75ers' Organizing/Decluttering Support Group: Round 2

Delighted at how busy this thread has been so far this year! Even if I haven't gotten a lot done, I've really enjoyed everyone's posting and the progress, no matter how slight and often quite substantial.

I got a big project done today. All my downstairs houseplants are sick. A purchase brought home a heavy scale infestation at Christmastime that resulting in all my brought in from outside to winter plants getting thrown out, and it has lingered in my herbs and maranta. My Hoyas got mealybug--don't know where that came from, and the orchid leaves look wrong and sticky. So I ordered insecticidal soap and neem oil this week and today put my plastic sheet down on the mudroom floor and everyone got a thorough spraying of the soap. Also potted the amaryllis bulbs my neighbor brought me last week, and while everything was off the counter out there, gave it and the sink a good cleaning as well before putting things back from whence they came. Now I can take the bag of garden soil back out to the garage and the mud room is looking good.

Checking in!

>1 ronincats: I'm sorry about your plants, Roni. On the plus side, they always look so much healthier after a good dose of TLC.

ETA: which reminds me, I ought to have a look at my houseplants ...

ETA 2: just dropping a note for myself for my ongoing projects from the previous thread. Not much progress yet, unfortunately.

Checking in. I'm awake with a cold and haven't put the phone away like I told myself I would.

Work on my bedside table screeched to a halt as efforts redirected into the overflowing closet. I started with the skirts. Due to recent weight loss I insisted on trying almost every one on to see if it fit or not. About half went to the donations pile. It looks like efforts will remain in the closet until the hangars slide easily back and forth and the danger of putting on clothes that fall off has lessened.

>1 ronincats: sorry you had to throw out your overwintering plants.

I would love to have a winterized porch to house my plants during the colder months.

>1 ronincats: Oh no! I battled scale on my schefflera for years! Never completely got rid of it, no matter how many times I sprayed or sponged or dipped, though it did get knocked back, so the plant continued to do ok. Sadly, the plant succumbed to my malaise period when I barely managed to care for myself and most of my houseplants died off. I don't really mind the spider plants, but I miss the schefflera and some others. The only ones that pulled through were the aloes and African shield. I'm sorry for your plant losses.

I'm not sure I actually decluttered or downsized anything this weekend, but I installed a couple items on the wall and put some stuff away and made progress on financial paperwork.

Did I mention that my box of CDs did not arrive at my new home with everything else? Lost in transit somehow. I guess that's one way to downsize, but I wouldn't recommend it. I miss my music terribly, even though I didn't necessarily listen to them frequently, they there when I needed them, and plenty of the CDs cannot be replaced. I staged the CD tower to go away, but now I wonder whether I should keep it and rebuild. Or reevaluate and figure out how best to keep my favorites in my life if not CDs.

I did a couple small organizational jobs this weekend. First, I upgraded the storage tote in the back of my SUV to a taller one that allows the antifreeze jug to stay upright (and it doesn't slide like the previous tote did) AND has room for the windshield washer fluid jug. Later in the day I noticed my little knapsack hanging on a hook, the knapsack I used to take with me to work. It's been gathering dust and was still full of little items (like skin lotion) that I would haul with me to my office daily. It's empty now, and all the items have either found new places to reside or have been discarded.

Teensy baby steps.

Sadly i keep getting more books when i don't have room and both of my bookcases are already full with old and new books.

I cleaned out a big file folder of very old papers (from the “Aughts”) and it felt great. Not only did I get a teeny step closer to getting my papers in order, but I gained lots more half-used paper which I can now reuse for printing puzzles.

Karen O

>7 Owltherian: check out the ROOT group if you've not already done so.

It's helped me get more of my physical books read and out the door.

>8 klobrien2: good idea! I like using the back of papers for other things.

>9 fuzzi: Thanks, I'll check it out, and can i get a link for that please?

>10 Owltherian: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/24198/2024-ROOT-Challenge

>11 fuzzi: Thank you so much

At my mother's urging, Saturday I took two slightly broken wooden stools to her condo's yard sale. They do repairs - and they're only _slightly_ broken (one broken and two missing cross-braces, both still usable but getting wobbly), but they had been sitting around waiting for me to get to them for far too long. Especially as I now have a rolling, cushioned, height-adjustable stool (for playing guitar on), and they're both surplus.

Also took a bag of vintage craft tools (rug braiding rollers, a pleating clamp, etc) and some of my excess hats to the White Elephant sale (currently ongoing, but they're still taking donations from volunteers which includes my mom). And found some of them already on the shelf when I got in to shop an hour later, so yay! Unfortunately I bought stuff - but it's good stuff (some books, some kitchen tools which will replace ones that are barely functional...).

A little bit out. It's not much but it's maintaining the momentum.

My big "deep breath and be sensible" moment this past weekend:
I gave away all my rubber stamps, embossing powders and Distress Inks and stencils.

I had this assortment of craft supplies for many years, pre-pandemic. It was great fun when I participated in workshops and then met with friends on a semi-regular basis to make decorative things like greeting cards and so forth.

It's sort of post-pandemic, but our group has dispersed. I seem to have lost interest, so I suspect it was all about being social. Anyway, an acquaintance with several grandchildren is the happy recipient because this is an easy craft for a wide age group. I will get over the pang and admire the freed up space in my craft cupboard.

It's sometimes tough letting go, even if that's the best thing, isn't it?

>14 SandyAMcPherson: I'm over here taking deep breaths with you. That sounds like it was a good decision for you to make but a hard one.

>15 elorin: Thank you, Robyn ~ I appreciate your support. Like others here, I'm finding it usefully cathartic to write out the angst of this process.

For me, letting things go is tremendously linked to feeling as if I'm losing part of myself. Papercrafting and textile artwork have always been a big part of my non-career occupation. I am not abandoning either activity in its entirety, only the aspects I have stopped doing.

>14 SandyAMcPherson: - Sandy, I feel your pain. I am no artist but I do have an artist's soul. During my working years, I always tried different crafts and managed somehow (?!) to amass all manner of tools, materials, etc. All for the proverbial *someday, when I retire/have free time* etc, etc. Well, I retired 9 years ago and have only very minimally managed to let go of things I realize I will never get to. I still have one friend who is still teaching and she is very artistic so much of what I decluttered went to her, for use in her classroom. But I still have an alarming amount of stuff I seem reluctant to get rid of. You know, *just in case* I get that urge again. Ha! Who am I kidding? I am hoping to attack that area more relentlessly this time round, and will try to keep only what I truly think/believe I will get to THIS YEAR. I think I have to be realistic and ruthless with myself or I will never dig out from under it all.

For example. I have boxes of photos that I started making photo albums for. That is a project I want to continue. I used to do stained glass and have a lot of equipment and at least 2 boxes of scrap glass. In truth, I haven't done it in awhile but I do want to get back to it so none of that will leave this house just yet. Also, I used to do journaling and have more blank books than I can count. I want to get back to that, too. But PAPER. Oh dear. I have far more fancy and decorative papers for various paper crafts than I will likely EVER use. Time to cull or at the very least, pare down that stash. And knitting. Now there's something I really need to accept: other than scarves, I will never be a knitter. Time to move it out.

Puzzles. I love puzzles but until the current cats get too geriatric to jump, that hobby is on hiatus. I have about 4 or 5 puzzles that have yet to see the light of day because I bought them before said boys arrived. Can't quite let go of those yet...

And on and on it goes....

And yes, it does help (me) to write this all out here (confession is good for the soul?). Seeing it in black and white in front of me makes me realize what I have and what's ahead of me. I guess that can be a good thing, or a terrifying thing...!

>17 jessibud2: Sharing jigsaw puzzles works! We started doing that in our BookCrossing group a couple years ago. Keep the puzzles traveling among friends (like our books do) so all of them are not sitting on your shelves at the same time!

To do the puzzles with the kitties, just buy a board to cover it with when you’re not actively working on it. We bought two heavy poster boards at an art supply store and loosely taped them together. I fold one over the other (like closing a book) to transport the puzzle off of our kitchen table (country kitchen), but you can use the “cover technique” to keep your boys from losing the pieces…that is, unless both want to actively “help” you do each puzzle.

