What did you declutter today? Part II

[disneysteve]

Am I correct in noting the latest GW donation boxes didn't clutter the living rm?

Yes. 5 of 6 boxes were packed in the garage so there was no reason they would have ended up in the living room. The 6th was packed this morning and taken right out. So I'm not sure that was really such a big accomplishment. The previous boxes were packed with stuff from the basement and around the house which is why they sat in the house until I got those to Goodwill. I have two more boxes that I will take over tomorrow from the garage. That will then free up a patch of floorspace in there and make it easier to dig back to the next level of stuff in there that needs to be dealt with. I'm quite sure I can pack up many more boxes from the garage as I work my way through that.

[My English Castle]

I've been busy but have managed to declutter some of my student files. Oh, and I combined some containers of Romano in the fridge. More later in the week!

[disneysteve]

I went in the garage and packed up another carton full of stuff for Goodwill - some housewares, toys, stuffed animals, etc. I took that box and the two already packed boxes over and donated them. I think that brings my total to 10 boxes and 1 bag of clothes that I've given away since starting my original decluttering thread.

We will be out of town until Saturday so nothing will get done in the house for a few days. I will have my computer along so I'll try and clean up some files on there and in my e-mail while we're away.

[marvholly]

I have been feeling remiss but I have decided my preferred approach is 1-2x/week for a dedicated, significant effort vs. the 15 min/day some have chosen.

I have been ‘promising’ myself to hit up the built in bar in my basement, wash the shelves and to re-organize my food & cleaning stuff stockpile for >2 weeks. Hit it this morning. Spent 1:40 hr + trips to trash & recycle bins. I probably still have >1 hour work to still do.

I move 11 items upstairs into use this stuff
I trashed/recycled 6 items
I put 3 items aside to give a friend this weekend
I put 10 items in the donate box

This totals 30 pieces toward my goal of 100 this month. I did NOT count each pc of trash, golf ball, disposable flatware…….but counted the bag/box as 1.

I have a stockpile of WAAAY more than I need for 6 months of pasta, diced tomatoes, can tuna, alum foil & salad dressing. This does NOT include personal care or health items. Those are in other parts 0f the house.

After all this I decided I ‘deserved’ a better lunch than my meal plan so I used a frozen, lean meal from my freezer. If I was not going to a seminar w/a FREE lunch Thur, I prob would have treated myself to a meal out.

[disneysteve]

my preferred approach is 1-2x/week for a dedicated, significant effort vs. the 15 min/day some have chosen.

Everybody's schedule is different so what works for me may not work for others. Personally, as I've posted, there are some days when even the one thing a day is a stretch for me, like when I'm in the office for 11 hours and then go straight to a meeting before finally coming home 15 hours after I left. I'm always able to find something to do whether at home, at the office or in my car to reduce clutter by at least one item, but certainly, I don't get any huge sense of accomplishment from those days as compared to the days when I spend an hour in the basement or garage and make a clearly visible difference in the space I'm working on. I like those days better, but I know that for me, if I left it to the days when I had the time and energy to do the bigger block of time, I'd fall out of the habit and slack off.

The best way to do it is the way that works best for you.

[disneysteve]

Where is everybody? I'm out of town but what about the rest of you? Any decluttering going on out there?

Usually when we go away, within 30 minutes of checking into our hotel room, the place looks like a cyclone went through it. Not this time. We've all done a good job of keeping the room pretty orderly. No dirty clothes lying around. No papers strewn all over the desk or table. The only stuff out is the stuff that needs to be out. We switched hotels this morning and packing up was a snap since there wasn't stuff spread all over the place.

[My English Castle]

Only Papers!

I'm still here, Steve. It's midterm and I've decluttered four students from my course lists. And I've decluttered a bunch of student papers with more to come over the weekend. More to come over the weekend--just really busy.

[disneysteve]

We're home from our trip. I've already put one suitcase back in the garage and hopefully will get the other 2 away by the end of the night.

I've recycled a bunch of papers and brochures that accumulate during our travels that I don't need and put a couple of guides I want to keep on our travel shelf.

I also just listed 2 items on ebay. Since there is no listing fee now, I want to put a few items on and see what happens. If they don't sell, it won't have cost me anything but a little of my time.

[marvholly]

I do like whole wheat/whole grain pasta and often use BUT tried a different brand last nite. Did NOT like. Trashing the open box & mover other 2 boxes of this brand to donate box.

[My English Castle]

I decluttered a bunch of hotel soaps to the food shelf basket at church. We have SO much soap; I much prefer shower gel, but I'm happy to get them out of my bathroom drawer. A bunch of papers also hit the recycling bin and I'm eager to use up bits of things in the fridge.

[marvholly]

I have just realized I tend to do most of my declutter stuff on Mon & Thur. This is prob for 2 reasons: 1) I am generally home those days, 2) trash pickup is Tue & Fri.

That blouse I ‘found’ last week in the basement is NOT a real use item. Washed it this am and discovered why it was out of my closet: It is 100% cotton & requires ironing. Not sure if it will be a house chores item or a donate it. Put w/ house chores clothes for now.

While waiting for my washer to fill this am I found a couple things in that area that I moved to where they REALLY get used, put in the resale box or tossed. When I went down to the basement to get my fish fillet for dinner from that freezer I found a radio that I discovered did NOT work. Total tossed: 3. Total moved to use: 2. So Declutter so far is 5 for today.

Since I am a 2x/week person I will try to do more but I am NOT adjusted to the time change and need a nap after getting up SOOO early.

[disneysteve]

This morning, I tossed a bunch of receipts that had accumulated from our travels this past week. I'll be out late today and tomorrow so probably won't have time for too much else but I'm always on the lookout for the little things and trying to prevent new clutter from forming.

[My English Castle]

Papers, papers, and more papers.
I handed some back to students, recycled other papers, and went through mail.
And then there's that catalogs--out they went!

[disneysteve]

Worked on cleaning up some old emails. My inbox was up to 90 this morning. I've got it down to 55 right now and should knock out a few more before I'm done this evening.

[snafu]

De-clutter Challenge: Take Stock OF Socks! Dump your sock box/drawer...toss dingy, discolored, holey, orphaned, scratchy,stretched, tatty, uncomfortable/inappropriate socks/hosiery. Return the socks you'll wear to drawer. Should you need to buy replacements, add to shopping list. If you have a surplus, I hope you'll donate to a shelter.