Who is destashing in 2010?

[enchantingodin]

I had a good day too.

The kitchen has almost been begging for me to get in there and do an overhaul. So I cleaned out and organized the pantry and fridge. Made a list of stuff I need but keep forgetting to buy. Cleaned off the kitchen table - which is one of our dumping grounds. Went through that last box of kitchen stuff that has been sitting in the corner since we moved in 3 years ago. In doing so had a "Incredibles" moment where I called the hubs at work and told him about it.

Also did a TON of overdue shredding.

3 large trash bags of 'stuff' outta my house.

Hopefully we can all keep up the momentum.

 

[thebeesknees]

It's not much but I was able to clean out our junk drawer and one cabinet in the kitchen on Saturday. That cabinet had 8 old phone books in it - out they went! The sad thing is that we get about 6 phone books each year, and it feels so wasteful when I can just look up whatever number I need online. I need to find out if there is some way to opt out of getting them. I also went through a bunch of stuff that had gotten piled on the counter, and broke down a bunch of boxes that had been sitting in the garage so they could go out for recycling. All told, we had quite a bit out at the curb for pickup on Monday. I'd like to go through the playroom this week and sort through stuff for the next charity pickup, as well.

 

[mrsklamc]

I have seen this website:

http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/stop-yellow-pages/

but I have no idea if it's a legit site.

 

[delmar411]

I don't know how to stop the phone books but I know the schools collect them for recycling. They get money for it so at least you could help the schools while decluttering. LOL

 

[dyna]

We still destashing here I try to keep laundry basket in basement that I walk by everytime I leave house that once it full of unwanted junk I haul it to goodwill next time I go to goodwill usually within a week or 2 anyway. Lot of what dh has destashed has been pure thrash....one closet I'm not happy with yet need to talk to dh about exactly what is in there as he was the one who did it.

So far our bedroom closet you can see most of the top shelf an the bottom is much neater an there is room for clothes to hang the way they suppsed to without catching on the stuff dh had stacked in bottom of closet......We both need to thin out our unworn clothes an no longer fittings.

We have found 2 bedrooms that are useable rooms 2 beds been cleaned off n can be slept in if needed

DH cleaned his library out which happens to be the shower stall in his bathroom which reminds me i no longer have an excuse not to clean that shower stall....

DH has cleaned some of his drawers I not looked to see what he did there oh an he cleaned off his dresser that was stacked to the ceiling... hurrah!!!!!

HMMMMM maybe I can live with that one closet not being what I had invisioned with all the other stuff dh has done.

I'm sure we can find a few things in kitchen an hidden in tables or closet of living room we can live without.....seems one saturday morning should take care of that then off to the basement which i'm sure will take awhile..

Except for maybe that one closet dh has gotten rid of stuff instead ojut moving it from one place to another this time tho.


We did have a dispute over some sprial notebooks that are no longer wanted by anyone in family some he bought thinking the dd's would use but they hate spirals an I don't blame them seems he thinks they need to be saved for the gsons who are 3 & 4 the school is going to laptops next year an plans to have all the kids using laptops within thenext 5 yrs totally elimating the purpose of notebook paper lol .....not worth saving something that costs 10 cents for 10 yrs anyway lol....

 

[mrsklamc]

I have misplaced my driver's license!

The upshot is, it's really good for de-stashing! I hope I didn't throw it out though.

If you pray, please pray I find it! It's really nerve racking for me that I can't find it.

ETA: FOUND IT! Thank you!

 

[mafibisha]

Woah, how did this thread fall so far back?

Gotta keep with it ladies!

I'm in the process of decluttering my office, including too many photos and albums that haven't met

Also just destashed my email box. I had 93 PAGES of misc emails! Ok, I still have 40 pages, but lots of them are special from the kids, the family and special
How many pages of emails saved do y'all have?

How's everyone doing with their destashing?

 

[mrsklamc]

I HAD 1500 emails; I have it down to under 200 and I really do need what is left!

Goal for this weekend is to get the goodwill donations photographed and logged for tax purposes- and then drop them off!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Sherry, I hope you are feeling much better! I have to tell you, my admiration for you is immense, because the things that you named that you had done after getting out of the hospital are projects that I have to get done! I'm healthy! Just have to keep plugging along...

Regarding magazines... I receive quite a few subscriptions, most of them free. My favorites like Coastal Living and Better Homes and Gardens I read right away, but the others I get to eventually. I found out recently that the VA hospital near me appreciates donations of magazines, so I weeded out two stacks and dropped them off. I then made a new rule for myself, if the date is two months back then it gets donated without reading when I make a run. Since most magazines send out the issue a month ahead, then I feel like I've had plenty of time. Just this morning I bagged up November and most of December (one issue left that I want to flip through) and I will drop them off this afternoon.

Yay! OceanAnnie, sounds like you and I are on the same schedule. The children's consignment sale that I sell my items at is next month, so I can pack stuff up and know that I will make money off of it. I've been donating some of the kids' things because I just wanted them out of the house, but now there is a financial incentive to get hustling!

You said it! I have taken a bunch of stuff to consignment. Clearing out and making money too!