>18 SqueakyChu: - Ha! You haven't met Theo, Madeline. He has his PhD in getting into things he is not supposed to, major one being: TROUBLE!! I can wait... (maybe) ;-)

"It's sometimes tough letting go, even if that's the best thing, isn't it?"

Completely agree.

>14 SandyAMcPherson: But you can also purchase / acquire back if needed again ?

My main issue that I'm (slowly) overcoming is telling myself I'm realistically not going to be using this item so sell/donate - if I choose to get into that field, I can buy again.

A lot of mine on these lines (cycling / outdoor ) are also tinged with an amount of melancholy as due to health reasons my previous healthy outdoor self is no more, and whilst I haven't discounted returning - medical miracles aside -it's not going to be happening in the next few years if at all.

Selling a top of the line expedition rucksack after 5 years of none- use was a particularly painful one, as the reasons for purchase were for planned treks / travels that I'm unlikely to now ever be able to go on.

A sad sale, but seeing it in my loft each yearly 'clearance' session also brought home the upsetting truth and at least now I'm not faced with that again.

I tell myself that should I return to even (normal) health levels, I'll be more than happy to spend what is required to re-purchase the kit again.

>13 jjmcgaffey: two steps forward, one back?

It's all good. :)

>14 SandyAMcPherson: ah, but what JOY you are giving to those who will truly use and enjoy your stamps!

The "I can't let it go yet" item(s) for me are a couple martial arts uniforms. I doubt I will ever wear them again.

One is an official dress uniform that is worn in demonstrations. I think I eventually will be able to let it go.

But the other was a gift from a friend, a Judo gi that has patches on it. My friend is long gone, and it's hard to just give it away. And to whom would I give it?

One baby step at a time.

My mom just did a drawer decluttering, with my help - we needed to move some stuff (Command Adhesive does _not_ do well in an outdoor shed, getting hot and cold...most of them weren't sticky any more) so cleared out a junk drawer. Found a lot of stuff that was either dead (un-sticky glue sticks, pens that didn't write...) or unneeded (floral arrangement stuff - frogs and foam and boutonniere tubes), and other stuff that's perfectly good but needed to be elsewhere. There's now a lot more room in that drawer, even with the surviving Command Adhesive added.

I have the craft stuff problem, too. The bulkiest parts are yarn and fabric; I'm working on slimming down my yarn stash to ones I'll actually use (getting rid of thicknesses and colors I'll never use), but haven't even started on the fabric. I want to sew my own clothes, having gotten sick of searching for clothes that are actually made of cotton/linen/other natural fibers (not wool, though), without the "help" of spandex and poly (which make me itch). I have a _ton_ of fabric, most of it from yard sales and the like (so unmarked); I need to pull it out, look at what I'd like to wear (colors, thicknesses), then do burn tests to see if it's worth keeping. And then I need to actually start sewing wearable clothes, instead of just bags and pillowcases and the like. Patterns are another load of stuff. I'm not getting rid of these things wholesale - it is something I want to do - but I need to slim down.

And then there's the crafts I don't do (anymore/ever) - I have a Xyron sticker maker; don't like stickers much, I've never used it. I'm trying very hard not to add quilting stuff - I do want to try it once but I suspect it won't engage me. Embossing, jewelry findings (well, keep some, wire is useful for lots of stuff), probably dozens of other crafts I've picked up on a maybe and have never touched. Too many boxes of stuff piled up - I need to get each box open and deal with its contents! But I've made some small starts.

>23 jjmcgaffey: FYI: there are businesses online that offer natural fabric clothing. I have purchased from Maggie's Organics and Golden Touch Naturals and was very pleased with the clothing I received. MyPillow also has come nice items that are all cotton. I especially like the towels and sheets, which appear to be better quality than the expensive items I purchased from Vermont Country Store and Land's End.

>23 jjmcgaffey: I have similar ambitions. Not just because natural fibers but because quality of construction and color choices are so sadly lacking in what's available in the stores. I've accumulated plenty of fabric and patterns but haven't acted on it. So I feel you there.

I've also done the downsizing of so many crafts! I did that when I broke up and moved out of a shared home, then again with my recent relocation. And yet I suspect I should probably still do more, but I haven't quite given up on my crafty dreams...

>24 fuzzi: Thanks for the online business recs. I didn't know My Pillow was still in business--thought bankruptcy shut it down.

>20 Ignatius777: and >22 fuzzi: I *just* today received the cutest handmade card with the stamping motif from one of the kids in the family to whom I donated my paper-crafting stamp and ink supplies. That sure ameliorated my angsty feelings from last week.

And bonus, this morning, I talked to a neighbour (with 3 daughters in the 8- to 12-y.o. range). Apparently it's a Thing, to visit the nearby Little Free Library every week to look for craft supplies. Who new how LFLs have expanded paper-based recycling?!! Such incentive in decluttering too, seeing the happy faces when I was prompted to give them a stock of card blanks and envelopes I had overlooked in last week's clear out.

Fuzzi: re Judo gi that has patches on it.
Not that you solicited ideas, but one of my kids had similar angst when I was ready to turn an old Figure Skating fleece top into cleaning rags. The sleeves had my daughter's Skating badges all down from shoulder to wrist.

She's long gone out on her own so we hatched the plan to sew them onto a wool blanket I had that acts as a sofa throw to keep warm in winter evenings. I was happy to send that to her and my young grandchildren were intrigued that their Mom was quite the accomplished skater 'back in the day'. Perhaps on a pillow cover (or a small blanket?) for how your Judo patches would best be a remembrance of those days?

>26 SandyAMcPherson: what a sweet idea!

The patches were put there by my friend, "Chin", an older student. There's one that says Geritol, etc. It's not award patches, but still holds a special place in my heart.

When my dad passed away an online friend asked me to send her some of his clothes. She sewed/made a teddy bear and a pillow from his shirts and his favorite jacket. I have them on a shelf in my bedroom, and think of him often. And her.

Dang it, something's in my eyes...

>27 fuzzi: Your teddy bear story is very touching... thanks for sharing.

>28 SandyAMcPherson: and what a wonderful way to use items that were just taking up room, for nostalgia's sake.

>26 SandyAMcPherson: Apparently it's a Thing, to visit the nearby Little Free Library every week to look for craft supplies.

I actually use our Little Free Library to declutter. I always have one trinket or toy to give away along with books. Today it’s a duck “lovey” someone donated. If anyone leaves cards, I take them out and make them into bookmarks which I then slip into books I give away. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!

>24 fuzzi: Yeah, no...I don't wear wool, not even alpaca, it itches. And all of Maggie's Organics clothes have spandex in them (I didn't check for pockets, but since she talks about how "slimming" they are I bet they don't, or have tiny lady pockets). I'm glad they work for you, but they're not for me.

I mostly wear FireHose cargo jeans from Duluth Traders - they're pushing their Firehose Flex jeans more, but they still have the non-spandex ones. And 100% cotton or linen shirts from the thrift shops - hard to find and very expensive new, but they last so they show up in thrift shops a lot.

Huh, there's a lot of LFLs around me - I do put books in them occasionally (though I mostly donate to the library, for their book sale), but small craft stuff...Hmmm!

>27 fuzzi: That’s amazing!

So many great ideas on this thread, and so much moral support! Way to go, everyone!

Karen O

For those of you who love to cook, I'm guessing you have recipes clipped and located in all sorts of places around your home.

New challenge: Today is the day to organize your clipped recipes, tell us how you organized them, and tell us the one recipe you picked from all of them to make either today or tomorrow. Tell us why you picked that recipe as well. :D

I keep most of my clipped recipes in an alphabetized accordian folder. Within each category are small folders --actually colored paper, 8x11, folded in half with a title on top, recipes inside held with a paper clip on the outside, name of subcategory (e.g. Pancakes, Strawberries, etc.) at the top. My old accordian folder was falling apart so I bought a new one and moved the recipes from the old folder into the new one. The recipes that I haven't categorized yet went into one of those clear plastic zipper bags (from sheets).

The recipe I am making today is Cauliflower with Lemon-Pine Nut Dressing because I have a head of cauliflower I have to use up! LOL!

Have fun, everyone!

>34 SqueakyChu: I'm guessing you have recipes clipped and located in all sorts of places around your home.
Nope. Zero clipped recipes, reflecting my level of interest in cooking.

