Destash 2017 The Year to Clear

[NinaBella]

I trashed 3 pairs of pajama pants tonight! They are old and holy and needed to go awhile ago.

Not much but I'm sick so I'm considering it a win

I am also sick. I am off work, but my plan is to put several items currently in the garage next to the garbage can because tomorrow is trash day! These items I have told DH to throw out, but he keeps forgetting so I just need to round them up and place them where he can't forget. Two items are fake plants. DH says they are still good, I say out with fake plants! Two other items are old beach chairs that we haven't used in years. DH says they are still good, but they are just taking up space. We usually take our camping chairs to the beach now, not the folding in half metal chairs with the canvas straps. That will be my only accomplishment today! I might get rid of more beach stuff like the sand toys and inflatable rings, balls, etc. are only used when we have relatives (with little kids) visit. LOL.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I have been decluttering for about a year now (maybe longer). It is a very slow process with 4 kids. Two weeks ago we signed for a storage unit. We had one a few years ago but cancelled it. The garage is a constant battle and we can't use the weight bench because of it. Our closest storage unit stays full so finally snagged one and will start using it this weekend. We only plan to keep it six months amd will only put things in it we know we want to keep. We live in a cookie cutter house in Florida so no basement and not enough home storage. As we put items in storage we will be discarding quite a bit as well. The plan is to empty the garage, redo the floors, paint, etc. Then reorganize and put back what we keep in the storage unit.

I am constantly discarding items in the house either mailing to our neice, donating locally, or just trashing items. We have been putting out about 3 times the amount of garbage as our neighbors. LoL.

I like the KonMari method just can not do it all back-to-back, and with five bedrooms, room to room works great. I have done categories too. This week I pulled out four old cameras, 2 portable DVD players, 4 old hand held gaming systems. I would like to donate or take to pawn shop. But not sure anyone would want them.

From Christmas to now ago I had DH clean his closet and had 66 shirts (polo and button downs) and 7 suits we took to Metropolitan Ministries. I donate 15 of my dresses. This doesn't include all my kids clothes already donated before the holidays.

Over the holidays we also decluttered the kitchenware and holiday decorations.

One motivating factor is I want to redo my entire first floor from laminate, off-white tile, and carpet to the tile that looks like wood, repaint the interior, change out some furnitire. We have been in the home 13 years and it is time for some upgrades. I plan to declutter and have just the minimum in the house before I reward myself with the upgrades.

Wow! You have been working hard.

 

[mrsabbott]

Have the day off and took advantage of having some kid free time to do a quick toy purge. Two garbage bags ready to donate. There is still a ton left to go through, but I want to make the process easy on them. I just got rid of the stuff they don't play with at all. Well, some of it. I figure I can smuggle it out a little at a time until all that is left are the things they really enjoy playing with. One little boy truly doesn't need 500 matchbox cars. (Not an exaggeration!)
I look around and see so much in our house that just needs to go, but I am determined not to get overwhelmed by the task.. Every box and bag that I get rid of (without bringing in more) is a small victory that will add up over time!

 

[mom2t]

Over 50+ clothing items from my DS closet bagged ready for a friend to try on her boys. I am calling a consignment store for my clothes on Monday. I have lost 24 lbs and have 60 pieces of clothing to consign. I cannot wait to move them out of my closet and make some room. Anything not taken will move to my spring yard sale in May. All of those items left over in my yard sale, I will donate. I have a toy closet my DS and I need to clean out. I also need to make a list for my spring cleaning, divide the chores out and create a timeline for completion. I have retired recently but my time is taken up helping care for my parents. I am finally off and running.

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Alright, I realize that it's already the end of January, but I'm in! We live in a huge farmhouse (from the 1700's!) that has an amazing addition. The basement is ridiculously ginormous - 3 huge rooms, have no clue what's there because I never go down there lol. We also have 2 (2!) large attics, don't even get me started on barns & outbuildings. Needless to say, we have TOO MUCH STUFF! Seriously folks, there is a bedroom upstairs that neither my husband or myself have even looked in for oh...at least three years, & yes I just know it is full of stuff, ugh! Definitely need this thread & my friends here at the DIS to help keep me accountable! I've seen folks say they're doing a challenge to get rid of 2017 items, does anyone know the math? As in...how many items that would be per day? The good news is that my kitchen is 1/2 way to being completely decluttered already so yay for that! We're also adopting this year, so need to clear out our substantial amount of crap (WHY do we keep these things?) to make room for children haha! Thanks & good luck to everyone, we can do this!

