Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

[HappierAtHome]

My solution, which may not work for everyone, is to have married someone who wipes down the bench multiple times a day.

So in a few months time I'm going to have to post about decluttering all the spouses I've collected for their idiosyncratic cleaning habits :-P

[mspym]

My solution, which may not work for everyone, is to have married someone who wipes down the bench multiple times a day.

So in a few months time I'm going to have to post about decluttering all the spouses I've collected for their idiosyncratic cleaning habits :-P

That's what the next spouse is for!
:)

[Raymond Reddington]

5 full plastic bags of clothes out today. Should be a sweet tax deduction.

[formerlydivorcedmom]

It took a grand total of 8 days for my family to violate the "No clutter in the brand-new dining room" rule.  I came home from work on Friday to find car parts and a week's worth of mail and all kinds of other stuff on the table, papers piled on the piano, and assorted kid and husband crap on the floors.

Cue very large mom tantrum.  Followed immediately by very intense wife tantrum, where I pointed out to husband that in the last 9 months of decluttering, we've gotten rid of 1/3 of our stuff, and almost none of the things that left the house were items he'd consider "his".  I told him if he can't find an actual place to store something, then he has too much stuff.  Then I locked myself in the bathroom and took a bubble bath.

By the time I reappeared, the dining room was clutter-free.  And then over the weekend, H and all 3 kids:
 

• volunteered to go with me to the store to pick out a new storage unit for the entry way (visible from my dining table)...and then picked up their stuff and put it in the storage unit
• cleaned the living room
• hubby put 3 pieces of furniture on Craigslist (I had moved those to the garage during the great dining room makeover two weeks ago); 1 of them has already been picked up!
• hubby decided to get rid of the giant aquarium and all the assorted fish stuff.  We haven't had fish in 6 years but he's refused to let it go.

I try not to throw mom tantrums more than once or twice a year...but IT WORKS.

They are now all crystal clear that people who enter our house (most especially, me) will no longer see piles of junk.  I warned them that I am reclaiming one room at a time.  Once they are used to the idea that this room cannot be cluttered, I'm picking another room.

[Roadrunner53]

It took a grand total of 8 days for my family to violate the "No clutter in the brand-new dining room" rule.  I came home from work on Friday to find car parts and a week's worth of mail and all kinds of other stuff on the table, papers piled on the piano, and assorted kid and husband crap on the floors.

Cue very large mom tantrum.  Followed immediately by very intense wife tantrum, where I pointed out to husband that in the last 9 months of decluttering, we've gotten rid of 1/3 of our stuff, and almost none of the things that left the house were items he'd consider "his".  I told him if he can't find an actual place to store something, then he has too much stuff.  Then I locked myself in the bathroom and took a bubble bath.

By the time I reappeared, the dining room was clutter-free.  And then over the weekend, H and all 3 kids:
 

• volunteered to go with me to the store to pick out a new storage unit for the entry way (visible from my dining table)...and then picked up their stuff and put it in the storage unit
• cleaned the living room
• hubby put 3 pieces of furniture on Craigslist (I had moved those to the garage during the great dining room makeover two weeks ago); 1 of them has already been picked up!
• hubby decided to get rid of the giant aquarium and all the assorted fish stuff.  We haven't had fish in 6 years but he's refused to let it go.

I try not to throw mom tantrums more than once or twice a year...but IT WORKS.

They are now all crystal clear that people who enter our house (most especially, me) will no longer see piles of junk.  I warned them that I am reclaiming one room at a time.  Once they are used to the idea that this room cannot be cluttered, I'm picking another room.

LOVE IT! Can I ask where do you put incoming mail and magazines. That is such a issue in my house. Junk mail makes me nuts!

[formerlydivorcedmom]

LOVE IT! Can I ask where do you put incoming mail and magazines. That is such a issue in my house. Junk mail makes me nuts!

Paper is my nemesis.  I'm still working out a plan, but so far, it works best if we only get the mail once a week (this is youngest child's chore because left to our own devices husband and I DO NOT get the mail because we DO NOT want to deal with the paper.  We are the mailman's nemesis.).

I require myself to deal with the mail the day it comes into the house - sort into piles of
*shred (goes in a basket upstairs; shredding is youngest kid's favorite chore)
*recycle (take to the recycle bin in the garage immediately)
*file
*do something with

I had a three-shelf little organizer tucked away on a counter.  The unread magazines go on the top shelf, the mail to file on the 2nd shelf, and the "to-do" pile on the bottom.   Due to intense laziness on my part, this quickly turned into a massive pile of paper.