>35 qebo: LOL! Katherine, I edited my challenge to say "For those of you who love to cook..."

Cauliflower with Lemon-Pine Nut Dressing done! :D

>35 qebo: ditto!

My mother had a manila file folder full of recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines. I have none.

>37 fuzzi: There goes my challenge. LOL! I guess I just challenged myself. :D

I have hundreds of recipes...on my electronic notebook. I need to look at them and make more of them - they all looked interesting at the time, but... I also have paper recipes that I'm trying to incorporate into the notebook, I have to find and scan them.

>39 jjmcgaffey: I also have tons of recipes on my desktop. My husband sends me links when he finds an interesting recipe, and I put the recipes into a folder called "Recipes". Most often, though, I never look at those recipes again. I like paper recipes better. The ones I use a lot are filed alphabetically on index cards. I also prefer paper books to ebooks. Maybe those two preferences are related? :)

>40 SqueakyChu: I don't cut clippings. I rarely buy magazines (because I know what will happen) but if I do, I end up keeping the whole thing. I do have lots of recipe books (as previously mentioned) which need to be shelved - the bookcase I bought specifically for my cookbooks has gone down with a case of dry wood termites and though we got that shelf replaced (hoping to save the cupboard) they ended up coming back again.

On the proactive side, I went to a furniture place which had been recommended to me (last year sometime) to source a new bookcase. Now I just have to order it from their website (they're about to renovate and didn't have much on show).

>40 SqueakyChu: I'm a seat-of-the-pants type of cook. Most of the time I just throw things together. I do use recipes for holiday baking; they're written on recipe cards that I keep in a metal box.

Round 1 of recycling gone. Curbside recycling takes corrugated cardboard but not other types of paper, so this was regular stuff that had piled up (e.g. chipboard, magazines) plus stuff from my office closet that didn't need to be shredded. It's a nuisance because I have to drive through the city during business hours, so I get there maybe twice per year. I still have another round of books but I wasn't sure exactly what they'd take so today I asked the attendant. (Don't distress, book people. I'm a computer programmer and these are obsolete computer books. Usable books go either to my Little Free Library or the public library book sale.)

>43 qebo: “Old” computer books are useless, aren’t they?! It hurt to get rid of my late husband’s computer books, but I let his former boss take a look at what he had and then sent the rest of the not-that-old books to the public library. At the end, there were some that simply needed to be recycled. Hard to do but it was freeing.

Karen O

>44 klobrien2: I'm keeping the ones that are more theoretical, but e.g. C# for Windows 2008 is just not that enticing, and the public library explicitly rejects computer books more than a year old.

For the past week I have continued to work in the closet. As of yesterday I am going through shirts. Completed are the skirts, pants, dresses, and shrugs. It's taking so long because I lost weight and I am trying on everything (except things that I look at and immediately want to get rid of). When I get done I will have a better idea of what is in the closet as well as knowing that no matter what I grab, it should fit. Once I have purged the too big, too small, and don't like, I will go through with a quick reorganization so I can easily find what I want.

>46 elorin: sounds great!

I worked on my taxes this weekend, ew.

>34 SqueakyChu: I too use accordion folders for clipped recipes or those on preprinted cards! Mine are categorized by key ingredient or theme. A few years ago, the accordion was bulging so I broke out the baking recipes into a second smaller accordion folder. I probably do need to go through and thin them out. I have 2 manila folders: one green and one red. At intervals, I'd go through the accordions and pull out various items of interest to put in my long list of recipes in the green folder. And then when I am menu planning I pull from the green folder into the red folder as the next ones to use in the next week or so.

My new shelf/TV stand arrived over the weekend, and I spent last night assembling it. Unfortunately, I was misled by the product description and it turns out to be MDF rather than solid wood, so I guess we'll see how it holds up to my remaining books. My goal this week is to finish inventorying and shelving my remaining books. And I'm committed to not exceeding my current shelving options so I may end up having to downsize my personal library some more.

I also finally got into my storage unit and organized everything, including stowing the remainder of my fabric stash piled up after unpacking my wall art. Four totes of fabric all inventoried using handy little cards a friend had made up via VistaPrint: description, length, width, fiber content, planned use, location, cost/yd and a stapled tiny swatch for each one. I really only care about the fabric info, not the logistics info. Maybe I can actually do some sewing in 2024.

>48 justchris: Wow! You are so organized with your recipes!

>49 SqueakyChu: Thank you! Of course, I've described the ideal functioning of my system, which doesn't always reflect reality. Mostly because I've been falling down on the actual menu planning and follow through because I'm still struggling to establish routines in my new situation. Or I might pull a bunch of recipes for csa veg and then run out of a particular veg before trying out the recipe. So it languishes in my green folder untouched (from last summer). And so on. Plus, I am the new owner of a combo appliance that includes air frying, so I've been using that feature, or leaning on my InstantPot cookbooks to get me through some meals.

>50 justchris: I am also a soft touch for cookbooks. People donate books to me because we have our own Little Free Library. I release most books. However…I have the hardest time releasing cookbooks! What if I should decide to try out a recipe in one of my too many cookbooks? LOL!

You’re so lucky to have a CSA. Ours stopped this past year. I miss it a lot, but now I shop at a local organic food store which sources a lot of vegetables from a local farm coop. Still. I loved the unexpected veggies I couldn’t recognize, and then would learn about them and how to cook them. I never had rhubarb before the CSA. Now I have my own plant, but how did I ever live without rhubarb before?! :D

>48 justchris: What kind of sewing do you like to do? I know a reasonable amount but limit myself primarily to mending and baby blankets.

>51 SqueakyChu: I did downsize a few cookbooks. Most of them are probably not resellable because I write my notes in all of them as I try out recipes. I kinda binge on one cookbook and then another in my collection. I have lots of options there.

I have greatly enjoyed my csas for many years, and my new home has plenty of options. But I thought I'd wait and check out my local farmers market before deciding on what kind of csa to pursue.

>52 elorin: Well, most of my sewing has been either household mending or medieval costuming, with the occasional project like a tote bag or beret. I've been collecting patterns for regular clothing with the goal of making at least some of my own clothes. Plus, I have a few projects in mind, like a tea cozy and satin nightcap, and refurbishing various slippers.

>27 fuzzi: What a delightful teddy bear made of your father's shirts. How very special and creative. I imagine this brought great joy when you opened the package!

On the decluttering front, I'm taking time to sort through books I really want to keep after I read them. I read many illustrated books that take up a lot of space. I've placed some plastic bins on the floor by my computer. After I review the book, it goes into one of the bins

1) Give to the library
2) Very special because of either the writing or illustrations and thus I'll keep it
3) What's up in the next months that I vow to read

Thus far, I feel good about this system and when the give to the library bin is filled, the books go out the door and I drive them to the library.

The books to keep are in alpha order by writer or illustrator depending upon which I like the most.

>54 Whisper1: Sounds like a great system!

>55 justchris: Thanks. It's working thus far. My loft is where most of my books are kept, and it feels good to slowly clean up the space. Though, I confess that every room, except my grand daugther's bedroom has books in it. I hope to sysematically go thorough books in each room of the house and place them in the bins mentioned above. I appreciate your affirmation!

>53 justchris: I've made chemises and poet's shirts for renn faire but nothing much more complicated (no bodices or corsets). I imagine I'm more likely to crochet a tea cozy. I hope you get to sew this year!

Thanks to ridiculous temperatures for the middle of Kansas the last week in February (78 degrees F), I got out in my studio yesterday and pulled all the containers, tools, trays, aprons and towels, etc. off the workbench and outside, hooked up my hose to the well and scrubbed out the resin laundry sink I keep outside before giving everything a good scrub down! I also moved all my many plastic containers (yogurt cups, dressing or sauce mini-containers with lids, pint plastic containers with lids, jars and the like, kept for using with glazes while working, and then discarded) into an empty cupboard instead of at the end of the workbench taking up valuable space. Also gave the pottery wheel a good cleaning. With no indoor water source, the place can get a little grubby over the winter. This is a 12' workbench, and now ready to go for the next month's projects--which I have to concentrate on as I have a show April 6.

>58 ronincats: is that a red mini-refrigerator I see?

>56 Whisper1: Good luck with the systemic review of books throughout your home. I admire that kind of organization and consistency.

