2012 Destashing Thread

[ohiopugmom]

yay! glad I found the declutter thread. I battle this constantly. I recently have decided to really push through things. Just because I have room for something doesn't mean I need to keep it.

So far this week I am working on the kitchen. Went through the pantry and pitched expired food . Also went through my spice cabinet. I have no idea how long they should be kept, but I am guessing 11 years is not the answer.

Today I am picking one drawer of my desk and a box of hats and mittens to go through. I am hoping having bite sized goals will keep me going.

 

[DawnM]

I sold a table and chairs set that was taking up too much room in the house.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Last couple of days I got threw away
-1 trash bag of clothes
-1 ripped jacket
2 bags of trash

feels good

dh even put 10-12 long sleeve shirts/sweaters in the Craigs List pile

I told dd if she goes through her stuff and she sells it she will have some spending $$$

I hope to go through a few more things this week. I was thinking of inviting friends over for dinner on Sat. but now I'm wanting to just declutter the entire day. Sun we have a party to go to so busy weekend and i'm finally in the mood to declutter-lol!

 

[my3princes]

We try to destash yearly. I donate clothing to charities, put no longer used toys and furniture on the lawn with a free sign, recycle, trash whatever to keep the clutter down. I figure if it hasn't been worn in a seasons time then it's time to let it go. We have industrial shelving in our basement and whatever we need to keep must fit into totes labeled on the shelves. There is offseason wardrobes for each person plus holiday decorations. A few toys that we want to keep for grandchildren, otherwise we let it go. It always feels good to let things go, decluttering our home helps declutter my mind.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I havent got much decluttering done but i did manage to organize some stuff.
Only thing I did today was threw out one grocery bag of trash from my craftroom

 

[dreamin_disney]

How is everyone doing with the destashing?

I cleaned my bedroom and spare room and got rid of another 3 grocery bags of trash.

I took about 6-8 boxes of stuff out of my spare room but a week later The pile is stacked high. My goal is to pack up another 3-4 boxes and put it in the garage. My goal for now is just to pack up everything and organize it and get it out of the room even if it goes to the garage, Then I will work on the garage after Jan. I know many may say just take it all to the goodwill but selling it will come in handy since i dont work or get paid during the summer months.
goal for Nov
Goal #1 pack up another 3-4 boxes from spare room
Goal #2 is to paint the room.

Dec Goal
Goal #3 clean out cabinets under entertainment center

 

[Anastasia]

I just cleaned out my office, and got rid of 4 paper grocery bags of paper, along with two copier paper boxes of stuff to be shredded. I got rid of all 401k, brokerage and bank statements except for year end statements. I will not publicly admit how many years old some of these were, and how many of them were from closed accounts!

It is such a good feeling to get through all of that paperwork, I feel like I had lost control and have now regained it.

Today - my closet - wish me luck!

 

[my3princes]

Just decluttered the linen closet. Got rid of all the lotions etc that we don't use. We've also been cleaning through the house weekly so the clutter hasn't been building up. Much happier here

 

[TI double-GUH ER]

Congrats to everyone on all the progress!

I just sorted through my sweaters last night, and ditched 5 of them. Added them to the pairs of boots I had that still look new but now are painful on my feet. My new goal is to try to get all of my clothes (even out of season) into my closet and dresser (not counting coats or long underwear/snowstuff).

I also started a decluttering journal. Everyday I write down one thing I did to cut down on the stuff in the house, express gratitude for having had it and used it, and then say how it will be useful somewhere else. It helps to keep me focused, especially on those days where it is hard to see the progress.

This week my goal is to rediscover the kitchen table (buried under Halloween stuff), set up a pick up from a charity to get the 2 bags of clothes out of here, and pack up a box of clothes that DS outgrew and send them off to a cousin who might be able to wear them!

 

[delmar411]

we've been off track for a bit due to school and vacation. I probably won't get fully back into decluttering mode until after the new year since I need to finish out the semester, finish dealing with Christmas, pack DH up for his internship, and pack us all up for our Christmas trip.

Once we get back, I'll be short one DH so one less person to clutter the house up. And I won't have to make sure the bed is all clear every night so I could pull out longer projects and put them on his side of the bed. LOL

I'm not sure when the last time I posted was but I did go through all the coats and got rid of all the too small/never going to be worn/duplicate type stuff. And I went through all the spare shoes and gloves and hats and got rid of those.

oh yeah...I did go through ODD's walk in closet yesterday. I have stuff on the top shelf in there so I pulled out all the Toys for Tots type toys I had stashed in there, plus I had hanging clothing storage in there and I found a ton of stuff I needed for YDD! YAY! So that was perfect timing.

I just need to figure out where I'm going to donate the toys this year. I'd like to make a one stop drop.

If I find that I have at least 3-4days after classes end and before the kids get out of school I might go through the holiday bins again. But I need to be really careful. Last time, I managed to give away my LP nativity set pieces on accident and I was really upset. So I had to rebuy the whole set. Expensive lesson learned!