My husband has an old accordion folder with ancient paperwork in it.  As soon as he finishes sorting through it, I'm going to repurpose it for everyday paperwork (electric bill, etc) and put that on a bottom shelf in the kitchen in the hopes that I will start filing papers immediately if it is RIGHT THERE.  I'll have a box upstairs for long-term paperwork (taxes, house sale papers, warranties).

The to-do pile is currently spread across the kitchen island.  Magazines go on the end table at one end of the couch.

[SunnyDays]

@Fresh Bread our issue is bagels (boys) and coffee grinds (adults).  I use a large breadboard and sweep the crumbs into the sink/trash as soon as I am done. I also sweep up any coffee grinds once coffee is made. However while we have multiple large breadboards, we also have two boys who insist on using either the tiniest or no breadboard when cutting, resulting in a world of breadcrumbs. My solution, which may not work for everyone, is to have married someone who wipes down the bench multiple times a day.

Can you find one of those glass cutting boards with the the little round rubber feet?  They come in 2 different sizes.  They can both be cut on and save the counter top from damage.  I just leave mine out all the time and position it at the edge of the sink, so can just sweep the crumbs into it.  Some crumbs do work their way underneath, but it's much easier to periodically lift it and wipe under it than to always be wiping the whole counter.  Don't use serrated knives though, as the glass can dull them and there's no sharpening those ones.

[shadesofgreen]

I went into the the office of mess yesterday and I came out with about 50 books for donation. I have come to realize that as I have gotten older my reading tastes have changed and a author who I really enjoyed 20 years ago I now can't relate to the girls and they just pissed me off. ( they were Harlequins so I read 5 books yesterday) Into the box they went with no guilt or angst from me. My donation pile is increasing!

I also managed to get rid of a few bags of packing peanuts and I have a garbage bag full of plastic grocery bags to recycle when I go to the grocery store.

[joonifloofeefloo]

formerlydivorcedmom, how I adored your story! Wonderful that they cared enough about your feelings -frustration, overwhelm, fedupness- to act, and so immediately! Well done, everyone in that scenario.

[Captain FIRE]

With baby clothes I don’t think the Kondo gift principle applies the same as the givers seem to get the most joy from seeing the baby dressed up in them. I feel obligated to keep them but we don’t have space, we all share one wardrobe which is also where the baby sleeps. A few times she has worn something once and then we’ve gifted/donated it but that seems very wasteful when we could return it to the store before wearing it or donate it unworn where it would have a higher value to the charity.

Our doctor volunteered to us that we should dress the baby up in all of the different outfits one day, tucking the tags away out of sight.  He told us to take pictures of each outfit in various spots around the house and then return all of the outfits.  Finally, send the gift giver the cute photo(s)!

[joonifloofeefloo]

Oh!!!! Hilarious and brilliant doctor!!!!

[oneday]

Not getting rid of anything, but trying to minimise what enters the house: in acquiring clothes for my boy, I'm asking myself whether each item could be equally useful for future girl or boy kids. Everything has to be as gender neutral / fluid as possible.

Good "defense"!

We sold our old sofa. Made $75 & got it out of the house! Super happy to get rid of it.

Woot!!

5 full plastic bags of clothes out today. Should be a sweet tax deduction.

Way to go!

It took a grand total of 8 days for my family to violate the "No clutter in the brand-new dining room" rule.

Hey!  More than a week!  Sorry, that may be insensitive considering you had to throw an epic mom tantrum.  It does seem to have worked, so hopefully they now understand you are serious.  Seems like they were testing the boundaries, and now they know where those are, and how firm they are, your family may well respect them.  They are coming back admirably.

==============================================================

As I have been compiling this post, I've also been scanning.  The last few days/work sessions were devoted to processing papers that didn't need to be scanned, but I have so few left, and the scanner will sit out until done, so....back at it! 

And then back to the couch so Mr. Kitty can sit on my knee again.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I discovered an old necklace in my gym bag. (Costume jewelry). Went through the rest of my costume jewelry on the way to the donation pile & found 4 items to donate. Out & out.

[RetiredAt63]

I am still working on getting old paper out of the house, but my influx of new paper is tiny these days.   I switched almost everything to online billing.  I got the no advertising sticker for my rural mailbox.   My recycling bin used to be more than half paper, every week.   Now I only put it out every second week.

