Florida has lots of bugs, so this weekend was our twice yearly clean out the kitchen cupboards and spray them with bug spray.  It also helps clear out a lot of useless, broken or unwanted items.  So glad that it is done now.  The rest of my uncluttering is going slow, since I only do a little at a time, but I am seeing such great results, so this little at a time is really working and I am glad I did that instead of waiting for a big chunk of time to do the whole job.  ( I would probably still be waiting for that) .  Hoping to clear out some of my closet next. I have a bag in there to throw stuff in I want to donate.  That helps some.

Oh Muddling - books are hard to get rid of, I have to remember that I bought a lot of mine from thrift shops and if someone else didn't get rid of them I wouldn't have had a chance to read them.  There are some I can't let go and won't, but I do try not to buy any more books and go to the library or read online on kindle.

Love and am inspired by your stories of clearing out shelves and paperwork.

On top of being hobbled with a broken foot bone, extreme weather this week has confined me indoors. We had a literal heat wave of three days of 90 degree weather followed by four days of non-stop rain. So coin counting and reviewing video editing continues.

Be safe sisters in the mid-Atlantic with the upcoming storm. Especially those of you traveling for treatment like Muddling......

DSW in Houston has a program that if you take in a pair of gently used shoes, you get 50 points towards the purchase of a new pair. I don't think there is a limit on the number of points you can get but I was told that it's only points each day no matter how many pair. Or 50 points each time if you take in a pair every day. I'm going to get some new winter slippers with my points once they are in stock.

That would be wild to find!

Mominator, I applaud your donations to the curbside pickup! I really hear your internal arguments! I have them myself!

Mominator, it sounds like you really cleaned up! I love that sense of accomplishment I feel when I unload things from numerous areas around the house, so I bet you are feeling really good about your discards.

I’ve finished wrapping all my coins! My word, what a chore. It made a big difference to tell myself to allot just half an hour a day for this. All told, it ends up being almost $900. That’s 15 years worth of tossing change in the bottle. I still have to take the coins to the bank but that’s the easy part. Sort of! They’re heavy, lol!

And yesterday, I finished reviewing the dvds I made and am getting ready to place an order for them. From 25 home video VHS tapes, I made 6 dvds. That means there was quite a bit of worthless filming of stuff that became very unimportant years later. However, the memories that I *have* saved has made the process, time consuming as it was, to be such a worthwhile project. In the end, it shows a very loving family, celebrating years of birthdays and Christmases and some every day living like a big hail storm, picking apples in the backyard and watching home improvements unfold.

Again, it was chunking the process down into half hour blocks of time that helped me feel less overwhelmed by the size of the project.

Muddling, I use a company called " iMemories", easily found online. You pay a fee to have the vhs tapes transfered to digital format (10 or 12 bucks each video cassette) and then there is a fee to have them transfered to dvds (10 bucks each). You mail them in and they let you know when the tapes are received. It takes a couple days for them to be digitized, they let you know when that happens and then you can access them online. I'm sure there are many people who don't edit and just do the video to dvd transfer. I've had to deal with customer service a few times and found them easy to work with.

I had about 20 years worth of home videos. It didn't occur to me during all those years that video taping family fun was a hobby of mine. In hindsight, I realized it was. So when I worried about the cost of transferring them all to something viewable, it helped to look at it as another phase of this hobby. I knew the money (time and energy, too) had to be spent. I know many people spend lots of money on their hobbies, so I allowed myself the luxury of spending money on something that meant a lot to me and that which I'd put a lot of time. I saw at it as creating a finished project from years of raw footage. I also see it as a relief and closure! Ha, ha, that's worth a pretty penny! Remember when camcorders and video taping was such a novelty? Nowadays most people have video capabilities on their cell phones!

Madelyn, you are so right!

I've finally been okayed to stop wearing the aircast boot which is great. I'm not supposed to do any walking as exercise for 3 more weeks but can go about a normal day without overdoing it. The foot is finally feeling better. What I observed while I was hobbled is I did much less piddly shopping and I'm happy about that. Really no need to buy 20 or 30 dollars worth of more home decor when I'm out and about. I have a tendency seek filling a void in my life with buying “something else" pretty for my house.

Today I went through a tall cupboard, floor to ceiling, where I keep seasonal decor. It's been decluttered numerous times but needed straightened up. I took note of what's in there so I don't buy what I already have. A couple weeks ago I bought a fall floral arrangement then today I see one in the cupboard I forgot about. I found a fall door decoration with tag still on it that I don't need, found the receipt and will return it.

{{{Zillz}}}}

Mominator- that is frustrating. But the up and downs are something I have dealt with and it can be a root cause of many things. Going to a dietician/nutritionist will help. I saw one a number of years back when I first became diabetic. They will make you write down everything you eat or drink for a couple weeks and come back to review it for any issues. What you eat, when you eat, etc. Late night meals and/or snacking are the worst for weight gain. No carbs at night is a must. Make sure she is honest with the person and does not write down what she wants that person to see. They won't be able to help her otherwise.

I worked with a personal trainer years ago and she also had me write down how I felt when I was eating. For example, was I eating a meal because I was hungry? Or some other reason? I learned at that time I eat to comfort myself sometimes and learned to undo that with some awareness. Therapist can help with this too. Food should be for nourishment. Plenty of tasty low calorie foods to enjoy!

Wishing you the best on this

Zills, I share your problem. Clean up and where did I decide to put that? It can be frustrating.

Wow Mudd that's awesome.

Mom could your DD send them to a consignment store like Platos closest and get credit for her new needs?

Walmart has summer on clearance. Bought shorts and tees for $1-$3 each for next year. More crap to store but think of the savings! Maybe spent $30 for $100.

Still haven't found the uniforms and racing again tonight. Argh!

I am not sure how I have missed this thread in the past.

One good way to de-clutter is to move, which we have done 5 times in 5 years, and twice this last year. I would not recommend it.... super bad for the stress level, but each time I have purged and purged and purged. We are a blended family with four kids in college, and have been together for 10 years. (Not long after getting married and moving into together, I started purging my husbands "stuff".... probably not very nice of me) I very literally think I have been to Goodwill 200 times in the past five years. I am finally feeling like everything I have now I really love, or it means so much to me I can't part with it. 

However - Divine (great to see you!) - loved the article on kids artwork. I have several of my boys artwork dating back to preschool in frames.... and lots more in boxes. I can't seem to purge them! What's worse, I still have two big boxes of their baby clothes! I know I am insane. My poor husband wonders why I give away all of HIS clothes and keep my children's tiny little Patagonia snow clothes. Anyway, the article made sense..... now that we have moved for the VERY LAST TIME (really!) and are just getting settled, I should probably get rid of most of it. My own mom went through a phase where she sent ME all of MY grade school artwork, and I think I promptly threw it away, so I know neither of my boys are going to care if someday they inherit their own...… I guess I am just clinging to the past (theirs and mine) because sometimes I wish I could just go right back to it.... I miss those little boys, and I miss my pre-cancer days. 

Thanks for sharing all of your ideas and tips! 

XO

Andrea