Beauty

[queendiva]

Many years ago, when I was a newlywed, a colleague told me her simple secret for keeping things tidy around the house: never go up or down the stairs empty handed. To that end I keep a basket at the bottom of the stairs and a table near the top to collect items that need to be moved up or down. Anything to go to the basement is left by the door for DS to take down to the man cave and storage area. Saves steps and really helps.

Sorting through a box or drawer daily while watching TV is also a painless way to stay on top of the clutter, especially during the winter months. Once I complete one drawer/box, I am often motivated to do another right away. (Almost) instant gratification!

[DrKelli]

queendiva--I do that too--but I just put the item on the stairs. Usually it is just mail that needs to be shredded, but when it is just sitting there on the steps, it gets upstairs much more quickly.

[Snicks1]

I am a firm believer in ""never go up or down stairs empty handed"". Been doing that for years. Things get put away much quicker that way.

[Jolexi]

Good morning all!

I'm glad to hear all of you have made such strides in your goals this past week. I didn't do as much this past weekend as I'd intended, but I did do a second sweep of each room, and ended up adding items to each box/bag that I have allocated for the pending pickup in a few weeks from SA. My focus this weekend, is to tackle the desktop computer, clearing and wiping the harddrive since that particular desktop has not been in use for quite some time, and we all have out own personal laptops and such we work on. It's just a space hogging item, and if I get rid of that desktop, I may just get rid of the computer cart it sits on, and just reorganize my office up a bit differently. I haven't really decided, but it would definitely make my office more spacious than it currently is.

In addition to the desktop, I also have to go through my files and the paperwork. I've been putting that off, because that's more geared toward the shredding and destruction part of my decluttering attempts, and right now I've been solely focused on repurposing, recycling, donating, and reorganizing. The file cabinet is my main hub where all the paperwork ends up, so it should be fairly easy to locate everything and just get rid of all the extra. Like another poster, the paper...ugh, is just my least favorite task to deal with. Once I start, I just get going, so I know it'll go by fast. I simply don't look forward to it.

I know that some have mentioned having difficulty with parting with certain items and may possibly keep those items with the hopes of possibly wearing them in the future, or fitting in to them again. I used to do that, but I changed my way of dealing with it personally because I realized that if my intent was to wear something again that was now too small for me, chances are, my tastes in clothes would change according to the size I went down to. For example, I used to be a 14, and longed to wear my size 10 and 12 pants and skirts. When I began to lost weight, and was able to fit into my old 10s and 12s, I realized, they didn't fit me the same as they used to because I was toned differently. When I was a 10, I aimed to get into a size 6 or 8, because I'd insanely purchased clothing smaller with the intent of getting into them. When I finally got as low as an 8 and then 6, those clothes were not classic pieces that I'd ever wear, and just didn't look the way I thought they'd look. At a size 4 now, I realize that if I gained any weight today, and went back to any of those sizes (because let's face it, one just never knows what circumstances will take us where and how we will end up), and had I kept all of those sizes 6 through 14 clothing, I would probably not wear them because my tastes would have changed, and they probably wouldn't fit me as I'd imagined. Just food for thought. I couldn't hang onto them because the realiity for me was: who knew if i'd ever live long enough to ever find out, and why not give it to someone who could use it NOW? Whatever you decide, do what's best for you. If you know with a certainty that you want to hang to stuff that doesn't fit, do it. If you aren't sure whether you'll realistically wear them ever again, then you already have your answer.

I wish everyone continued success in their focus! And thank you for so many inspiring stories and tips/ideas. They are more useful than you all could know! (I esp love the binder idea! I'll be using that one )

[jeanlake]

Thank you for the anniversary wishes. And thank you for the suggestion to go to half price books. I think there's one in the area. Hope you are all having a good week. Lots of projects planned this weekend. Take care

[AnnMarie-1]

On 1/22/2015 snickster said:

On 1/22/2015 SierraNJ said:

I also must say I'm enjoying this thread. Some great ideas ladies! I've been a purging demon the last month or so. I pick an area each week and go to town. One tip I have, I took all of my current appliance boolets and hole-punched them, put them in a small three-ring binder with the original receipt or maintenance agreement on the appliance and store it in a drawer. If the product breaks, I know right where to go for the info. If I get rid of the appliance, I take the book and paperwork for it out and throw it away.