[oneday]

MaybeBabyMustache smart to use the one necklace as a prompt to review your others.

RetiredAt63 what a huge difference in the recycling volume! Keep at it, I know you can do it!

A bit more scanning for me today.  I may be done with that.  There are a few files I need to look through still, but of the un-filed, unorganized papers, all the papers in need of scanning are done!  Can't let the momentum stop, though.  There's a bit more to do.  I did put the scanner away, as it has been on the kitchen counter this whole time. 

The fun but chaotic & time consuming decluttering today was having my cousin bring her two boys, ages 6 and 9, over.  While they ran around yelling and eventually settling down into drawing, we hung a bike hook I bought over 2 months ago.  I just needed someone to hold it in place while the bike was positioned, then the position marked.  Now I can get my behemoth bike in the storage closet and also be able to reach the things on the shelves.  Much improvement today!

[Sibley]

My office is going to be moving in about a month. The company built the building, and that was pre-digital age. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

Someone already went through my dept's papers and it's been minimized. However, we have 4 large filing cabinets FULL of empty binders. Plus another cabinet of paper which may or may not need to be saved (we're checking on that). We also have a ton of random IT stuff. 10+ laptop bags, several monitors, bunch of keyboards/mice, etc.

We also have 6 boxes of Christmas decorations. Dept people can take that stuff home, or it's getting tossed.

And we haven't even looked at office/desk supplies.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

We installed air conditioning in our house (an entirely different story), and had a portable A/C unit. Sold it on our internal work site today for $230. It was a great deal for the buyer, and I got the entire unit/box/paperwork out of the house & attic. Woohoo!

[oneday]

Sibley, the company I work for built their campus in the 40's, so I can imagine! Won't it be nice when you are done & moved!

MaybeBabyMustache, you are really on a roll!



More dealing with papers today.  Finally emailed out those things I had scanned, but have one more in-town relative to run them by, hopefully that can be done Sunday.

Got a handful of papers into the bin today, but one piece in particular is frustrating me.  It's a letter from the SSA with a code so I can active my online account and I've tried several times but it's not working.  I will try calling in the AM before work to see if they can get me un-stuck.  Would be so nice to get this done, since I've been working on it since MAY!

[chasingthegoodlife]

Ugh, oneday I have the same situation with my local library - the little piece of paper to register for their online reminder service has been in my intray for more than a year but I can’t seem to make it work even though I know my details are correct.

After more than a year of remodelling our kitchen we just got a pantry back again! This is now the much longed for moment where all the boxes of kitchen things in the shed can be unpacked, cleaned and sorted. We weren’t ruthless when we combined households so I suspect there will be a LOT to go. I’m absolutely itching to get down to it but we’re away visiting family this week (having a marvellous time!) so have to content myself with minor ‘holiday decluttering’ - using up all the sample toiletries, reading and donating books, and getting a final wear out of terminal underwear/socks/tshirts before consigning to the bin.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@oneday - I challenge myself to find one thing each day to get rid of or organize, trash/to donate. Most days, it's pretty easy! Last night I emptied a United business class travel kit, saving a few small samples that I'll use, & put the rest in the donation pile for a local charity who accepts them. Need to find more today!

[Mongoose]

We donated a large hunk of equipment today to local college that can use it. Tried selling it but were not going to get enough for it to be worth the hassle. The last of our mothballed machines can now be dismantled and sold as scrap metal. Probably won't get much money but it will free up a chunk of space.

[Mongoose]

Wood is being moved off our back porch this weekend and put in place on kids fort. It's not leaving our property but will no longer be a mess to trip over and hide a population of mice.

[oneday]

chasingthegoodlife, I took the strategy of calling to get help.  They said they are having a hard time checking my credit file to verify my identity, so I'm going to wait another month to see if my address changes go through & if that changes anything.

Holiday decluttering sounds strategic; I like that!

MaybeBabyMustache that is ambitious.  I am similarly trying to do *something* with paperwork most days.  How long do you think you can keep up that pace?

Mongoose, sounds like you have reclaimed oodles of space!  How does that feel?  What are you going to do with the reclaimed areas?

=========================================================

Got rid of 9 half-sheet sized pages from an old address book by transcribing only the bits I needed to keep into a spreadsheet.