 

[NinaBella]

I've seen folks say they're doing a challenge to get rid of 2017 items, does anyone know the math? As in...how many items that would be per day?

2017 / 365 days = 5.52 items per day

2017 / 52 weeks = 38.7 items per week

Breaking down the number it seems like a lot. But it depends on how you count. I discarded probably 200 crayons the other day. LOL. My youngest is 13 and does not use crayons. She uses color pencils for her art class at school. I am not keeping track of the number of items like others are. I am just discarding constantly.

Since it is tax season, it's a good time to start purging old documents that you no longer need. You know, like your electric bill from 10 years ago.

 

[dpswift]

2017 / 365 days = 5.52 items per day

2017 / 52 weeks = 38.7 items per week

Breaking down the number it seems like a lot. But it depends on how you count. I discarded probably 200 crayons the other day. LOL. My youngest is 13 and does not use crayons. She uses color pencils for her art class at school. I am not keeping track of the number of items like others are. I am just discarding constantly.

Since it is tax season, it's a good time to start purging old documents that you no longer need. You know, like your electric bill from 10 years ago.

Honestly 5.5 items a day does not seem like a lot. I always say I am going to do 10, however many days I work from 8am to 10:30pm. On those days I am lucky to get rid of anything

 

[mrsabbott]

I can honestly say that I have gotten rid of at least 2017 things just this month!! Maybe my goal should be 2017 bags/boxes of stuff! Surely, my house could be cleaner and more organized by then!!

I am trying to not get overwhelmed.. I just fill up one bag or box at a time. It will all add up to a lot over time, as long as I am careful to not bring more stuff into the house!

I have been thinking long and hard about what we really need, what we really want, and what is useful and/or brings us joy.
I did that toy purge in my kids room (they didn't even notice that stuff was gone) and they can now see the toys they have and actually played with them! It was so nice! They still have too much, but it is a good start!

I purged my closet and drawers and I can now hang and organize my clothes and see what I have. It is so nice! I may eventually get rid of more!

Next up is going to be the kitchen! We use this room in the house all the time and it will be so nice to have a place for everything and it not just be mass chaos all the time! But I will do it one bag at a time. I will not rush or try to do it all at once.

Slow and steady wins the race for me!! If I rush or bite off more than I can chew, I get overwhelmed and burned out and then I just quit. But not this year!! I am giving myself the entire year to slowly get things done.. I can't wait to see what my home will be like this time next year!

 

[Eastern]

I trashed 3 pairs of pajama pants tonight! They are old and holy and needed to go awhile ago.

Not much but I'm sick so I'm considering it a win

Consider it a win because one of mine just got a hole in them and I am not considering trashing them anytime soon. Too comfy.

 

[Mom_Rides]

I'm in! Our house has become over cluttered in the last several years. I took a new job 3 years ago which had me working an obscene amount of hours and had my mind and focus in a tizzy. I'm settling into the job, have become more proficient and I'm not working as many hours now. So it's time! DH has been working little by little over the last couple of weeks in the basement but we really need to do more! I also have a goal to pay 100% for my DDs Girl Scout camp without using household funds. I have $293 to pay by May 15, so I better get on it!!

