Resolve to Declutter in 2010 with me....

[agnes!]

...The biggest problem area is the basement. We have so many toys (preschool years) that the kids have outgrown. I did sell some at my mom's last garage sale but not as much as I would have liked. The Goodwill near our house does not take toys. This is part of my problem - what to do with the toys? I have some that are in excellent condition and can't imagine throwing out but I don't know what else to do - any ideas?

I have a friend who is a neat freak and throws a ton of stuff away (clothes and toys in great condition). I can't imagine throwing out clothes in great condition though that works for her. I'm at least good about donating clothes right away.

I will be starting the 2nd week of January as the kids will be back at school and the Christmas stuff will be put away by then. Looking forward to everyone's updates.

Not sure about the toys, lots of places won't take them any more, especially plush stuff that can't be sanitized. The poster who mentioned donating to a women's shelter is on to something....maybe call some local churches or charities and ask if they have any ideas about where to donate used toys in good condition?

I'll join. I always have some area of the house that needs work.

Like many of you, we have already started. Our girls went through all their toys and decided to get rid of probably half of them. A lot of it was just tossed, but not everything. The stuffed animals were taken to the local animal shelter. (They will also get old towels and sheets when I get around to those.) A few things were packed up for church and everything else will go to a local thriftstore.

Donating the plush and sheets/towels to an animal shelter....that is BRILLIANT.

My biggest problem is that DH insists on writing down everything we give away, so we can take the tax deduction. When I'm in the zone, I don't want to take the time to write it all down. When I'm done, I'd rather just take it and be done with it. A year or so ago, dh said that if I'd box it all up, he'd go ahead and inventory it. Well, guess what? It is all still where I left it waiting for him to inventory it. Now, I think he gets it since he told me to just go ahead and take it over there. Yea!!!

See below - Lisa's hint about taking pictures of the donated items is a really good one, but make sure you're not overestimating what everything is worth. Put down what you'd be able to sell it for at a garage sale or what the thrift store might sell it for, *under* estimate the dollar-value of anything you take a deduction on.

DH took this week off and we're also decluttering, or at least we're starting. It's going to take more than a week to do everything I want to do. For tax purposes I am taking a photo of any item we're donating that has any real value as I put it in the box. Next week I will print the photos out on plain paper and make a note about the condition and value of each item so that I will have the info all ready to go when I do our taxes. Taking photos was quicker than writing everything down because like you, when I'm in the zone I just want to get on with it!

This is a great thread!

The pics are great because they can just be sitting on the computer waiting to be printed out.

As an aside...
Take it from me, people's "stuff" is *never* worth as much as they think it is. People will say "oh [that item] is worth a lot" (because it was Uncle Joe's or they paid $$$ to buy it or whatever) when really they'd be lucky to get pennies on the dollar for it. I know, I had a doll collection, thinking I'd get thousands (really, I did) and instead I got a tenth of what I thought it was worth. People have to justify keeping their 'stuff', so often their justification is how much money the stuff is supposedly worth.

I have issues with papers....I tend to keep everything, so therefore I can't find *anything*.

And it's nice to hear that others are living in small houses. I thought I was the only one! We have three people in a house with a little less than 1200 sq. ft. And all of us are savers...me, less than I used to be. Now, I try to only let things in the house if there's a place for it or if something else is going out the door.

I'm in.
agnes!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

You guys are doing great! It's motivating me! Holidays are over, time to get going. I think I will tackle the linen closet today, Christmas stuff tomorrow...we'll see how it goes. My DH is actually at my mother's house today helping to declutter her place (she is now physically impaired) and she will listen to him about getting rid of stuff, not ME! Haha!

My closets and office are my worst, but little by little!

 

[MiniGirl]

DH took this week off and we're also decluttering, or at least we're starting. It's going to take more than a week to do everything I want to do. For tax purposes I am taking a photo of any item we're donating that has any real value as I put it in the box. Next week I will print the photos out on plain paper and make a note about the condition and value of each item so that I will have the info all ready to go when I do our taxes. Taking photos was quicker than writing everything down because like you, when I'm in the zone I just want to get on with it!

This is a great thread!

What a great idea, Lisa. I can so do that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

 

[MiniGirl]

Donating the plush and sheets/towels to an animal shelter....that is BRILLIANT.



See below - Lisa's hint about taking pictures of the donated items is a really good one, but make sure you're not overestimating what everything is worth. Put down what you'd be able to sell it for at a garage sale or what the thrift store might sell it for, *under* estimate the dollar-value of anything you take a deduction on.



The pics are great because they can just be sitting on the computer waiting to be printed out.

As an aside...
Take it from me, people's "stuff" is *never* worth as much as they think it is. People will say "oh [that item] is worth a lot" (because it was Uncle Joe's or they paid $$$ to buy it or whatever) when really they'd be lucky to get pennies on the dollar for it. I know, I had a doll collection, thinking I'd get thousands (really, I did) and instead I got a tenth of what I thought it was worth. People have to justify keeping their 'stuff', so often their justification is how much money the stuff is supposedly worth.

agnes!

Thanks Agnes. We adopted a couple of kittens this past summer and one of them stills snuggles/plays with the stuffed animal he came home from the shelter with. That is what gave up the idea, and I really like it because they don't sell at yard sales, and like you mentioned, quite a few places won't take them anymore.

About the other stuff..... we use the It's Deductible software, so we don't actually assign a value. The computer does. I am very good about tossing things though. I have spent too much time throwing out other's people trash that they thought was donation worthy. Ugh!!! Then the organization that you are trying to help has to pay to haul the "donations" off to the trash. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you (general "you") are getting rid of it because of stains and/or rips, then toss it. Don't donate it.