[halftimer]

Did a big tidy and deeper clean, then I suddenly came down with the cold that won't quit so my morning plans were cancelled.  This left me some time to reflect on how quick the clean up was, and how much space we actually have in our little place. I love the feeling! Feeling motivated to tackle another paper shelf but not up to it today so instead I did a digital sort to get rid of duplicates and things I no longer need. About 600 documents/files/photos cleared so far!  A digital declutter is just what I needed.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

@oneday - I consider things like mail, kids junk that comes home, etc all part of it, so it's something I'll try to keep up forever. There is a never ending influx of things coming into the house, so sadly, not worried about running out. :-) When the kids are gone & I happen to be home during the day, I make it a point to go into there room & collect a minimum of 5 things. Sometimes it's redirecting dirty laundry tucked under the bed, other times it's tossing broken pencils or out dated homework. Occasionally it's going through the closets & dressers & plucking out clothes that no longer fit.

[familyandfarming]

Two years before I decided to retire from teaching (38 years) I also decided to have a once-in-a-lifetime declutter with a vengeance! All of the stuff I saved for my children's first apartments (millennials who became minimalists and moved to big cities) and EVERY non-essential in my house. No clothes, just stuff. During the winter I created cute tags out of old scrapbooking paper  (got rid of it this way) for all of the stuff to sell at a garage sale the coming summer. To keep my stamina I listened to Dave Ramsey and The Minimalists podcasts. I priced every item to SELL! I got real estate type signs made (I live 3 miles from a highway in the country) and held my sale from Wednesday-Saturday.

The sale was an enormous success! No person quibbled about price (everything was priced to sell) and I only had a small carload left over that a neighbor took for her daughter's first apartment. Made over $3,000! Was definitely worth my time and the fact that other people hauled it away without me having to haul it myself was great!

One other thing. When your mom gives you stuff, just take it and then on the way home donate it! That way you won't have to deal with it later at her estate sale!

[joonifloofeefloo]

This morning I was able to shred the last two of seven little pieces of paper that had been haunting me for seven months :)    The first few needed to be typed into an organized document. The last two were perpetually homeless. Finally gone! Such a tiny thing, such a big impact.

[Mongoose]

Oneday...I'm spreading out the stuff we still have into the reclaimed spaces to make it look like they are full and fend off accumulation!

[Mezzie]

I've been lazy and haven't attacked my bedroom desk yet. There are a few things I won't know where to put, so this will probably involve decluttering some other spaces as well. I pretty much never use the computer on there (I use my tablet for this kind of computer access, and I use my computer at work for serious typing).

I also haven't lost the weight I had planned to this summer. I'm actually fine with how I look; I was just hoping to not have to clean out my closet or buy new clothes. I've got about 20 days and five pounds to lose before I'll be forced to do just that in order to have work-appropriate attire for school.

I have made some progress organizing the kitchen. I've mentioned before we have two families in a one-family small house, and the kitchen is packed. I've been buying drawer organizers and shelf dividers, and it's making a huge difference.

Okay, enough talk: time to attack the neverending paper and clean off my monstruous desk. If you don't see me soon, the desk won. :p

[formerlydivorcedmom]

The family has kept the front room spotless for the last few days....partially because every time my husband leaves something there I drag it to the living room.  The living room now looks AWFUL - there is stuff on every single surface and half of the floor.  None of it is mine or household items, so I refuse to deal with it.  I think it has been a little eye-opening for husband to see his downstairs mess consolidated into one area instead of spread across 3 rooms, 2 of which he rarely spent time in.
 
He finally sorted through the box of stuff that previously lived in the front room that I want to give away and actually agreed to dispose of 90% of it! He took out one bag of things that he wants to sell rather than donate, so I'll give him 3 more weeks and if it is still in my house, I will donate it.

The next stage of my plan is to tackle the children's rooms so they will have nicely organized spaces before school starts. I think we can get rid of some furniture, replace others with more functional (cheap) pieces, and donate a lot of their stuff.  Middle kid volunteered to be first - we'll work on her room this week.

[I'm a red panda]

Got rid of the baby swing.

Kind of stressed by this. But for baby 1 we didn't use it more than twice. But you never know if a baby 2 appears if we need it or not.

But I guess my thought was, if I need one, maybe someone else will give me one.

Here's hoping this isn't a bad choice.

[Sibley]

Bagged up the large box of stuff for donation and put it in the car. Due to other stuff going on, it will probably sit there for a few days, but getting it into the car is a much bigger problem for me than dropping it off. The box is now empty, waiting for me to contribute to it (and serving as kitty toy in the meantime).

[Mezzie]

The desk and I are at a standstill. At least now it looks like a functional desk rather than a repository for everything I don't have a place for.