 

[Pesky]

I'm in! My focus word for this year is "mindful" and that means about possessions as well. We did a major purge last year, especially in the toy department, and holy cow it made our home feel so much better with less stuff! Kids were uber motivated as we told them whatever toys they sell at our garage sale, they can pocket the money. Mom and dad retain veto rights (no, you don't get to dump Daddy's antique teddy bear from Germany, thank you). So this year we are doing the same. The kids really liked how it opened up their own rooms and have said they want less stuff(!). So we've agreed that for their birthdays, we're going to focus on experiences (even just going to the movies or out to dinner) and vacations instead and maybe creating a great workspace for both. We're going to finish out part of the basement which is great as it will require us to get rid of a ton more stuff. So far I have two large bins of stuff (toys and books mostly), 4 summer tires, 1 work table, and 2 old bikes getting ready for our spring garage sale. We also purged our pantry and now are focusing on accurate meal planning so less waste and less eating out.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

2017 items gone: 182

This number jumped from a bunch of workbooks and school stuff. I haven't even gotten to the bookcase wiyj all the small supplies, crayons, markers, clips, calculators, microscope slides, erasers, notecards.... I think I will count each type of supply as 1. I am happy to be moving to the next phase of life after homeschooling all these years but I feel a bit sad. I have loved spending all this time with my boys. Lots of smiles while seeing their old reports, drawings...I am only keeping a few items or examples. They are for me. I cannot see my kids really wanting much years from now.

I have a few items my parents kept of mine, a storage bin, of schools stuff, photos, collections, fav stuffed animal...they have liked seeing them. My DH has almost nothing from being a kid, no school stuff, no fav toys, only a few photos even. I want to keep about that much for my kids.

 

[mrsabbott]

I dropped off the load of toys and things to the donation center today. I actually feel a little guilty because they are my kids' toys but, in all honesty, they haven't even noticed that any were missing!! I haven't gone through anything else this week. I had hoped to go through the kitchen this week, but instead I had been dealing with an awful sinus infection. I managed to go to work, but was exhausted by the time I got home and didn't get much accomplished. I am starting to feel much better now, so maybe I will try and tackle that tomorrow when I get home.

 

[hsmamato2]

some success last week... I combed through some of our spare/library/sewing room.... brought 2 boxes of books,and a huge garbage bag full of clothing,and household stuff down to Goodwill,plus I have another box of kids books ready to give to friend with young kids this evening... AND this thread is a good influence..... I got a new toaster oven this week ($5 at Kohls!!!) b/c my old one was dying a slow and miserable death (cold toast!) I *almost* put the old one on a shelf in the basement to save for...I have NO idea (it barely worked anymore) my DH was so shocked when I told him to bring it outside to can right away.... I'm at the decluttering point where selling isn't even an option, I just want to gather stuff and make it gone asap. (that usually means the Goodwill down the street) BTW.... I have FIVE bookcases full of books and photo albums left after cleaning them off (yes I'm a bibliophile,dangerous thing to be) - I like to donate my older magazines to the local adult living place, they always have takers there....

 

[hsmamato2]

2017 items gone: 182

This number jumped from a bunch of workbooks and school stuff. I haven't even gotten to the bookcase wiyj all the small supplies, crayons, markers, clips, calculators, microscope slides, erasers, notecards.... I think I will count each type of supply as 1. I am happy to be moving to the next phase of life after homeschooling all these years but I feel a bit sad. I have loved spending all this time with my boys. Lots of smiles while seeing their old reports, drawings...I am only keeping a few items or examples. They are for me. I cannot see my kids really wanting much years from now.

I have a few items my parents kept of mine, a storage bin, of schools stuff, photos, collections, fav stuffed animal...they have liked seeing them. My DH has almost nothing from being a kid, no school stuff, no fav toys, only a few photos even. I want to keep about that much for my kids.

I hear you! This last box I am giving away is full of great kids books I used for homeschooling (shakespeare? Atlases? yes) and slowly but surely I have given away all the (incredibly huge amounts) of hs'ing supplies we used to use daily - ( a while back I dug through the boxes of old papers and projects I had saved...and tossed almost all of them, keeping a small stash of certain things for the memories) different stage of life!

 

[ski_mom]

I need to get remotivated! DH and I just got back from our winter trip and I need to attack the house. At the beginning of the year, I joined the Declutter 365 facebook group and printed out the January calendar. This month I'm going to try to follow along with them and see what I can get accomplished. It basically has you devote 15 minutes a day to a daily task with the theory that slowly over the year, you will have gone through most of your house. I'm going to try to follow that and also spend some time in our "junk" room. It's supposed to be our game room, but the pool table is always so full of stuff that no one can enjoy it. My goal is that make that room usable and enjoyable again!

