What did you declutter today? Part II

[marvholly]

Put another item in the donate bin and a shot aluminum pan in the recycle bin.

[disneysteve]

Spent about an hour in the basement, which I've neglected the past couple of weeks. Discovered that a couple of large boxes on the shelves did not contain what I thought they did. One just had a couple of items and was otherwise empty. The other, the largest box down there, just had some packing materials like packing peanuts, bubble wrap and tissue paper. I recycled a bunch of cardboard that was in there and consolidated the rest with like items elsewhere. That cleared off a big chunk of shelf space. I finished up my cleaning session by consolidating and rearranging some stuff on the shelves in a much more compact way.

[disneysteve]

Did a few assorted things today. I went through a bunch of mail and magazines on the kitchen table and nearby. A lot of stuff got recycled from that pile. I also went through a bunch of newspapers, clipped some coupons and recycled a stack of stuff from there.

We have a total of 7 computers in the house, only 3 of which are in current use. The other 4 - 3 desktops and 1 laptop - are old, outdated models that we haven't used for years. I opened up the oldest of the bunch, our very first Mac from 1994, and removed the hard drive to destroy later and I hauled the rest down to the garage to take for recycling. That computer has occupied a space on the floor of our home office for probably 6 years or so.

Once I removed that computer, I also took a few minutes to go through a small Rubbermaid container of assorted stuff that was sitting next to the computer. That contained some trash, some give away items and a few keepers. The container itself is now empty and in the basement with other storage containers.

Getting rid of that computer was a biggie for me. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll deal with the next oldest which has occupied one of 3 desks in the room and has not been touched for ages. Getting rid of that will give us a nice extra desk in the house which I'm sure will come in handy.

[minnie1928]

Did a few assorted things today. I went through a bunch of mail and magazines on the kitchen table and nearby. A lot of stuff got recycled from that pile. I also went through a bunch of newspapers, clipped some coupons and recycled a stack of stuff from there.

We have a total of 7 computers in the house, only 3 of which are in current use. The other 4 - 3 desktops and 1 laptop - are old, outdated models that we haven't used for years. I opened up the oldest of the bunch, our very first Mac from 1994, and removed the hard drive to destroy later and I hauled the rest down to the garage to take for recycling. That computer has occupied a space on the floor of our home office for probably 6 years or so.

Once I removed that computer, I also took a few minutes to go through a small Rubbermaid container of assorted stuff that was sitting next to the computer. That contained some trash, some give away items and a few keepers. The container itself is now empty and in the basement with other storage containers.

Getting rid of that computer was a biggie for me. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll deal with the next oldest which has occupied one of 3 desks in the room and has not been touched for ages. Getting rid of that will give us a nice extra desk in the house which I'm sure will come in handy.

We have 3 computers that we need to get rid of, I'm thinking of trying to free cycle the monitors. Then I'll have my husband strip out the hard drives so we can recycle the remaining pieces. Once they are all gone that will free up a good bit of floor space.

[marvholly]

My task for this morning is done. I promised myself I would organize & put away all the rolls of wrapping paper, tissue, gift bags & gift tags. I repurposed a plastic waste can for the rolls of paper. DD1 bought a dedicated Rubbermaid bin for this. I like my method better. I also discovered I do NOT need the Christmas wrap & tags I thought I did. I can avoid the madhouse at 50% off & returns this week.

While I was putting away the waste can I found another pile of late DH’s dress & sport shirts. I have moved 5 to the pile for the fancy (we only take designer stuff) resale shop. I will not count these as decluttered until I actually take them in.

[krantcents]

Since Disney Steve's decluttering threat seems to have vaporized (Jeffrey and Nate are on the job looking for it), I thought I'd start another one. I NEED the accountability and the sense of accomplishment DS's thread provided.
So--since Monday I've decluttered 16 books, some to friends, and 8 to freecyclers.
Today DD's outgrown dollhouse went to a woman doing children's play therapy in the inner city.

Everyone else?

This is the time of year, I clean out my files to set up next year's. Today, I not only did that, I started shredding the old files (over 7 years old). I feel like I accomplished something today! Hooray!!!!

[disneysteve]

Perhaps tomorrow, I'll deal with the next oldest which has occupied one of 3 desks in the room and has not been touched for ages. Getting rid of that will give us a nice extra desk in the house which I'm sure will come in handy.

