Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

Gisel2015 · June 2021

I convinced my husband to clean up and get rid of shoes that he no longer wears. Friday afternoon we took a bag with 5 pairs of still very decent shoes to an organization that helps the homeless free of charge. I hope that this donation can help somebody in need.

jenilla1 · June 2021

PatriceFitnessPal wrote: »

I’m going to start a new challenge I heard about from a MFP friend. Starting with the new month, I’ll donate, recycle or dispose of unneeded items for each day of the month. So, on July 1st, I plan to get rid of (at least) ONE item. On July 2nd, I’ll declutter TWO items, following that pattern through July 31st, when I plan to rid the house of THIRTY-ONE items. Feel free to join in, if you are interested.

I'm gonna go ahead and try it, but I might have to do a modified version of that, because I like the idea, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by the idea of having to get rid of hundreds of things by the end of the month. That's a big ask for me. I was proud of myself last week for finally parting with the turkey deep fryer we don't use that's been taking up space in the garage for years. (It was a gift, and I have a hard time getting rid of things people give me. It makes me feel guilty.) I know I can get rid of ONE thing every day, for sure. And I have at least thirty-one space-hogging items I could be rid of. But it's worth a try to do the gradually increasing numbers. I suppose if I can go through some garage boxes and get rid of the little things I can hit those numbers. What a great idea for a challenge, though!

RubyRed427 · June 2021

PatriceFitnessPal wrote: »

I’m going to start a new challenge I heard about from a MFP friend. Starting with the new month, I’ll donate, recycle or dispose of unneeded items for each day of the month. So, on July 1st, I plan to get rid of (at least) ONE item. On July 2nd, I’ll declutter TWO items, following that pattern through July 31st, when I plan to rid the house of THIRTY-ONE items. Feel free to join in, if you are interested.

I'll join you. It's a great idea!

mssue18 · June 2021

I’m going to check this thread often to keep me on track to declutter. That’s my big problem now. I’ll join you to do 5 min. every day.

kellibee2000 · June 2021

@jenilla1 I love that idea & I feel the same! Let's think of extra items as bonus or extra credit, so encouraging more than 1 item but not obligated. And keeping track of the # can help with feeling big progress by the time the month is through. Even 31 items sounds like a lot! I would like to join in, but I'm a one track mind gal and just started my health journey. I'll keep this in mind as I go about my day to day for extra credit

PatriceFitnessPal · June 2021

Wow 🤩 … This is great! @jennilla1, @RubyRed427, @mssue18 and @kelliebee2000 - We can all support one another and just do what we can, modifying as needed.

Yes, @jennilla1, I like your idea to clean out small items from boxes in the garage (except it’s the shed for me). I’m thinking I’ll tackle a junk drawer later in the month, when the target number of items is higher, or I’ll weed out some books. My son also said he’d go through his clothes. So, we’ll see how much momentum we can build among family members along the way.

@mssue18, spending five minutes per day is a great way to make the process more manageable. I’d like to build that habit! Nice idea!

Sixteen_Tons · June 2021

In September last year, I left the company I built with two partners that was slowly killing me, that was the first thing I had to let go. It felt very good, but the clutter my wife & I had accumulated over the past 40 years was always pushing at me, making my angry and sad. I felt like I couldn't breath. I'd lived with it because it was important to my wife, but this was the end, I love my wife dearly, but, it came down to 'if I cant get rid of this stuff I need to move out'.

I hired a professional, and while my wife was working they took 2 dumpsters full of junk out, I had my wife tag the things she wanted saved and gave her one room to store them in. When that's full that's it.

I can't believe how much better I feel! There's still some to do, but we're doing it a little at a time.

The last thing I have to let go of was the guilt from the past, now that I had time to reflect on them. I sorted them out to the things I can't control/change and the things I can do something about.

I have one regret left that I can change. I'm working on that doing that now. I'm not a twelve stepper, but, some of those steps apply to many things in life. I've regained my balance in life, I'm feeling better now than I have in 40 years. I 'm ready to succeed.

