For my decluttering Friends.

casuallady · ‎03-09-2010

We were on vacation, so my decluttering was on hold for a few weeks. Today, hubby went fishing and I went through my closet and many of my dresser drawers. I thought since I had cut back on my clothes shopping there would be a lot less for Goodwill. Guess what, I took out a huge garbage bag of clothes. I will drop them tomorrow.

I did a little shopping before vacation, and while on vacation to freshen my wardrobe. I got 3 tops at Talbots (one at the reg. store and 2 at the outlets), a hoodie and top at Kohls, khaki shorts at Talbots, a lace Liz top for QVC that I loved but sent back for a smaller size)a bracelet and a cross. I should be pretty much done for the spring/summer.

I used all huggable hangers, and took out the plastic ones for when I run out. The drawers and closet look really nice. I am hopping my hubby will go through his stuff. He bought nice T-shirts last summer, and a new one at the Masters. He has lots of shorts,..

I also through out a bunch of space bags that are now brittle.

I have started working on our budget again. I posted on another site that I am now coloring my own hair, for about a $70.00 savings a month.

I would like to cut back on my cell phone bill, and eating out/groceries.

Looking for creative ideas to downsize within our home. I think hubby will work on the garage and shed. Its fun to clean out. Our life seems to run so much smoother, and we are home from vacation with our cards paid. I will pay the last on Wednesday. I love having a bank credit card that I don't have to wait for the bill, just pay as I go.

twinny70 · ‎07-03-2012

casualady, My DH & I decluttered our home in Jan & Feb. as it was just too cold to be outside unless absolutely necessary. We started with our file cabinet. We had stuff in there that was over 40 years old--we celebrated our 44th anniversary in March. Then we went to my sewing room/computer room. We went through a 4 drawer chest of drawers & took to St. Vincent's a large garbage bag full of clothes that our 13 year old GS used when he was sizes 1-6) The other DGS & DGD didn't use them as much. Then I took a good sized bag of craft paints, glues, books etc. to the same place. It was amazing at how much stuff we had in drawers that were not visible to the eye. Thank goodness. I love to declutter our home & DH is good about helping me too. When we buy new clothes, we always take something out of the closet so it doesn't get overbearing for us. Two years ago next month, I did a huge declutter in our kitchen. There are only two of us as our DD is married as is our DS, so we don't need that many pots, pans, casserole dishes etc anymore. It is a good thing I did declutter as right afterwards we took off for the East coast for three weeks & when we got back home, something under the kitchen sink had leaked & we had a huge water mess. We have an open concept home which we absolutely love, but we had to replace all of the Vinyl, carpeting,padding & the entire kitchen cupboards & island. It took us two months to get our lives back together again. I shed many tears during the process, but the insurance company was great so that made things go quite smoothly. After our decluttering my DH said "gee it looks so nice around here." Neither of us are pack rats so that is good too.

marky · ‎03-10-2010

So proud for you. I know you must feel so free. I have been de-cluttering today. I have used a spare room to put everything from all the other rooms as I clean. Now I have to tackle that mess. I have decided that I am a hoarder. I have way too many candles, beauty products, soaps, and other things. I vow not to buy anything else. I also tend to buy too many grocery items. I am trying not to buy things until I run out as I have a tendency to buy multiples of things. This creates a storage problem.

I also had to clean out my mother and father's home, after mom's death recently. I kept several things and I still need to go through a lot of papers and keepsakes. It is so hard to keep ahead of all the mess since I work M-F and am still grieving over my mother.

Thanks for sharing about your success and the fun you had on vacation. I look forward to being able to have that freedom in the not-too-distant future.

aprilskies · ‎03-09-2010

This is so timely. I just decided myself to go through my clothes again. I just don't reach for certain things so there is no point In keeping them around. After getting rid of so many clothes, I thought I was done for now but I think I am ready to take another stab at it. It does feel so good when things look clean, streamlined and manageable.

AuntG · ‎03-09-2010

Keep plugging away. Sometimes I think those space bags and plastic storage containers make things worse. I've tossed all but eight storage containers that I use to hold holiday decorations (I put a few things out for all the holidays, but the majority are for Christmas decorations).

twinny70 · ‎07-03-2012

Marky, So sorry to hear about your loss. My mom is 93 years old. so I will probably have to do what you are doing some day too. DH & I are retired so that makes decluttering that much easier. If you plan to retire in the near future, let me tell you that "retirement" is the best job in the world.

Aprilskies, Yes it is nice to open a closet & see something that looks nice & neatly organized.

AuntG, I took lots of Christmas things to our resale shop too. I did a different theme this year than the one I started 19 years ago. It was so good to see all new things again.

pattypeep · ‎06-06-2011

Doesn't it feel good? I did it when I retired and it's time to do some more, I think. When I reorganized my drawers, I used shoe boxes as dividers in the drawers for my socks and underwear. I don't fold those slippery undies, so now they go in their own box and my drawer doesn't look so messy. I know you can buy dividers for drawers, but I read about the shoe boxes one day and had several, so why not? I converted every one of our closets over using huggable hangers. Nothing makes the closet look better and adds more room than those awesome hangers.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea-Robert A. Heinlein

springers · ‎03-09-2010

Casuallady, you mentioned debt free site, can I ask which one. I have been listening to Dave Ramsey, hearing the stories helps me watch my spending.

sarpy · ‎03-10-2010

We have been cleaning out our house too. We bought our cemetery lots 14 yrs. ago and this yr. with our tax refund we bought our tomestone. Gave my sewing machine and the wood cabinet to a relative. Bought a new chest of drawers for my sweaters that are now in those plastic cabinets that you get at any big box store. Having a new dishwasher installed next week. Having our handyman painting our front door and having all our flower beds fixed with new mulch. We cleaned out our house the last two years and I think we are ready to go. (if you get my drift). LOL wink, wink.

sarpy · ‎03-10-2010

springers: We stumble onto Dave Ramsey 50 yrs. ago. I know he probably isn't that old, but we put cash in envelopes and when it was gone it was gone. Worked for us and the only debt we have been in is for a mortgage. Paid cash for cars, 2 kids college. They graduated debt free. They are happier and we are happier for it. Just follow Dave Ramsey's advice, it works.