I may have finished if I hadn't gotten all social. It was a fun, but not particularly productive, day

[halftimer]

The sale was an enormous success! ... Made over $3,000! Was definitely worth my time and the fact that other people hauled it away without me having to haul it myself was great!

One other thing. When your mom gives you stuff, just take it and then on the way home donate it! That way you won't have to deal with it later at her estate sale!

Nice work @familyandfarming and welcome to the thread! Based on how much you got rid of in one go, you may not have to lurk in this area much. But if you have more inspiring stories to share, please do!

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Got rid of two picture frames I was gifted & don't like, and recycled a paper I found randomly on the floor of my closet

[oneday]

Working on the category Paperwork still.  I've decided to prioritize one particular piece of paper, my list of websites and passwords.  This was in progress with one password manager (PM) software, but I decided I really didn't like it, so now I'm migrating that to PM #2, plus trying to finish off inputting the passwords from the piece of paper.  It is exhausting & demoralizing for some reason.  I've made some progress and will work on it again later.

[Sibley]

Working on the category Paperwork still.  I've decided to prioritize one particular piece of paper, my list of websites and passwords.  This was in progress with one password manager (PM) software, but I decided I really didn't like it, so now I'm migrating that to PM #2, plus trying to finish off inputting the passwords from the piece of paper.  It is exhausting & demoralizing for some reason.  I've made some progress and will work on it again later.

You know, you'd think that IT people would figure out that humans + endlessly complicated and changing passwords = recipe for disaster. The only people I know who actually DON'T write down their passwords (including use of pw mangers) are also the same people who are always getting locked out of accounts.

[I'm a red panda]

Working on the category Paperwork still.  I've decided to prioritize one particular piece of paper, my list of websites and passwords.  This was in progress with one password manager (PM) software, but I decided I really didn't like it, so now I'm migrating that to PM #2, plus trying to finish off inputting the passwords from the piece of paper.  It is exhausting & demoralizing for some reason.  I've made some progress and will work on it again later.

You know, you'd think that IT people would figure out that humans + endlessly complicated and changing passwords = recipe for disaster. The only people I know who actually DON'T write down their passwords (including use of pw mangers) are also the same people who are always getting locked out of accounts.

I have a few accounts that my password process is just requesting a new password every time I have to access them. The password requirements don't jive with the way I like to make passwords. I cannot remember them; but I don't trust password managers or write mine down.

[formerlydivorcedmom]

Working on the category Paperwork still.  I've decided to prioritize one particular piece of paper, my list of websites and passwords.  This was in progress with one password manager (PM) software, but I decided I really didn't like it, so now I'm migrating that to PM #2, plus trying to finish off inputting the passwords from the piece of paper.  It is exhausting & demoralizing for some reason.  I've made some progress and will work on it again later.

You know, you'd think that IT people would figure out that humans + endlessly complicated and changing passwords = recipe for disaster. The only people I know who actually DON'T write down their passwords (including use of pw mangers) are also the same people who are always getting locked out of accounts.

IT people write down our passwords too...I actually have a password to one of my accounts written on a post-it note taped to my laptop.  It's a self-preservation measure.

[Sibley]

Working on the category Paperwork still.  I've decided to prioritize one particular piece of paper, my list of websites and passwords.  This was in progress with one password manager (PM) software, but I decided I really didn't like it, so now I'm migrating that to PM #2, plus trying to finish off inputting the passwords from the piece of paper.  It is exhausting & demoralizing for some reason.  I've made some progress and will work on it again later.

You know, you'd think that IT people would figure out that humans + endlessly complicated and changing passwords = recipe for disaster. The only people I know who actually DON'T write down their passwords (including use of pw mangers) are also the same people who are always getting locked out of accounts.

IT people write down our passwords too...I actually have a password to one of my accounts written on a post-it note taped to my laptop.  It's a self-preservation measure.

See?!? It defeats the purpose. They're just encouraging people to use the same password everywhere, write them all down, or use password managers that can be hacked.


On topic - just decluttered a random item from my desk. No, we do not need a 7 year old training manual on software that is now at least 5 versions advanced.

[shadesofgreen]

It took me a while but I got things written up and out of the house Sunday. I was happy to get the space back but I know that there is more to come. I already have something for donation.

[former player]

5 pictures and a rug are in the car ready to go to auction tomorrow (or a charity shop if the auction won't take them).

