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[Lilysmom]

Laundry linen room closet done.  Pantry next.  LM

[Mominohio]

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@rnmom wrote:

Tossed a tube of zinc oxide rash cream that expired in 2013! I don't usually keep expired items around for THAT long, must have missed it. 

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@rnmom

I go through our medicine cabinets every year, sometimes twice a year, yet I tend to find some little tube or bottle of some medicine that expired three years prior. 

I think my thought process is that especially for topicals, expired might be weaker for a year after expiration, but not harmful, and it gets put back.....until somehow that one year past date guideline of mine has turned to three! LOL

[Mominohio]

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@coffeegal wrote:

I did some more purging this week. I got rid of all of my old spices.

I also got rid of boxes left from Christmas.

We had a horrible flood on August the 31st. Our entire newly remodeled basement had flooded do to heavy rains that night.. We are no where near a flood zone, so our insurance company would not pay for anything. So not intending to purge things there, it had to be. Hopefully we will be able to get some repairs done soon. 

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@coffeegal

Oh I am so sorry to hear this! We sit very low where we are, and while our home has not flooded (we did have a basement full of water after a once in a 100 year kind of rainfall, but it was a drainage issue that we have since fixed), it is a constant worry for us. We never saw the potential when we bought this place and it nags at me terribly here, some of the rushing water we have dealt with on the property and close to the house. 

To me flooding issues can be as devastating as fire and tornadoes. And like you point out, getting insurance to cover things is tricky and in my opinion a rip off for how much insurance costs. 

I hope you are back to 'normal' as quickly as possible, and the economic effects of it all aren't too terrible. 

[Mominohio]

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@queendiva wrote:

I need to go slower and more mindfully when purging this year in order to further pare down.

While looking for something this morning, I found a paper from my accountant written last year in reference to my payment schedule for quarterly taxes. Taxes?! seems I forgot all about paying third quarter state and federal taxes, and fourth quarter is due in ten days. In addition, it seems I paid only state tax for the second quarter. Second and third quarters coincided with the sale of my previous house and the purchase of the present one. Bad timing! I knew where I kept the papers in my old place, but where the heck are they here? Not in my desk, but I looked in a drawer with other important papers, and there were my tax payment vouchers. They will go out tomorrow. Woman does not live by purging alone! Only had time today to pull three books that I will not read again and a very realistic toy gun that belonged to DS. Surrendered that to the local police station.

Forecast for tomorrow is for rain, so I expect there will be purging to report.

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Yes, a bit unnerving to find things like that.

I consider myself on top of our things like that, but every once in awhile I stumble across something that should have had more timely effort put into it, and I wonder just where my mind has gone. I didn't used to forget things of importance, was very proactive and always well ahead of schedule. 

I blame mine on not working anymore, and not having to keep abreast of things since my son graduated and left home. Seems like the less there is to keep track of, the more I slack off on keeping it all straight and in order. 

I need to work on that this year!

[Mominohio]

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@rnmom wrote:

I finished filing my loose papers yesterday and did a bit more shredding. Dumped the shredder again yesterday.  I think I'm done in the filing cabinets for now. Maybe I'll do a bit more in a few weeks, I have to do this stuff in stages. I cannot stand sitting with papers for hours on end. 

I burned my last candle and tossed the jar it came in. Now I just have my wax melter which I like better. 

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@rnmom

I don't know what it is about finishing up partially used candles and tossing/recycling the jars, but I really feel like I've accomplished something when I do that! LOL

I think it comes down to the fact that I have issues with anything half done, or incomplete. 

When I open and start a new candle, I so love the newness and freshness of it (kind of like the joy of a new box of Crayons!), and I'm not thinking about how bad I need to finish it and move it on. But about half way through it, and it becomes more of a nagging thing to be finished and gone!

I have serious mental issues.

[RetRN]

2018 paper work has been shredded. Donating some Christmas ornaments and a small lamp so far. I've only just begun. 

[Mominohio]

I'm in a bit of a quandary. 

I have been sick since Christmas Eve, on and off (more on than off) and decided not to tackle any Christmas un decorating till I felt human again. 

Well I woke today to that feeling and began in what is my easiest room to do, the dining room. I now store everything (almost) I use for holiday decorating, in the room it is used in. In an effort to make that "almost" closer to "totally" I needed to purge a cabinet in the dining room and get rid of some things taking up space and never getting used (mostly dining linens). 

As will tend to happen one pandora's box opened leads to another. I really wanted to put away Christmas, not purge, but now I'm doing both, and it's slowing down the Christmas pack up process. 

Ugh. I have to get to the place of just less stuff. Much less stuff. Some days, even with the purging and slow down of any new buying, I feel like I'm just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. 

[queendiva]

@Mominohio: it may not have been your intention, but it makes sense to purge and clear the way before storing Christmas decor. It's also best to do large scale purges on the days when you are really focused to do so. If not, keep it to a drawer (or two) or a shelf, etc.

Best wishes for a speedy and full return to health.

[queendiva]

Since I accomplished MegaPurge in 2018, I am working on small scale but consistent purging at present. For January, it's 31 days of Purging, no matter how great or small as it all adds up. Today I just went through some drawers and tossed into trash or recycling: a box of envelopes, several empty pill bottles and two old taper candles.

My larger areas to address this winter are: winter clothing, garage, basement and pantry. These are perennial areas that probably need to be done at least twice a year.

On the plus side, I am really enjoying my tidy, organized home. It takes just minutes to clean every morning, which is how I start most days.

I am also re-reading Peter Walsh's book, It's All Too Much!, as I do every January. I have another of his books on it's way to me this week. Motivation. That, and watching Hoarders. I can't sit still and watch that show! Must open a drawer or a closet, run the vacuum, etc.

[queendiva]

OK, so after coming here and visiting Peter Walsh's FB page, I decided to blow off my walk in favor of tackling the garage. Made a major dent and used the leaf blower to clean out the dirt. Should be finished by Wednesday. Mucho recycling will go out tomorrow evening. There is still a large area where garage sale items for spring are collecting. Yesterday DS volunteered contribute to the sale which I told him is being held at his house. Better location than mine plus it will be easy for him and DDIL to haul stuff out of the basement (and dining room) and to the driveway. 

BTW: get in on PW's 31 days of de-clutter challenge. You are only 6 days behind, and some of them were easy! Most take less than 30 minutes/day.