2013 Destash- this is the year!

[carebee21]

I did a lot of cleaning and organizing yesterday and managed to get rid of two large bags of garbage in the process!

I did a decent amount of stuff in the kitchen. I got rid of a lot of old dish towels, pot holders and went through our sprinkle collection and cupcake paper/liners. Anything Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's day went in the garbage, as that stuff certainly isn't worth moving. I also dumped one cupcake pan and one cookie sheet that were both old and kind of yucky looking.

Then I spent a lot of time working in our loft. I consolidated all of DS's movies into our collection downstairs. We then sorted through all of his Thomas the train stuffed. We made an agreement that he could keep the trains, but all the tracks, buildings and the table were going to be sold (he never plays with them, but he really, really wanted to keep the trains...) And then I went through his bookcase. I've done it before so there wasn't much left, but we managed to find a few more books that had been colored on or had torn pages to toss.

Lastly, I had DS help me go through his stuffed animals. Major mistake. He only agreed to get rid of one, out of at least 30 different animals. I guess that's something we'll continue to work on.

My goal this week is to get DS to go through the video games and make a keep and sell pile. I need DH to go through the garage and move boxes around so I have one section for the garage sale and one section for the keep stuff. So hopefully he does that on his day off like he promised...And then I have a few things I want to get listed on Craigslist and hopefully get out of my house.

[mrsbornkuntry]

Originally Posted by carebee21

I did a lot of cleaning and organizing yesterday and managed to get rid of two large bags of garbage in the process!

I did a decent amount of stuff in the kitchen. I got rid of a lot of old dish towels, pot holders and went through our sprinkle collection and cupcake paper/liners. Anything Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's day went in the garbage, as that stuff certainly isn't worth moving. I also dumped one cupcake pan and one cookie sheet that were both old and kind of yucky looking.

Then I spent a lot of time working in our loft. I consolidated all of DS's movies into our collection downstairs. We then sorted through all of his Thomas the train stuffed. We made an agreement that he could keep the trains, but all the tracks, buildings and the table were going to be sold (he never plays with them, but he really, really wanted to keep the trains...) And then I went through his bookcase. I've done it before so there wasn't much left, but we managed to find a few more books that had been colored on or had torn pages to toss.

Lastly, I had DS help me go through his stuffed animals. Major mistake. He only agreed to get rid of one, out of at least 30 different animals. I guess that's something we'll continue to work on.

My goal this week is to get DS to go through the video games and make a keep and sell pile. I need DH to go through the garage and move boxes around so I have one section for the garage sale and one section for the keep stuff. So hopefully he does that on his day off like he promised...And then I have a few things I want to get listed on Craigslist and hopefully get out of my house.

I had the kids go through their video games yesterday too, it was pretty frustrating. I had the child that usually wants to keep the most stuff go through them first and he had a stack of about 13 Wii games. Then I had each of the other kids go through and approve/disapprove. We were still doing pretty good until DH started looking at them, now there's 6. The worst part is that our Wii doesn't work anymore and the kids hardly play it since we got an xbox 360 so I actually don't want to keep any of them I swear DH is worse than the kids.

On the bright side I did sell all of our Magic Treehouse books on craigslist today. I'm hoping for some more sales this week, I want the stuff out of the house, but we really could use the extra money right now so I would like to get something for them. At least right now everything is confined to one large box in my room.

[carebee21]

Originally Posted by mrsbornkuntry

I swear DH is worse than the kids.

My husband is bad too! His biggest problem is that he thinks everything is worth something. It is so hard to throw anything away or donate it because he views it as throwing away money. There comes a point where an old mug is just garbage and I don't think he realizes that. He sees it as throwing away a quarter or however much he thinks he could get at a yard sale for it, without realizing how much time it's going to take to plan for, set up for and hold a garage sale... It's ridiculous.

[MOpGrad2013]

Originally Posted by carebee21

My husband is bad too! His biggest problem is that he thinks everything is worth something. It is so hard to throw anything away or donate it because he views it as throwing away money. There comes a point where an old mug is just garbage and I don't think he realizes that. He sees it as throwing away a quarter or however much he thinks he could get at a yard sale for it, without realizing how much time it's going to take to plan for, set up for and hold a garage sale... It's ridiculous.

I know this man! But suddenly he has hidden away and is actually getting rid of stuff. He filled up the large (50#) trash can at the storage unit with odd and ends he's been saving for 14 years. In the past, he's stated the purchase price, the price the surplus store sells it for...so he would be able to get that or more. Well the surplus store doesn't give as much as one would think. He's been watching Pawn Star and Storage Wars...that's probably done more than my years of researching yard sales.

Keep up the great work, everyone.

[Julia M]

Finished up my week off with a bit more destashing on Sunday.

Worked MORE on dd's room. Had a big victory-came and peeked in and discovered she hung up her nice dress from the Mother-Daughter Breakfast yesterday, rather then stuffing it in a drawer. She also has put 2 days of dirty clothing in the hamper, rather than dumping on the floor. Tiny progress, but I'll take what I can get.