[zygote]

My parents are planning to sell their house next year. I was visiting them this weekend, so I spent several hours going through my old books, clothes, schoolwork, and mementos. I did a first pass a few years ago and thought I had done well, but there's still a lot of stuff. It really puts into perspective what still matters to me when I have to decide what's worth bringing back to my small apartment across the country. I came home with five books and some old programs from musical performances I did. Not too bad, I think. (I am a huge music and theater fan, so I keep the programs for just about every show I see and participate in. I have a storage system for them, and these old programs will fit right in. I reference these items often with much fondness, so it's not totally crazy to keep them.)

I'll be back over Labor Day weekend to finish the job. The goal is to only keep things that will either a) bring me and my parents joy to display in "my" guest room in their future, smaller house or b) bring me joy in my current apartment and fit seamlessly in with the items I already have here. And maybe one or two small storage containers of deeply sentimental items that don't quite go anywhere else - I am still working on this in my mind. Baby steps. But all in all, huge progress.

I'm glad I am where I'm at in my own decluttering journey. This would have been much harder a few years ago. I'm still sad about the loss of my childhood home (my parents have lived there my whole life), but I recognize that the upkeep is a burden on them now and I don't want that for them.

[oneday]

@zygote well done.  That sounds like a struggle, but you are getting there!


===========================================================

Guys, guys, guys!  I did am doing it!  I am down to almost no paper!  I have a system*! I have storage for the rest of it!  The end is nigh!  I wasn't sure for a while that I could finish.  There seemed to be too many obstacles.  But a few weekends ago, I put together the system and tonight, whoosh!  Most things went right into the system (helps that I have a lot of practice from using this system at work). 

There's a small stack left to scan, another stack to re-organize into a binder and then the page with the passwords on it, but I can do a little at a time and eventually get it done, I know that now.

Bonus: got to break down another box and take it to the recycle bin!

Next in the KonMari method is Komono.  I will spend some time finishing Paper, then studying what the book says about komono, then tidying komono.


*https://colterreed.com/how-to-clear-your-desk-and-your-mind-with-43-folders/, which I have been using for years at work.

===========================================================

I hope everyone is having as good a time decluttering as I am!!!!

[joonifloofeefloo]

FABULOUS, oneday!!!!!!!!
YAHOO!!!!

[Fresh Bread]

Well done, oneday!! Inspiring! (I should tackle a new paper pile that has formed by stealth).

[oneday]

Thanks for the cheers, @jooniFLORisploo and @Fresh Bread  8D

...a new paper pile...has formed by stealth...

They do that, don't they!!!

[diapasoun]

*https://colterreed.com/how-to-clear-your-desk-and-your-mind-with-43-folders/, which I have been using for years at work.

This looks like a REALLY cool system, thanks for sharing it! I don't know if I want to acquire a full folder set -- I just don't have the space for it -- but I'm wondering if I can make an effective digital variant on this.

[Car Jack]

Sort of clearing out clutter, sort of not.  As part of my hobby of finding, dismantling and scrapping electronics for money, a big byproduct is steel.  Yesterday, I had the day off so loaded it all up and brought it over to the scrapyard.  Bonuses included keeping my teenage son busy and the place had a food truck and free hot dogs paid by the scrap yard.  Unloaded 750 pounds of steel (this is sorta light, but what the heck), and took home $52.15. 

[formerlydivorcedmom]

Y'all are all doing so well this week!

We're almost done cleaning out middle kid's room.  We have one piece of furniture to sell, and another will be repurposed in youngest kid's room.

Middle kid filled an entire lawn-size trash bag of trash and paper, and she's packed a small box of toys she doesn't want.  Plus two dozen books that will either be donated to the library book sale or the little free library down the street. 

In our study, I filled two gallon ziplocs with old school supplies - pens and pencils, staples, clips, etc. (Seriously, WHERE DOES ALL OF THIS COME FROM?)  H now works at a school, so he took them with him today to offer to the teachers.

Tomorrow oldest kid's grown-up bedroom furniture gets delivered and we'll put her old stuff on Craigslist.

I'm excited!  Hopefully by next week we'll be completely free of 6 pieces of furniture (bed, dresser/mirror, nightstand, desk, bookcase, low cabinet we're selling with the fish tank)!  We're replacing them with 4 pieces (storage bed, dresser/mirror, desk [FREE], and kitchen table [because I repurposed the other one to create a dining room]).  AND...my front room is still clutter-free!

I am actually starting to see our progress again, which is awesome.