2013 Destash- this is the year!

[starwood]

Would someone mind posting the Peter Walsh tip of the day? I'm not on Facebook and the last I read here was the one about the ratty, scratchy towels.

Day 7 - The Unmentionables! Last week it was the sock drawer so don't tell me you didn't see this one coming! Your ten minutes today is dedicated to your undies drawer. Get all your underwear onto your bed - discard the old, soiled, ripped, "I'll-never-wear", Bombay bloomer or blown-elastic models. Sort the rest and commit today to wearing some of those classier undergarments. Are you with me? #31Days2GetOrganized http://ow.ly/i/1klUI

 

[MAJPLO]

Day 7 - The Unmentionables! Last week it was the sock drawer so don't tell me you didn't see this one coming! Your ten minutes today is dedicated to your undies drawer. Get all your underwear onto your bed - discard the old, soiled, ripped, "I'll-never-wear", Bombay bloomer or blown-elastic models. Sort the rest and commit today to wearing some of those classier undergarments. Are you with me? #31Days2GetOrganized http://ow.ly/i/1klUI

That's a good one! Thank you

 

[mrsklamc]

Sherry7- is there any chance of working from home some, or of working an off peak shift so you don't have to contend with traffic?

 

[starwood]

This morning I cleaned in back of the tv unit and duct taped all the cords in back of the tv so they are now off the floor.

 

[C_leen]

Sherry, I am sorry to hear about your possible work move. I hope it works out for the best.

Last night my guys both complimented me on having dinner two nights in a row. Then after dinner I made DH clean out the crock pot immediately. While DS did homework, I pulled together another crock pot meal! DS said, "Isn't tomorrow guitar night - which typically means we eat out." Ha ha no not this week at least. THEN it was time to destash!!! Last night impacted kitchen counter and my office - a dual night!

I tackled some of the important mail lying around in the kitchen. Switched out the health, pharmacy, and flex spending cards in my wallet. Filed the new documents away and made a pile to cut up and shred (which was done last night and this am). Since I was filing instead of stacking, I continued and did another 15 minutes in my messy office.

Then I went outside since it was mild and pulled down the Xmas lights that had been going out through the holidays. Today I popped them in a special recycle bin at work!

 

[lovesmurfs]

Sherry I'm a commuter -- 1.5 hours in the morning, 2+ hours in the evening, with a car, train and bus. My kids are older than yours (DD was 9 when I started, DS 15), and my husband has a flexible schedule teaching college. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like with a toddler and without my husband in town.

You may actually want to consider bringing your DD with you to work and finding care close to the new office.

 

[njcarita]

well i really havent done much purging of stuff..... except papers...been going thru and sorting...pitching and filing............ need to pick something to do besides papers( i have a forest full)........... so when i get back i think i am going to grab a garbage bag and just start pitching

 

[Disney Addicted]

I also found paperwork regarding my doggies cancer treatment - she got lymphoma and despite chemo, didn't make it. This was over a year ago. I also had her collar there. So I put her collar with the picture I have of her in my bedroom and shredded the treatment paperwork. That was a hard one.

That is hard. I had to put down 2 cats when they were about 13 and 15 years old within a year of each other. And you know, I think I still have all their vet bills in my filing cabinet too. I'm sorry you lost your dog.

At the moment, I just feel like crying. I got awful news at work today. This affects my whole plan about de-stashing, so I'm going to vent to you all in an effort to get this off my chest. There are plans to close our building by the end of this year. We will be transferred downtown. There's no possible way that I could stay in our current house with that long of a commute (close to 4 hours a day with traffic), especially with a young toddler to think about. If this does in fact happen (and it's fairly definite), we will have to sell our house and move closer to my work. DH works out-of-town during the week, so he only has to worry about commuting twice a week.

Sorry, I know this whole post is kind of off-topic. I needed to vent, although I'm not sure that it helped. I feel sick to my stomach, just thinking about this.

I hope it works out for you Sherry. Let us know how it goes. Mrsklamc has a good idea with working from home, at least part of the week if you can. I read about more and more companies allowing this, and have a couple of friends that only go into the office once a week.

Sherry I'm a commuter -- 1.5 hours in the morning, 2+ hours in the evening, with a car, train and bus. My kids are older than yours (DD was 9 when I started, DS 15), and my husband has a flexible schedule teaching college. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like with a toddler and without my husband in town.

You may actually want to consider bringing your DD with you to work and finding care close to the new office.

