Need Budget Decluttering Ideas!!

[WDWorBUST]

Okay here's the story. It's me, DH, and DD (5, almost 6) in a 800ish square foot house. It's tiny and we really do need more space, but ultimately we also just have too much crap. I have come to realize this, I think DH is on board, and DD will just have to accept it as well - we need to desperately get rid of some crap!! I am currently working on DD's last year's fall clothes to sell at the local Just Between Friends Sale....we would still like to have another little one so I'm still on the fence about selling the baby stuff (any suggestions?) Bottom line - when we try to clean house all we end up doing is what I call shuffling sh*@!! The best idea I have come up with is to take a long weekend (Labor Day maybe) and get a POD to move stuff out into - then only put back in the house what we need. Then use it to have stuff ready for a garage sale staging area and of course we will need to actually store some stuff in our garage. But it just seems like there should be an easier, less expensive way to go about this. PODS are expensive (looking at close to $200 if we only have it a month - and I feel like I should allow us two months to accomplish this large of a task). So creative budget people....HELP!!!

 

[lucigo]

Okay here's the story. It's me, DH, and DD (5, almost 6) in a 800ish square foot house. It's tiny and we really do need more space, but ultimately we also just have too much crap. I have come to realize this, I think DH is on board, and DD will just have to accept it as well - we need to desperately get rid of some crap!! I am currently working on DD's last year's fall clothes to sell at the local Just Between Friends Sale....we would still like to have another little one so I'm still on the fence about selling the baby stuff (any suggestions?) Bottom line - when we try to clean house all we end up doing is what I call shuffling sh*@!! The best idea I have come up with is to take a long weekend (Labor Day maybe) and get a POD to move stuff out into - then only put back in the house what we need. Then use it to have stuff ready for a garage sale staging area and of course we will need to actually store some stuff in our garage. But it just seems like there should be an easier, less expensive way to go about this. PODS are expensive (looking at close to $200 if we only have it a month - and I feel like I should allow us two months to accomplish this large of a task). So creative budget people....HELP!!!

Do you own your home? We bought a metal shed from home depot when we converted our garage into living space. A few years later we bought another one LOL We could probably use a few more! We have 2 adults and 4 kids in an 1800 sq ft house with no garage...its pretty miserable. But someday the kids will move out???!!! LOL

Another thing we have done is to put the beds up on extenders and store the kids "winter" clothes (we live in FL so its not really winter LOL) in totes under the beds.

My "back to school" project is to clean out my laundry room, where everything ends up! Im with you on throwing stuff out...or taking it to the waterfront mission or consignment store, anything to get it out of the house!

 

[merekc]

I so feel your pain. We have way too much stuff and it just never seems to go away. I am committing this fall to get rid of junk. It is very difficult because I come from a long line of pack rats.

One of the cleaning shows (don't know which one) did something I always wanted to do, but am afraid that I'd get in the middle of and not be able to get it done. I think they were only doing one room at a time not entire house so that might be the way to do it. They pulled everything out of the room and put it in the yard. They then sorted into three stacks. Something along the lines of Keep, trash and donate/sell. Then you only put back in the room what you are keeping and have a garage sale/donate the rest.

If you decide to go the pod route, check for other vendors. I know in our area there are other companies much cheaper than PODS.

 

[lucigo]

I love those shows, they make me look semi-organized! LOL One thing that I heard that really made sense to me was, if you like something but don't know why you are keeping it, just take a picture of it and get rid of it. The picture takes up a lot less space! I have a broken grandfather clock I need to do that with!

 

[WDWorBUST]

I so feel your pain. We have way too much stuff and it just never seems to go away. I am committing this fall to get rid of junk. It is very difficult because I come from a long line of pack rats.

One of the cleaning shows (don't know which one) did something I always wanted to do, but am afraid that I'd get in the middle of and not be able to get it done. I think they were only doing one room at a time not entire house so that might be the way to do it. They pulled everything out of the room and put it in the yard. They then sorted into three stacks. Something along the lines of Keep, trash and donate/sell. Then you only put back in the room what you are keeping and have a garage sale/donate the rest.

If you decide to go the pod route, check for other vendors. I know in our area there are other companies much cheaper than PODS.

This is the concept I want to use....but since I don't have my own team of carpenters, etc. I know that I can't get it done in the timeframe they do resulting in the need of a pod. I haven't seen any other companies that are along the same idea as PODS.....I'd love some names though of some if you have them. This has gotten to the point that it's making me insane!

 

[mrsklamc]

Check out the book 'It's all too much" by Peter Walsh. I got the audio book from the library and it really helped me de-clutter.

