Popular Post Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) Dh and I have spent most of yesterday and likely today rearranging and getting rid of crap. I’ve been slowly doing it all year but hitting it hard this weekend. Moving beds and furniture and going through every bit of clothing and toys and STUFF. Ugh. It’s frikken everywhere. Five black trash bags of boys clothing that isn’t used for whatever many reasons. If my youngest boy outgrew it, I’m no longer keeping it for any next kid. Same for baby girl. 42 pairs of boys shoes donated. Probably double those trash bags in stuff thrown away. Furniture I don’t want around anymore. I’m just tired of all the stuff that needs cleaned or put back or doesn’t quite work right so has that not really a big deal but always a minor irritation to deal with stuff. I’m not selling much, I just want it gone. So donations. A few things I might sell on FB. The children are disgruntled but not complaining too much. Dh is none too happy since he is tearing down beds and rearranging them in different rooms according to my requests. But whatever. It’s the first thing he’s done around the house in years bc normally I do literally everything house and kids and errand related. I’m going minimalist. Not because I care about being minimalist but because I’m just tired of dealing with it all and frankly I’d rather spend the money on a vacation. And because while I hope I live at least another 50 years, reality is I probably won’t and I for sure won’t take all this crap with me for most of it. It’s just stuff. It’s not important to me so I don’t want to spend energy and money and time on it. Anyone else spending this week jump starting new year goals and plans? Edited December 30, 2018 by Murphy101 52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I downsized greatly when I moved from a hobby farm closer in to town in Oct. Now I am going room by room, drawer by drawer, box by box and getting rid of MORE stuff. You will never regret it and can bless others with the stuff you don't need. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Awesome. I really wanted to do that this week, but I got sick. Dh is taking most of the kids to my family for their Christmas and I know they are going to come home with a carload of things. It will stress me out so much. So I will have to get on this in the next week or so. I dream of doing a huge give away like you are doing. It has to feel so good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalypso Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I've gotten through 3 closets in the past few days and I have 1 more to go before visiting Goodwill. It feels great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender's green Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Good for you! I've decided that if I'm going to be The Keeper Of The Stuff, in terms of sorting, organizing, cleaning, hounding others to pick-up, etc, then I darn well deserve a larger say in which Stuff we're going to Keep. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 We de cluttered and donated things in 3 of the 4 bedrooms. It's so freeing to get rid of stuff and like you we just donate. Big stuff we pull to the road the junkers come around regularly to go through it or everything's gets picked up once a month through large garbage collection. Some things we put on our neighborhood Facebook page to see if neighbors know if someone who needs things we are getting rid of. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) 52 minutes ago, lavender's green said: Good for you! I've decided that if I'm going to be The Keeper Of The Stuff, in terms of sorting, organizing, cleaning, hounding others to pick-up, etc, then I darn well deserve a larger say in which Stuff we're going to Keep. This. So much this. I’m so done bleeping at everyone about their crap. Put it up. Fix it. Clean it. Find it. Enough already. If they don’t care enough about it to deal with it in the first place then they can shut up about how I do it. I used to be so on top of that and as a result they were so much better about dealing with it themselves. I guess over the years I’ve just slowly reached a point of not doing that at all and it’s not working for any of us. It’s just beyond exhausting to deal with at this point. Edited December 30, 2018 by Murphy101 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 1 hour ago, Seasider too said: Wow Murph your description of what you’re unloading even made me feel lighter, just reading about it! I am ready to continue my streamlining but there’s one thing really slowing me down. We ended our homeschooling journey with this school year, and I have a significant amount of related items to part with. I keep waffling between just donating it and trying to make some profit from it. I have a couple if online venues I could sell things through, but it’s such a pain. Buyers never just want to come promptly to my pickup point, there’s always all this dithering about meeting halfway and multiple reschedulings. Just thinking it might be better to be open handed and let the possible profits go. ETA but yes, getting busy with it this week. Do you have a brick and mortar used bookstore that you could take it to? We have one just for used home school curriculum. I just boxed all my stuff and did that. About once a month I get a call saying I have a check for my portion of what’s sold so far. Best thing ever. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodiesmom Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I'm with you all the way~ We made our second TRUCK load yesterday and are working on the THIRD truck load as I type. I know it sounds so cheesy...but it really is freeing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Way to go!! Me too! Dd and I culled, sorted and cleaned her room last week. 1 tall kitchen trash bag of trash, 2 of recycling (paper), 3 to consignment, 3 to thrift. Glorious!! Family room closet is next, probably Wednesday. Then the shed, then the attic. Dh could do these, but he will only tidy snd rearrange, not throw stuff away. I did Wild Thing's room not too long ago and will do it again in the spring. I culled 4 qt size ziplocs of Legos out of his bins just before Christmas! They will sell fast at consignment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Thanks for the motivation. I had donated 25 bags of items when I thought we were moving. Now, we're staying and I'm finally finishing up. I have some large items I need to donate from the shed and several more bags. Wow! I thought we were minimalists. Our house looks neat and tidy but we had things tucked away that we were never going to use. Let those things bless someone else! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I'm trying to but I'm in such a weird head space. It's so hard for me to get rid of stuff suddenly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Right?! My house is fairly tidy and still - how can cleaning out two small kids rooms fill up the garage? The math doesn’t compute that we could stuff all that crap in the rooms and yet not be able to put it in a corner of the garage. I’m tossing furniture too. A loveseat, a recliner, a huge desk... Some one of my grown boys will take to his new place in a few weeks. But the rest is going to the curb. I’ll call the city to schedule pick up in case no one picks it up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 And the attic and garage are next on my clean out list. I need to wait until the weather is better though. I’m setting aside holiday stuff we love (Xmas, Halloween and Easter) - toss the rest. And I’m at a point where I don’t think I’ll buy more holiday decor stuff. What we have, I like and is enough. I’ve reduced all the baby stuff down to a box of baby toys, one high chair that I still pull out for company, and one box each of baby boy and girl clothes. That’s the only stuff I’m keeping in storage anymore. I told my grown boys who have moved out, they need to go through their stuff and I’m okay with storing things they really want to keep, but I’m not storing stuff they don’t want but can’t be bothered to sort themselves. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I'm hitting the room my son moved out of hard, starting on the first. While working on some quilt gifts, I totally trashed it so I need to organize, remove and then gut the room. Fix the walls, paint, new floor, and then come up with some masterful furniture/organization plan that will turn that room into the most productive sewing room on the planet. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 2 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said: I'm hitting the room my son moved out of hard, starting on the first. While working on some quilt gifts, I totally trashed it so I need to organize, remove and then gut the room. Fix the walls, paint, new floor, and then come up with some masterful furniture/organization plan that will turn that room into the most productive sewing room on the planet. Every time a kid has complained today my husband has sighed and told them, “You kids don’t understand how grateful we should all be that any of us haven’t been booted so she can have a yarn room.” 7 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I've taken two car small car loads to donation since I've been home for break. Yesterday, my mom and I started pulling carpet in the front entryway. Then we pulled vinyl floor and underlayment to reveal original hardwood floors. Our house was built in 1889. We've worked about 6 hours total so far with about another 6 to go before we get to a stopping point. I hate carpet. 1980s worn forest green carpet I hate even more. I'm tired of crappy remodel jobs, I want to get our house back to some semblance of authentic. Thankfully the bath and the kitchen were done before we moved in. I'm about to go declutter my bedroom closet some more. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Doing exactly this. We got rid of I think 5 contractor bags of trash and several bins of stuff to Goodwill. And there is still more! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 hour ago, elegantlion said: I've taken two car small car loads to donation since I've been home for break. Yesterday, my mom and I started pulling carpet in the front entryway. Then we pulled vinyl floor and underlayment to reveal original hardwood floors. Our house was built in 1889. We've worked about 6 hours total so far with about another 6 to go before we get to a stopping point. I hate carpet. 1980s worn forest green carpet I hate even more. I'm tired of crappy remodel jobs, I want to get our house back to some semblance of authentic. Thankfully the bath and the kitchen were done before we moved in. I'm about to go declutter my bedroom closet some more. My house needs two new ac units, new counter tops, in wall oven, floors (carpet and tile) and windows. And painted. Oh and I swear I saw termites on a tree stump in the backyard this past spring. It doesn’t seem even a little worth it to make all those improvements and get no return on it other than it’ll look prettier. There’s no way in hell I’d get back in equity what all that would cost. My motivation factor to spend money on that instead of living life is at a solid zero these days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) I'm very very minimalist except for when it comes to books. I'll get rid of stuff I didn't care for but the stuff I like I don't know. The thing is I currently have bookshelf space. When we move I plan on it all going though but I was going to see if the kids wanted some of it. Not that I would dump it on anyone! That happened to me. I would just have them all browse before donating. Edited December 31, 2018 by frogger I'm not sure it's worth it though. I suppose out of print would be worth it but boy I'm tempted to get rid of them now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 It feels good, doesn't it? I'm going minimalist too. We're moving to a smaller place next summer, along with other big changes. Plus, these past few years have made me rethink a lot of things. "Things" just don't have the same meaning for me anymore. I've been getting rid of almost everything, slowly but surely, one step at a time. I'll admit that I've already looked back at some stuff I so easily gave away a couple months ago and have second-guessed my decision....but only for about a minute. It felt overwhelming at first, but I just slowly plugged away at it, sometimes for just 30 minutes/day. Once you see the progress, it's easier to pick up speed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easypeasy Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 This is what we are doing beginning tomorrow morning!! I've held on to certain things because of "someday," and over this past Christmas break I finally had a "Come to Jesus" moment with myself and acknowledged that my priorities/hopes/dreams are quite different than they were all those years ago and it really is okay to let that stuff go. Instead of randomly donating those items (we usually donate to a thrift store that picks up from our house, which is lovely), I'm donating to three specific places. Clothes, school supplies, art supplies, etc are going to the women's shelter and/or the rescue mission. The hobby-stuff is going to a hobby-related charity that will use the items to create lovely things for people in need. Just those two things will clear shelves, closets, and cabinets out of two entire rooms that have been devoted to a) School Stuff and b) Hobby Stuff. DH is beyond giddy with excitement. He's volunteered to do this for a few years, but I told him I needed to release it all myself. lol He's been not-so-patiently waiting. 😄 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I've been on a cleaning, organizing, and decluttering spree now that we are on break. I told dh that my ability to keep up with everything has been surpassed and I've got to make changes. I'm getting rid of things left and right but I'm also changing things up- reorganizing and buying "new" furniture that works for our needs- instead of just everything just some hodge-podge mix of whatever I can find. My son has spent half his break cleaning out his room and has it looking good- dd1 is like me- and loves organization and decluttering- she just redid her room and it is good. I need to go through my clothes again- I sear it's been less than a year but I've noticed I've got some I don't really wear. I've got to go through my youngest daughters- she has perpetual trouble keeping it clean and she doesn't have much compared to lots of kids but the biggest bedroom. I need to clear old magazines and games out of the living room but the homeschooling stuff was just organized. I just did my pantry and have the kitchen mostly done. Today I hope to finish the kitchen and go through games and magazines, maybe the last few kitchen drawers. I don't know that I'm up to dd3's room but I'm running out of break!!! I swear I was just really brutal in there. Sigh. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, frogger said: I'm very very minimalist except for when it comes to books. I'll get rid of stuff I didn't care for but the stuff I like I don't know. The thing is I currently have bookshelf space. When we move I plan on it all going though but I was going to see if the kids wanted some of it. Not that I would dump it on anyone! That happened to me. I would just have them all browse before donating. I've just been taking photos of the books & asking our kids in a group text or email if they want any of them. Then I asked a friend--she's thrilled with the 2 I gave her yesterday. 😀 But also a solid thumbs up to donating to your local library, to aid their book sale(s). Edited December 31, 2018 by Beth S 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 Way to go Murphy!!! Purging is fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 The funniest part of the purge so far was realizing that I kept so much stuff "for the memories" but when I look at that stuff I can't for the life of me remember what it was or why I kept it! So much for the entire idea of momentos, lol. Like, I had a piece of driftwood glued to a stand with a plaster lizard missing a foot. DH thinks it was an art project, but neither of us is really sure, or even who made it. Him? The oldest kid? No one knows, and while we were debating it the lizard lost another leg he was so dried out so into the trash it went. 6 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 20 hours ago, Murphy101 said: Dh and I have spent most of yesterday and likely today rearranging and getting rid of crap. I’ve been slowly doing it all year but hitting it hard this weekend. Moving beds and furniture and going through every bit of clothing and toys and STUFF. Ugh. It’s frikken everywhere. Five black trash bags of boys clothing that isn’t used for whatever many reasons. If my youngest boy outgrew it, I’m no longer keeping it for any next kid. Same for baby girl. 42 pairs of boys shoes donated. Probably double those trash bags in stuff thrown away. Furniture I don’t want around anymore. I’m just tired of all the stuff that needs cleaned or put back or doesn’t quite work right so has that not really a big deal but always a minor irritation to deal with stuff. I’m not selling much, I just want it gone. So donations. A few things I might sell on FB. The children are disgruntled but not complaining too much. Dh is none too happy since he is tearing down beds and rearranging them in different rooms according to my requests. But whatever. It’s the first thing he’s done around the house in years bc normally I do literally everything house and kids and errand related. I’m going minimalist. Not because I care about being minimalist but because I’m just tired of dealing with it all and frankly I’d rather spend the money on a vacation. And because while I hope I live at least another 50 years, reality is I probably won’t and I for sure won’t take all this crap with me for most of it. It’s just stuff. It’s not important to me so I don’t want to spend energy and money and time on it. Anyone else spending this week jump starting new year goals and plans? There is a finite limit of ability to care. I think we don't get that in our modern world. We think we can accumulate and care for all of it. Finite energy, finite time, finite finances - all of it. It's funny, yesterday DH and I were working on one of his classes and I was reading a part about machines running at capacity and how, despite formulas that tell you what the capacity of the machines are, therefore there is a solid number of parts a line "should" be able to produce, real life is never that efficient. I stopped and looked at him and my lightbulb went off! LOL. He probably thought I was crazy - it was MOTHERHOOD in a nutshell! Just because you should theoretically have the capacity to care for all the stuff, in real life it plays out very differently! Good for you for making changes and saving your sanity! 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I spent all morning working on dd3's bedroom. I told dh that I was going to go all Thanos on it. She has too much and can't manage it so as a benevolent (or not so benevolent dictator) I helped her out by getting rid of half of her things 🙂 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted December 31, 2018 Author Share Posted December 31, 2018 I’m committed to not buying anything I don’t really need in 2019. Unless it’s for an experience or replaces something else in the house - I don’t want it. I always knew I wanted to travel but daaang. Now that I have a little bit, I’m committed to doing more. I’ve got three trips on the calendar for 2019. Between that and going back to school and life always needing maintence - there’s no money to spare for Knick knacks. lol 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 1 minute ago, Murphy101 said: I’m committed to not buying anything I don’t really need in 2019. Unless it’s for an experience or replaces something else in the house - I don’t want it. I always knew I wanted to travel but daaang. Now that I have a little bit, I’m committed to doing more. I’ve got three trips on the calendar for 2019. Between that and going back to school and life always needing maintence - there’s no money to spare for Knick knacks. lol I’m a minimalist by nature, but don’t have any problem spending on experiences and education. Enjoy your travels in 2019! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof1 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 We need to clear out our place as well. There is just too much stuff. I can't stand it anymore. My sweet DD6 has more stuff then space and trying to have her stay organized isn't working. We have done major cleaning several times this past year but the stuff (act like bunnies). Where does it all come from? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 We do New Years cleaning in lieu of Spring cleaning. Nobody wants to be stuck inside cleaning on a beautiful spring day. Basement we finished today. Tomorrow is the ground floor (but I already cleaned the fridge inside, out and under.) I think mostly tomorrow is going to be cleaning grout and filing for me. Wednesday will be the upstairs. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 20 minutes ago, SamanthaCarter said: We do New Years cleaning in lieu of Spring cleaning. Nobody wants to be stuck inside cleaning on a beautiful spring day. Basement we finished today. Tomorrow is the ground floor (but I already cleaned the fridge inside, out and under.) I think mostly tomorrow is going to be cleaning grout and filing for me. Wednesday will be the upstairs. I usually do a fall and spring cleaning here but fall and spring we're both crazy so I'm horribly behind so I'm doing a New Year's cleaning too. So, far we've done- ds, dd1, dd2 and dd3's bedrooms, basement, pantry, most of the living room (still need to do the magazines and games) and most of the kitchen and I've not done my bedroom. I redid my bedroom bathroom on fall break- new paint and totally cleaned out the cabinet so it is still good. My main bathroom needs work but it's small too- I'll put the girls on that tomorrow while I aim to finish off the kitchen and living room, then we start back to school Wednesday. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I was doing a pretty good in November cleaning out. Took a truck load to goodwill and gave a bunch of hs material away. I wanted to have a yard sale but it didn't work out and I needed the stuff out of my house. After getting rid of that stuff I felt some better and started going through more. Was on a good roll but came to stop getting ready for Christmas. Now I am ready to get back to cleaning out again. Hope to be back with success stories. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 thank you for reminding me to clean out the drawer of 2dd's "souvenirs/certificates/mementos/etc/etc/" and take them with me to give to her! a friend said "you spend the first five years of your marriage acquiring "stuff" - and the rest of your life trying to get rid of it." be sure and enjoy the feeling of "stuff" going away. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) I did major purging 2 years Ago, took about 6 months of sorting, donating, selling. then we moved and I went back to work and the babies got older and are now getting their own toys.... I’m a EI & preschool traveling teacher so carry my “preschool” in my van with me & rotate books/toys/games/supplies weekly per age group so have gotten a lot of new stuff for work the last year and am starting to feel overwhelmed with stuff again. But until the little ones get older and start outgrowing toys sand I settle into a school based position, it’s here to stay for now. its just toys and stuff, nothing else has crept back in at least I get rid of whatever I can though, no keeping hand me downs, etc good luck! Edited January 1, 2019 by Hilltopmom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) 20 hours ago, soror said: I spent all morning working on dd3's bedroom. I told dh that I was going to go all Thanos on it. She has too much and can't manage it so as a benevolent (or not so benevolent dictator) I helped her out by getting rid of half of her things 🙂 This is exactly what Dd and I did last week. She too, needs the help. She just cannot see what needs to be done. I didn't choose what to keep or get rid of, I just framed the decisions for her. Wednesday is my clean up Christmas day. Thursday is clean out the family room closet! This is our primary indoor storage area. It will take most of the day, but it will make me SO happy to be decluttered and re-organized. I am predicting a full van load to the thrift store. I will have to wait for a nice weather day (probably one which has had several dry days before it too, since the shed is in the back corner of our yard