Who is destashing in 2010?

[shilomoon]

I started too!!! Last month i opened up a separate checking account which is now known fondly as the "disney account' Large stuff that I sell on craiglist, the money goes in there.

Stuff that i don't want money for I put on Freecycle which is a yahoo group that works like craiglist but can't ask for money, everything is free. You post the item, some responds with a date and time to pick up and you put it on your porch. Works great for me and I can get rid of a lot in just a week or so. These days people LOVE free stuff so it moves fast. I've been doing this ever since last year I went to the local good will with great toys, and the man told me If I had toys, he couldn't take them, there was no room. What!!!!
Good luck to everyone!!!!

 

[Virgderon]

I was forced to do this last summer when I moved. I threw out at least 14 large trash bags for about 4 weeks running. The record was 19 bags. Mostly kid stuff from the basement that I tried to sell at garage sales and then ended up back in the basement, but there was also the broken Christmas decorations, really used and tired pots and pans, tupperware with no lids, books and magazines, bathroom stuff that nobody had used in ages, etc..

Now that I have de-cluttered, I hate to say I notice when peoples houses are overcluttered. It is a breeze to clean now because I don't have to move all the clutter to get to the area that needs to be cleaned. I have vowed to never get cluttered again!

 

[LovableGluttons]

I want to do this too!

Do you just go room by room?

 

[muscarello4]

I am on a constant cycle to destash the "stuff" in our house. My rule is 1 year. If I haven't used it or needed it in 1 year, it is GONE.

I did throw away my daughter's cell phone while destashing. Whoops! Didn't even realize it until it was already on the garbage truck. My bad! Fortunately our carrier activated an old phone for free.

I find that I appreciate what I have so much more when I can actually get to it and see it. We laugh at some neighbors who have a three car garage STUFFED with "stuff". I always wonder, "When is the last time you even saw the stuff in the middle of your garage? Do you REALLY need it?" Apparently, the answer is "Yes" to them. For me, not so much.

I know without fail that we put out more garbage than any other family on our street. I attribute it to the fact that we just don't keep the stuff in the house.

It really has helped me maintain order and keep my sanity trying to keep track of 6 people's stuff. Good luck, but be careful not to throw out any electronics.

 

[kinntj]

I'll be joining you this year! Tonight I'll start with the master bath closet. I'll just take out the stuff we don't use and throw it away. Anything we can donate, we'll take to the homeless shelter in the city. They even take 1/2 used up shampoos, lotions, and shaving cream.

I'll update this every day with my mission.

Thanks for starting this!

 

[edk35]

For all you that are decluttering.....check out this website. I was a member many years ago. You don't have to do IT ALL but she has great tips for getting rid of the stuff that clutters our lives.

www.flylady.net

 

[decaff38]

One year I made the resolution to clean out ONE drawer, cupboard , closet or box once a week. It wasn't so overwhelming and I got my entire kitchen and bedroom down before I lost the motivation. I have started that again and have minimal left to do. I am going to realy work on my garage. I need to go through the tubs and get rid of stuff. My gift to my 81 year Mom this year is to go and clean out her extra bedroom and pantry. I am doing my pantry tomorrow morning. It feels so good. If you need some motivation watch Hoarders on A & E on Monday night. You will stay up all night and clean!!

 

[rentayenta]

Did the basement today. Filled both huge garbage cans and will fill again once the trash gets picked up tomorrow.

 

[4Seasons]

Yes I definately am trying, but when you live with 3 packrats it's incredibly hard!

 

[pigletto]

I'm so in.
I am so very sick of clutter.
I need to make a rule that I need to get rid of stuff at the same rate it comes in. 5 new Christmas toys? Then 5 old ones need to be donated.
New toiletries? Throw out some of the junk in the bathroom closet.
Slowly but surely all my closets have become stuffed, I can't put the car in the garage because there are no shelves or racks and everything is on the floor.
Exercise bike just taking up space.. you know the drill.

If you want some real motivation watch Hoarders on A&E
I swear if I continue to watch that show we will be sleeping on the floor with one blanket in empty bedrooms.
I refuse to ever let "stuff" run my life.

 

[4Seasons]

If you want some real motivation watch Hoarders on A&E

I get the creepy crawlies watching that show, that is if I can make it past the first few gross "discoveries"..........like the 2 cat skeletons they found on the episode I watched a few nights ago. Disgusting.

 

[gk90]

Yes I definately am trying, but when you live with 3 packrats it's incredibly hard!