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I need to get remotivated! DH and I just got back from our winter trip and I need to attack the house. At the beginning of the year, I joined the Declutter 365 facebook group and printed out the January calendar. This month I'm going to try to follow along with them and see what I can get accomplished. It basically has you devote 15 minutes a day to a daily task with the theory that slowly over the year, you will have gone through most of your house. I'm going to try to follow that and also spend some time in our "junk" room. It's supposed to be our game room, but the pool table is always so full of stuff that no one can enjoy it. My goal is that make that room usable and enjoyable again!

I did that 2 years ago and it really worked. I'm doing it again this year because last year we moved twice and added another person to our family. Things have been out of control so it's been harder to keep up with the clutter coming in and what not.

 

[pjlla]

Life seems to NOT want me to get decluttered lately! Late last year a family member moved and gave DD 2-3 huge bags of clothing. DD went through them and kept a LOT (but of course, didn't get rid of anything she already had), and then passed a big pile to me! A few things I needed (like pajama pants) and lots that I didn't need but kept any how . Still trying to arrange space in my drawers and closet to store all of it.

Yesterday we FINALLY started the cleaning-out process at my DMIL's house.... she passed away unexpectedly last July and the children have had a hard time coming to terms and make the hard choices.... but it is finally happening. I stayed out of the bedroom while they sorted clothing because I didn't want to take any home with me. For an old lady my DMIL was very stylish and had lots of great stuff! I just don't need any of it! I stuck with sorting photos and papers. Fortunately we managed to come home with just one box of photos and bits and bobbles, one large basket of clothes hangers (that I needed for all of the new clothes ), and an air mattress (my twin size that I use frequently recently developed a leak). So not too bad. But I also ended up taking three huge boxes for the food pantry (which I don't think is open today) and a box for the thrift store that we found after DBIL left with the trailer full. The entrance to the food pantry is under cover so I am tempted to just leave the boxes at the door while I'm out today... I'm out of town most of the day tomorrow and I don't really want to drive around with three big heavy boxes in the car for days.

Anyhooooo.... on a more positive note, I spent several hours last weekend resorting and repacking the Christmas decor and managed to purge one big box of stuff I've had since my single days that has no sentimental value and re-organize other things and get it all neatly back on the shelves where it belongs. Also purged a few other assorted bits of junk (hello.... where did that bar stool come from anyhow!??).... but of course, got them all loaded into the car and ended up with a change of plans and had to take them OUT of the car and now they are in the garage. Heading to Boston tomorrow, so won't take them tomorrow.... Tuesday we are expecting weather plus I have to work both jobs that day, so won't get them dropped off that day........ the nearest day I see this as a possibility may be a quick stop on Thursday if I plan ahead.

If I do a purge today I may end up calling BB/BS or something like that to come do a pick up.... that would be so much easier than filling my car and driving 40 minutes to the nearest thrift store!

Today is reserved for need-to-do-it-now projects like several items we got via mail order that need to be returned (i.e.... too-much-money-tied-up-there) ASAP and putting the bookcase back in the living room (we have to move it to the dining room when we have a Christmas tree). Last year I think it ended up in the dining room for 5 months! Maybe it should live there! It actually looks pretty good.

Off to be productive!.........P

 

[disneyduonj]

I was so motivated by this thread I just made $30 in 15 minutes selling old cookbooks that I never use

 

[PrincessKymm]

I trashed 4 pairs of shoes that were in terrible shape and put 2 good pairs into the "get out of my house" pile on Saturday.

On Sunday, DS returned with all his clean clothes. I went in to make sure he put everything away and to pack his bags for his stay with family (while i'm on vacation) and we managed to find a few items that were too small for him. Not sure how many but I know the big pile is growing larger.

Today's goal is to fold and sort items so I can make a drop off sometime this week. If not, at least it's ready to go next weekend after I return from my short trip to Universal! I know I will be coming back with at least one item for myself so I will do my best to control my impulse shopping in FL. Also helps I don't have nearly enough money to shop like I normally do.