and I don't want to deal with mud!) to do the shed, but I have already decided to sacrifce a school day for ds to get it done, if necessary. Edited January 1, 2019 by ScoutTN 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 I downsized when we moved in May, so it's time for the 6ish month stuff maintenance routine: clean out pantry (check) and garage. (check) Make kid go through her shelves and bins over a couple of days. (check) Have kid clean out closet. (tomorrow) Clean kid's carpet to get the last of the bunny smell out. (Not pee, Timothy hay.) (tomorrow) Assemble sheet mulched planting bed in front of house on the right in time for winter rains. (check) Assemble sheet mulched planting bed in front of house on the left in time for winter rains. (when bulk cooking is done) Move 15 cubic yards of garden soil into planting beds under existing trees. (when bulk cooking is done) Meal plan bulk cooking meals so I don't have to cook or go out when I don't feel like it. (check) Grocery shop for bulk cooking items. (check) Start bulk cooking. (tomorrow) Figure out patterns for reusable Christmas gift bags throughout 2019 and use up some stashed fabric. (when bulk cooking and planting beds are done or the rains keep me inside) And the money we don't spend on eating out and buying more stuff will hopefully go to building my duck pond. I mean my fish pond because we're not allowed to have ducks in this neighborhood, so I'm practicing saying, "I can't keep these damn ducks out of my pond! They just show up and settle in like they own the place! Grrr!" How was that? Did that sound convincing? I can do it again. Should I sound more frustrated or martyred? You never know when a Barney Fife will show up nipping things in the bud, like neighborhood covenants violations. 4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/31/2018 at 4:09 PM, Murphy101 said: I’m committed to not buying anything I don’t really need in 2019. Unless it’s for an experience or replaces something else in the house - I don’t want it. I always knew I wanted to travel but daaang. Now that I have a little bit, I’m committed to doing more. I’ve got three trips on the calendar for 2019. Between that and going back to school and life always needing maintence - there’s no money to spare for Knick knacks. lol Love this. This is my thoughts too. I love to travel and see the world. I don't need stuff. You realize traveling for a few weeks, how many clothes you have at home that you don't need. I just wish I could get everyone in my life on board with this. I mean the people that live in my house. Where are you going this year? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faith-manor Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 This is my motto for 2019. My goal is to take out one bag of donated items each week, and one bag of throw away. We have to be careful how much extra we put out for the garbage guys. Since Goodwill is near my job, and I am in town three to four days per week, taking it out one bag at a time works. This way it gets done, but isn't an overwhelming job because DH can't manage overwhelming right now, and instead of the boys and I getting some of this done in a big way over their holiday vacations from college, we went to Huntsville and helped dd and family move. So I lost a lot of manpower time there. But I'm okay doing it gradually. There are YEARS of 4H tri-fold project backboards in the balcony, and frankly, none of our four kids is ever going to need those again. Youngest actually had a couple of tubs of clothes that were too small in his room as well as a pile behind his door. They have saved so many toys, but the reality is there is no guarantee that they will ever get those out of here. I'm making one reasonably sized tub of special items for each kid, and everything else is going. I have had years of accumulation from the time when I was doing event planning. I have decided that all of that needs to go to. I had already thinned it some, but now is the time to get rid of all of it. There is one event this coming summer that someone wants help with, but they have money, serious money. There is no need for me to have a bank of supplies of vases, candle jars, you name it for renting out. They will buy whatever custom thing they want, and not bat an eyelash. I need to stop hording this kind of thing. We have to consider rocket storage. We are on year nine of rocketry with 4H - never did find another sponsor so ended up staying with the organization though we really wanted to leave. Something has to give. We are currently storing five high powered, monster rockets, 20 TARC rockets, and various other models. I am done with them taking up my entire project room space upstairs and having nowhere for my own hobbies. I think we will make a collection for the 4H office to display, and then give a bunch out to TARC alumni. Oh, and I found camp stuff in the unfinished part of the house. We have been wanting to get that area finished, but can't until we make room for supplies, and to simply be able to get around. (We don't have a garage here, so that part of the house has been used like a garage.) Our kids are grown, and I have a hard time camping now since the car accident because my hip and knee do not do well on air mattresses. It needs to go away. I found cross country skis too. The boys all adopted alpine and snowboarding so those need to go away. Crazy what accumulates when you stay in one place so long! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeachGal Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 We've moved a lot so stuff has been culled every few years. Our home is on the small side, too, maybe 1000 sq ft., no basement, no attic, no garage. Kids are almost all gone. The youngest will finish college in June and move out completely on his own so most of the rest of his stuff will go with him. He's a collector of stuff but at least doesn't hang on to everything. I am looking forward to the extra space! Regardless, my husband also tends to be a keeper of things and getting him to part with any of it is no easy feat. He will be retiring in less than 1.5 years and his (large) office is packed with stuff. Many bookshelves, his desks, his conference table, boxes all over. Ugh. I am dreading what he is going to do with it and have preemptively warned him not to bring too much home. After about three years, he's finally begun to work his way through his deceased mother's photos. She had thousands. Enough to fill about 5 huge plastic tubs. It's taken years to get him to do this but at least he's moving in the right direction. I'm happy with that. Other people like their stuff but that is not for me. Managing it is such a pain in the hiney and takes time away from how I really want to live. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 We took all of 2014 and most of 2015 to do our big purge. I still do a twice a a year sweep through the house. We just finished quieting the house after Christmas and I'm taking a load to Salvation Army today. We have two bags of trash to work into our trash cans as room allows. It does complicate things to have to "wait" on trash, but dump fees are expensive. When we moved in to this house earlier this year and had to make a dump run (thanks, previous owners), it was $150.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 I'm starting this year as well. I want to get back to building my dollhouses, and they can be really big, so I need to make some room. I joined Motivated Moms so I have a list, although I have yet to look at it. Yesterday I cleaned off the front of the fridge - it looks so much nicer than covered in random bits of paper. I also cleaned out my bathroom drawer. I recently (well, 6-8 months ago LOL) cut all of my hair off (from lower back to pixie cut); I do not need hair ties, a topsy tail, etc, anymore. It's been bugging me for a while. Finally, it was DH's last day before returning to work, so he brought in the Christmas storage tubs and I de-decorated. He even put the tubs back in the garage, so all done! Today I cleaned off the laundry room counter; it's the first flat surface from the garage, and as such it gathers clutter. I then put away the Christmas dishes which get stored in a laundry room cupboard. Moving the dishes cleared up the school counter in the dining room, so I moved the school books back into the dining room. So far, mainly just trash thrown away, but a few spaces looking a little more open... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 hours ago, mommyoffive said: Love this. This is my thoughts too. I love to travel and see the world. I don't need stuff. You realize traveling for a few weeks, how many clothes you have at home that you don't need. I just wish I could get everyone in my life on board with this. I mean the people that live in my house. Where are you going this year? Thankfully clothing isn’t that big a deal. Most of the clothing I got rid of is because I’ve reached the end stage of fertility so there’s no point in keeping clothes for some kid to grow into. Boy7 has all the outgrows from his next up brother aged 15. There’s no point to keeping clothes that will take years and years to grow into. And I didn’t get rid of all my baby stuff, but very nearly. All I kept was possible grandbaby stuff and that’s down to 3 small storage bins. The rest of us never have a ton of clothes. I’m going to Dominican Republic with my husband. NO kids. 😬 Then a family vacation in either Colorado or Tennessee or Arkansas. And a girls week with my besties somewhere carribean. My goal is to take one vacation a year with dh, one with friends or alone, and one family. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 I've been slowly going through my stuff starting last year. We're planning to move & downsize this spring. I really need to get through all of the stuff. I mentioned to my 13 yo this morning that I wanted her to find all the little pet shop toys so I can get them out of here since they haven't played with them in forever. She said that I was getting rid of her childhood. 🙄 Last night going through the movies I said we should get rid of one in particular since it's a really awful movie and DH said we need to keep it because it's a classic. 😬 I think that I'm going to just have to be the mean guy and toss everyone's crap since they aren't willing to part with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 35 minutes ago, Murphy101 said: Thankfully clothing isn’t that big a deal. Most of the clothing I got rid of is because I’ve reached the end stage of fertility so there’s no point in keeping clothes for some kid to grow into. Boy7 has all the outgrows from his next up brother aged 15. There’s no point to keeping clothes that will take years and years to grow into. And I didn’t get rid of all my baby stuff, but very nearly. All I kept was possible grandbaby stuff and that’s down to 3 small storage bins. The rest of us never have a ton of clothes. I’m going to Dominican Republic with my husband. NO kids. 😬 Then a family vacation in either Colorado or Tennessee or Arkansas. And a girls week with my besties somewhere carribean. My goal is to take one vacation a year with dh, one with friends or alone, and one family. Ahhh so nice. Clothes is one of our really bad points. My mom bought the kids all their clothes and was crazy with it. Like 30 pairs of pants for each size. I still have everything. Even a year ago I was going to have more kids, but now I hit the point where I don't think I want any more. Or maybe I do, but I am just so burned out with no time to myself that I don't know that have any more left in me. So yeah I do need to do something about that so badly as takes up my basement. Just stinks because it was all really nice brands, but selling it doesn't seem worthwhile. All my friends have kids older than mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 I culled a bunch of stuff (mostly trash) to get our house and patio ready for a dinner party which we hosted last Saturday. Of course, in the process I also stashed a bunch of stuff that was in various spots downstairs in my craft room, which has over the last year gone from a tidy space (I hired an organizer to help me get it that way) to a random storage mess. I do have a couple of bags full of things ready to go to Goodwill. That's on my to-do list for this Friday. Our storage shed, meanwhile, is overstuffed with things I've removed from DD's room. I have decided that if she doesn't start keeping up with what she's told to do to make headway on getting her room cleaned up, rather than continuing to fill bags and put the in the shed, I'm just going to start going through the bags--without her if she isn't cooperative--and get rid of things. Concurrently, I'm going to take care of my own mess. I have a list of places that need cleaned out still: 1. Downstairs bathroom closet 2. Downstairs coat closet 3. My craft room, starting to the left of the door, I'm going to go clockwise around the room and clean and purge. I'm going to put effort into accomplishing progress towards these goals every weekend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Sigh, going through papers MIL sent down for us. Christmas cards from a random guy that went to dh's grandparents church(from 1979-82) that they only attended on Christmas with $1 bills and happy grandmother cards she was given when our kids were born- seriously- WHY!!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 On 12/30/2018 at 1:53 PM, Murphy101 said: Right?! My house is fairly tidy and still - how can cleaning out two small kids rooms fill up the garage? The math doesn’t compute that we could stuff all that crap in the rooms and yet not be able to put it in a corner of the garage. I know!! I think this whenever I declutter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 4 hours ago, mommyoffive said: Ahhh so nice. Clothes is one of our really bad points. My mom bought the kids all their clothes and was crazy with it. Like 30 pairs of pants for each size. I still have everything. Even a year ago I was going to have more kids, but now I hit the point where I don't think I want any more. Or maybe I do, but I am just so burned out with no time to myself that I don't know that have any more left in me. So yeah I do need to do something about that so badly as takes up my basement. Just stinks because it was all really nice brands, but selling it doesn't seem worthwhile. All my friends have kids older than mine. Take it to one of those consignment stores. Drop off bags of it. They keep what they want to sell and pay you for it. Anything they don’t want, take to charity drop off. I cant fathom 30 pairs of pants for one person at one time. I don’t think in my whole life I’ve ever had more than 4 pants at one time. But I hate shopping and I’m very hard on clothing. Seems like I always have stained or torn up clothes within weeks of buying something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.