Great idea too! I'm in awe lovesmurfs. While my husband commutes, and my dad use to, I thought I might have to - I just cannot imagine having to commute that many hours.

 

[mrsklamc]

I also found paperwork regarding my doggies cancer treatment - she got lymphoma and despite chemo, didn't make it. This was over a year ago. I also had her collar there. So I put her collar with the picture I have of her in my bedroom and shredded the treatment paperwork. That was a hard one.
.

I'm so sorry.

 

[CJ1010]

Over the past week I've tackled my kitchen - still have one cupboard left - and cleaned out the family room - Christmas stuff put away and cleaned behind the entertainment center. So far, off to a good start, but It's difficult for me to throw away things, even when I know they should be. Giving to goodwill is a lot easier and that pile is growing.

Thanks for the motivation!

Sherry7 - good luck! Hope everything works out.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[starwood]

"Day 8: Paperwork Part 1 - Today's ten minute challenge may be the toughest so far but if you do this AND COMMIT to handling your mail like this EVERY day then I promise you'll tame the incoming paperwork. Are you in? #31Days2GetOrganized http://ow.ly/gCnrU"

Gather up all papers and take them to a central location. Throw out junk mail. Make a pile of bills and mail that needs attention and put them in a basket to address. Put all magazines in another pile.

 

[MissManda]

I'm a little late to the party, but one of my main goals for 2013 is to get more organized! I am very organized at work, but my house just seems to fall by the wayside. Its always clean but always very cluttered feeling.

My main problems are this:
My DH does not like to throw anything away...ever. A lot of his used stuff just ends up in the basement.

DH is not organized at all. He's even had trouble at work over his lack of organization. Its just not in his nature.

I tend to get scattered to easily. I start in one area but then jump to another before the first is completed. I need to make myself stick to one area. Finish it and then move on.

I have a hard time figuring out what tools I need to help me get oranized. For instance, I buy totes but they are either too big, too small. Or don't accomplish what I really needed. I'm also not very spacial, so I have a hard time figuring out how to make things work the most efficient way and to utilize the space appropriately. My kitchen is the worst trying to get all my cookware, dishes, etc.


So, I'm hoping that this thread will keep me motivated and on track!

 

[TarzansKat]

At the moment, I just feel like crying. I got awful news at work today. This affects my whole plan about de-stashing, so I'm going to vent to you all in an effort to get this off my chest. There are plans to close our building by the end of this year. We will be transferred downtown. There's no possible way that I could stay in our current house with that long of a commute (close to 4 hours a day with traffic), especially with a young toddler to think about. If this does in fact happen (and it's fairly definite), we will have to sell our house and move closer to my work. DH works out-of-town during the week, so he only has to worry about commuting twice a week.

After the initial shock was over today, one of the first things I thought about was how much stuff I'd have to move, and where I would put it. We have a fairly large house right in a semi-rural area, and there's no way we'll be able to afford this big (or nice) of a house closer to the city.

So, I guess that my de-stashing has a new purpose now...so I can downsize into a smaller house. I never realized before today how much I really like my house. I like the area, the school district, and the low taxes. With a few small exceptions, I like the house itself. Now that I'm faced with the reality of having to move, I'm mourning the loss of my house already.

Sorry, I know this whole post is kind of off-topic. I needed to vent, although I'm not sure that it helped. I feel sick to my stomach, just thinking about this.

Vent away! Some of my most supportive friends have come from the DIS!

I hope this all works out for you. So frustrating. Big in the mean time.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

Found a flexible desk lamp in with some Christmas items. That's going to Goodwill, along with a few Christmas ornaments and decorations. I hope this is just the beginning. Last year we went through my in-laws house, that was a lot of work emptying that place out. I learned my lesson, will I need that 50 years from now?

 

[Robbi]

At the moment, I just feel like crying. I got awful news at work today. This affects my whole plan about de-stashing, so I'm going to vent to you all in an effort to get this off my chest. There are plans to close our building by the end of this year. We will be transferred downtown. There's no possible way that I could stay in our current house with that long of a commute (close to 4 hours a day with traffic), especially with a young toddler to think about. If this does in fact happen (and it's fairly definite), we will have to sell our house and move closer to my work. DH works out-of-town during the week, so he only has to worry about commuting twice a week.