But we have a ton of holiday bins taking over the tiny garage. Something has to give.

I also still have a pottery barn kids toy storage piece that is really big but has lived in the garage for many years. It's never coming back into the house so I'm not sure why I can't let it go. Other than the fact that I paid like $700 for it. That's really my blockage of letting it go. That I paid a damn fortune for the thing. Of course that was back in '02 so maybe I should just try to sell it? It's a nice piece but needs some TLC on the paint job. Or not sell it...seriously getting stressed thinking about it! I wonder if that's what hoarders feel about all their junk?

 

[dreamin_disney]

I just cleaned out my office, and got rid of 4 paper grocery bags of paper, along with two copier paper boxes of stuff to be shredded. I got rid of all 401k, brokerage and bank statements except for year end statements. I will not publicly admit how many years old some of these were, and how many of them were from closed accounts!

It is such a good feeling to get through all of that paperwork, I feel like I had lost control and have now regained it.

Today - my closet - wish me luck!

I was in the same boat with shredding old bills. I had stuff before dh and I moved in together and we've been together 15 years!

I have a bin under my craft table and I put current things that need to be shredded. I'm a month behind so I need to get to it this week.

we've been off track for a bit due to school and vacation.


But we have a ton of holiday bins taking over the tiny garage. Something has to give.

QUOTE]

I will be off for veterans day and a week for Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to get a lot of decluttering done before DD's bday the 1st part of Dec.

I need to go through my holiday bins and declutter it and I'd like to get color bins to make it easier. I didnt even have dh take out the Halloween bins to decorate. The holiday bins are at the back of the shed. I ended up going to .99 store and bought 5 halloween decorations to put up.

For X-mas I will go through it and declutter.


I was just in my spare room and boxed up one box of misc stuff. I have a nice rocking glider chair with ottoman that I got when I had dd. It will be 14 years old-lol! I figure I would refinish it when I had my son or 2nd child but it never happended. I might hold on to it for another 2 years incase I'm blessed to have another one, if not at 42 my time will be up. I asked dh if theres a spot I can store the chair and he said he will find a spot. This will be a big deal because its in a spot where its in the way. Once thats out I can start redoing the room

 

[rhonda_2003]

I have worked on the walk-in closet in our bedroom today. I have tossed two bags of shredded paperwork and shredding that stuff took forever! I also reduced my clothing so that everything of mine and hubby's fits in the closet or dresser and chest of drawers. What is out of season is just moved to the less convenient areas of the closet and to the bottom drawers of the chest and dresser. Feels good to have all the clothes reduced to a more manageable number. I also did the hanger trick, where you turn the hanger backwards so that you can tell at the end of a season what you never wore. Hopefully that will help me reduce my clothing down even more. I really want to simply things and feel like today's effort was a success. I have plenty more to go though!

I found a great new emagazine about simplifying that you may want to check out. I'm in no way affiliated with them. www.simplifymagazine.com The downloads are free and they only have two issues so far, Oct and Nov.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I ended up getting off my butt and into my spare room. I took out 2 boxes of items. I boxed up 2 more but those I need to take photos of to post on CL.
I took out my rocking chair and ottoman. BOY did it make a difference. I have the day off tomorrow so i will be home alone.
***I'm planning on
-taking photos for CL postings
-clear craft table
-clear desk
-maybe get to the closet

I read some of the tips on the link posted. I was just telling dh how I want the kitchen counter tops completely cleared. Reading one of the articles has motivated me.

Only issue is I have a really nice knife set and its super sharp knives. I'm afraid to put it in a cabinet incase someone isnt careful and it falls out, you know how someone are in a rush or careless. Dunno what to do with that and I have a stainless steel verticle paper towel holder that I need close buy. If anyone has any tips please let me know

 

[dreamin_disney]

I just got a burst of energy and cleared off most of my kitchen counter. My kitchen is shaped in a square type U. I just have my phone on one section with the dish rack, on another section i have knife set and another section paper towel holder. Its spread out so it looks nice and clear.

Then I moved on to the fridge and cleared out a bunch of leftovers-yuck!
I got rid of 1 grocery bag of expired food from fridge and cabinet.

I got rid of 2 grocery bags of empty jars(spaghetti etc) from under the kitchen sink. I usually put these in the recyle box and I guess dh was putting them under the sink. I usually use the jars to store my leftover oils, greese and fat then place in a ziploc when full and toss. I dont use as much oil since trying to cook healthier. I colllected all the jars and told dh no more saving jars!~lol!

Hopefully later this month i will go through pantry and check dates and organize my kitchen stuffots ,pans, toaster, blender, ninja etc

I'm so loving how my kitchen looks.


