Destash 2022 Time to eject the dreck!

[PollyannaMom]

I'm afraid I might get too bogged down in counting items, so instead I think I'll count days that I do something toward decluttering - whether that's a whole closet, or one drawer, or just a couple of folders.

I'd like to hit 5 days out of 7 most weeks (Mon-Sun) and I started on Thursday, with 4/4 for the partial week.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I have a weird definition of what is destashing. I count it if it’s something that has “taken residence” in the house. So new junk mail that I recycle doesn’t count but anything I recycle out of my long term piles of mail does. Veggies that have gone bad or food we use up doesn’t count but that old bottle of a condiment in the fridge that I toss does. Maybe makes no sense but there you go.

Actually, it kind of does. Decluttering to me is about making the house "lighter". And things that normally cycle through aren't really part of the weight, but "settled" things are. - I totally get it!

 

[sarah4770]

Well I went through ALL of the Christmas decorations last week, and threw away a trash bag of assorted decorations, and made a smaller bag of unused ornaments, etc. to donate. Took me 1/2 day.
1 job done.

 

[piccolopat]

We have a mother-in-law apartment downstairs that has been unoccupied since she died in 2009. Since then more and more of our stuff has migrated down there - Christmas and holiday storage, excess kitchen and household, furniture, lots of electronics and sound system stuff that DH uses, stuff that belongs in the garage, etc. That's on top of the furniture and stuff from MIL that never left. Well, our DD, DSIL and DGS will be moving in later on this spring and so the purge has begun. It's easy getting rid of some stuff (we like Purple Heart's pickups) but things like furniture and our ping pong table will be a bit trickier. I need to make room in our part of the house upstairs for some things. We have boxes and boxes of photos and slides that need to be organized and thinned out. So many photos were double prints and lots of unnecessary scenery pictures. I'm hoping to reduce the stash this year by a third. Also want to go through our collection of CDs and DVDs so the ones we no longer listen to or watch can be donated. Hoping these will also be reduced by a third. Already started going through the Christmas/holiday stuff but more can go. Stuff that belongs in the garage will take more time because we have to first make room IN the garage for that stuff.

 

[sarah4770]

Went through one dresser tonight, got rid of 4 pairs of sweatpants, 1 tshirt, a bag of undergarments, and 1 wallet. Which I found $110 in (I kept that, haha).

 

[barkley]

so it looks like were going to need to find a small spot to take a tiny piece of the ceiling down to take it to the paint store to match.

have you considered using the free paint matching app sherwin williams has where you take a picture with your phone of the painted area you want to match?

 

[virge]

This week I took some things to the “free house”. It was only 4 or 5 things, but I’m trying to rehome items as I come across them in my daily activities.

2/40 times of rehoming items.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Week 2: 5 days out of 7

Highlight: medicine cupboard - I took a whole bag of expired stuff to the pharmacy for proper disposal.

 

[limace]

Week two:
133/2022 items, and mostly keeping up with The January Cure.

 

[snowwite]

I think I'm going to assign an area a month. We moved in 2020 and got rid of so much stuff at that time. Now there are areas I need to reorganize and destash.

Great idea! I get overwhelmed when I take on too much at once.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Week 3: 4 days out of 7
Highlight: mess on craft table!

 

[comicguy]

January did not start as strong as I wanted but we did manage to move some stuff out. But every little bit that leaves reduces the overall weight of the job and makes things more functional and appear nicer! Still slowly going through things that need to go back upstairs after the big remodel. slow and steady will win the race one day

5 cardboard boxes - recycled
1 grocery bag of papers - shredded and recycled

5 Xmas decorations broken - trashed
1 pair of non working headphones - trashed
1 broken strainer - trashed

1 partial notepad - used up
1 3 ring binder - used up for a project
15 sheet protectors - used up for a project

1 box of DS xmas decorations - given to DS
1 extra large empty storage bin - given to DS

5 xmas decorations - donated
5 shirts - donated

2 storage items - returned to amazon

44 of 500 items or 8% of goal

 

[barkley]

kudos to all!

as you declutter and purge i have a suggestion-as individual rooms, areas, cabinets, shelving units, closets, out buidings...reach your self identified point of decluttered-take a cell phone in and snap photos, photos of everything on the shelves, in drawers, on walls. if you want to kick it up a notch use those photos to make a written inventory of every item. put the photos into a electronic folder that's safely backed up to the cloud and file that inventory away from your home. i say this b/c a fire swept through my neighborhood this summer and it has been a nightmare for people to remember every item they had to claim for insurance. yes they can remember the big items but it's the mementos and collectibles that are so insanely expensive to replace that they are having a hard time remembering or justifying. take a photo, if you've got old receipts for them put them in a bag along with a listing and store that elsewhere.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Week 4: only 3/7
(...but I'm OK with that because snow shoveling replaced decluttering on 2 days!)

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I did a little but I am really not feeling well
2 bags of paper going out for recycle day tomm
Bag of hotel shampoos, lotions etc

 

[limace]

Week two:
133/2022 items, and mostly keeping up with The January Cure.

I did about 2/3 of the January Cure so will count that as a win.

Week 4?
195/2022 items. Tackled our games closet this weekend-we have so many great board games, some unopened, that kind of got lost in there. Took a stack of good games to donate to our youth shelter.

 

[teamagic]

I am going to join in! Hopefully this will help to keep me motivated! My goal for this year is 2022 items and to organize closets, kitchen cabinets, and the basement (which I have been working in since the beginning of January)! What I have done is amazing! The family thought they were in the wrong basement.

Finally got motivated and moved a lot of items to Goodwill and or the trash - 604/2022! I have many items to list on Facebook Marketplace and eBay!

 

[GZanta77]

For some reason we have way too many suitcases. Some storing old clothes/things that we had forgotten we had. This weekend we went through our cases...........

Result: 4 suitcases to recycling, 3 suitcases to trash, 2 bags clothes to goodwill and 1 bag to linens recycling with a total of 64 items moved out of our home.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Week 5: 5/7
Highlight: spare bedroom closet

 

[Dashzap]

Decluttered an Ikea Poang chair and ottoman today for $ via craigslist. The flow and space in the living room is improved so much!