Thanks so much for this thread! I'm calling cable today to get my bill lowered.

That is an excellent idea, I think I will work on that along with tossing out all the ones for things I no longer have, today.

Thank you Sierra! I love this tip!

I have some binders I was going to toss, now I have use for them, I just need to buy a 3 ring hole puncher

I wish I had started this a longgggg time ago, my warranties & such are in dire need of help, not even sure I have all the receipts....and they are stored in different places...some in kitchen, some up in the disaster room LOL....this will be added to my goal of organization...which is coming along nicely even though I still have a ways to go

[jackthebear]

On 1/23/2015 AnnMarie-1 said:

On 1/22/2015 snickster said:

On 1/22/2015 SierraNJ said:

I also must say I'm enjoying this thread. Some great ideas ladies! I've been a purging demon the last month or so. I pick an area each week and go to town. One tip I have, I took all of my current appliance boolets and hole-punched them, put them in a small three-ring binder with the original receipt or maintenance agreement on the appliance and store it in a drawer. If the product breaks, I know right where to go for the info. If I get rid of the appliance, I take the book and paperwork for it out and throw it away.

Thanks so much for this thread! I'm calling cable today to get my bill lowered.

That is an excellent idea, I think I will work on that along with tossing out all the ones for things I no longer have, today.

Thank you Sierra! I love this tip!

I have some binders I was going to toss, now I have use for them, I just need to buy a 3 ring hole puncher

I wish I had started this a longgggg time ago, my warranties & such are in dire need of help, not even sure I have all the receipts....and they are stored in different places...some in kitchen, some up in the disaster room LOL....this will be added to my goal of organization...which is coming along nicely even though I still have a ways to go

I have one of those accoridan folders and keep them in there.

[Tique]

I continue to be appreciative of all the wonderful tips and stories that are being shared. I liked the thoughtful post regarding holding on to clothes that are currently too small. Another perspective is that some people keep the same body shape as the weight rises and falls and there are some items like leather jackets that remain in style. My suggestion is keep the jackets for now but set a target date to revisit them. If at that time {6 months from now or whenever you decide} they still don't fit, give them away. To repeat what Jolexi said: Whatever you decide, do what's best for you.

[aprilskies]

Also, just to add with "I am having a hard time parting with this" conversation. Do it in stages if you need to. When I started getting rid of clothes a couple of years ago - I mean being brutal - I parted with what I could at the time. First time around, I was brutal but I still kept some things I thought I still wanted. Now every time this decluttering bug hits me, I find more clothes to get rid of. The things I thought I didnt want to part with the previous time around. Right now, I have another small round of tops to donate. Around 10 or so tops that before I couldnt get rid of because I barely wore them, they are good quality, etc etc. However, I have not reached for them once in the last two years. They are a bit short. So, dont think you have to let go of things all at once. Do it in stages.

Now shoes, I was totally brutal. I mean brutal. Whatever I thought was too high, too uncomfortable, etc etc, they had to go and did. Eliminated around 75% and was I happy to gain back my closet space.

I might have said this before, but will say it again. Just be careful if you are being brutal. The first couple of times, I was in a trance and let go of things I loved because I thought I was reaching for something else that might of been the same color. Just be careful of what you are grabbing.

It truly is a freeing process albeit a hard one. After a couple of years of decluttering, I can now go in my closet/drawers and not have 80% of things wrinkled that I had worked so hard to iron.

Everyone is doing so good. Keep up the good work. Just do what you can for the day, but keep at it until you get to where you want to be.

[queendiva]

It's great that for these first few weeks of the new year we are being more mindful about our finances and our homes. Even just a few minutes or projects daily over the course of this year will yield some great results. Stay the course!

Don't know how much I will get done today, but tomorrow looks to be a "snow day" so I look forward to further decluttering then.