 

[acename]

Thanks so much for the idea of donating old towels to the animal shelter. We got some new towels for Christmas so today I'm going to get out some of the rattier ones and take them to the shelter. I'm also going to clean out a couple of bins of toys to make room for the new ones from Christmas.

Thanks for the motivation everyone.

 

[Silent1CB]

Not exactly decluttering today, but sort of.
We replaced the living room ceiling fan with one that arrived before Christmas. At least it got the box out of the room.

We still need to change the stairway ceiling fan, but need to borrow a taller ladder for that. So that box still sits.

Having friends over later. Maybe I can get this pile of paper shredded before they show up. Didn't get to finish the filing cabinets yesterday, but did make a good dent in the filing & cleaning out task.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Linen closet: DONE! Apparently, I have a penchant for buying shower curtain liners: there were 5 of them in there! So, I am changing the kids' bathroom liner and washing the shower curtain. Felt good to get something done. Not sure where to go next, maybe one of the kids' closets...

 

[reservations4five]

got my closet and my DH closet cleaned out- the heavy winter clothes put up and the vacation clothes out of the suitcase.

I got rid of 2 more bags of trash, and 4 black trash bags full of clothes.

I am going to make it a goal this year not to buy something on a whim. Really no 2 people should have this many clothes, it is disgusting. Who needs 18 pairs of black pants? Apparently I do- or I have more legs than Ursula!

 

[Silent1CB]

Old towels & blankets can go to:
animal shelters
Town animal control office
vets office

I've done all of them in the past. Just ordered new towels, so will have some to donate again soon.

 

[Silent1CB]

I wonder if you can sell shredded paperwork as confetti on eBay?

 

[KarenB]

I did photos today. Got rid of an entire garbage bag of duplicates, fuzzy focusing, shots that were dark, eyes closed, etc. I need to go through them all again in a month or so. I was getting pretty sick of it, but I have too, too many left.

 

[tink_lover]

Spent some time this afternoon in my bedroom. It becomes the dumping ground for the rest of the house looking halfway decent. If I were braver, I would take and post before/after - but I just can't do it. Made the beginnings of a dent. Have a shred box, garbage box, box for dh, 3 separate boxes for kids. Goal this week - work 60 minutes every night and get it finished by the weekend.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

Okay, so...

I posted that a few days ago I was going to organize some appliances in our kitchen.

I didn't. We went to Disney instead.

So I'm doing it right now! I'm gonna try and post before and after photos!

 

[Swimnoid]

One year shredded. Going through 3 drawer file cabinet next.

 

[freepixie]

Going to start on my bedroom tomorrow afternoon, hoping to get the clutter in the room down before I attack my closet

 

[tink_lover]

Here is where I'm getting stuck. I move all the piles of papers into our bedroom where it sits. I'm trying to figure out a filing system in something that would like pretty sitting on my kitchen countertop. I'm thinking I need files for each kid, me, dh, WDW stuff, medical - I'm not sure about the other categories. Does anyone want to offer what they do or any suggestions?

I am putting kids stuff in boxes to sort thru later. Class papers, tests, artwork. I'm thinking I may take digital pictures and scrap book according to year of school.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

WOW, you all are doing great! All I got done yesterday was pushing stuff around the basement. Had to dig thru kid clothes to find some pants for my youngest (that he refused to wear this morning, UGH!!!) and I threw away (recycled) the box the Christmas tree came in, because it collapased and was un-tapeable. I'm going to buy one of those storage bags, but haven't done it yet! (can you say PROCRASTINATION)?

 

[reservations4five]

I did photos today. Got rid of an entire garbage bag of duplicates, fuzzy focusing, shots that were dark, eyes closed, etc. I need to go through them all again in a month or so. I was getting pretty sick of it, but I have too, too many left.

I am going to do this soon- WWYD though with all the pictures of nieces and nephews ect who have grown up now- I was thinking of giving them the pictures to keep, but I don't want to look bad LOL.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

So I actually organized the kitchen yesterday...woohoo! Almost everything has a spot now...and the rest, I figure, can go into the garage sale.

Today I'm either tackling the messy messy "blue room" (FULL of boxes) or my bedroom...

I'm thinking the bedroom is going to win...I really need to know where all of my clothes are...and make sure they are clean for work! I know that once I go through and throw away old stuff, I will have room for everything...but right now there's just too much! I even have boxes of clothes in the blue room that haven't even made it into the bedroom yet!

Good luck with your decluttering projects today, everyone!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

Here is where I'm getting stuck. I move all the piles of papers into our bedroom where it sits. I'm trying to figure out a filing system in something that would like pretty sitting on my kitchen countertop. I'm thinking I need files for each kid, me, dh, WDW stuff, medical - I'm not sure about the other categories. Does anyone want to offer what they do or any suggestions?

I am putting kids stuff in boxes to sort thru later. Class papers, tests, artwork. I'm thinking I may take digital pictures and scrap book according to year of school.

I have an office, which does get cluttered, but I have an inbox for things that need to be dealt with (bills, forms to fill out, etc), I have a massive bulletin board for all things that I need access to but would take up too much clutter space (kids' schedules, flyers, field trip info, class lists, reservation info, phone #s etc), and I have a filing cabinet for the stuff to be put away -- medical stuff, old bills and WDW, etc. It isn't perfect, but it works. And I would not want it all in the kitchen, personally. Too much going on in there anyway!
Good luck, paper is the hardest! RECYCLE!!!!!!!!!