Decluttering 2013, the saga continues ...

Becky_2

Achievements from yesterday:
* Sorted through 2 more photo albums, only 4 left to do now, 18 done

Good luck with your decluttering this week.

Gers

Becky_2 wrote: »

I am intrigued, what is the toothbrush principle that several of you are talking about.

Here
http://www.thetoothbrushprinciple.com/

I've got a lovely pile at the front door to go out to CS today. Already this morning I have sorted out one of my kitchen cupboards... well, not exactly, I have sorted out one section of one of my kitchen cupboards - still got the other three sections of it!

Got loads of work to get through today, working from home, so need to crack on. Tomorrow I am meant to be heading south so fingers crossed that the snow doesn't overwhelm everywhere.

Happy decluttering today!

mineallmine

Becky_2 wrote: »

I am intrigued, what is the toothbrush principle that several of you are talking about.

It says that we created a way to always know where our toothbrush is and just as importantly it's where we need/use it and we put it back when we're finished.
So it's a principle to apply to other things in our homes.

Overall I'd say these books are good to have in the background but you can't beat rolling your sleeves up and cracking on :j

donnajt

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

.....up until the dog came in, walked straight in the polish tin and walked black shoe polish all over the living room floor

oh dear! :eek:

Lilyplonk

suzeesu2000 wrote: »

Just had a thought. Someone asked about how long utility bills should be kept.

I know for business you should keep everything for six years but home is a bit different.

I am going to scan my utility bills onto the laptop and burn them onto a disc. To be on the safe side, I shall have a file copy on the laptop too.

I can do this when I next sort through my filing. So, sort, scan, shred all in one go! I would advise you retain important docs like mortgage/insurance etc but for normal bills think this might work.

Opinion please - am I missing something important cos this seems too easy and I dont, as a rule, have smart ideas

After just having had the unenviable task of disposing of - by shredding - 23yrs of bills (utilities / cable / phone / tv licence / council tax etc) I have now signed up for paperless billing on everything :j. I'll keep track of them via their online sites!

I even had all my - mostly weekly :eek: - payslips since leaving my ex-husband - 24yrs. Those have now also been consigned to the shredder APART FROM P60's (which may be needed for employment record purposes and you can't get copies of) and the slips for the final 12mths of my employment. The final 12mths will be got rid of in about 2yrs time when I'm sure they won't be needed again.

Took a trip, with dgs3, into Liverpool yesterday afternoon in search of 'my curtain end-stop' with absolutely ZERO success - so was not best pleased :mad:.

Then it turned really cold and began to snow, went into a Cafeteria and spent money I didn't need to on a lunch for us both. Must remember never to tell a 4yr old that he can choose ANYTHING he wants to eat - large trifle in a tall glass sundae dish :eek: - McD's would have been much cheaper!!!!

Finally 'decluttered dgs3' back to his parents around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon and decided that enough was enough.

Only decluttering that got done in the flat - dishes were washed/put away and Household rubbish, recycling and Food Waste put into appropriate outdoor containers and put out for collection this morning!

I'm heading for the gym this morning and then off to DD's for a spot of child-minding for her from 2.00pm-10.00pm - so there won't be much done today either .


ooooh I forgot - I've advertised some really good Video Tapes of Scotland and Mountains on Freecycle - some of them cost £15+ each - so need to monitor any progress on those. They are FAR TOO GOOD to be dumped and charity shops don't appear to be shifting vids at all.

MummyEm

Two outs for the morning so far

-broken glass
-pair of old pants
-old paper play money that's seen better days
- stack of paper airplanes the kids seem to have finally forgotten about
-broken angel halo
-broken toy car

I was mulling over the concept of the toothbrush principle this morning. I have a similar thought process I go through when tidying up which seems to work on the same principle ie everything must have a home, close to where it is actually used/needed, put it back there when you are finished with it. I was considering why this doesn't seem to work in our house as I tidied up in the bathrooms earlier. I realised that neither DD, DS or DH actually tidy their toothbrushes away when they''ve used them There in lies our problem I guess, just not sure how I tackle this?

DD and DS are only 5 and 3 so my aim is to 'teach' these habits so that they become second nature. DD is good at tidying up if she is asked, but will get loads out to play with and not put anything away until she is told to. DS is a nightmare, he is only 3 so maybe I'm being a bit mean, but he happily pulls out every toy in the house then refuses to tidy. The worst thing is that they get so much out that things get broken all the time.

Now DH is another story. He doesn't like a messy house but is just sooo messy. He never tidies up after himself. I can usually track what he has done through a whole day if I have been out, as there's a trail of stuff everywhere. He complains that this is because the house is a mess but even when I have tidied and cleaned everywhere, he leaves stuff out. He'll say that he was 'going to tidy that up later' but later never comes, or I give in a tidy it up myself.

Anyway enough from me. I'm off to hand out the washing then get cleaning, wish me luck.

donnajt

donnajt wrote: »

133. Loads of xmas lists - RB
134. Avon Rep Sample Bag - recycled into a make-up bag

135. Cellophane - given to Mum
136. 12x cake wrappers - given to Mum
137. 2x Nintendo DS, games and cases - SOLD (proceeds to DD)
138. Old TV - SOLD FB
139. 4 penny money boxes changed up at Coinstar £53.77 !!!!
140. pair socks with holes - bin
141. 153 emails - deleted
142. 2 weeks of ironing done
143. Yukky deodorant...finally used up - recycled
144. Last of my 50+ magazines .... recycled
145. Old Baby Changing Bag ... CS
146. Contents of bag (pull up pants, wipes, etc) put away in DS bedroom
147. Few pairs of DS pants...recycling rag bag
148. DD's old umbrella .... CS
149. Laundry Bag ... return to Mother in law
150. Duplicate toy laptop....sold FB

mineallmine

203.204. Toiletries targeted and used up. One came from a pricy set and smelt vile, glad it was a small size and now gone.
205.206.207.208 Cardboard packaging recycled
209. Bunch of bills shredded
210. Unwanted xmas present to cs.
211. Magazine

Doing fly lady this week, over on the old style forum here, and that's helping me declutter today :j

Best of luck everyone :A

northern_star

It's back to work this afternoon so I've done my de-cluttering bit this morning . I cleaned the cupboard we emptied yesterday and put our DVDs in there - putting 3 into the CS bag. There's a spare 2013 calendar and a bottle of body lotion (new and unopened) made their way into the bag too. Slowly does it.......

MummyEm

Have finished cleaning upstairs :j A few more toys decluttered back to playroom.

-Odd toy bits binned
-Old broken puppet binned
-old hairbands binned

I almost got distracted decluttering my bedside table but thought better of it as I'd be there all day. I will put it on my target list in the next couple of weeks though as it really does need doing.