and if there is an abundance of items, they topple back behind the drawer to the freezer bottom.  It's a PITA to fetch things when that happens.  First world problems for sure.  Thankfully we have the garage fridge/freezer and a deep freeze.

Today:
-Bank to exchange the piggy bank coins
-PD to drop off the stuffed animals
-Car dealership to drop off business cards and a 2024 calendar to my sales manager friend
-Drop off 4 Louis L'Amour books to a former neighbor
-Dollar Tree
-Liquor store
-Walmart

Here's to our Halloween 2024 er, 2023 party.   

[moneysquirrel]

All of you have been busy,  I have been getting little things done.  

But the biggest thing off my list was getting the passport renewal mailed off this morning.  I didn't like the first set of photos taken last month so decided that I would get another set made and choose the best set to use. The one this morning was better.  Made sure I had makeup on and hair was behaving before I left the house.  Since I have to live with the photo for 10 years I wanted to make sure it was one I liked.  I already had the form downloaded so I went this morning and got the photos done early and then finished off the process by a trip to the post office to get that off my to do list.

Tried to design a pattern that was requested but the design was coming out too large for the person who wanted it.  Mutual decesion to scrap that idea. Would like to get at least one more item made before the weekend is over.  

Now that the danger of salt water intrusion is past I can stop collecting tap water for future use.  It has been a matter of concern for this area for several weeks but with the additional rainfall in areas north of us the danger is abating.  

Need to get some dinner.  Will check in when I can.

[startsmart]

So happy I got the combo of good weather + enough energy to work outdoors today. Since I took out all those bushes I gained about 4’ strip along the fence line. Today I moved the furniture from the patio to that new space and it looks so much more open out there.

I also mowed and edged most of the yard, I have some bulbs to plant and the greenhouse to deal with but making good progress.

I cancelled my cable package last week so I’ve been catching news programs on YouTube to stay up to date on the news. It’ll save me over $100 a month so a little hassle is worth it.

[Sharon]

Today I ended up purchasing a garden cart that I can pull behind my riding lawnmower.  I think that it will help make my life easier and that hopefully I won't wear out as fast when working in the yard.  Of course it needs to be assembled

[NastyWoman]

Opportunism at its finest here today. When the littles were here in August I had bought a box of frozen juice bars for DGS2 who did not eat the regular icecream bars as they hurt the two teeth he was about to (and since has) lose. Of course he did not finish them all and I had 12 of those things left, Costco buyer here LOL, but I don't eat those things so they were cluttering up my tiny freezer. Now we have a very late in the season mini heatwave and I had this   moment. I put the bars on the local FB buy nothing group. And now, just one hour later the bars are gone, someone will enjoy the treat and my freezer has a bit of space that has opened up. 

[seriousthistime]

I need to return my modem and cable boxes to XFinity.  I had a broadband service come out and install a line for my internet, and I am just going with Hulu Live plus streaming with a few different services.  Not looking forward to XFinity's endless calls as they try to lure me back. 

I get so frustrated at what should be simple home repairs and improvements.  I have some race medals to hang on a rack I bought years ago, and just bought two new extension racks to go below it to hang more medals.  I am a complete failure at installing wall anchors.  In the process I manage to leave big holes in the drywall and the anchors don't work.  I bought a new product called Wet N Fix, to secure the anchors in the oversized holes I made.  Hoping that will work!

[snapdragon]

I took the vacuum to the shore house and vacuumed. 

Used my small bissell to clean some areas of carpet. 

Got several items put together including a nice desk that can also be used for a puzzle or craft base.

Went out and trimmed several branches that were dragging on the ground or really head height on the side yard. Thinking of getting a mulcher to rent so I can use the chips for landscaping and weed control. 

I also weeded for a few hours and had 2 deer surprise me. I'm pulling weeds and suddenly there is a deer behind me, walking past and across the street. They came not from the large side yard but the narrow side of the house that my back was to and came from nowhere startling me both times. I couldn't even hear them until they were right next to me, and I was weeding in gravel!

Got several huge boxes dismantled and my car trunk stuffed to the gills with cardboard. I was able to recycle it earlier today. Trash was also brought back and tossed last night. 

A friend is going to help me empty my attic so I don't need to worry about anything up there being left behind. 

[seriousthistime]

Oct 19, 2023 11:47:25 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

I need to return my modem and cable boxes to XFinity.  I had a broadband service come out and install a line for my internet, and I am just going with Hulu Live plus streaming with a few different services.  Not looking forward to XFinity's endless calls as they try to lure me back. 