I try too but it's even worse when you live with 4 packrats and you're one of the packrats yourself!
Unfortunately being a packrat runs in my family--I saw my brother's den/basement today and he has so much stuff in there that he has to thread his way around the huge piles of books, magazines, boxes etc

 

[Neesy228]

Add me to the list of attempted reformers...I'm trying really hard to get control of my house. I'm a horrible, horrible housekeeper, on top of being a packrat - which I'm teaching my kids to be now! Ugh.

I keep thinking we need a bigger home, but I have this sinking feeling that the truth is we just need less stuff!!

I'm starting with my Christmas decorations and the bathrooms.

 

[pigletto]

I get the creepy crawlies watching that show, that is if I can make it past the first few gross "discoveries"..........like the 2 cat skeletons they found on the episode I watched a few nights ago. Disgusting.

Seriously.. it makes you re-think any emotional attachment you have to "stuff'.
Anytime I watch it, the next morning I whip out the garbage bags and boxes and get to tossing.

My Dh has told me that when his grandma was put in a seniors home they had to rent a dumpster and take out 3 DUMP TRUCKS worth of stuff from her TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT.
It actually makes me very sad that anyone would get to the point that they lived that way. But it sure is a great way to motivate yourself to clear the clutter.

 

[neatokimmo]

I have a 2 car garage full of stuff to take to Salvation Army. I am not looking forward to the itemizing part of it, but I am going to take 30 trash bags of stuff tomorrow. Next weekend I'll hit it again. I inherited a massive amount of stuff, an entire household. I already have my own stuff and the extra just needs to go to people in need.

 

[locolala]

I'm working on decluttering now. With the baby on the way and us living in a 1000 square foot house, we need all the space we can get. I need to empty out one dresser and get rid of all the stuff I don't wear. The bassinet will be going in that spot, so it HAS to get done. I also need to go through our books and figure out what we don't want anymore, but the problem is we both reread books, and I don't want to get rid of something I might want to read later. We have 2 bookshelves of books, so it's not like we have a ton. The bookshelves are going to come down to the tv room so we have more space in the new nursery. We already took apart the futon that was in there and gave it to my dad to use for the basement at his house. That cleared up a huge amount of space.

 

[uncwgrad]

Count me in too!! After Christmas Dh and I decided to have a New Year's Eve party to make ourselves clean the house!! Unfortunately most of the "cleaning" was actually just shoving stuff into our bedroom and closing the door!

I would like to get through a box/drawer/shelf/bag everyday while i am still on break (I'm a teacher.)

I would also love if someone would post a daily "mission!" I always find that to be motivating!!

 

[Maddie2]

Count me in too!! After Christmas Dh and I decided to have a New Year's Eve party to make ourselves clean the house!! Unfortunately most of the "cleaning" was actually just shoving stuff into our bedroom and closing the door!

LOL! I can relate. I have agreed to host a Super Bowl party for this same reason!

I have made some progress. The thing is that my parents are de-cluttering too ... and "somehow" some of their stuff is finding its way to MY house! But, but .... I can't just let anybody have Grandma's quilt.... or the giant turkey roaster pan that we use only once a year ... or, or .... yeah, you get the picture. Guess I'll have to get rid of more of MY stuff so there's room for a few more things from THEIR house, huh?

I currently have 2 large boxes of "stuff" (much of it is Cmas decs that I pared down) in the back of my vehicle. Hoping to have 3-4 more boxes by next Wednesday. I'm not counting how much I am losing... I'm counting how much I am able to give! Using this mindset helps motivate me. Whatever works, ya know?

 

[comicguy]

We are destashing here too.

So far when we packed up the X-Mas decorations we sorted and organized and got rid of 2 rubbermaid bins full (stuff we have not used in at least 3 years).

Also we have been organizing our pictures and moving them from photoalbums to photo boxes (that has saved a ton of room(4 photoboxes takes the place of 10 albums) saving shelf space and helps with organizing.

I am going through my office bookshelfs today to see what books I want to get rid of (I generally buy books that I will reread or by a favorite author) but I think there are some "dogs" in there that I can get rid of.

I wa spart of the 08 and 09 thread but it seems that come March or so things get busier at home and work and we lose motivation for getting rid of stuff. I think it is because we try to do too much instead of a little bit each weekend.

 

[starwood]

I don't know why but it seems like the more stuff I get rid of the more stuff I have. I haven't bought anything new (when I do I get rid of 1 or 2 items). But the house is still stuffed. I have garage sales twice a year (when I finish one I start collecting for the next one). I've given a few things away on freecycle lately but I still look around and am disgusted. I think Clean House needs to come in