What did you declutter today? 2012 Edition

[disneysteve]

Ever since I splurged on Restoration Hardware fine bed linens, there really is no point of keeping my floral bedsheets from my college days.

I need to do the same thing. Our hall closet is overflowing with bed linens, many of which we no longer use. I have to get everything in the basement washed and then pull it all out at one time and decide what to keep and what to give away.

[creditcardfree]

Bed linens and towels can often be donated to animal shelters. They aren't picky about style or condition!

[elessar78]

Well we had two 4-day weekends in a row, so we decluttered a lot.

Main thing was we packed away or donated a lot of toys/books for the baby that she had outgrown or we didn't like! Our garage is a big project this year, and we have a ton of boxes ready to be burned or thrown out.

[marvholly]

How about just focusing on keeping clutter from accumulating for now? Make sure to read or toss all of the mail as it comes in. Don't let newspapers and magazines pile up. Put things away as soon as you are done with them. At least work on making sure that between now and spring the clutter doesn't get any worse than it is right now.

Been doing that since I joined the old declutter thread. I have signed up for a BUNCH of free magazines but now I immediatly read them then take to my Dad's senior citizens building library. Magazines leave the house twice/week. Newspapers are read within 2 days and put into recycle. Mail is read & delt with daily.

[disneysteve]

Been doing that since I joined the old declutter thread. I have signed up for a BUNCH of free magazines but now I immediatly read them then take to my Dad's senior citizens building library. Magazines leave the house twice/week. Newspapers are read within 2 days and put into recycle. Mail is read & delt with daily.

That's great. I know this is part of our problem. Even when we are decluttering old stuff, if we still allow new stuff to build up, it's hard to see any visible progress. I know there is progress none the less because the stuff that is going out tends to be stuff that has been around forever and the new stuff is easier to deal with once we devote the time to it.

I'm going to try and squeeze in a bit of decluttering at my office today in my desk drawers and on the shelves over my desk.

[creditcardfree]

Consider another way to declutter magazines and catalogs is to stop bringing them into the house! Stop having them even arrive in your mailbox. Cancel the subcriptions and save the money. Check out Catalog Choice to eliminate catalogs and junk mail.

[disneysteve]

Consider another way to declutter magazines and catalogs is to stop bringing them into the house! Stop having them even arrive in your mailbox. Cancel the subcriptions and save the money.

You can also switch to e-subscriptions via an iPad or e-reader. My wife only reads TIME on her iPad now (though I still get the paper magazine).

[Shaabenanizer]

Yeh! Last night I cleared out a box of bed sheets and pillow cases. I've been using a queen size bed for 5 years, why on earth was I hanging on to these twin size sheets? As it turns out I wouldn't have to go to Goodwill as my sister wanted them for her pre-teen children. Living on a farm the kids don't care about cleanliness but my sister does and their bed sheets are worn out from constant washing.

I cleared out a few more items from my hallway closet and when I stop back I marvel how much room there is; it's like the closet is breathing on it's own. Must. Resist. Urge. To. Fill the space!

[disneysteve]

Must. Resist. Urge. To. Fill the space!

George Carlin Talks About "Stuff" - YouTube
A George Carlin classic.

[disneysteve]

I didn't get to do anything at the office but after work, I emptied out the bag of stuff I brought home from a convention 2 weeks ago. I cleaned a bunch of stuff off my desk. I listed a book for sale on Amazon. I baked up some left over dough in the fridge into dinner rolls. DW and I also cleaned a bunch of stuff out of the fridge since it is trash day. We do that every week of course but tonight we got rid of some things that have been in there way too long.

[Cassius King]

I got started on the garage yesterday while I was putting the Christmas Tree back in to storage. Have a cedar closet in the basement that I need to get organized and get rid of some stuff as well. Feels good.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Decluttering my head:

Listing out my goals and putting them onto paper I will hang by my desk. So far I just have a list of short term goals to be done by 12/31/2012. Financial goals are pretty vague because I have sporadic income right now (part-time paid internship) but I did say to save 10% of all income and pay myself first.

Thinking of some ideas for what I would put on a 5-year goal sheet and a ten year goal sheet. It is hard because I am college and not too sure what life will look like in a couple years. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

[disneysteve]

I spent some time this morning mainly in our home office.

I counted 14 pens and pencils on the computer desk. I left one pen and one pencil and put the rest back in the holder on the other desk except for a few that got thrown out because they were cheapo pens and didn't have covers.

I recycled, discarded or filed various items that were on the 2 desks.

I put all but the final paystubs for 2011 into the shredding stack.

A few other items on the desk got put in their proper locations elsewhere in the house.

A few things also got removed from my dresser and put away.

[Shaabenanizer]

I just realized I have 2 runner rugs stored under my bed. They used to be a single area rug until I had them cut in half to make runners for my new place so not to bother my downstairs neighbor with my footsteps. They are thick wool rugs, so thick that the carpet place where I had them cut couldn't bind the edges. Couple years later I got new and better looking runners on clearance, rolled up the old runners and stuffed them under my bed. I guess I have a hard time letting them go because my late cat loved using the rug, but maybe it's time. Because they're not "real" runners as their edges are not binded, I think I'll put them on the free section of Craigslist.

[disneysteve]

Yesterday, I cleaned $200 out of my cash stash by going to the casino - . Oh well, that wasn't the kind of decluttering I wanted to do.

I did put away some laundry, get a few other things off the desk and reorganized my closet a bit. I didn't get rid of anything but just straightened up some.