>57 elorin: I specialize in 11th century Andalusi, which means nothing fitted like bodices or corsets--more tunics, qamisas, pants. Modern clothing will be more fitted and complicated in design.

>58 ronincats: Congrats on the early studio spring cleaning! Cleared workbench looks fabulous!

I'm slowly making a sweep of my condo putting away residual clutter that hadn't found a home yet with the goal of a thorough sweep and mop and photos of my interior to share with friends and family now that I am settled in. Over the weekend, that meant the top of the office dresser, last night was the giant mess of papers triaged for urgency of business follow-up. Today is the accumulation of 2 weeks of clean clothes that need folding and putting away, plus the pile of things brought up from the storage unit that needs to be sorted through and put away.

>48 justchris: Ooh, I'm stealing that idea for the fabric cards - it's so hard to track all the different pieces of fabric. I'll have to do some burn tests for fiber content (I buy at yard sales etc more often than anything new), but this should help a lot.

I have a _lot_ of cookbooks, but 99.95% of my actual cooking is done from recipes extracted into - well, it used to be Evernote, now it's Zoho Notebook. I can enter/edit/read and use recipes either on the computer or on my phone, search for tags or text in the recipe, mark the ones I make a lot Favorites...I get a lot of recipes from online searches, or from newspapers or magazines; I either copy-and-paste into my Notebook or take a picture and extract the text (or just attach the picture - but then I can't search them. I'm working on making them all actual text). I need to go through my cookbooks and extract (via photo) the recipes I'm likely to actually make, then get rid of the cookbooks that only have one or two of interest - which should maybe halve my collection (down to a couple/three hundred or so...). The ones that are full of good recipes and/or information will stay, of course. But yard sale cookbooks, or LFL ones, I pick up because there's one recipe that sounds good...and then I have a whole book to deal with. And I forget to actually make the recipe because I don't remember which book X was in... if it's in Notebook I've got a better chance of actually making it.

>61 jjmcgaffey: I'm glad you like the fabric inventory card idea. It's brilliant, so I totally bought in when my friend put the group order together, but I really couldn't use an entire box of such cards, so I ended up recycling a bunch of them during my downsizing and packing to relocate.

A digital recipe library makes so much sense for all the reasons you describe, and a great way to get rid of all the cookbooks you don't really use. Heh. Half your collection is still way bigger than mine! I find paper books more accessible in the kitchen, and even when I'm using online recipes, I print them and use them secured from a magnetic clip on the fridge or range hood.

>62 justchris: I'll make up the cards for myself, in Calc probably, and print them onto index cards. Actually, if you'd be willing to send me a picture of one of your cards, that would be helpful. Yeah, Vistaprint is great some ways but the minimum order is often waaaaay too many.

>63 jjmcgaffey: I'll see if I can figure out sending you a picture of the card. Stay tuned,

>58 ronincats: Congratulations Roni on spring cleaning your studio!

>61 jjmcgaffey: & >62 justchris: As I try new recipes I type up the ones I want to reuse and store them in the cloud on Google Drive. I list the source, but I do format them my own way so I can quickly assess ingredients and equipment. I tend to print them out for cooking, and have a binder I can add them to in the kitchen.

The only messy place in my entire house is now my main bookcase.

As a member of LT - is this acceptable ? ;)

My crimes : Some horizonal stacking (not sure if happy about - does offend me in some ways), some double stacking (def not) and clutter both all over the top and on ALL of the shelves in front of the books.

That old empty horizontal space acquires crap scenario attracting all manner of junk : top shelf now acting as a messy valet tray type affair, lower shelves a bunch to deal with paperwork section interspersed with a quantity of coins of legal tender but minimal value.

1st action earlier which has the brucey bonus (that phrase won't make sense unless you are British) of getting the TBR pile down simultaneously.

If I've not read it in at least 5, cough 10, splutter 20 years, maybe it's time to pass on to the local charity shop ? Yes, maybe you should Mr Ig .... amazed that some have survived two moving culls as well.

So at least 10 from my TBR pile now no longer annoying me and another 10 books on top of that - and I can start to see the wood panelling at the back of the bookcase again.

Sometimes just needs a certain frame of mind to get results....

>66 Ignatius777: Ah, yes, That old empty horizontal space acquires crap scenario, otherwise known as ESS (Empty Shelf Syndrome).

We suffered mightily until there was a family consensus to have only one or two decorative items on any given horizontal place except the rectangular coffee table in the living room, which had a limit of 2 books per person (and bedside tables, too).

An interesting effect ~ if only one piece of paper appeared on the cleaned off surface, it magically attracted a pile of something else. So it was critical to have a daily pickup. Takes less than 3 minutes, seriously!

We also have been using the culling ideas you mention: if I'm not going to read it again, why am I keeping this book?

I was amazed at the ridiculous nostalgic reading I had kept for decades. The re-reading (when all the libraries were closed for a long time in 2020-2021) was a seminal event: about 20 books were either DNF'd and gladly donated or others finished (taken to the secondhand book shop for trade credit).

That was just me. Mr. SM likewise culled books which filled about 4 or 5 copy-paper boxes. And the kids (who have their own homes now) agreed that they wouldn't keep all the childhood books. We went on zoom calls and in the end there was a 90% discard of the children's genre, with us sending the ones they did want to their respective homes. The postage was totally worth this cull because we regained a large 4-shelf bookcase as entirely emptied!

That was back in about 2022 and the shelf has been filled again. I unboxed all the stored photo albums with ancestral pix going back to the 1880's so now these relics are actually available to enjoy.

My aim these days is to borrow as much reading as possible from the public library. I'm only buying books that I am sure I would read or consult again.

As you wisely said, "...needs a certain frame of mind to get results..."

>67 SandyAMcPherson: Didn't know it had an official name but looking around my study ... it's here as well! Pointless knick knacks and stuff that should belong elsewhere.

Maybe a wealth of plants would stop it ? As one bit of paper mysteriously begats another until the surface is hidden ... used to work in a Legal office where any spare surface acquired huge folders of documents (despite everything being scanned and stored in out IT system).

Colleague left an empty room - within a week there was some folders on the floor, work must have got around; by a month's passing could barely open the door to the 'empty' office anymore. Astounding to watch ...

"We suffered mightily until there was a family consensus to have only one or two decorative items on any given horizontal place except the rectangular coffee table in the living room, which had a limit of 2 books per person (and bedside tables, too)." - that's a great idea.

"My aim these days is to borrow as much reading as possible from the public library. I'm only buying books that I am sure I would read or consult again."

Pretty much similar - thanks to LT, discovering far more unheard of authors and my local library (and linked ones) allows me to get most of what I would like to check out.

I did write a tongue-in-cheek(ish) post in this vein on this on part 1 of this thread taken from an old blog I used to write.

Took the 'certain frame of mind' to it's logical limit .... ;)

Round 2 of recycling gone. A set of textbooks that someone discarded into my Little Free Library months ago, and two boxes of old computer books that had been stacked on the floor of my office for a year.

This week was a challenge. Blouses gone through and culled. Sweaters were difficult to let go of for some reason but I got through them. Uncovered the box in the closet with my first wedding bouquet and flowers. Let go of that with difficulty but I will light the fireplace this weekend to make it official. Found a full length skirt with mermaid ruffle that I thought was gone - and fits again!
To finish the closet right I need to go through belts and camisoles and a few boxes I can see now that the sweaters are under control.

Here's today's challenge from me. :D

Go through one shelf anywhere in your bedroom!

Tell us what you were able to discard, what vaulable thing you discovered there, and what brought back a lovely memory.

I did a bookshelf and discarded five pounds of now pretty useless paper! I found a folder I can use for my tax documents. I took some time to look through a picture album of my daughter's bat mitzvah...and send a picture to one of my friends of her and her beloved (both to her and me) deceased parents

>71 SqueakyChu: No stand-alone shelves any bedrooms. Only mini-bedside furniture with 1 lamp each and a box of tissue, 1 drawer per bedside (since decluttered months ago) table, and a space below for books.

We agreed that 2 books per person was reasonable. That is so necessary because of trying to keep the dusting easy ~ needs doing every few days. The bedding sure creates a lot of fluff. I made tight-woven covers for the toppers but this is flannel sheet weather here.