 

[RetroMom]

Whew! I'm still here and working! I've been trying to weed things out that I'm going to sell in the consignment sale in a few weeks, I've started sorting some things for a yard sale that I do each summer AND the Kidney Fund called this morning. That way I have 3 official groups and the rest can go in the trash. Of course, that still leaves the rest of this stuffed house.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Whew! I'm still here and working! I've been trying to weed things out that I'm going to sell in the consignment sale in a few weeks, I've started sorting some things for a yard sale that I do each summer AND the Kidney Fund called this morning. That way I have 3 official groups and the rest can go in the trash. Of course, that still leaves the rest of this stuffed house.

You are not alone. There are some things I'm just not ready to tackle. I'm like Scarlet O'Hara, I'll think about it tomorrow! But it sounds like you are making progress. Me too, slowly but surely. Once I've finished the areas I've targeted, then I'll move on to the dreaded others.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Is it too late to start? I realized today that the house has become filled with trinkets/junk again. I set the timer for 20 minutes and managed to get through the nightstands. The garbage can is full.

 

[RetroMom]

This thread started in January and I think those people who were basically on top of their game but needed a push did great jobs getting stuff out of their homes. I know SOME of us <ahem> have more than that, so this is a great thread to and yet stay motivated to keep going. Honestly, some days I'm pleased if I just stay on top of maintenance, but I always try to do at least one other destash project, no matter how small. It's got to slowly get better, right?

So no matter how big or how small your destashing goal is, we are here for you!

 

[delmar411]

Is it too late to start? I realized today that the house has become filled with trinkets/junk again. I set the timer for 20 minutes and managed to get through the nightstands. The garbage can is full.

Welcome aboard!! It's never too late to start!

I'm still struggling along, mostly at a snail's pace now that my schoolwork is starting to drown me. But I still have grand plans once finals are over. I've got 2 solid weeks after finals before the kids are out of school and that will be my major destashing/organizing time.

Doing a little here and there keeps me motivated to keep going and to maintain the areas I've already destashed.

So certainly plan to chug along all through this year until my house is to the point of simply maintaining.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Is it too late to start? I realized today that the house has become filled with trinkets/junk again. I set the timer for 20 minutes and managed to get through the nightstands. The garbage can is full.

Welcome!

It's not too late! Some days are better than others for me with de-stashing. If I can look around the house and get a few things to donate on my way out to run errands, I still count it as a good day! Most of the time I really try to have a bag or two ready to go, by the door. But that's not always possible. And that's okay. Small progress is still progress!

 

[comicguy]

I sold another 40 comics this moring so that actually cleared out a box once I condensed what was left.

Now if I could just move some other stuff out the same way I would be doing really good, but I have to wait until April or May for the weather to be decent for a yard sale.

Areas of the house are looking good but my den is looking like a store room with all of the boxes of items waiting for a yard sale. at least only the one room looks bad now.

 

[StephMK]

I love that this thread is still moving and it's going into March!! Way to go!!
I have not done any de-cluttering since school started back from me. Mid-terms are this week and I'm happy to say a lot of what I de-cluttered over winter break still looks good.

My biggest thrill is that my kids' rooms have stayed clean! I mean totally, nothing on the floor, clean. They get their toys out & put them away now that there are spaces to store them. We have a few hot spots that I need to tackle over spring break but we've maintained much better than when things got out of control last fall. The kitchen peninsula is a bad spot but plan to clear it off next weekend.

Thanks so much to everyone here! All those posts about progress have kept me motivated and make me want to keep working at it. When I'm tempted to leave stuff out, I think about how much easier it is to just put it away where it belongs.

 

[RetroMom]

Love the updates!

I was wondering if anyone who has kids has tried the plan where if one thing comes into the house then something else has to go. I understand this in theory and maybe if it was just me it would work. But in real life? Assuming that you are in maintenance mode , how do you put this into practice? When I walk in the door with the kids, chances are I am going to be distracted. Odds are, I am NOT going to immediately go find something to get rid of. So it probably won't happen and that's how we get to the point of having to destash. I was just curious if anyone has had some success with this. Right now I am trying to be extremely tight with my budget and not bring anything in, but I am wondering in advance how it works.

 

[delmar411]

Love the updates!

I was wondering if anyone who has kids has tried the plan where if one thing comes into the house then something else has to go. I understand this in theory and maybe if it was just me it would work. But in real life? Assuming that you are in maintenance mode , how do you put this into practice? When I walk in the door with the kids, chances are I am going to be distracted. Odds are, I am NOT going to immediately go find something to get rid of. So it probably won't happen and that's how we get to the point of having to destash. I was just curious if anyone has had some success with this. Right now I am trying to be extremely tight with my budget and not bring anything in, but I am wondering in advance how it works.

What are you bringing in? Maybe list out your clutter bringer iners (yes, that's now an official phrase! ) and we can help you figure out a game plan.

There are no toys coming in here unless it is for a gift giving occasion but I honestly don't follow the one in, one out rule for that. The kids are at the point right now where they are 'collecting' things but not outgrowing other things, yk? Although I do toss all toys as they break so that could count as 1 in 1 out.

Clothing, I do get rid of their too small stuff and when they have new clothes come in, I will do another spot check to see if anything else has been outgrown.

Food comes in but obviously that's a consumable.

Mail comes in but 99% goes straight to the trash. The other 1% will end up in the trash or the bank (checks! ).

I'm trying to think of what else comes in the house but I'm drawing a blank...

 

[dyna]

2 more big bags gone from my house most from dh an mines closet...i actually have extra hangers again lol...also did the juggle with clothes that no longer fits an clothes that does sadly but least we better organized an stuff packed away neatly an I know where stuff is at again.