After the initial shock was over today, one of the first things I thought about was how much stuff I'd have to move, and where I would put it. We have a fairly large house right in a semi-rural area, and there's no way we'll be able to afford this big (or nice) of a house closer to the city.

So, I guess that my de-stashing has a new purpose now...so I can downsize into a smaller house. I never realized before today how much I really like my house. I like the area, the school district, and the low taxes. With a few small exceptions, I like the house itself. Now that I'm faced with the reality of having to move, I'm mourning the loss of my house already.

Sorry, I know this whole post is kind of off-topic. I needed to vent, although I'm not sure that it helped. I feel sick to my stomach, just thinking about this.

I'm sorry.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I had to get some work done in my kitchen today so since that's Flylady's zone for this week I followed her "missions" and started on top of my cupboards and cleaned out my fridge because tomorrow is my big shopping trip. I didn't throw away much (which is good I suppose), but it's so clean and shiny

Then I worked on my desk. I am good about dealing with mail immediately, but the school papers tend to pile up so I straightened up my desk, threw away a bunch of papers and my 2013 planner arrived today so now I'm going to get some dates written down on it so I can put away my 2012 one. Unfortunately now that I can see my desk I can also see the dust on it, that will be taken care of (along with the rest of the living room) tomorrow.

Last night I got my "unmentionable" drawer cleaned out and also one of my boy's done, I still need to do one more in their room.

 

[dtr_angel]

Following along again this year. This year we're kicking it into high gear. We've wanted to sell our house for the past year or so but it's just not ready. I hope this year is the year! We need to destash, declutter, and organize!

Yesterday I had a very productive day... I cleaned out my large closet, and baby boy's. DH got in the spirit and even though I didn't think he had anything to take out of his closet, he went through all the stuff on his shelf and came up with a ton of stuff - mostly old greeting cards and TONS of papers and notebooks from college.

We also managed to get all the Christmas stuff packed up to go back downstairs except for the fully decorated tree. We have an infant so things take longer LOL. So now we just have to get the outside lights down and the tree. I managed to pack everything so well and made a pile of stuff to get rid of and packed one less tote full, yay!

The basement is our biggest problem and always has been... our house is small and we have NO storage. We only have 3 closets (2 in our room, one in the babys) and no attic. That means everything is in our nice finished basement but I just don't know what to do with it all! The plan is to finish the rest of the house which really doesn't need much - kitchen cabinets reallly REALLY need organizing again. Then we'll start on the basement... we've gotten rid of most of the stuff we can't use or need but then there is a ton of stuff down there we do. Once I get that organized then we can finish up a few projects that need done around the house (fixing back door, painting front porch, etc.) and start to sell our house!

2 days ago I also did my first DIY project of the year. I made a box to store all our cords and chargers that are used frequently. Mine doesn't look quite so fancy as my inspiration, but I love it!
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2012/03/you-asked-organizing-cords.html

I found that I Heart Organizing blog a few days ago and am definitely inspired!

 

[mrsklamc]

I think I heart organizing is where I found what I finally did with my lazy susan, too... (I put my pots and pans in it. I wouldn't have thought they would fit, but she shows it in a photo tour of her kitchen, and sure enough, it worked!)

 

[Debbie]

Another email account decluttered. 17 pages down to 1! Off to complete January 5 task from Peter Walsh: Day 5 - Romance & Calm: Grab your partner and head for the master bedroom. Spend ten minutes TOGETHER gathering up and removing anything from the room that doesn't belong there or doesn't help create a calm, romantic haven for you both. Looking forward to going up because 1) I'm cold. and 2) I'm tired. Another good day!

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Everyone here is being such an inspiration and influence on me to get off my bum and do this.

We will be moving in the next months and the two oldest will be off to college so we knew down sizing to our truly loved and wanted would come. In the past I tried to follow the book Simple Abundance. "only keep what you truly love" Well that didn't always work because i would have to also plan for the next rainy day (ours and other families').

Today my husband received his Christmas gift from his parents (there was an issue with the shipper). It's a Keurig. Yay for the coffee drinker. First thing I thought, ok, time to ship off that little coffee pot and the large Gevalia that I only use for large pots of tea. I was then told we should save it for the dorms. So, is that getting rid of anything?

But the colleges are on MY side. Coffee pots are not allowed. So, I get to add them to my donate box.

Now I am trying to figure out the waffle iron. I like waffles. When I make them, I make quite a few extra and freeze them. But pancakes are faster...Should this become a "only when we go out to breakfast" item?