I get so frustrated at what should be simple home repairs and improvements.  I have some race medals to hang on a rack I bought years ago, and just bought two new extension racks to go below it to hang more medals.  I am a complete failure at installing wall anchors.  In the process I manage to leave big holes in the drywall and the anchors don't work.  I bought a new product called Wet N Fix, to secure the anchors in the oversized holes I made.  Hoping that will work!

Pleased to report that Wet N Fix seems to have worked.  I now have a secure anchor in the wall and managed to hang up the medal rack. Only four more anchors to place for the two expansion racks. I dread it. 

ETA: As it turns out, the four remaining anchors went in pretty easily and the job is done.  Medals are placed nicely on the racks. 

[debthaven]

We're home after 3 days in Amsterdam with my best childhood friend and her BF. We took the train. Bag is unpacked, clothes are put away, laundry is in process. 

I purposely came back Sat night to have Sun to get ready for the week.

Good news ... my bridge should cost about 1000 euros OOP.  I feared it would be worse!

[snapdragon]

Bit the bullet and phoned a moving company, they are coming to pack me up on the 30th. Everything will be delivered to the shore house on the 31st. Still don't have a cost but it will be worth it. My brain just is not admitting that I need to pack, move and put my place on the market. I will still take breakables and valuables in my car this week.

[Sharon]

snapdragon you will be glad you hired the movers. All you hard work is coming together and the shore house sounds like a lovely place to live.

Yesterday DD, DSIL, and I started moving gravel.  The garden cart more than paid for itself.  We were on a roll when the garden cart got a flat tire.  I was actually okay with that because by then I was pretty tired.  DSIL took the tire with him and is going to fix it and they will be back sometime today.  We should be able to finish that project. 

Today I'm still tired and fairly stiff and sore.  The kids would shovel the gravel into the cart out front, drive it around to the back and it.  I would then spread it while they were getting another load.

[NastyWoman]

So today I took the second tv box and the remote back to Comcast and my cable is officially cut. I had made an appointment to make sure I would get it done exactly the way I wanted it. That really worked out well. Originally I wanted to keep my unlimited internet subscription. But the guy who was doing this decided to look up my internet usage and it was consistently only about 50% of the lower usage plan. I am rather a person of habit and I had been only streaming for most of this year. So I decided to go to the lower plan and saved another $30/month for a total reduction of approximately $130/month - without changing anything.! Not bad if I do say so myself - I should have done this a long time ago but whatever, water under the bridge and money in my bank account going forward.

[Sharon]

The gravel is done.  Over the past two years we have really transformed that area.  It started as an area that had both a chicken coop and an animal shed along with a chicken run.  None of it had been maintained or built well.  The animal shed in particular they had just used whatever leftover work was laying around including using a section of picket fencing.  Those structures are completely gone, 2 tons of animal manure has been hauled off and now the area is graveled.  Since it is on the back side of my shop it will be useful if we need to pull through the shop, or it would be a good place to park a utility trailer etc.

[TheOtherMe]

Good for you NastyWoman    

My phone is paid for.  In the past I usually rush to buy a new one.  Not this time.  I am using the difference between what I was paying per month and what I am paying per month for other things, knowing full well that I will eventually need a new phone.

I don't have a lot of options for internet.  A lot more than I had when we moved here.  The Electric Coop did a survey of interest and then started installing fiber optic.  I had nothing but problems with the 3 previous companies I have used.  So when I was notified that the fiber was in the ground and I could not get the internet, I went for it.  I don't know if they charge for installation now, but they didn't then.  

One of the advantages of being considered rural for electricity.

They haven't raised the price since I got it, so I can't complain.  The speed was doubled during the pandemic but then they let us keep it when school kids were no longer needed it daily.  I could get more speed but I don't need it.

[startsmart]

We are having great weather, unseasonably warm until the rain arrives this week, so I’ve spent a lot of time outdoors cleaning and tidying the yard.

The big shift was moving everything off the patio and to the edge of the yard where I took out all those bushes. It still needs to be cleared in Spring but is good for now. I also took the bush branches from the side of the house and stacked them with the ones at the far back of the property.

I do have a bag for decluttered items but no plans to drive to goodwill soon. I’m mostly decluttering old food by eating out of the pantry and using things up. It’s really helped my grocery costs this month. I have a few quarts of milk to use up in the next few days so I’m making pudding.

And I’ve been successfully doing my 4 daily tasks since my birthday: making the bed, 10 squats, 2 pages of journaling and no dirty dishes in the sink overnight. I’m also unofficially working to get all dirty clothes in the laundry room hamper every night but that’s a work in progress.