For those who avoid doing this, thoughtfully declutter your life. It's not as traumatic as you think and you'll feel 10,000 times better. I'm 63 now, I wish I'd done this 20 years ago.

jenilla1 · June 2021

@Sixteen_Tons Thanks for that post! We devote too much of our energy, too much of our lives to holding on to baggage - both physical and emotional. It's never too late to clean out the clutter! I love the compromise you made with your wife so you could both be OK with the change. So happy for you!

sargemarcori · June 2021

I started reading this thread yesterday, and then got up and decluttered eight pieces of clothing from of my closet! I'm not much of a clothes girl, so that was easier than going after my books.

I'm going to think about that July challenge. On the one hand, it seems like a lot! On the other hand, I thought I'd already decluttered my closet down to bare necessities, and yet I found five things yesterday, pretty easily...

jenilla1 · July 2021

Hey, I started that July clutter challenge we discussed above.

First day item: an old, worn and torn coat that isn't nice enough to donate went in the bin this evening!

Why has it been clogging up the closet for years? Nobody wears it. Ridiculous. GOOD RIDDANCE, CRAPPY OLD COAT. 🤣

PatriceFitnessPal · July 2021

Day 1: I started yesterday by setting a timer and going through stacks of papers, magazines and other old documents in my office. I threw out a big box of paper in the recycle bin!

Day 2: I’ll throw away two more boxes of paper today and also drop off two bags of clothes to the donation center.

Sixteen_Tons · July 2021

jenilla1 wrote: »

Hey, I started that July clutter challenge we discussed above.

First day item: an old, worn and torn coat that isn't nice enough to donate went in the bin this evening!

Why has it been clogging up the closet for years? Nobody wears it. Ridiculous. GOOD RIDDANCE, CRAPPY OLD COAT. 🤣

YAY!

gaylebodine · July 2021

I have a book called "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTYhnAh1z_c
The answer is YES. Going to start selling all the hundreds of books I don't need. I'll start today.

PatriceFitnessPal · July 2021

@gaylebodine - 😂🤣😂 Love it!

TerriRichardson112 · July 2021

My Declutter process is ongoing since I did Home Solutions 101 a few years back. Once you get things organised it's relatively easy to keep it that way. I have made a few refinement of my own.

I reorganised my drawers so that everything is visible when I open them. I fold things so that they fit my drawers fairly snugly. I gained quite a lot of space when I did that. Mind you, I have managed to fill some of it up again.

I tend to just slot things in at left hand side, then I can see which items are not being worn and are candidates for decluttering. The bigger items on the right are space fillers. Keeping the clothes fairly tightly in the drawer means they come out of the drawer wrinkle-free. No ironing needed!

These were my drawers this morning after I put away laundry from yesterday. (DH loads the machine and hangs washing out. I bring it in, fold it and put it away)

Home Solutions 101 was the turning point for me. In one year it helped me Declutter every area in the house with its free 15 minutes a day Declutter Challenge, and helped me set up routines to keep it that way. You do have to do regular refresh Declutters, but the challenge helps you develop the habits needed to do that. Just google Home Solutions 101 if you want to try it.

suzij27 · July 2021

One of our kitchen drawers was sticking, so My husband needed to take it out to fix it. This made me have to clear off that counter which always seems to revert to being a mail drop area. He then emptied the drawer itself, cleaned the sliders, and then reloaded the necessary items. I was able to discard or relocate a bunch of plastic silverware and other junk that had accumulated there and even found a few things to donate.

I also listed a few pieces of clothing on eBay. I plan to list more things today.

Mtsidad · July 2021

Went through my library and disposed of a hundred or so books—either gave them away to people, donated them to a charity, or sold them at Half Price Books. (Got about five dollars for about thirty books! Such a deal!) Bought two six-foot wire racks (on casters so they're moveable).

Went through my closet and disposed of every single thing I haven't worn in two years (except for a few shirts with memories, such as the shirt from my wedding or the one hand-embroidered by a high school friend). Included more than a dozen pair of blue jeans from "previous sizes" that were too worn to be reused by me.

Bought a slew of clear plastic boxes with lids (various sizes), and went through my garage to clean it out. Anything that I want to keep was cleaned and sorted, put in the plastic boxes and labeled, and put on the shelves so everything is visible and orderly. Everything else was either donated or given away to people who wanted it (the pressurized paint sprayer went right away, but even the leftover Pergo flooring found a home), or taken to the dump.