>72 SandyAMcPherson: My "shelf" is actually a part of a standing bookcase that my husband built without a back. I keep all sorts of books and photo albums on each shelf. I almost never look through them so I took this opportunity today to search for a coloring project for my granddaughter. I found my coloring books, but I didn't like those particular pictures for her. Instead, I found an old calendar on that shelf. I tore it apart (the calendar, not the shelf! haha) and saved the colorful pictures of it for her to cut and paste when she comes to visit this Friday evening.

I found a section on my laptop's photo library labelled 'duplicates' (must be a recent update) and went through it without looking, just point-and-click to merge 1,700+ photos (duplicates, triplicates and quadruples) and 37 videos which has hopefully freed up some storage.

>74 humouress: Good going. What a chore that must have been.
I struggled with trying to "curate" my photo files that were downloaded from when I abandoned Flickr albums, but already had most pictures also in files on my laptop. It was a mess and so easy to lose track of what I had cleaned up versus what was in triplicate. Gah!

I need to refile my 2022 taxes, but couldn't find them in the filing cabinet among the folders. Argh.

So I dug out and went through a couple boxes of old filing, still couldn't find them.

I finally did find the 2022 forms in the filing cabinet, had just overlooked them!

BUT in the search I reorganized some boxes and cleared off my desk again, so it was a small "win".

For finding duplicates on a PC - this is invaluable.

https://www.auslogics.com/en/software/duplicate-file-finder/

Free download - obv, scan after downloading with your malware/AV but I've been using it for years.

I'm fighting emotional resistance to daily cleaning/decluttering/organization so I am taking a few days off once I reach my next goal.

Which is: clearing off the secretary (fold out desk cabinet). I found an invisible/UV pen with light up cap, a cross stitch project I have been working on since at least 2016, zombie rubber duckies, at least 4 USB-micro cables, and a coupon for a new restaurant I wanted to go to that is apparently already out of business. I'm about halfway done, slow going because I am sorting through the paperwork rather than moving the pile untouched to sort later. On the plus side I am getting rid of a lot and resisting the urge to put it on the FILE LATER pile as much as possible.

>78 elorin: Ah, the File Later pile. I've got lots of those.

Tonight I finished updating my main book inventory. Ran out of shelf space before books, but I need to tighten up what's on the shelves to see if I can fit the remaining books into the existing gaps. Next is to update the cookbook inventory. Also, my 2023 income taxes were filed, plus I've got what I need for 2024 estimated state income tax payments. So I'm still working more on organization than decluttering.

>78 elorin: I, too, have multiple file later piles. I'm also struggling to adjust to our leap forward in time Sunday, and am not home Monday or Tuesday nights until 9 pm or so. Tonight I will be folding and putting away the laundry from Monday morning, and maybe working on some rough spots in music I'm learning for chorus. Perhaps after I have dinner with coworkers Thursday I may be able to declutter what is piling up on my bed?

>79 humouress: when I set up my filing cabinet (again) recently I added a "To be filed" file folder in the front of the drawer. It's actually helpful so I'm not filing daily or more frequently. Some things can be done on a weekly basis.

>81 markon: and >82 fuzzi: I have piles and piles of TBF materials. That's what I'll be tackling next once I've finished updating my LT inventory and adding DVDs to LT. (If only I had included CDs previously! I'd have a complete record of what I've lost! :(). It'll be an opportunity to go through all my files and declutter of old stuff I don't need to keep anymore. And I need to find where I can access community shredding services...

>82 fuzzi: On a weekly basis is more disciplined than I've ever managed! Go you!

>83 justchris: well, "on a weekly basis" is the plan... 😉

>84 fuzzi: *sigh* My "on a weekly basis" filing currently appears to be about a month behind. I got a week's worth filed this morning, but that leaves 3 weeks of catch up, with the current week building up behind.

>85 ArlieS: go! Go! Go!

What kind of papers are you all filing, exactly?
It seems to be quite large amounts of paper, and I'm trying to comprehend what it could be. I have all my (regularly occurring) bills on auto-payment, and the majority of other "important papers", including my tax statement, are sent electronically so I very rarely have any paper works at all. The only things I can remember off the top of my head are yearly statements on my insurances, but that's only once a year and only 1-2 papers per insurance.

>87 PawsforThought: I have everything possible on autopayment, but the statements still need to be filed. The same thing applies to anything sent to me electronically; the recent habit of most vendors sending 4 or 5 emails per purchase has made dealing with their messages more work than it was as recently as 2 years ago.

Financial transactions also need to be entered into my bookkeeping program. Bank statements need to be checked against my records, so I can spot unpleasant surprises, including but not limited to fraudulent transactions.

And of course unwanted advertisements need to be sorted out of both input streams and discarded; in the case of electronic communications I can try unsubscribing, and then when/if that doesn't work I can categorize them as spam in the hopes that my software will learn to file them as junk or block them entirely.

>87 PawsforThought: my dh is on disability, and I have to save every receipt for anything we purchase that he uses in any way. I also have a mountain of government forms that I need to have swift access to.

I also have receipts for car repairs, propane deliveries, as well as probate items for my father, legal papers for my husband...

Today was the final day for decluttering the other bedside table, leaving only the cedar chest for the master bedroom suite to be cleared out and straightened up.
We're spending energy putting together a new BBQ grill in the meantime but I am looking forward to calling it done and picking a new area of the house to focus on.

(I feel someone may have said this before. Or I did.)

>91 humouress: bwahaha!

For me it would be my gardens...

>91 humouress: That's become my mantra ~ I was allowing the house tidy to last all morning, only to have the next day prove that "a woman's work is never done".

I know Dana White says to spend just 5 or 10 minutes, using a timer but somehow, that never works for me.

The bloom is off the rose and we have lost the energy and enthusiasm for 15 minutes every single day. But more days than not we continue to set a timer and try to tackle part of the house.

Tonight we pulled out a clothes basket nestled in under the cat tree at the end of the dresser. Earlier this year we went through our sock drawer and donated 50+ pairs of socks to Goodwill from the drawer. Tonight we found where the overflow was going because said drawer was overfull.

Every single pair needs washed from dust and cat hair that has collected on them. Counting will come later when we're through sorting...

I just did the same to a pair of moleskin trousers (it's a gently fuzzy cotton cloth, softer than suede and shorter nap than velvet) that I can't fit into however much I want to. I got them out to see if there was anything I could do about them...and then they sat in a box and collected dust and cat hair for...I don't know how long. Months. They are now clean and de-fuzzed and will be going out with the next donation batch - someone will love them.

While I have not physically purged or decluttered anything yet, I have started a process of listing everything in my home that I’m not actually using and should get rid of before I move (I don’t know when that will be but hopefully sooner rather than later). I didn’t think I had that much that needed too be cleared out, but earlier this week it suddenly hit me that I’ve owned a top-of-the-line hair straightener for years and only tried it once (in the first week of owning it). I don’t straighten my hair and won’t be starting to so why do I still have it? It’s going out! And then I started looking around with a really critical eye and noticed more and more things that I wasn’t using and that are now on the list.
I’m motivating myself by having the money I make from selling things going towards new (to me, at least) things in my new home.
I don’t think anything will be leaving my home today or even the next week - I’m still making a list and will start to take photos of stuff before placing ads. I think I’ll start with Facebook Marketplace and buying/selling groups as it’s free, and then maybe a couple of other places if it doesn’t sell there.

>96 PawsforThought: You sound very organized and certainly motivated!
Photographing everything to put online is a huge task, one that always discouraged me. I think my stuff wasn't very catchy or maybe I am not in a good town for what I wanted to sell. I hope it's really rewarding for you, Paws.

For the last 3 weeks, I've been sorting photographs. We had 4 or 5 cartons of prints in envelopes of photos from the days before we owned mobile phones that could take decent pictures. So that was at least 15 years-worth that never made it into albums.

There's nothing like a long span of time to change ones perspective and we shredded about 60% of the pictures. So much really awful developing from those dreadful drugstore automatic processing machines.

I was especially disappointed that wedding and baby photos had turned a muddy yellow-brown. However, I scanned ones that were representative of an event or precious family that have passed away. It's amazing what one can rescue with digital fiddling.

