2017 Decluttering thread

[HundredK]

Wow Steve,that is great! Well done!

[StormRichards]

I've decided that I want the new rule to be that nothing "lives" on the floor unless that's actually the appropriate place for it.

I would really like to implement this rule in our house. I think I am going to discuss it with DH this week. Need him to buy into it for it to be effective.

[msomnipotent]

Well, I only did one shelf in the pantry and part of the laundry room, but I got the master bathroom done. It is amazing how those free samples from Ulta pile up. I also decluttered one of my armoires and declined to renew a magazine I had been subscribing to for years. Oddly, I felt a bit sad about it but I need to cut down on the mags. Speaking of which, I found another box of magazines I was saving for who know what while I was digging out my grandmother's tea set in the basement, so those were tossed into the recycling.

And now that I only did a little bit here and there all over the house, there is junk everywhere. I feel like Sanford and Son.

[disneysteve]

I would really like to implement this rule in our house. I think I am going to discuss it with DH this week. Need him to buy into it for it to be effective.

Looking around our house, it's a big problem. And it makes such a huge difference visually when we clean up even a small area of floor space. The floor around my dresser now looks great. My daughter walked into our room this morning and the first thing she said was how much different it looked there.

I'm going to work in the computer room now. I want to go through the shelf that has notebooks, pads, and folders. I cleaned it off a while ago but have seen that I still haven't used any of the stuff that I saved so I'm probably going to get rid of almost all of it. I have a crate of sheet music (I play the piano and DW sings in the choir) on the floor next to the electric piano. If I can get that moved onto a shelf, that will be my success for the day.

[msomnipotent]

Except for the master bedroom, there isn't anything on our floors. I have everything in boxes, files cabinets, and drawers. My problem is that everything looks worse when I declutter because I just don't have the ability to finish a project. I either get bored or someone needs something.

[disneysteve]

I'm going to work in the computer room now. I want to go through the shelf that has notebooks, pads, and folders.
I have a crate of sheet music (I play the piano and DW sings in the choir) on the floor next to the electric piano. If I can get that moved onto a shelf, that will be my success for the day.

Mission accomplished. I got rid of about 20 folders, 6 clipboards, seven 3-ring binders, and a bunch of assorted paper, binder dividers, and other related stuff. That allowed me to condense what had occupied two shelves onto one and I was able to put all of the sheet music from the crate on the floor onto the newly emptied shelf. So the crate is gone and that area of floor is now clear.

[Thrif-t]

I organized our bathroom linen closet. Everything is now neatly in one of 4 baskets. We have a ton of sample tooth pastes we get from the dentist. We never use them, I don't know why? But I took them all out of their little boxes and put them all in a basket in the closet. I'll make sure when the big tube is done to start putting out these little ones to use up. With 5 people getting sample tooth paste from the dentist twice a year and never using them they add up. But at least stuff is organized in there now. Not sure how long it will stay that way with kids in the house

[disneysteve]

We have a ton of sample tooth pastes we get from the dentist. We never use them, I don't know why?

We never use them either because it isn't the brand we use personally. There is almost always a collection of toiletry items going on at our temple for either the military or a local shelter so I just donate them there.

[StormRichards]

We never use them either because it isn't the brand we use personally. There is almost always a collection of toiletry items going on at our temple for either the military or a local shelter so I just donate them there.

Definitely a great idea for unloading unwanted toothpaste samples.

Not how we handle them though. We do have a preference for our daily use toothpaste, but we will take and use any brand travel size when we go on vacations.

[creditcardfree]

I organized our bathroom linen closet. Everything is now neatly in one of 4 baskets. We have a ton of sample tooth pastes we get from the dentist. We never use them, I don't know why? But I took them all out of their little boxes and put them all in a basket in the closet. I'll make sure when the big tube is done to start putting out these little ones to use up. With 5 people getting sample tooth paste from the dentist twice a year and never using them they add up. But at least stuff is organized in there now. Not sure how long it will stay that way with kids in the house

Just a thought for the future. You could refuse the samples from the dentist.

[disneysteve]

Just a thought for the future. You could refuse the samples from the dentist.

I really need to start doing that. We never use them. We use the toothbrush but not the toothpaste, floss, or mouthwash.

[StormRichards]

Just a thought for the future. You could refuse the samples from the dentist.

[disneysteve]

Did a little more floor cleaning in the computer room.

Got a few things moved to the "donate" pile.
Decided to recycle a "textbook" that we've tried to sell a few times unsuccessfully. It is only for a course at my daughter's school and she's been unable to sell it on campus. Can't sell it online.
Listed one item on ebay.

All in all, a productive day.

[Thrif-t]

Just a thought for the future. You could refuse the samples from the dentist.

Ha! No we need to use them. They're colgate and that's the brand we use but for some reason they get throw in this drawer or that and a big tube gets put out and that's whats used. If I put out the little tubes they'll use those, I just never put them out. I'm making it my resolution from this day forward to use those pesky samples and save myself a few bucks on not buying the big tubes

[HundredK]

Our quest for minimalism has been going amazingly well. I will post more about the exact numbers when I am in front of my spreadsheet, but if I recall correctly, we are on track to donate or sell about 55% of our belongings. It may end up being more when all is said and done. Funny thing though... we minimized our clothing so we will have just enough to wear for a week and nothing more. The next day... our washing machine died, and it will be a week and a half before the new one arrives. Kind of made me giggle... a trip to the laundromat will be in order. Ah well, it honestly makes me think of how fortunate we are. Even going down to what we feel is the bare minimum, there are still alternatives to buying new stuff when things don't go according to plan.