2023 Declutter & Organize Your Life

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Lots of family time yesterday, so not much accomplished on the chore and decluttering front. 
I did fill up one trash bag while putzing around in one of the garages. So, I'm counting that as 1 of 20 things tossed. 

[snapdragon]

Yesterday was good - 

Cleaned the spare bathroom, vacuumed the guestroom.

I handwashed several glasses and rearranged where my dishes were. 

Did 2 loads of laundry

Took out trash and recycling. Still need to work on the kitchen more. But the DR table is almost cleared off! 

I was watching several episodes of Kindred Spirits the whole time.

Need to do today - 

Fold all laundry. Put away what I can and get empty bins and totes out of my bedroom. I also need to work on my bathroom. I will keep adding to my donation pile.

Get another box in the study emptied and everything in it put away or moved to the garage for later.

Vacuum the living room and mop the kitchen floor and hallway. 

Put down the cushion mat in front of the sink/DW. 

[debthaven]

PS finnime I've won the clothing battle, but not the war LOL. 

I bought tickets today to a kiddie magic show for 1 Jan. 

[TheOtherMe]

Is the clothing war ever won?

[Sharon]

The tree in the family room is down.  I will leave the tree in the living room up for a few more days because I enjoy it while I work.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Whoops, looks like I typed this yesterday afternoon, but I didn't hit enter. 


I've put away the Christmas stockings, taken my desk from disaster to messy, and helped DH put away 1/3  of the inflatables. We also took care of paperwork we needed to have notarized. 
I'm off to make dinner. 

[moneysquirrel]

debthaven -- Enjoy the GKids.

[moneysquirrel]

Caught up on laundry for the moment.  Will be enjoying the holiday decorations for a bit longer.  Will be slowly taking them down after the first but the bulk of things won't be put away until after the 6th.  Then a short break before I decorate my entry table for Mardi Gras.  

Have not been getting a lot done.  Need to get a few more items ready for donation as I have a pickup scheduled for next week.  Had to buy a new shredder yesterday as I managed to jam my old one.  Tried to get it unjammed but no luck.  Will continue to unjam it but not hopeful that I will be successful.  Also I restocked some OTC meds that I was out of.  

Trying to complete a few projects that have been around for a while and making the list of items that I know I need to redo.  Also want to get creative and try to use up as many current supplies as I can.  Have seen some success this past year doing so and I need to continue working through my stash of goodies.  

Basically taking it easy and making small gains in several areas.

Take care all!

[TheOtherMe]

The stuff that didn't need to be put away immediately from last week's laundry is now put away.  

[startsmart]

I had some declutter wins this week that feel important.

Tossed 2 lipsticks, one was completely used up and the other was not a good color on me.

Threw away 12 granola bars that were years old and so hard I would have chipped a tooth on them.

Tossed 3 spatulas which had rubber heads and wood sticks but water got under the rubber and they had mold 🤢

Picked out a cutting board to toss because its wood had split. I’m going to test oils on it before throwing it away.

Also put 5 or 6 tops I don’t love in the donate box because I got new clothes (one in, one out).

I’m trying on all my leggings and yoga pants, one pair went into the trash because it had holes, another went to the donate box because it turns out I hate capris length leggings.

I also got my new slippers for the year so it’s time to throw out 2 older pair I don’t love as much.

[TheOtherMe]

I am glad I opened this thread.  I was going to start the dishwasher when I got done with the shower.  I didn't do that, so I will now.  

[laterbloomer]

Dec 31, 2022 17:26:33 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Okay, I'm in again. Full disclosure, my list is ongoing, I put new items on it as fast as old items get finished.
1. Redo GW's room for GW2. New flooring and painted.
2. Fix hairline crack in foundation.
3. Finish laundry room (get drywall finished, paint walls and put in flooring)
4. Paint downstairs bathroom.
5. Get second set of stairs off back deck which will make back corner of yard usable.
6. VPL flooring upstairs.

3 out of 6


1. Finish laundry room (get drywall finished, paint walls and put in flooring)
2. Get second set of stairs off back deck which will make back corner of yard usable.

3. VPL flooring upstairs.

That flooring has been on the list for years...one of these days!

[debthaven]

Yay laterbloomer ! You still got a lot done!

[TheOtherMe]

I put the dishes away while I fixed my lunch.  Yeah for me!

[debthaven]

I'm feeling better about the state of the house now that I've gone through my sock/underwear drawer, my sweaters, and my half of our medicine chest. As long as I can fit everything where it belongs, I'm happy.   Like startsmart I generally do one in-one out whenever I buy new clothes. I hadn't recently, but I buy very little. 

(I inadvertently posted about the medicine chest on the 2024 thread.)

I also started going through DH's Shitepile today. I've been asking him to do it for months. I finally started without him because the desk is driving me nuts. I filed enough to condense his two piles into one pile, but I need him for the rest. It's still a work in progress, but it's better. 

[startsmart]

Debthaven - I actually conquered my shite pile today!

I set up folders for files I need handy and took 2 years worth of political literature and meeting handouts and got them organized.

2020-2023 files are in the file cabinet and organized

I went through all my returned receipts and threw away the ones I don’t need to keep.

Found lots of old client files and biz notes and will go through those another day.

Have 2 big trash bags full of paper to toss.

Now I’m cleaning my desk drawers and getting things tidy. The only thing MIA is a pack of stickers for my journal that was on my desk before Christmas and now missing. I am searching under and around the desk in case the cats decided to play with it.

[debthaven]

Well done startsmart ! Shitepile never ends either LOL. 

[startsmart]

Today I’m trying 8 big chores to keep my day organized and moving faster.

1. Mop the bathroom - done
2. Fix the bifold door in the bathroom - done
3. Mop the office - done
4. Clean out the freezer - done
5. Make January's meal plan
6. Finish binding the match quilt - done
7. Finish binding 2 pillows - done
8. Empty my wall organizer

The freezer only had 2 items to toss, both frozen breads that were old and didn’t unfreeze well though. It’s a lot more tidy and I have room to see what I have.

[Sharon]

I had a talk with DD, again, yesterday about getting her crap out of my garage that was leftover from the garage sale we had in July.

[moneysquirrel]

Organized part of my closet and several dresser drawers in the last two days.  Several items will be added to the donation pile.  I have a pickup scheduled for Tuesday and will try to get a few more additional items into that pickup.  Have quite a few things to shred but need to unbox the new shredder first.  Somehow I jambed my old one it the middle and still can't get it unstuck.   It was on its last legs so a new one was needed.  I think that this one was one I got from my mom.

Not much else has been done but every little bit helps.

[startsmart]

Okay I’m quitting for the day! I made really good progress and the quilt projects are officially done for the year.

I do need to finish mopping the living room tomorrow and I have some furniture to rearrange but still made a lot of progress in a lot of areas today.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I got smacked down by the flu. I'd had the goal of getting rid of 20 items, but that didn't happen due to the fact that I've slept probably 30 of the last 48 hours. 
Since the bag of trash/unnecessary gift wrapping scraps I tossed, 
I've put three fleece blankets in the donate pile and three Christmas cute wrapping containers I've used as decorations into the gift wrapping pile. I also did not purchase any new Christmas wrapping paper because I have so many Christmas bags and containers. 

I also got rid of two old t-shirts. 
So, that's only 6 items gone, but better than nothing. 

I have probably 75% of the Christmas decorations put away--another delay due to the flu. 

[Sharon]

I haven't done much this weekend, other than play a lot of solitaire.  Today I did get the Christmas tree in the living room down, did a couple loads of laundry, and emptied the dishwasher.

[moneysquirrel]

Another one who did not get much done this weekend.  Watched a lot of YT videos as well as football.  I did get a load of laundry done this morning and it included some of the Christmas towels.  Those have been packed away for future but still have a lot of items to get to but my usual goal to be finished is January 7th.  I will pick up a few items each day until them.  Mainly had leftovers for dinner today as I needed to use up several items.  Ran the wet swiffer over the floor as I spilled and had footprints as evidence of the spills.

I have added a few more items to the donation bags.  Pickup is Tuesday.  I did get the 2024 spreadsheet setup 95% finished.  Will need to check a few bank accounts to get start of year balances as interest will be added on December 31 for some of them. And I like to be accurate.

Fireworks have begun so I will not get much sleep until late tonight.  Will see you on the 2024 thread!

[startsmart]

Had a productive final day of 2023! I mopped the living room which involved moving most of the furniture. I put one chair in the office and rearranged the living room too. I may not keep it forever but I do this a lot and enjoy it.

Cleaned my Keurig, worked on my bullet journal, sewed, watched a few movies and organized my dvd cabinet. I still have a lot of physical copy dvds and I worked on the labels for the large cd holders I keep them in. Also dusted the cabinet which was very dusty and need to figure out how to add a shelf back to the unit.

See y’all on the 2024 thread and thank you for sharing and posting all year with us!

[haapai]

I'm doing a modified version of the 12-12-12 de-cluttering plan.  The idea is to find 12 things to throw out, 12 things to donate and 12 things to put away and repeat as needed.  I've jettisoned the donating part and just concentrated on throwing out and putting away. 

I either threw out or put away 76 things on Wednesday and 105 things yesterday.  This says bad things about my housekeeping but I'm thrilled with the results.  It is absolutely amazing to see clear surfaces emerging and piles of work disappearing.