If you havent read my other post I found a keurig plantinum 70 on clearance for $65. And here I wanted cleared counter tops-lol! I will need to find a spot for it. DD's bday is next month and were having a party. If i leave it out family will want to use it and lets just say they drink a lot of coffee and 1-2 of dh's aunts will empty any unused kcup into their purse-lol!

It feels so good to see my livingroom, kitchen and den nice and clear just feels like free, clear energy. My craftroom even feels better

 

[mrsklamc]

I haven't been doing great...though I did delete about 3,000 emails from my inbox last week, and made an effort to unsubscribe and/or redirect stuff to a separate email or folders just for 'shopping', etc.

I need to get selling on Craigslist but I keep procrastinating, don't know why.

 

[delmar411]

I haven't been doing great...though I did delete about 3,000 emails from my inbox last week, and made an effort to unsubscribe and/or redirect stuff to a separate email or folders just for 'shopping', etc.

I need to get selling on Craigslist but I keep procrastinating, don't know why.

I also did the email clear out. It really feels a lot better and I found a bunch of emails that I hadn't seen but needed to deal with.

 

[delmar411]

I just got a burst of energy and cleared off most of my kitchen counter. My kitchen is shaped in a square type U. I just have my phone on one section with the dish rack, on another section i have knife set and another section paper towel holder. Its spread out so it looks nice and clear.

Then I moved on to the fridge and cleared out a bunch of leftovers-yuck!
I got rid of 1 grocery bag of expired food from fridge and cabinet.

I got rid of 2 grocery bags of empty jars(spaghetti etc) from under the kitchen sink. I usually put these in the recyle box and I guess dh was putting them under the sink. I usually use the jars to store my leftover oils, greese and fat then place in a ziploc when full and toss. I dont use as much oil since trying to cook healthier. I colllected all the jars and told dh no more saving jars!~lol!

Hopefully later this month i will go through pantry and check dates and organize my kitchen stuffots ,pans, toaster, blender, ninja etc

I'm so loving how my kitchen looks.


If you havent read my other post I found a keurig plantinum 70 on clearance for $65. And here I wanted cleared counter tops-lol! I will need to find a spot for it. DD's bday is next month and were having a party. If i leave it out family will want to use it and lets just say they drink a lot of coffee and 1-2 of dh's aunts will empty any unused kcup into their purse-lol!

It feels so good to see my livingroom, kitchen and den nice and clear just feels like free, clear energy. My craftroom even feels better

Well nothing like motivation to create space to hide the keurig!

 

[dreamin_disney]

Well nothing like motivation to create space to hide the keurig!

i know! Well i'm on a kick because for dd's bday . I dont know why but there are certain family members that feel its ok to show their friend or new mate my entire home. Seriious. They will show them the livingroom, den, bedrooms and the dang garage

The other day dh's aunt came over for dinner. Now we only have her over once a year for dd's bday and we invited her for dinner. Well she was looking around our house and asked if theres anything we want to get rid of. Then at dinner she was the 1st to finish so she got up and went in the fridge and helped herself to dessert-loL! Is this the norm now a days???????????? I was taught when you visit you sit and visit, you dont ask for anything, if something is offered to drink or eat then its ok. I go to my siblings houses and ask if I may use their restroom and i dont act like i can do whatever i want-lol! So my motivation is to declutter cause ya never know how many people will be roaming through my house

BTW- dd13 asked for a lock on her door so the kids and adult dont go into her room . We did and she only locks her door once a year.

My garage is a huge mess and I have the boxes of things I plan to sell. My goal is to organize it all during Thanksgiving week.

 

[delmar411]

OMG that is beyond rude! What is wrong with them???? I don't even allow my kids to freely roam my parents house or take things from the fridge even though it was my childhood home. It's just not polite!

I'd tell people no wandering in our family private spaces but who knows if they'd listen or not.

 

[dreamin_disney]

OMG that is beyond rude! What is wrong with them???? I don't even allow my kids to freely roam my parents house or take things from the fridge even though it was my childhood home. It's just not polite!

I'd tell people no wandering in our family private spaces but who knows if they'd listen or not.

I was shocked the very 1st time. Hmmmm now i'm wondering how many time did they go into my horrible cluttered craftroom/junk room and i didnt even know about it-lol!

After my dd asked for a lock for her door I asked dh to get one for my craftroom too so he did.

Funny thing is my dd told me that when we go to parties at my BIL's house her cousins told her her mom takes out the light bulbs so no ones goes into her room-lol! i thought thats why the doors are closed and no kids in the rooms. The funny thing is this same lil girl is the one that went into my dd's room and brought her uninvited guest into dd's room and were pulling things out of dd's drawers and her jewlery out of jewlery box and throwing it on the floor and laughing.

but even better is when guest tell me their kids arent aloud to drink soda so do i have 100% juice for their 5 kids and they cant eat candy so do i have other sancks

ok, now this is getting me even more motivated. My sis FB me to tell me she's having a yardsale on Sat and if i have stuff i wanna sale. I hate yardsales but i might give in