The local thrift stores provided some attractive albums with plastic sleeves ~ like new and for only $3 or $4 ~ a big win. I now have the task to do a final cull based on who will ever want to look at these when I didn't over the past 15 years? Having grandchildren now has provided incentive. I need to keep at this job because our snow has finally been rained away and the gardening season will beckon in about a month's time.

>94 elorin: Ugh! I hate finds like that, but OTOH, it's good to finally notice and deal with them.

>98 ArlieS: My cat noticed that we'd disturbed her "bed" this morning. LOL I'm not sure if she'll forgive me. I may replace the clothes basket with an actual cat bed.

My husband’s in a rehab getting pt after his stay in the hospital. I hired an old friend to help organize, declutter and clean our house. It’s been grueling and all I have to really do is say keep or throw away. She’s doing a great job. And I hope I can get the hubby home on Friday. He hates the nursing home.

>97 SandyAMcPherson: Old photos are one of the projects waiting for my attention.

>100 dianeham: Glad you have help! I hope your husband is able to return home by the end of the week.

I've decided I need to deal with files this week. Right now, they're scattered across part of the office floor. It'll probably be a weekend project while binging something on DVD.

I've officially run out of steam for 15 minutes a day. In an attempt to get steaming again I made a list of potential targets for my attention. I'm hoping having some kind of plan will help keep me motivated.

My efforts are officially "decluttering/organizing and cleaning" and today was a cleaning day. But man those mirrors look fantastic now!

>103 elorin: 👏
Even the smallest achievements count and add to the good feelings.

My achievement today was sending in the info for the tax preparation person (and this took all of this current month to the exclusion of any houseworky or fun activities) .

PS. In Canada, our returns have until the end of April to be submitted (on time, no penalty).

>104 SandyAMcPherson: I filed my taxes today too. We have until 2 May, but I prefer to do it as soon as I can. Luckily, tax filing is a very simple and easy process here unless you have a lot of special reductions to file for. I only have travels to and from work, and I managed to locate all the receipts for that so I could calculate how much of a reduction to file for. And then just clicking the approval button (it’s all online). I do have to keep the receipts if they decide to audit me, but otherwise no paperwork - for which I’m eternally grateful.

This weekend, I’m gonna take some photos of clothes and books to put up for sale. I’ve gone though my bookcases and there are about 40 books and a few sets that I’ll try to sell. We’ll see how it goes. And roughly the same amount of clothes, although I haven’t been as thorough when going through the closet - there’s tons more I could (and will) clear out, but not stuff I think I could get much, if anything, for.
I have four categories of things to sell, besides clothing (which includes accessories and shoes) and books, there’s home decor and various (puzzles, yarn, etc.)

My neighbour and I are going to swap houses. We have permission from the owner. For me it means a somewhat larger apartment and a garden! Moving is complicated, but a lot of her stuff will be moved elsewhere as a first step. I have all summer to do what is necessary. Starting with decluttering as much as possible. No need to move books I won’t reread. Old computer stuff. And lots more. I am not a pack rat, I am not a pack rat! But stuff has been accumulating and I find it hard to throw things out.
Today I threw out some notes, paper is my biggest challenge.

Well, I got started on my project of selling things I don’t need/use. Not actually selling anything yet, but I’ve started the process. I pulled all the clothing I’ve been marking out from the closet and have taken photos of most of the . A few needed to be washed first so I’ll get to them later. I also pulled all the books I’ve decided to part with (50-ish, but only 12 are in my LT library) and a number of jigsaws I won’t do again and at least one board game. Everything except the clothes in the wash has been photographed and I’ll put them online for selling. Most of it will go on Facebook Marketplace first as it’s free, but the clothes will go on Tradera, the Swedish daughter company of eBay. We’ll see what happens then.

I’ve also realised that I’m seemingly incapable of throwing away old shoes as I discovered that I have no less than five old pair of running shoes and sneakers that have been deemed to old/broken to use but are still in the closet. I’m allowed to keep one pair for garden/housework but the rest are going to the recycling centre.
I need to have another look in the closet and clear out things that I won’t be able to sell but that I’m not wearing anymore so should be donated or (if in bad shape) recycled. I know there’s plenty.

>106 EllaTim: A house swap sounds like serious work but what an opportunity! Good job starting on the paper pile now.

Today we decluttered the extra, dog eaten, never used loveseat to the curb for big trash day. My dogs are baffled by the extra space and barking a lot as they adjust to the change. I am planning what to do with the extra space (can we say bookshelves?) and glad it's gone.

>107 PawsforThought: "I’ve also realised that I’m seemingly incapable of throwing away old shoes"

I resemble this remark.

>110 ArlieS: Comforting to know I'm not alone.

I don't know why I've kept them - it's not as if I have some affinity for them. And I'm usually not bad at throwing away old clothes and such. Anyway - they're going. I'm keeping the newest pair of running shoes (the newest of the old pairs) to use when mowing the lawn, walking in dirt, painting, etc.

Well, I’ve finally posted the ads for the books, along with jigsaws, maps (wall art) and some health/beauty stuff. We’ll see if anyone is interested in purchasing. I’ll see if I can get the clothes up for sale by tomorrow.

We want to find a bean bag cover and it wasn't where I "knew" it to be. So pivot from living room to the cats' room and we have been through 8 of 12 shelves, organizing, folding, cleaning, decluttering as we go. Lots of cat hair on clothes and "that's where that went!" going on. No beanbag cover yet.

I did a major cleanup with my mom, kind of by accident. We were planting some stuff and I noticed and mentioned that we were having trouble finding stuff in her garden closet (closet off the porch in her condo, half-full of garden stuff plus paint, suitcases, etc). So she decided we were going to clean it up. I did most of the lifting, she did most of the deciding, and we got rid of a _lot_ of useless/broken/never going to be used things. Some went to the condo yard sale, some went straight into the garbage, and some I took because I will use them (tomato cages, a plastic toolbox). Found a bag of pretty tiles she was unable to find...a decade ago? when someone was doing some work in the house and wanted pretty tiles for part of it. Removed a lot of wood and edging that was stored there "in case" they were needed for the house - nothing fancy or hideously expensive, if we do need something it can be bought again. Swept out accumulated garden dirt and spiderwebs, and the closet is _much_ more useful now.

The shelves are still overloaded and need work - especially the one full of old paint (it occurred to me this morning, a week after the cleanup, that what we actually need for that is the color codes not the paint itself). But the floor is functional now. A huge improvement. Now I want to do something similar at home...

>114 jjmcgaffey: That sounds like time well spent!

>113 elorin: common result in my experience...finding everything but the item needed.

>114 jjmcgaffey: sounds like something I'd enjoy.

Not done much decluttering, it's the time of year to get yard work done before the heat moves in. I've been digging and planting and mowing. I noticed a volunteer mulberry from the undeveloped property next door had grown limbs during the winter that were threatening my shed's roof. I used my cordless reciprocating saw VERY CAREFULLY and cut down the half of the tree that was an issue, had about a 4" diameter. The lot next door is woods, has never been developed since our neighborhood was created 50 plus years ago.

Whew. I'm tired!

>114 jjmcgaffey: Well done you! I'm like that too ( overlooking a big mess that needs sorting because I'm 'busy').

This past weekend was like that. I needed some warm pants for outdoor garden work and could_not_find them. In frustration, ended up hauling every last stitch of clothing out of our shared closet.

The process was embarrassing because so much clothing was dusty, as were the bin lids on the top shelf. Hard to believe it was pre-pandemic when we last sorted that closet. Neither I or the hubs discard clothing because we haven't worn it in awhile which is not the usual culling philosophy.

However! Too much 'stuff' had accumulated ➙ so I knew we should not put everything back.

Here's our strategy list which someone here may also find useful.
Adaptable for wearables or household items:

1: Can I see myself wearing/using this again?
2. Does it need repair and would I do that, or pay for it?
3. Is this similar to something I already have?
4. Would I buy this today, if I didn't have anything like it?
5. If I donate this, will I miss it?
6.* If this has great nostalgic sentiment, what compels me to keep it?

* Number 6 has been a family tradition to ask and makes a huge difference in being motivated to 'let it go'.
We have one large No. 6 Box so not to feel pressured in the middle of the tidying up chore.
The key thing is that you date the box and add a 'decisions reminder' on the calendar no longer than 2-weeks away.

