Not quite a horder - decluttering

Wow!  I go on vacation for a week and I have pages to catch up on.  You ladies are really getting stuff done.

As for the stainless fridge, I was told olive oil when I bought mine, but have found that if I use the stainess polish made for fridges and then use a cheap buffer made for cars, it polishes up nicely with less work.

One pro to the stainless steel fridge is that mine won't hold magnets, thus the clutter on my fridge is relinquished to the strip along it's side which is only about 6 inches wide.  The con...no place to post memories with cutsy magnets!

There is a hint for me.  I put a small magnetic whiteboard and bulletin board on the wall beside the fridge and thats where I limit my posting.

Bunkie, so sorry to hear about your vertigo!  What a difficult problem!  But you are really on fire with the house.  It's wonderful that you found a family that really needs what you had.  I love that.  However, I would have a hard time paring down my wardrobe much.  It would mean doing laundry more often, which would be work for me, since my husband does it!  He says he likes it.  He tackles everyone's laundry every weekend, but it would be up to me if I needed things sooner.  Kudos to you if you can weed unnecessary extras out of your wardrobe though.  It's a great goal.

I could not function without all the stuff on my fridge, which is not stainless:  phone numbers, the kids' sports and rehearsal schedules, takeout menus, coupons, shopping lists for various stores, and much more.  I am sure that there are other places to keep those things, but I learned from the book How To Be Organized In Spite Of Yourself that I'm an "everything out" organizer, which means I have to see my stuff rather than have it put away.  So we go with it.  Before the party I had last month, my sweet and mellow 13-year-old son--who had done very little to help--suddenly said, "This fridge looks awful!" and got a box (good boy!) and put all the pieces of paper  on the front of the fridge into the box.  Then he arranged the photos and pretty magnets neatly for the party.  Funny that that was the thing, out of everything cluttered in the house, that jumped out at him.  We've slowly been taking things back out of the box and putting them back on the fridge.  Interestingly, he left the side of the fridge alone, which was and is much more messy than the front.

RunFree - Sounds good. I have a hard time with clothes also. How on earth did I get that many white v neck t shirts? I started today but kept it low key. My dizzies are a bit better but still there. That basement stuff makes me crazy. My contractor says he spoke to a mold expert and all my paneling in the basement has to come out and the walls treated for mold. Then it needs a sump pump to stop more water. Then a sealant for the walls and on and on. let me talk to the mold expert. You make no money on basement remodels but my contractor could make a mint between me and the insurance. I am going to get a Realtor in here and see what I can do to sell it as is. I will take care of a few issues so it will pass an inspection if need be from the city and I am done. So I need to keep downsizing because all the two bedroom apts I looked at on line are about 1000 sq ft and my house is 1600. Yikers!!!

Wren44 - Thanks for that advice. I wish it was that easy. I have had the dizzy crystals flip flop done at least 13 times and it never helps. The vestibular specialist at the U of Mi said my tests are inconclusive. In other words they don't know so go home and live with it. I keep searching for answers. as with the bc never give up the fight.

Brookside - Thanks for that info. I am going to try it. It seems I do better when I don't move my head much either but it hurts my neck after awhile. I am also on disability for it. I will PM you and maybe get some more ideas.

Paper clutter is the worst. I still have about 60 cookbooks I can not let go of...down from 160 I think. I bought some cardboard boxes in red from Ikea for the other paper clutter. I have one for recipe cuttings, decorating ideas, greeting cards, you name it. I even have one that says "stuff" that I dump into. I go through these about once a year. I also bought several under the bed plastic bins for keeping records I might need later and a tall file cabinet type for holding all that other stuff. I get about 30 magazines a month I subscribe to and now I go through them as they come in. I had about 300 of the old Taste of the South, Southern Living etc magazines I was saving. Finally went in and tore out whatever page I wanted to keep and donated the rest to Dr offices. This has been a 2 year struggle for me.

Brookside - Yup the labels work well. I just got those sticky 3m kind and I can find everything most days. I have one big messy box left that I am waiting for probate to end on moms stuff to clear out. It is about 3 years of things I probably do not need but have. I also found a box of record albums in the basement. Going to donate them too. It all has to go. That is funny. I have 2 walk in closets and a cedar closet still full of stuff but much better now. Weeding every few weeks. You are right about the tees. Why do we buy so many?

delete

Hi, CC.  Nice to know about the Mount Vernon and Mount Vesuvius methods (yes, I looked up the websites you mentioned).  If it ever cools down I'll try one or both.  My son came last weekend and helped me move furniture, which required moving more furniture out of the way.  All is exactly where we left it.  And he's coming back tonight.  Ughhh.

^..^

I had a standard uniform for rads. Men's white t shirt and cut off capri jeans. No bra and bandanna on my head. Now that I think of it I still dress like that except for my t shirts are my own and I wear a genie bra. Whole closet full of clothes and that is what I wear.

Baby steps it is Sciencegal!  No shame, no shoulds, just wants.  Rads makes us tired and also takes a bunch of time and bandwidth.  You may still have fatigue when you're done, at least for a while (and it could get worse before it gets better), but you will have more time and one less thing to focus on.  It's so great that you're exercising, way to go!

I totally understand the idea of keeping a few things in the bigger size.  I kept things in my smaller size. I kept my size 14 pants and tops after I grew out ot them.  Two huge tote bins.  Lost 20 pounds recently.  Tried on tops and pants.  NONE of the pants fit and only a couple of tops fit.  I'd kept mine because when I lost the wieght I was going to have these clothes to wear.  NOT.  My wasistline is bigger, my behind is smaller and my boobs aren't there anymore.  We all entertain the idea of "someday."

I am happy to report that I have started sorting out my big pile of chemo, surgery and rads "junk" that I have accumulated during treatments. meds, surgical supplies, blankets, paperwork, teddy bears, cards, flower vases, hats, totes, clothes, cold cap supplies, it goes on and on!



I have a new bike that I want to store in that corner of the exercise room so that was the motivation to get started.



Amazing how much junk can get stacked up in one year!

I love what you're doing, Sciencegal!  New normal it is!