What did you declutter today? Part II

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I have saved every egg carton purchased for the last fourteen years in order to pass them on to some one who has laying chickens. I have let them accumulate for too long at a stretch. Once I checked the price on new cartons. A person who needs fewer than thousands at a time, pays as much as $0.25 each. So the recipient of these may be saving saving $21. And I get to know that this styrofoam has found another use or two rather than go straight to the landfill.

I found out about the re-use of egg cartons at our downtown farmers' market. I understand some farmers will give you free eggs in exchange for a reasonable number of cartons. But I don't go to that market.

[disneysteve]

I have saved every egg carton purchased for the last fourteen years in order to pass them on to some one who has laying chickens.

A person who needs fewer than thousands at a time, pays as much as $0.25 each. So the recipient of these may be saving saving $21. And I get to know that this styrofoam has found another use or two rather than go straight to the landfill.

That's great. Good for you.

[marvholly]

Looks like everyone is busy shopping/prepping for the holiday.

We also had another 'issue' w/my Dad. He had a fall late Mon evve & was back in the ER. No major damage but he has been informed (& informed & informed again) that the next time it happens its either a FT aide or a skilled facility. Pop is NOT happy.

[disneysteve]

Didn't do very much yesterday as I was busy getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner though I still did some general tidying up. And our daughter did a good amount of decluttering on her own which was nice.

Today, I took aim at the cabinet where we keep our cookbooks. When we went to it the other day to decide what we were having for dinner last night, I realized what a mess it had become. The books were so crammed in there that we couldn't even close the door all the way. I took everything out today and, working with DW, removed about 15 books that we simply never use and don't ever expect to use. Those got boxed up and will go to Goodwill this week.

What remained got put back and sorted on the shelves.

The last piece of cleaning that cabinet will take some time. We have several dozen back issues of Vegetarian Times, Cooks Illustrated and a couple other magazines that we've saved over the years. We need to go through them one by one, take out recipes we might actually make and discard the rest of the magazine. I went through a few issues today but plan to work on that from time to time. It is the perfect task to do while watching TV in the evening so I'll try to keep that in mind.

[snafu]

Big pat-on-the-back to DD who did 'a' good deal of decluttering' on her own. You're great for following through, even on Thanksgiving. Vegetarian Times has several on-line sites: Vegetarian Times Recipes - TasteBook I had a whole shelf of cookbooks until I realized that I was choosing on-line sources as food preparation has changed significantly. We hardly use sugar or fat [butter, marg. corn oil, Crisco] and opt for healthier,less artery clogging ingredients.

To solve the problem of finding recipes cut from magazines, it helps to date these, slip them into plastic page protectors and corral in a 3 ring binder. A set of cheapy dividers controls categories. I toss those not made in a year or something new that didn't go over well, so I can re-use the page protectors. The binder morphed into the holding spot for Big Hits. From time to time 'clean kitchen cupboards' comes up on the chore list. I chose to pack away all but 7 cookbooks as an experiment as I could always retrieve a book from the box in the laundry rm. Several months later I had only taken one back. Before delivering the box to GW I pulled out my mom's original Betty Crocker book mostly for sentimental value and a beautiful Coffee table book of International Cuisine.

[Aleta]

I just can't get rid of my Betty Crocker cookbook even though it is falling apart. I constantly go back to it because it has so many different categories such as freezing and canning. I do have to go through my books as well. I still have some of my home-ec cookbooks from Jr. high. That is next on my list. Check out the prices of these books online before discarding them. I have picked up some valuable books at yard sales. Good idea about only keeping so many cookbooks in the kitchen snafu

[disneysteve]

The last piece of cleaning that cabinet will take some time. We have several dozen back issues of Vegetarian Times, Cooks Illustrated and a couple other magazines that we've saved over the years. We need to go through them one by one, take out recipes we might actually make and discard the rest of the magazine.

I had a whole shelf of cookbooks until I realized that I was choosing on-line sources

We typically go to the web first when looking for a recipe today. However, the problem with online sources is that you need to have some idea what you are looking for. If you just want to browse for inspiration, cookbooks are still the best. You can stumble across something that you never would have gone searching for specifically.

I wanted to post a follow-up to yesterday's report. For some reason, DD particularly enjoyed the activity of pulling out the staples from the Veggie Times issues and removing the pages we want to keep. When we got home this afternoon, she took it upon herself to go do that and got through another 8 or 10 issues. I told her she was making me look bad.

As for me, I just spent some time updating one of the medical survey programs I do each month. That cleared a bunch of my notes and product information handouts I was saving for that purpose.

[disneysteve]

Finally got down to some real decluttering today. I've been doing a fairly good job of addressing new clutter like mail, newspapers, laundry, etc., but in a way, I didn't really count that because it wasn't getting the house any cleaner. It wasn't removing stuff that was already here that was no longer needed.