Yeah, we do that too, needing the reminder, because otherwise... stuff creep.

>117 SandyAMcPherson: my addition to your list is "If I get rid of this now can I afford to replace it at a later date?"

I have some corduroy skirts that I don't wear often due to our short winters but that would be difficult to replace as they weren't cheap when I originally purchased them. Also, they are long and have pockets...

>118 fuzzi: Well, if you are wearing them regularly I don't see why you would consider getting rid of them anyway (unless they're worn to shreds).

>119 PawsforThought: I only wear them a couple times a year, when it gets cold.

They're in beautiful shape.

>120 fuzzi: But you do wear them, which I'd say is crucial. If it's being used, it has a reason to stay.

>121 PawsforThought: I do! I do!

So they stay...

>121 PawsforThought: Also: POCKETS!!!!

Digital decluttering: the mobile app is not as versatile as the desktop/website, but in the past week I STILL managed to go from 5800+ emails down to 4999 today. *happy dances*

The shelves in the cats room have been tamed, even getting rid of some stuff. Donated clothes and belts at work for the clothing drive, and recycled dead batteries at work this week, too. I'm duly informed we need to review the closet, also, but I haven't lost sight of the bean bag cover we're purportedly searching for and I am certain it's not in the closet.

The carpenters finally installed the giant lazy Susans for each shelf of my pantry cupboard and we spent the morning organising it. We even managed to cull some expired items but it had mostly been done already when we packed up the kitchen before renovating it. So that's something done that I've been waiting on.

>123 humouress: yes! Yes!

>127 fuzzi: 😃

Walked into the garage and my wife walked right up to the beanbag cover and put her hands on it. Apparently she confused the color in her memory and she was about to say "last I knew it was where this purple velvet is..." (The bag is the purple velvet.) Stuffing the bag begins today, while going through the closet started this weekend.

>129 elorin: well, at least you got things done while looking for it...

>124 elorin: Is it just me, or is everyone getting more useless emails lately?

These days, when I order on line, it results in approximately 5 emails, including "it will be delivered today" and "it has been delivered"". It used to be one or maybe two, with incompetents sending none at all.

For regular charges like utility bills, I get emailed that my bill is ready, and then that it's been automatically paid, as previously requested. Then sometimes a third email simply informing me that it's been paid. Sometimes one or other also gets sent in duplicate.

>131 ArlieS: YES! Heaven forbid I have an account at my main email and pay with PayPal which uses an older email address. Now I get double junk mail!

>131 ArlieS: Yep! So many pointless emails. I try to uncheck the box for unsolicited marketing during online checkouts, but sometimes that isn't an option so then I have to click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the emails once they start rolling in. Unfortunately, my new internet/cell phone provider doesn't provide an option for me to receive my e-statements without all the excess messages. Clearing out my business emails folders is on my decluttering list.

But starting last night, I finally started on my paper files. Pulled out all the now obsolete folders for old location utilities, etc, and started new folders for current utilities in new location. Plus, I went through all of the folders to cull records. Took a load of paper to the recycling cart. Next, I need to go through my medical filebox.

>132 elorin: I get so many e-mails (and then reminder mails) for organisations where I signed up for an account to get discounts when I buy (in the actual stores) for sales I'm not interested in because I don't buy clothes etc on-line.

I bought something via PayPal and now I keep getting e-mails purporting to be from different companies I've never heard of. Initially they said I had paid (in Australian $) and would be getting my delivery soon (though the payments didn't show on my PayPal account). Now they're pretending to be from PayPal to click a link if I didn't order something. But I went to the PayPal site the first time, which had an e-mail address to report phishing to, so I'm using that.

>134 humouress: Huh. Can't say I've been hit with that kind of PayPal-related phishing junk mail. Sorry to hear you're dealing with that. Super annoying! And certainly will put you off ever ordering anything else online.

I used to get swathes of emails from banks I have never banked at - "Urgent! Your Bank of America account needs reauthorization!" and the like. I'm not surprised to hear they've switched to PayPal - and I suspect that having an account there, or not, would make no difference at all to the emails. Blind stabs.

Spam filters are your friends.

The closet offered up forgotten luggage and all of my daughter's old baby blankets. Much renaissance festival garb, my poker chips, the tripods, and the cloaks. Not much decluttering but lots of dusting, aha-ing, and fond reminiscing.

>136 jjmcgaffey: I get the Australian delivery emails too, but my spam filters are smart enough to segregate them from normal email. I haven't actually read one, just envelope details (sender, subject line), which were enough to confirm the spam filter got it right. (I check my spam trap once a month, before the messages are automatically deleted; I average around one per monthly check that wasn't really spam. *sigh*)

>138 elorin: That post should be the opening to a novel esp the first sentence.

I’ve been paying someone to help me declutter. Today she was throwing away spuces because of their expiration dates. Does anyone pay attention to that? She threw away a whole bag of Himalayan salt because it was expired. How does coarse salt expire?

>141 dianeham: It doesn’t. Salt is a preservative and never goes bad. You don’t have to throw it away, no matter what the label says. Spices don’t go bad either, they just lose their flavour.

>142 PawsforThought: Thanks. I think it’s too late to find my salt.

I mean, spices and dried herbs lose their ability to flavor anything, at which point they are clutter because you can't use them and they're taking up space you could use for spices that actually work.

The salt may have had an anti-caking agent that degrades over time? I dunno.

It's reasonable, when undertaking a big task, to have a rule that you trust expiration dates. And if you haven't used that spice in the past 3 years, is it likely you'll use it next week?

Maybe some of this makes sense of it.

>144 reconditereader: the 3 year thing I can agree with. But I reordered some things that went in the trash. Like baking powder, paprika, oregano & basil.

oh baking powder does stop working, I'm pretty sure.

Baking powder is pretty fragile - 6 months or so, once opened. In my experience. For a while I could find little tiny cans of it, half the size of the normal ones, and I could almost use those up...now all I see is normal and huge.

Salt, yeah, no, that doesn't expire. It might (sort of) go bad, if it got wet and stuck together (you'd have to hammer it to bits small enough to grind), but it won't mold or rot or change flavor. That's an expensive idiocy.

Other spices...yes, they do lose flavor, but very gradually. And less fast if they're whole spices rather than ground - cardamom pods, whole nutmeg and allspice, and the like last for years (they're more of a pain to use, since you have to grind or grate them, but they last). Honestly, I totally ignore expiration dates on spices, and trust a sniff test. If I can't tell what an herb or spice is by smelling it, out it goes (and if you don't know herbs and spices, than "if it smells more like dust than a flavor", dump it).

Reasons why I'd never hire a declutterer - unless I really didn't care about anything in the clutter. Their choices are so unlikely to match mine.

These posts about decluttering were interesting. Personally, I would have instantly decluttered the hired helper.
Sounds very inappropriate behaviour, especially the idiocy of tossing salt. And no consultation of what was 'trash', or could be donated or recycled?

I wonder if perhaps the hired helper was more into cleaning out the residence of a hoarder and maybe was used to a clean-sweep approach?

I've done a chunk of stuff in my living room (which contains the contents of a storage room I emptied a while ago...). I needed to make room for a table to pot up some plants (and yes, in my living room, because the eater (some kind of rodent probably) eats any plants I put on my balcony now), so I started to shift stuff around - and it turned into a major pitch-and-donate task. I got rid of most of my pottery from pottery class; it's all lovely but not useful to me and I don't have room for it. So I'm passing it on to a local thrift shop, so someone who can actually use small bowls and such can have them. Magazines - put some directly for donation, some to be looked through and some pages scanned first. Right now my front hall is jam packed with half-full boxes; I need to sort and combine them and get them _out_ of there...but at least they're not cluttering the living room, and I've decided they're out.

>149 jjmcgaffey: Yay!

>147 jjmcgaffey: The declutterer sounds like my mum, when she gets going on 'tidying' my stuff, which is why I don't let her (unless I have a secret suspicion that I actually don't want/ need everything)(but I usually change my mind - she gets bored during the day when my parents come over to stay but the grandkids are out during the day and she tends to get overenthusiastic).