Went through twenty-five years of paint cans and whittled it down to the paint we used within the last year (we repainted the entire exterior and repainted a room inside). Everything else was opened and filled with paint hardener, and now I'm slowly throwing it away in the trash weekly once it's completely dry. (The county has a paint recycling center but it can't accept any more donations because so many people are using it & recommends this method to handle leftover/unwanted latex-based paint.) Still about thirty empty or near-empty cans. But I'm getting rid of them.

Went through the yard and pulled up or discarded any dead plants, whether in the ground or in pots. Replaced them with new bushes and flowers. Hired a high-school kid to weed-whack the part of the yard that has always been a problem; I'll be laying down landscaping fabric & covering it with "beauty bark."

Still to come: The woodshed needs to be cleaned out & made ready for a new load of wood. That's a job for tomorrow.

g2renew · July 2021

I have posted a few things on Marketplace and Postmark. So far, I am less than thrilled with response, but it has been less than 3 weeks, so still giving it a little time. I only kept the best stuff-designer names-to sell, and took other stuff to donate. The plan is to donate the "sell" items if they haven't sold in 4 weeks. It is not helping ME to store it for longer.

Anything even slightly damaged, I throw away. You see, I am one who always says, "This could be fixed, covered up, changed, and be awesome!" That positive and creative side has led me to more stuff than I can use. I toss it because I do not want to add to someone's tendencies to do the same.

Here, we can neatly place items curbside at our homes and people know it is free to take. Maybe this is an option for others to get extra stuff out of their own home and bless others with it. You can post curb stuff on Facebook or free groups, too. Any large items or boxes/bags will get picked up on trash day.

Wishing us all strength and discernment as we declutter!❤

g2renew · July 2021

Steff46 wrote: »

I have donated boxes and boxes of my items this year (clothes, books, dishes, jewelry, etc.). I still have two things that hold me back on keeping my home decluttered.
One, I'm really bad about going through a box of things and only getting rid of half of it then putting the box back in the same spot....so I really didn't get that box of stuff gone:( I'm working on this.
Two, my other half is a clutter bug. We don't use our dinning room table anymore due to his mountain of stuff. We have two other bedrooms with his "stuff". He isn't to the point of being a hoarder but I give up. I used to go behind him and put stuff in it's place and then he claims he can't find anything and I just stopped being his maid. Don't get me wrong, I'm not on here bashing him I just can't figure out how to motivate him to keep his areas neater.

Sadly, I never did figure out how to motivate my "other". He always blamed me for any issues.

But! My daughter takes notice when i declutter my things and i notice her doing that soon after. Sometimes it is helpful just to be an example to others😊.

Many of you are setting good examples for me-in weight loss, decluttering, positive thinking. Thanks, guys!

Gisel2015 · July 2021

Lots of inspiring and educational ideas posted recently and I appreciate them all. Just reading them gives me a "push" to do more. Unfortunately one of the things that holds me back is my husband. He doesn't like to get rid of things that are no longer needed (because he thinks that they would eventually be useful), so it is a battle that I seldom win or manage to compromise.

I did convince him to donate a bunch of shoes that he no longer wears last week. I got him a new pair of Sketchers that he wanted but he had to promise me to clean up his “shoe closet.” He did, not us much as needed, but something is better than nothing.

In general and because I am an organized person, the house is neat and without clutter, but there are things that I would love to further evaluate and probably give away. Something that I am doing on my own a little bit at the time. I used to collect stuffed animals, cute little things that I loved and that when the grandchildren were young enjoyed as well. The youngest one are now 12 and 14 so they don’t need or want anymore toys.

All these stuffed cuties have a meaning to me so it is hard to dispose of them, so I compromised with myself. They will be donated to a church that collect toys and other necessities for the migrant farm workers. I am sure that some of their children will enjoy these stuffed animals.

Thank you to all of you for posting your organizing achievements in great detail. I appreciate the ideas and effort. Have a Happy, Safe, and Blessed 4th of July!

Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

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