 

[GoofyMomInOhio]

We are in the same boat - 5 people in a 1000 sq ft house with no basement. Over the years we accumulated ALOT! This summer I started going through everything and throwing out or donating alot of stuff that we didn't use or need. I had a garage sale last week and made $260 on mostly small things and kids clothes (marked them all 50 cents each, even the Gymboree). We do have a detached garage and a nice shed out back but I cleaned them out first and refuse to put anything back in there. It is slow going but the more space I regain, the happier I am.
I just want to add that we have thought about moving but love our neighborhood and having extra money to visit Disney!

 

[akcire]

It all started with the threat of an international job transfer to China, where a 800 square foot apartment is luxury living. We live in a 2800 square foot house, that was once bursting with stuff. Listed below is our "plan".

1. Do you need it?
2. Do you love it?
3. Will it help you make more money?

If I can't answer yes, to one of these questions when looking at an item--it is gone. It can be donated, ebay, trashed, whatever. [I think I read this in a book or magazine, but I don't remember the origin of the 3 stuff-questions.]

For example, I need clothes (I don't need 6 winter coats). I love Disney movies (I don't need Blue-ray, DVD & VHS of same movie). File cabinet full of documents--I don't want or need, but they do help me with work stuff so they stay too, same goes for lame things like paper shredder, etc.

Our other household rule is for every item we buy, that is not consumable (food, beauty, or cleaning product), two items leave the house. The discards don't have to be from the same category, but two have to go. This helps us buy less stuff, because we like most of what we already own.

We have been doing this for about a year and have gotten a good handle on the number of items we have. Keep reminding yourself that clutter has a true cost--storage (plastic totes, storage sheds, etc), lost time looking for stuff we need, buying bigger houses because we have too much. Of all the "stuff" we have discarded, I have yet to miss any of it.

The real bonus has been our checking account is fatter than usual, because I am buying less stuff--which means more money for vacations.

Of course since we made these efforts, we have not been moved to China, but our house feels roomy again.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Declutter You mean there is a different lifestyle than clutter

 

[lovemygoofy]

Declutter one room at a time. You will get overwhelmed thinking of the large tasks all at once. You can tackle small goals one at a time. It might be your child's closet and then toy box and then the dresser.

Another weekend, the linen closet and the bathroom.

We have a couple rules in our house as I hate hate clutter and hate packing up and moving it even more.

1. At the end of each season at least 5 things have to go that wasn't worn for that season. As we are approaching the end of summer here, we will each pick out 5 pieces of clothing or more to go out the door.

2. When I purchase new towels, socks, underwear, undershirts, kitchen towels or linens the equal number of old items have to leave the house. If I buy a 6 pack of socks, 6 pairs of old socks have to go. My old kitchen towels get recycled into cleaning and car washing towels when I purchase new kitchen towels. Old linens and pillows can get donated for the winter time.

3. Kitchen items such as spices and utensils. I keep exactly the utensils and spices I use on a regular basis on my counter. You really don't need the junk drawer of utensils that you can't find and don't use. Get a big empty container (think cookie jar size) and put all the utensils you would use while cooking and place it by the stove. You won't need another utensil drawer and one less way to feel overwlemed and under organized.

One great suggestion I read recently was about children's artwork and things they make or paper awards they receive. Take a picture of each child's artwork and make a digital scrapbook of it for each child. It makes a cute gift at graduation.

Another way to be organized is to have plastic bins and totes. I put things away for the season and the tote is labeled with a list of the contents inside the tote taped to the lid. The movers were amazed at the number of plastic bins and totes I had when it was time to move earlier this year lol. More bins than boxes they had to pack up.

 

[annagirl]

The show is called Clean Sweep and I watch it in the mornings on TLC while DD is getting ready for school.

And it is a great way to do things, but you have to have the time to do it right.

Go room by room and empty it 100% - then sort thru everything. 3 piles: keep, toss, sell. Then sort thru the keep pile one more time with the idea that you'll be getting rid of 1/2 of it - yes, they are often that tough.

Finally, once you decide what you are really keeping it has to go back in - ORGANIZED - and with the mindset that it's kept that way.

A couple extra rules - if it doesn't really belong it that room (clothes in the living room, for example) it must be sorted to the correct room or given up. Other rule is that from then on, once a room is "cleaned" there is a turnover of items. For example - you have a bookshelf with 20 books on it - if you get a new book, 1 from the shelf must go. This keeps the clutter from rebuilding.

I've done this with hubby's closet (like a room to itself!), our living room, kitchen and DD's bedroom.


It's worth it. But you have to have 2 full days to do it. Also, if you have everything out of the room it's a good time for deep scrubbing and repainting.

 

[PinkRhombus]

If you do opt for one of those PODS, you need to check and see if and where you can place those. There was a big stink about where they were sitting (cannot be on the street) and even if in the driveway, some places have time limits....like a week or so.

Honestly, though...try to decide if the money you'll make from the sale of the clothes is worth what the clutter is doing to your life.

I sell a few things on eBay, but I am MUCH happier putting it all in a bag and dropping it off at Goodwill.

 

[Colleen27]

I find moving every 5 years or so does the trick. Every time we move, I think "Gah, how did we end up with so much *stuff*?", go on a cleaning/sorting spree, and sell/donate/toss a ton. I don't know what I'm going to do now that we're in our "forever" house.

In all seriousness, when I get motivated to declutter, whether by an upcoming or recent move or just because I'm starting to feel crowded, I tackle one room at a time, top to bottom, every nook, cranny, shelf, cabinet and drawer. I keep decorating ideas, recipes, and craft patterns in binders so that I can clip them and toss the rest of the magazine into the recycling bin right away, and I've gotten much stricter about what books I deem keepers. After moving 24 boxes of books on the last move, I cleared out a TON in the past month. My biggest challenge is the temptation to keep everything the kids have ever made, and that's the one I haven't quite conquered yet.

 

[Danemom]

I don't think it's the system for everyone but you might check out flylady.net. It's a slower way to declutter, but it creates new and hopefully permanent habits.

One of my favorite tips for others with small spaces is to store extra sheets between the mattress and box springs. And only have two sets - one on the bed and a spare. Good luck!

 

[crazelion]

I found watching clean sweep help me to declutter the house a lot.

 

[tara32]

Honestly, though...try to decide if the money you'll make from the sale of the clothes is worth what the clutter is doing to your life.

I sell a few things on eBay, but I am MUCH happier putting it all in a bag and dropping it off at Goodwill.

Me too! In many cases, the pain of trying to sell it is just not worth the stress!
If you are a yard saler, you could put everything out, and what doesnt sell gets donted that day. Nothing makes it back into the house.

I have a clutter problem, and have been working on it enthusiastically this summer. I have donated probably 8 carloads, thrown asome stuff out, and sold some stuff. Obviously you are going to want to sell the stuff that is really worth $$$$ but you get so little for clothes toys and knicknacks it just isnt worth it.
We sold a futon yesterday, someone is coming for formula tomorrow and we recently sold a stereo system with surround sound. It feels so freeing!

 

[Dancemom03]

Clean sweep might not help me declutter but it sure makes me feel better about my mess...

I do FlyLady and enjoy her messages and tips. In addition to the messages for me, today I actually had DD8 read the Riley challenge that was directed at kids and she enjoyed doing it! That's the first time I've tried that but think we'll Riley challenges a habit for the kids. It can't hurt. Yesterday's challenge had the kids searching the house to pick up trash and put it in the can. Today's challenege email read...

"Hi Kids!

It's time for the Riley Challenge of the Day!!

We are taking a walk! Let's take a walk through our houses and find 10
things that belong in our rooms and put them away. If you have left
any shoes, jackets, toys or books lying around the house now is the
time to return them to their home. When you leave your things around
the house, it makes the house look messy. Let's grab up the things
that belong in our rooms and take them there.

I am willing to bet that Mom or Dad will be so surprised and so proud
of you!

Have Fun! "

I've always wanted to do the one room at a time thing like they do on the clean house show. Here I figure one weekend... in a time yet to come and a land far, far away... I'll empty everything in the room into the garage, then sort in there and bring back in only what we need. With all four of us working together it wouldn't take more than a day or two. Now, if only I could get DH to move the truck he's working on in there outside so there's room...

 

[lovehoney]

Check out the book 'It's all too much" by Peter Walsh. I got the audio book from the library and it really helped me de-clutter.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just requested a hold on it at the library. He also has another book out from 2008 "Does this clutter make my butt look big?" I will have to get that one next.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just requested a hold on it at the library. He also has another book out from 2008 "Does this clutter make my butt look big?" I will have to get that one next.

Yes, Thank you. I just also put a hold request in on it

 

[WDWorBUST]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I probably should start with clearing out the garage and then use it to clean each room out into for the "clean sweep", then get rid of the excess from that room and then repeat. Then I could avoid the POD maybe.... Of course then I have to make a decision about baby clothes and stuff.......