I organized jewelry like crazy, matching earring and putting all the singles in a ziplock bag. If they don't find a partner soon, they are gone! I also asked dd to choose which ones she no longer wants. I know they're small, but it's the concept of going through everything that matters (IMO), than the size of the items!

Julia

[MOpGrad2013]

Originally Posted by Julia M

Finished up my week off with a bit more destashing on Sunday.

Worked MORE on dd's room. Had a big victory-came and peeked in and discovered she hung up her nice dress from the Mother-Daughter Breakfast yesterday, rather then stuffing it in a drawer. She also has put 2 days of dirty clothing in the hamper, rather than dumping on the floor. Tiny progress, but I'll take what I can get.

I organized jewelry like crazy, matching earring and putting all the singles in a ziplock bag. If they don't find a partner soon, they are gone! I also asked dd to choose which ones she no longer wants. I know they're small, but it's the concept of going through everything that matters (IMO), than the size of the items!

Julia

I agree completely with you. Small triumphs are what make my days brighter. And the sorting is probably the most important thing. If I had done it all immediately, I wouldn't have the mess I have now.

Good for you and your daughter.

[cmac609]

I definitely need to do this. My problem is finding the time with a 15 month old during the day and working at nights...lol

I will try to start Monday (maybe tomorrow) with one room at a time. Even if it takes me a week to do one room I will do it until the whole house is done...

Lots of clothes to give away that don't fit or some to throw away that have holes, etc. Tough part is to get my dh to go through his clothes/stuff...aaggg

[dreamin_disney]

I need to get back on track!!!! I've renewed some post on Cl but CL is pretty slow. I have a few days off the next 2 weeks so I hope to get some decluttering done.

[delmar411]

Dropped 3 bags at goodwill plus sent the bin of post it's into the kids teachers. There was nearly 100 packs of them! I'm going to sort through the school supply drawers and cull out a good portion of the stuff. Some of it is over10yrs old and t's never going to get used up so it's time to get it out of here.

I also have a bag of food to drop off at the food pantry. I'll try to remember to do that tomorrow.

[cmac609]

Ok so I got home from work after 9 and was doing some clothes and decided to start decluttering the laundry/utility room. I went through all the shoes under the wash sink and threw out some old ones and then went through the cleaners and a small shelf above the washer and dryer and threw out 3 small shopping bags. Thanks

[figment3258]

I'm new to this but after reading I have been doing this all year already!

Things I have done, cleaned out the girls toys donated two bags

One through cloths so far three bags donated

Started cleaning my bedroom made a lot of progress and carpet space

Thanks for this thread!

[delmar411]

I have a small bag of stuff from my room because I tore everything apart in the hopes of finding my lockbox keys. I cannot believe they are missing!!!! I normally tuck them away in a couple different places but they are not in those places and I've torn a good bit of the house apart. It is stressing me out a lot because I needed stuff from it yesterday and couldn't get it. I'm going to check the safety deposit box at the bank tomorrow but there is no reason for them to be there. Sigh....

Anyway, as I tear through things I'm getting rid of bits and pieces. Plus my parents are coming to stay with the kids for a couple days in may and staying in my room so I need my room to be perfect and organized for them.

[4 Ears]

In the last 2 days I have sold a Disney Christmas Village. RV just not big enough for it! Also gave away a hot plate of sorts. We were given a grill and jsut wont be using it. Had to wash it outside as it is larger than the RV sink LOL

That's it from here.

What have you destashed this weekend?

[C_leen]

Not sure if I remembered to post that I spent a solid hour last Sat in my office. Got a box of shredding and a grocery sack of trash from that event. Yesterday I went back. Wiped the entire floor down, sorted out the closet area, and filed! Got a new Goodwill pile started. Also now my desk ... I can sit on the chair and type on my net book! Yay! Still not done but glad the spot is now functional.

[Shanan]

Not only am I trying to declutter our house but also the house DH (only child) inherited when his widowed mother passed away December 2012. His parents had lived in the same house since early 1960's & they were Depression babies. (also heavy smokers)
Have tossed 3 trash bags full of expired (1991-2010) food amongst other things.

The town the house is in has free bulk pickup during this next week. Saturday we worked extremely hard to get the stuff out of the house that DH is willing to let go. 2 gas grills, 1 old smoker with bottom rusted out, tossed all their dry cleanable curtains (too much smoke in them to 'rescue'), 2 sets of mattresses, 4 bags of trash from the garage & utility room.

At our house - started Goodwill sack of clothes
Sorted thru magazines to pass along
Books sorted to take to local library for their spring fundraiser book sale

It is so very hard to start the decluttering process at DH's parents house but some little steps so everything does add up. Only problem is that we live in a 1600 sq ft house that already has way too much stuff in it & cleaning out a 2000 sq ft house (in-laws) I know in my head that all that stuff is just not going to fit BUT the heart is having problems. Good luck to everyone else with their decluttering projects.