Not quite a horder - decluttering

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 FOR THIS TOPIC!

 And so timely for me.  I can't seem to get motivated & failed the Fly Lady attempt.  I did make myself a deal though:

For every new item that comes in, 3 old ones have to go.

This goes for clothes, office/craft supplies and makeup...3 of my worst clutter issues, though my BF/SO would disagree.  He HATES "paper"...magazines, things to be filed, things to shred, etc.

He offered to help me clean up, so I took boxes and labeled them:

• Magazines
• Bills & correspondence
• Makeup / jewelry (smaller box with a divider in the middle)
• Clothes to keep
• Goodwill
• Sell
• Cat stuff
• To decide

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Happy New Years dear cluttered friends.  

Lookiing back on my year I think my resolutions must have been to catch up on every TV series made. 

Have a lovely evening and a bright tomorrow. 

Love Ginger  

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Wishing all you a wonderful 2014 filled with health, happiness and decluttered houses.

Hugs!

Mandy

Speaking of decluttering. I lost all power and heat to my home for 5 days during the ice storm. Both my freezers and my fridge lost everything. All my frozen berries from the summer, all organic meats I had just purchased and tons of frozen veggies, ice creme etc. The estimate was about 800. I had to vacate my home and stay with a friend. When I returned to clean it was unreal how much I really had. Wake up call about food stockpiling. I have been so good at stopping the canned goods, boxed foods etc but neglected the freezers etc. Nature took care of that and I am now only using one freezer. I do not think I could have ever been able to eat all that food and forgot half of what was in there. New Years resolution. Done.

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I failed to mention that during my stay (power outage) with the friend in her basement sleeping area I happened to look about. OMG she is a big hoarder. Clothes piled everywhere and books and stuff. Old furniture all over the place. Needless to say I could not breath well but it beat the power outage. She also had mice. Yup I set traps for her and killed 6. With all those hiding places she must have an army. She actually has a guest room but there is so much stuff in it you can not get the door open. Hoarders Buried Alive it is. When I got home and looked at all the decluttering I have done I was proud because it looked like that when I got here in 06. I still have more but wow was I pleased.

Teka - Yup it made me come home and look at my basement rec room also called the storage room and want to declutter more. I have stuff down there in plastic bins and there are shelves that I have stacked with gadgets I have yet to use. Emeril Lagasse deep fryer, big ole roaster, green pans, crock pot...etc all new in boxes. I still have an extra set of cushions for my den sofa also. Maybe my plan to get a storage unit and put all that stuff in it is a good one. Just empty out what I want to keep. That is the room that gets damp with a few puddles. My contracter wants to gut it but I am more with the idea of cleaning it up. Washing the walls, removing old floor tiles etc and a good scrub. When I sell it I would not get any money extra for a finished basement. There is an old 3/4 bath down there I could fix up on the cheap and add a bathroom to my listing for this place. We will see. No mice thank God. Used to have centipedes like crazy but since the power outage and 35 degree temp in the house I have not seen one. Did they freeze?

Georgie - Moving is hard. It sounds like you are doing the right thing. Mine all started when my parents died close together and I was left with an inherited childhood house full of 45 years worth of stuff. Moving from Ca I had my own that was stored so I had to do the entire house. I could not even walk in the basement and all the rooms had piles of stuff everywhere.

I started with a room and worked on a corner. In the basement it was behind the bar. Full of stuff. I donated most and gave some to friends. Then I hit the other corner. Old TVs, tables etc. Old chipped lamps and vases. I kept a couple of things and donated or tossed the rest. I was really dissappointed because my mom had all these beautiful vases that were antiques and had value but they were all chipped or glued. Out they went. Then I went to the other corner and kept doing that till I could work myself in to the middle areas. If you only get a table cleared it is worth it. Others here will jump in with what worked for them too. Congrats on getting started.

I was reading a minimalist website and had the thought that I could take all the things out of my closet that I neither like nor wear and put them in a container. Then if I don't go back to the container to get things, they go out the door. It would be interesting to only have clothes I like in my closet. I wouldn't need to buy anything new, just remove stuff. We'll see if I'm able to do this.