After lunch, I spent about 75 minutes in the basement. I worked in the area where I keep all my ebay stock. I condensed several partially filled boxes, gathered a bunch of packing material in one box, threw out various bags, damaged items and such and ended up with two large carton boxes filled with papers and broken down boxes to recycle. Those are now in the garage and will go out on Wednesday night (one will go out this week. Won't have room to put out both).

DD also spent a fair amount of time today working on more of the cooking magazines and got through about 3 dozen issues, filling the recycling bin with unneeded pages from the magazines and very nicely condensing the pile that remains.

[snafu]

Great progress in the basement! Would you find it helpful to have a 'packing station' for e-bay sales? Any flat surface or wide shelf might be a starting point. Perhaps it would be practical have a line of cartons holding shipping supplies like flat fold boxes, foam peanuts, bubble wrap, brown paper roll, box cutter, scissors, security/Kraft envelopes, packing tape dispenser, labels, Sharpies, twine, weight scale, tape measure etc.

[Aleta]

Disney Steve: The way I look at it is that if you target the items that are coming into your house, it is considered decluttering. If you let it pile up - it will definitely be clutter. I try to stay on top of the things that made the clutter for me. You're doing a great job.

[disneysteve]

The way I look at it is that if you target the items that are coming into your house, it is considered decluttering. If you let it pile up - it will definitely be clutter. I try to stay on top of the things that made the clutter for me.

I know it is important going forward to try and keep new clutter from forming. When I started this challenge, though, I was (and still am) much more concerned about and focused on eliminating existing clutter, stuff that has been sitting around for months and years, not days. That is really our big problem. If we never allow another piece of clutter to come into the house, that would be great, but we'd still be no better off than we are today unless we also eliminate existing clutter.

So I count getting rid of incoming stuff as an accomplishment, just not nearly as much as getting rid of something already here. That's what creates the visible progress and starts making the rooms look cleaner and more open. I don't want to just hold steady. I want to advance, and we are. Our computer room, my dresser, the basement and even the garage are all noticeably less cluttered since I started the original thread.

[snafu]

DS: Happy Holiday, Chanukah [sp?]. If it's your family custom to celebrate with family and friends in your home, I hope all your work has eliminated the stress of clearing flat surfaces. Any concerns about snoopy people who open all the drawers and cupboards in the bathroom?

You've done a lot of work in the garage, I know you don't cope with our outrageous snow and temperatures but will both vehicles fit to stay clear of snow? We're enjoying a Chinook this week, a respite from -27C which causes tires to freeze square.

[marvholly]

I am with DS on both NOT allowing new clutter & eliminating my 30+ year collection. I have a LONG way to go.

Over the past 4-6 weeks I let my kitchen table & work counter become a disaster.
Sun I did 3 magazines I had ‘saved’ and clipped 3 recipes I wanted. I now have 12 recipes in my to try group and recycled the remaining magazines.

I went over ALL the other papers: filed some, recycled some and grouped the rest. Now I have 2 groups: A=recipes, calendar, phone calls; B=notepads, post-its, calculator.

I made 2 of the recipes Tue. First is just ok (cranberry/cream cheese nut muffins). Not sure if I will make again. Second recipe is a keeper (pumpkin/cranberry/nut bread). These will make a nice change for breakfast or be a reasonably healthy snack/sweet treat. This also cleared my work counter, as the ingredients were stacked there.

It’s been chilly & damp here and while I had planned on cottage & pasta w/ a salad for dinner, I am feeling in a chili mood. I have everything I need on hand and should really should be making as the bell pepper is near the end of a reasonable life. Got hungry so chili will be for Wed.

Got my mail versions of the new ads. Reviewed all mail, wrote list & recycled.

Put a 3 things in the donate box.

[disneysteve]

DS: Happy Holiday, Chanukah

Thank you.

You've done a lot of work in the garage, I know you don't cope with our outrageous snow and temperatures but will both vehicles fit to stay clear of snow?

Hopefully, we won't experience a repeat of the record-setting snowfall we had last winter. I believe we received more snow last year than most of the north.

As for the garage, we have never put our car in there. It has always been strictly for storage. After experiencing a car fire in our driveway about 10 years ago, we most certainly never will. Had the car been in the garage at the time, we would have lost our house.

[snafu]

marvholly: good on you for continuing to focus on eliminating your accumulation of items you no longer use or love. This is a good time to consider your criteria for an end-of-the-year clear out of old paperwork no longer needed[kind'a the same principle as yesterday's newspaper goes to recycle].
The easiest way to keep kitchen under control is by putting all ingredients away, all utensils & pots to soak in hot soapy water, before the food goes to the table. The added benefit is how fast and easy it makes after dinner clean-up.

DS: When balanced against our level of below zero temperatures and snow, the risk of non arson garage fires isn't on the radar. No wish to change your perception but you might check with your local fire dept and insurance agent to determine the level of risk should el nina cause the snow storms we are told to expect.