Wow. Mission accomplished. I just got back from Goodwill where I dropped off:

1 one-piece computer (built in monitor)
1 computer monitor
2 computer printers
1 computer scanner

I also trashed one computer. I basically destroyed it while removing the hard drive (got impatient ) and it wasn't in any condition to donate by the time I was done.

All of that came out of our home office/computer room. The one-piece and one printer were on the floor. The other items were on the desk. None of it had been used literally for years. Now, it can either find a new home or get recycled but it is outta here!

[snafu]

DS: Wonderful to get computers, monitors, printers that are no longer needed and enjoyed out of the home office and gone from your home. Someone else will be able to enjoy your blessing. Your county likely has an Electronic Recycling Depot for equipment like laptop, circuit boards, cables, wiring, tower, and electronics unsuitable for donation. Kudos for working so hard to free up space and make time spent in your home office more pleasant. Marvelous staying current on paper control.

As gifts are being put away, it's painless to remove the items they are replacing. If you're successful with yard/tag sales, it helps to set up a dedicated storage area for your 1st sale in April. Perhaps you can encourage neighbors to join-in to create a 'block' sale. That's very popular here Mother's Day weekend. If you're not the yard sell type, you still have time for tax deduction donations.

Like krantc, many of us are setting up new files for 2011. Based on your personal experience, dump old files and papers that don't have legal, investment or tax consequences. Much of the information we clip and collect is quickly out-dated and easily available on internet. It helps to establish a criteria for retained paperwork. For example, materials not referred to in 3 yrs., are a likely target. I hate filing so before retaining papers, I ask myself 'what's the worst thing that could happen if this paper/article/research went to recycle?' Keep file drawers easy to access, not crammed, jammed full so the system stays user friendly basic. Even DH and DKs can find the receipt, tax or medical record etc. they need.

[snafu]

Our newscasts are totally focussed on the East Coast. I don't know NJ weather but it seems to have captured the weather we're usually coping with! Stay safe one and all, even buses are landing in the ditch. It took 10 hours to recover the passengers.

[disneysteve]

Our newscasts are totally focussed on the East Coast. I don't know NJ weather but it seems to have captured the weather we're usually coping with! Stay safe one and all, even buses are landing in the ditch. It took 10 hours to recover the passengers.

NJ reporting in. We got hit with about a foot of snow yesterday into early morning today. They actually postponed the Eagles/Vikings game due to snow, something that is almost unheard of in football. Thousands of flights have been cancelled up and down the eastern seaboard. Train service was shut down. Public transit too. States of emergency were declared in at least 6 states, I believe.

I did go to my office today though I only saw 3 patients. I took care of a lot of messages, though. I'm back home now. I only kept the office open until about 1pm.

[disneysteve]

Packed two trash bags of clothes to take to Goodwill and catalogued everything for taxes.
Listed 3 books for sale online.
Got a couple of boxes in the bedroom into the recycling bin.

[creditcardfree]

Don't forget: Take your charity donations in today or tomorrow and get a receipt, if you itemize!

[disneysteve]

I realized I hadn't posted for a few days.

Cleaned up my one desk drawer at work some more today, getting numerous papers into the recycling pile.
The past couple of days I've done some more work in our computer room.

My daughter has spent some of her winter break time working in her room and has given me several items to sell and donate.

I also sold 2 books this week on half.com.

And now that I've actually made some space in the computer room, she has started working on her pile of scrapbooking supplies that occupies the center of the room. What we talked about doing is having the desk that used to have the old computer on it now be her work station for scrapbooking or whatever she'd like so she's moving in that direction.

My daughter was funny the other day. She came into the room and walked over where the one computer had been on the floor and said, "I don't think I've ever walked on this section of carpet in my life." Since that computer had been there for many years, she probably doesn't remember it ever not being there.

[snafu]

Great! an unused computer desk will be re-purposed as a scrap-booking workstation and supply centre that DD can use and enjoy.
A new year is often the time to reassess how your home works for you. When paper floods your home, it causes tension, conflict and frustration if an important document is lost or a bill acquires late fees forgotten under a pile. Opportunities are missed when DKs permission slips miss deadlines. When something comes in you plan to deal with it later but what if it gets mixed with magazines or catalogues stacked on the counter, desk, table or cubby due to the never ending flow of ads.

The point is to have a system for papers so that you only keep what you need...find everything you need...when you need it. Get everything done when it's due is the goal.

[disneysteve]

Great! an unused computer desk will be re-purposed as a scrap-booking workstation and supply centre that DD can use and enjoy.

Oops. That wasn't clear. The scrap-booking stuff is for DW, not DD. I left that out of my post somehow.