When I was away a few months ago, my husband got our room 'tidied up' - but now I don't know where anything is and I haven't been able to face sorting it all out. I hate it when other people try to tidy my stuff and then my brain doesn't know where to put my hands on anything when I need it.

Meanwhile, I feel like I'm making (very slow) progress on my projects, though it may not look like it's happening.

The cats' room is done. I'm not overly pleased with the computer stuff in a corner so I will be getting some kind of shelves, but otherwise we have cleaned, organized, decluttered, and junked everything and found a cleared floor in the meantime! The biggest accomplishment was finding all of the baby blankets and mailing one to my daughter. All of the nice clothes are photographed for listing online.

Next will be the living room.

>124 elorin: More digital decluttering: I have reduced the yahoo account to under 2k unread messages. The biggest culprit is Facebook notifications. I am using my cell phone for the deleting but I imagine it might go faster if I logged on using the laptop. Either way my goal is to get under 100 unread messages in the account and under 250 messages total in the inbox. I don't have a deadline but I work on it daily.

In real life decluttering, today started work on my bookshelves and I have already identified a dozen books to donate and remove from my library.

The nice trick (which is much easier on a computer, but can be done on a phone) is searching for a subject or sender that you know you can deal with all at once. So search for Facebook or something that's always in the subject of those emails, then you can Select All and delete (or move, or whatever you want to do. Or even read them, without having to scroll through to find each).

I have many many too many messages, and every once in a while I do that for - usually ads, old notifications, etc. I'm also working my way forward from the oldest messages - pulling out (into folders) the tiny fraction I want to keep and deleting the rest. It's a slow process, not least because it's not particularly enjoyable so I don't think of it often.

Wow. I am such a "stuff" person (not hoarder! the pathways are wide ;)) but since our move 4 years ago, and bringing my mom-in-law to live with us, I've both realized just how much "stuff" we have, and gotten better about letting things go. This thread is very interesting to me, since I find it a challenge. (I suspect it is genetic ;) When I was a kid, I remember my grandmother moving into a new house and my mom went to help her clean . The house was L shaped, with a rear kitchen who's door opened onto the driveway on the short leg, and the living room was at the lend of the long leg, with the door at the end, so that one door was not visible from the other. I was up in a tree watching as my mom was taking stuff out the front door to a pile at the end of the drive to be taken away...and my grandmother coming out of the kitchen door, going through the pile, and taking stuff back inside!

Part of the "keeping" is from a poverty mind-set, that everything has to be used until it's used up no matter what, and if it can't be used up, it must be passed on to someone else.

The spices discussion is particularly interesting, as Mom-in-law came with so many that had never been opened (she doesn't like to cook, but her husband, long passed now, was a French chef in his retirement). I've had to be ruthless, because I do like to cook with herbs and spices, as does my husband, only he tends to buy whatever he thinks looks interesting and then forget it exists. So the "sniff" test is big, and the idea of throwing out salt is just dumb to me (you can dry salt that got wet -- that's often how it's obtained anyway, if it isn't mined).

My biggest bugaboo, the thing I have the hardest time getting rid of, are books. I imagine myself as a giant wyrm sitting on my pile of volumes, just petting the ones I'm not reading :). And since the value of my library to me is the stuff I haven't read -- and I'm always checking used bookstores and library sales -- I have a LOT of books I haven't read just waiting. Mom-in-law, who has to be forced to discard clothes she doesn't wear, cannot understand why I have so many books :)

>148 SandyAMcPherson: Personally, I would have instantly decluttered the hired helper.

LOL! Me, too! No one touches my spices!!

Efforts to do something daily have lost their impetus. I did find a cube solution for the computer parts in the cats' room. Ordered two shoe racks for the front of the house, and will be assembling them in the next few days. I hope to jump start the daily progress again at the beginning of the month.

I wanted to get a cost estimate from some moving companies. They asked for pictures, so they could get an impression. Oh my! I still have a lot of stuff to get rid of.
I have been ill, so haven’t worked on decluttering for some time. But today I got rid of the first part of a mountain of paper stuff. I decided to get rid of magazines that have accumulated. Why do I think I will read them, when I haven’t in the years I have put them away?

Doing the hard thing and going through some books to finally let a few go. I've got a pretty good boxful of things my local bookstore can likely sell, but that I will not reread (and I fell far out of love with the author some years back, but held on for...nostalgia? Yikes!) Getting rid of books sometimes feels like letting go of friendships that have died.

I have decided to get rid of all the books I have because "I really should read that". Basically all the classics - if I ever feel like reading them, I can easily find them in a library or Project Gutenberg or wherever. I haven't actually _done_ anything about this decision - I have to go through boxes - but it's good to have made it. It'll make going through the boxes immediately productive.

>159 jjmcgaffey: I have a lot of books like that, but in my case, they are antiques (a very old set of Harvard Classics, about 100 years old, that belonged to my husband's grandfather, are on display in a glass case. The print is SOOO TINY I may never actually read them, but I theoretically could. )

Have you ever looked at Standard E-Books? They rework public domain books into well formatted e-books, much better than the scans usual for PG. All free, although you can donate if you like, and they have an extensive collection.

I have a collection called "The Shelf of Constant Reproach" which lists those books I really oughta read, but haven't yet, but still think I oughta!

I've worked with Distributed Proofreaders, turning scans into well-formatted ebooks for Project Gutenberg. I'll look at Standard E-Books too, but if you haven't checked PG books recently they may have much improved over your memory of them.

And yeah, there's books I'm unlikely ever to read but they're important as _objects_, not books. Those stay, probably; or at least, they need to be considered one by one, not rolled into "not gonna read, out".

>161 jjmcgaffey: I'll have to look at that. What I like about Standard is that they include some classic SF in their collection, including some Andre Norton (my first real SF/F author I discovered shortly before I discovered Star Trek) that I haven't found despite much used bookstore hunting :)

Yes, I have an early PG edition of Castle of Otranto that was quite unreadable so that after a few pages I gave up, but that was quite a few years (and e-readers) ago. I had one of the early e-readers -- the E-Bookman -- that was all kinds of cool in the 90s, but was useless to actually READ anything, because it ate through batteries at a higher speed than I could read.

>159 jjmcgaffey: Yeah, I ended up doing the same. The classics were downsized to me when friends moved away, and in all the years I had them I managed to read only Bleak House. I ended up downsizing all of them myself in preparation for my own move last year.

>162 Murphy-Jacobs: Andre Norton was my first SFF author too. My collection is all of her books that I stole from my mom. Just as well, she's only using an ereader anymore.

I love Norton - and only recently discovered her historical fiction. The Sword is Drawn and that series (WWII), and Ride Proud, Rebel! and its sequel (Civil War). She wrote a _lot_ of books, and took a while to get into SF...

>157 EllaTim: I have the same problem, but somehow it's hard to let them go, even though I know I'm not keeping up even with the ones still coming in. (I do manage to read more of them, since I retired. But "more" just isn't "all", let alone "catching up on hte backlog".)

>165 ArlieS: What is it about having no strict/aka work demands on your time that still doesn't leave time to read? I had to stop working some 14 years ago due to health problems, but my reading fell off greatly. I used to keep a book with me where ever I went, and would read while waiting in line or during my work lunch and breaks, but now, if I sit down to read, I'm instantly thinking about the laundry I'm not doing, the dishes I haven't put away, and all the dust on all the furniture that I should clean because, well, I'm home! It's just not fair.

>166 Murphy-Jacobs: Agreed. It's *not* fair.

Welp, I've gleaned a good sized box of books to leave the library. I still don't have enough shelves (waiting on finishing the windows before we can start on the bookshelves, and weather hasn't been cooperative to doing wood cleaning outside -- inside the fumes are too strong) but since I'm taking a class on science fiction this summer, I decided to sort out all my SF books and shelve them on what I have available. Fantasy is boxed, along with any book I'm not certain of genre. Lit Fic is alllll boxed. The more I shelve, the more I'm leaning to simple divisions -- nonfiction, fiction, and graphic/comic/manga books (mostly because of size, really).

Roni, can you continue this thread in the 75 Books Challenge for 2025? I almost missed it, and I still haven't decluttered (but I'm not giving up!). Thanks!

>169 SqueakyChu: - Here it is, Madeline:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/367340#n8722828

>170 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley!