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I am getting brutal with my purging

DawnM

By DawnM,
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DawnM

DawnM

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Hey, just had a thought, anyone want to join me?   We can post our goals and check off lists or photos when we finish......if there is no interest, I am not offended, just thought it might motivate me and anyone else who wants to join.

 

OP:

 

I would just take it all to the burn pile, but I do need to go through everything.   Sigh.

This is taking SO LONG because I am going through each box and putting everything in piles of "keep, donate, sell, trash" and UGH.

But downsizing to about 2/3 the size of your last house AND losing a 3 car garage size attic......well, stuff has got to GO!

Most of it I am sticking on my buy nothing group, but that can be a hassle so some goes straight to the donation pile to be dumped off.     Piling and dumping at the thrift store is the easiest of the options for sure.

Yesterday I unpacked 8 boxes.   Today I plan to unpack about 20 that are sitting in the garage.   But much of it can go straight to the donate pile.   

And I finally gave myself permission to get rid of the large boxes the TVs came in.    I just don't have anywhere to put them and we have already decided we are staying in this house at least for 13 years for A to finish school, so I imagine by then we may not even have these TVs.   

I don't know why I am typing all of this, but maybe just to psych myself up to GET 'ER DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a goal to get two of our storage units empty by the end of the month.   We have emptied the largest one (20x20) and now about half way through emptying the 10x20.   We have one more way on the other side of town that we will have to tackle in January.   But paying for one won't be so bad and just for one month.

Anyone want to come over and help me?   🤪

And we have a long list of other things that need to be done over break.....ugh.   If I buckle down, I can get it done, I have just been tired and lazy.   Like yesterday, I was going to make a sweet potato casserole but I got lazy and did the "dump it in the pan with butter and brown sugar and marshmallows and VOILA!!!!!!"   instead of my usual that takes far more effort.

 

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DawnM

DawnM

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Just give me permission to get rid of whatever I decide to get rid of.

I do not get rid of sentimental things or things I use frequently, but I just found multiples of so many things that I bought again because I either forgot we had it, or I couldn't find it in all the massive amount of junk.

One thing I have been meaning to do is get rid of most of our camping equipment.   I struggle with it because my boys were scouts and it brings such memories, but they hate camping now and have no plans to do it ever again and haven't done it for over 8 years.   I think I will see if my local foster care group has any teen boys in scouts who would really appreciate some scout/camping supplies.

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Katy

Katy

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You not only have permission to get rid of everything you decide to, you should. It will reduce the stress of everyone. 

A few years ago I took a class called Take Your House Back. I think it’s on sale for $99 for a few more weeks, if you want to consider it. The course information is good, but the real reason it’s worth paying for is that about once a month they do live all-day decluttering. I found I could get through one round of about 1/2 of my big house in one day if I joined in. And I cannot emphasize enough how effective that was, how good & easy it is to get through a ton of stuff and make your house visibly better in one day with hundreds of people doing the same thing.  

They also have a Facebook group, but I personally didn’t find that helpful. There were a lot of people in true hoarder situations, or people too overwhelmed by grief and paralysis to get rid of anything from their deceased loved ones so they’d moved a houseful of their parents stuff into their own homes. It may have changed since then.

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DawnM

DawnM

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Just to give you an idea......I just found four fire sticks.   I thought I had two.   

I have a roaster we haven't used in over 8 years.   Most of what was in that giant attic I don't use anymore.......most of it can GO!

And we do have an attic in this house and it is fairly good size and about 10' ceilings, but it only has a pull down ladder to get to it......I am trying to figure out if there is anywhere we could put an actual staircase, even spiral, to get to it......but I am not sure we have the space to do it.   For now, DH says to just pile the boxes to go up next to the stairs and he will take it, but I really want access easier than that.

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DawnM

DawnM

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27 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

Our movers come to start packing us up in two days. I lost a lot of purging time to emergency work that needed to be done. I will try to get rid of a few more boxes of stuff and a couple pieces of furniture, but there isn't much time left.

I tried before we moved, but it wasn't nearly enough.   Now we moved it all here......ugh.

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DawnM

DawnM

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3 minutes ago, Hyacinth said:

Purging is on my list for 2024. I’m going to take it one bin, one closet, one shelving unit, one room at a time. And I, too, intend to be brutal. I already feel lighter just thinking about it. 

I had intentions......

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almondbutterandjelly

almondbutterandjelly

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Do it!!  It's so freeing!  We downsized a couple years ago, and the only things I regret getting rid of were two books and a giant canvas mural that dd painted during covid.  So I bought those two books from Amazon, and I had a picture of the mural printed on a much smaller canvas that I hang on my wall.  Worth it!!

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City Mouse

City Mouse

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I am still dealing with the last of my mom’s hoard. I think I’ve got all the household items sorted. Now I have to deal with her salt shaker collection and some art that may actually be worth some money, but I think I found a consignment art place that may take it. When I get done with her stuff, I do need to start on our own stuff. I am determined not to leave the same kind of mess for my own kids to clean up.

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DawnM

DawnM

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44 minutes ago, PrairieSong said:

I need to do this as well! Are we just continuing to add to this thread with our progresses, etc, or will it be a group?  I'm fine with it being here, or whatever everyone else prefers.

 

41 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Same.  Christmas stresses me out with all the influx of things coming in. We donated a ton of stuff 2 days ago which felt good, but I need to do soooo much more.

Let me start a new thread!   I think we had one going a while back but I petered out and I need to restart!

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mmasc

mmasc

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I have one of those giant IKEA Kallax 5 cube by 5 cube shelves FULL of books and homeschooling materials. My goal for months has been to scale down on all that stuff, but homeschooling stuff is basically impossible to sell nowadays, and I can’t bear the thought of the thrift store just trashing it. I’ve donated some good, usable products to our co-op. And some I can’t part with, so that’s on me. I’ve always been a curriculum junkie, and I need to get brutal. 
 

My second area that I need to be brutal with is our linens closet. I want to get rid of every sheet and pillowcase that doesn’t have a match, things that have a stain/hole, blankets the kids don’t use anymore, etc. 

 

My third area—my closet. Just ugh. I’ve got so much crap in there that I don’t wear, don’t like, doesn’t fit, too old—you name it. It NEEDS TO GO!!

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DawnM

DawnM

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55 minutes ago, mmasc said:

 

My third area—my closet. Just ugh. I’ve got so much crap in there that I don’t wear, don’t like, doesn’t fit, too old—you name it. It NEEDS TO GO!!

UGH!   I had a giant closet in my last house and it even had some attic storage inside the huge closet!   I have to get rid of most of my clothing at this point.  I haven't worn it or can't wear it (I have recently lost a good deal of weight) so I need to get it OUT.

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kbutton

kbutton

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4 hours ago, DawnM said:

I tried before we moved, but it wasn't nearly enough.   Now we moved it all here......ugh.

That’s okay! It might be easier to decide now that you have actual space to fit into. Sometimes being in the new space brings the clarity needed to know what to let go.

 

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Beth S

Beth S

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13 minutes ago, sweet2ndchance said:

The Minimal Mom on YouTube is doing a declutter-a-long for the next 4 days. I was going to participate but we are out of town for Ds's Xmas/birthday trip. I can't wait to start decluttering when we get home though.😁

I was just going to post the link. 
(I had to sign up for free, to get the link.)

She calls it "body doubling" to have a friend (she's a wonderful Virtual Friend) to encourage you.
She's big on purging, @DawnM

Ironically, the Minimal Mom's real name is Dawn M.  😉

 

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DawnM

DawnM

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49 minutes ago, Beth S said:

I was just going to post the link. 
(I had to sign up for free, to get the link.)

She calls it "body doubling" to have a friend (she's a wonderful Virtual Friend) to encourage you.
She's big on purging, @DawnM

Ironically, the Minimal Mom's real name is Dawn M.  😉

 

Thank you.

She is not me~.  I promise!

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