Weekly (ish) check in

[fred_mouse]

... this was meant to happen on Friday. I am not entirely sure how it is already Tuesday!

Hi Everyone!

This is your check in for the week ending Friday 13th December. Have you found something to declutter? Made a plan that you can implement later? What are your recent decluttering wins? -- big, small, it all counts.

Open to regulars, drive by commenters, and lurkers alike!

Comments

[fred_mouse]

The only decluttering I've been doing is pruning trees to get to fruit that has to be stripped off because we have a biosecurity incident happening. *sigh*.

[dame_grise]

Biosecurity incidents do not sound fun. You have my sympathy.

[fred_mouse]

Thank you. I'm so tired, and there is so much left to do.

[dame_grise]

I am working largely independently, as Auntie Iroh is tied up with mandatory overtime. We are decluttering/downsizing for both financial and political reasons. This is a household living in fear. I am no disability so cannot get a job at the moment, but I am considering going back to work if I can find something I can tolerate.

However, even with the help of our long-term house guests, the house is quite enough for me for the time being. I have my entire household inventory from my previous marriage/storage to go through, plus an overly large wardrobe, two households of kitchen stuff, and just general packrat clutter to sort through. Also, I am trying to sell/donate a large pile of Auntie Iroh's books.

I find it all very overwhelming. I thought having the house guests would mean I'd have body-doubling help, but I don't. They hide in their (my "old") room all day or are gone doing I don't know what all day.

Apologies, I know that is beyond the scope; I feel overwhelmed and am trying to work through solutions.

<3 this group.

[tanaqui]

I'm sorry you're feeling overwhelmed.

One approach to decluttering that I know a lot of people here find helpful is Dana K White's 5-step No Mess Decluttering.

It's (basically) 1) Trash 2) Easy Stuff 3) Duh Donations 4) If I needed this, where would I look for it (and take it there now) 5) Keep what will fit

I think you get a copy of it if you sign up to her newsletter, but she goes through it in a podcast here:

https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2021/02/285-my-5-step-decluttering-process-podcast/

She also has a lot of videos online and there's a decluttering basics page with links to various blog posts at https://www.aslobcomesclean.com/decluttering-basics/

(She's very entertaining and funny to listen to/watch and she really gets how hard decluttering can be because she used to be very very bad at it herself.)

[fred_mouse]

This is absolutely not beyond the scope, we are here to support each other. tanaqui has given one suggestion, if that doesn't work for you, we can find other suggestions.

As people have to keep reminding me, it took years to acquire the amount of stuff, it isn't a trivial job to sort through. One item at a time, and if today is a one item day, there is always tomorrow.

Would it help to talk it through with someone who is working on the same thing? Or to find an online body double buddy? Depending on where you are time zones might make that tricky, but we can absolutely find you someone. If not on this community, there are a couple of others I can think of that we can ask.

[the_broken_tower]

One thing at a time. You got this.

- Crane (he/him)

[spiffikins]

I spent 15 minutes tearing down the massive pile of cardboard boxes that has been accumulating in my garage, and filling my blue wheelie bin on Sunday!

I kept getting boxes and thinking "oh I should keep that, and use it to pack things in to donate/get rid of" but it was getting away from me - and a lot of the boxes were either too big or too small anyway - and the "boxes to help declutter" were just ADDING to the clutter - so out they went!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ah, I know this. I say 'oh that's a good size box!' too many times for too many situations which never arise and have a pile of flattened boxes in storage for when we move...I've had them for almost a decade!

[spiffikins]

at least you flatten them! Mine just pile up in unstable towers, and block off my garage, LOL!

I come from a long line of box hoarders - when we moved out of our house in 1990, my dad pulled out a dozen or more (empty) boxes from the basement crawlspace - all of them in pristine condition, for electronics he had purchased 15-20 years earlier.

I don't actually recall if he (smugly, I'm sure) used them to pack up said electronics for the move - I think he might have - although I think he did end up throwing out more than half of them, since he no longer had that item.

We also had one of those ubiquitous green Coleman camp stoves - it was at least 30 years old when I was a *child* - and we kept it in it's original box, which was getting pretty battered - and meant that you couldn't actually use the HANDLE on the stove - you had to carry the thing around in the cardboard box.

Currently I am holding on to a handful of "official" boxes - my tv, and two computer monitor boxes - mostly because they are fiendishly difficult to box up without the original packaging. Trying to get rid of everything else though :D

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I finished my Xmas cards so all the crafting stuff is put up into two boxes. I can see the carpet. Huzzah! It's a Christmas miracle.

[fred_mouse]

Brilliant!

[the_broken_tower]

I dropped off a box of donations, so that's something.

- Crane (he/him)

[fred_mouse]

Fabulous! Getting things out of the house FTW!

[the_broken_tower]

Yes. Now to deal with the fabrics box that exploded all over the living room...

- Crane (he/him)

It is hopefully happening!

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

We’re hoping to sell our snowblowers, lawn mowers, a garden tiller, and quite a few of our old small kitchen appliances. This will really help with cleaning up the basement and be a good start for cleaning the garage.

Re: It is hopefully happening!

[the_broken_tower]

Best of luck.

- Crane

Re: It is hopefully happening!

[fred_mouse]

Good solid plan there! May it go smoothly and everything move on to live in other people's basements!