Decluttering Continues: Maybe I am More of a Hoarder Than I Thought

I haven't stopped decluttering since last November when I did my concentrated thirty-one day declutter.  I still look around and see stuff everywhere.  It is not in boxes and does not cover floors (except and area about 5 feet by 12 feet in the basement, that has boxes of supplies from my former career) but it is tucked in everywhere.  The dressers, bookshelves, cabinets, and closets have too much stuff in them. Most flat surfaces have stuff on them that shouldn't be there. 

I have continued to add things to a give-a-way pile/bags and weed out stuff as I come across it in daily life and also through a focused effort on a particular area.  One bag turns into two, turns into four and then to six and so the donation pile grows.  Thinking back, I have taken 3-4 large yard sized black trash bags full of stuff and then some additional items that were not bagable, at least once a month for the last year.  Still I see too much stuff in many areas of my house.  Maybe I'm more of a hoarder than I thought.

I wouldn't be labeled a hoarder clinically as every room functions as it should, we have no problems navigating any part of the house (okay, my craft room is a little iffy), and we have guests over frequently.  Still, I can definitely say that we still have too much stuff and many items are not used or needed and some things I have too much of (eye shadow comes to mind).  I can do better.

This is the pile that we took to the donation center this past Saturday.  Six brown grocery sacks full and a box with breakable items.  There were some books, clothes, knickknacks, jewelry, stuffed toys, and miscellaneous most from the master bedroom except for a boogie board and inflatable from the swimming bag.

 I still have a rolling drawer unit with beading supplies and misc. to go through in the M.B.  After that, the remainder belongs to my D.H. and I'm not touching it.  It is best to let each person make decisions about their own stuff.   

I would think after taking all of this stuff out of the M.B., there would be nothing left in view.  There is.  Don't get me wrong; it looks so much better.  I still have a few stuffed toys that belonged to my children when they were little that I am not ready to let go of but I did get rid of at least a half dozen.  Isn't it funny, but I couldn't make a list for you if I wanted to.  Out of sight, out of mind.  I have a lot of costume jewelry to go through and I have kept several framed pictures of original art (I knew the artist) that were hung in my children's' rooms when they were small.  I have quite a few pillows, some decorative, some bed pillows that I need to do something with.  I have a lot as I keep trying to find the perfect one or combination.

Once I have decluttered the basement, the toys and pictures may go down there if I decide to hang onto them at that time.  Until then, I really am enjoying the openness and relaxed feeling of spaciousness in the M.B.  I am also limiting myself to just my Bible and two other books in the rack by my bed rather than the enormous stack of reading material that I had there.  Some of it was donated but most was put back in the areas they belong.  Interesting how things migrate throughout a house.  

I would encourage you to also add a few things each day to your donation pile.  It didn't arrive in your house all in one day so it is reasonable that it depart a little at a time also.  Everyday do something, no matter how small, to move toward your goal.  The time will pass no matter what so it is best we keeping inching toward our best life.

A Bit Closer to Minimalism; A Long Way to Go

This post should have been published in November 2018, but I just noticed that I had never hit publish and it was still in draft form.

It is interesting how something can become a habit, good or bad.  If you start sitting down with a bag of chips every time you watch television, soon you will feel like you need a snack every time the tube comes on.  If you start eating an apple every morning for breakfast, soon you don't feel right unless you have your apple.  Well, I find the same is true for decluttering.  For the past six weeks, minus time for illness, the thought would pass through my mind, "Have I purged five items today?". Now I find that thought still passing through my mind even though my month of decluttering five items per day is officially over.

I am seeing a bit more open space here and there and that space is very motivating.  Therefore, even though I'm not being rigid about it, I find myself still adding a few items to the donation area before I go to bed.  If I haven't reached my five item goal, I quickly zoom around the house and grab a few things.  My mindset has changed and letting go of things is much easier.  Being able to quickly decide about something is a very freeing feeling; exhilarating really.

Saturday will be donation day and so far I have three large black trash bags full, a lamp, and a brown grocery sack full.  I also have a box of teaching posters to donate along with two boxes of teaching supplies to donate.  I recycled three brown bags of teaching curriculum and lesson plan files.  I still have a lot of teaching related stuff to go through but that's a start.

My daughter even went through a bunch of stuff in her closet and came up with quite a few things to donate.  I always go through her donation bags and usually pick out a thing or two to set aside.  I know she gets caught up in the moment and sometimes goes overboard.  Several times she has seen something I 'saved' and asks, "Why do you have my ______?".  When I say she had it in the give-a-way bag, she'll reply, " Why would I get rid of that?"  Then she reclaims the item.

Of course dealing with the stuff in the house every day means that I know where progress has been made.  Sometimes other family members will notice something is different but basically they don't notice specifics.  Our house is not a hoarder situation but rather just areas of clutter in each room, such as the desk and surrounding area, the area next to my reading chair in the living room, the top of the pool table (mostly scrapbook stuff I categorized but haven't moved yet), the reading area downstairs, some shelves in the laundry room, and basically every flat surface except the breakfast table and dining table and kitchen island. They are contributors and thus are clutter-blind.

I have found that taking pictures of these areas/rooms really allows me to see what I need to tackle.  There is something about taking a picture of someone or event and noticing the background as much as the subject.  I would suggest you try the photo technique off and on as you work through your stuff toward your goal of a more minimalism home.  It really helps me to focus on one area.

Here is  pic from the last week of decluttering:  

A Place and a Space

I have been continuing on the journey toward minimalism and moving stuff out of the house.  I've gotten rid of at least 6 more black yard waste bags full of stuff.  I've given away another 10 books to a friend.  I've used some of my craft supplies to make kits for a class I'm teaching.  I've taken another large black bag of clothes to a high school clothes closet.  My son decluttered them from his closet here.  I have a new brown grocery sack started with some sidewalk chalk and bubble blowing supplies I removed from a coat closet.

Those brown grocery sacks are key to ongoing decluttering.  I keep one in an inconspicuous place in the living room.  I add to it as I come across things.  When it gets full I add another and when I have three full ones, I put them in one of the large black bags.  Having somewhere to put things as I come across them makes decluttering part of every day life.  Every member of the family knows the its location and its use.

I have slowed a bit this month and have been feeling quite lazy.  The main entertaining rooms are almost complete not counting shelves, drawers, and walls.  Almost all of the stuff in boxes, bags, etc. on the floor has been gone through and decluttered.  Those things staying have been put away.  This means that with a quick sweep/vacuum, I am ready for company.  That is a great feeling but I'm not done yet.

My goal is to have every room cleared.  Every surface decluttered: floors, walls, shelves, drawers, and closets.  The visual space is calming to my mind and it seems to satisfy something deep in my soul.  Space is good.

At this moment, I have gathered the extra supplies I had out on the dining room table and am getting ready to put them away in the craft room in their designated places.  When I walked in that room this morning, there was a moment of feeling overwhelmed.  That is how clutter always makes me feel.overwhelmed.  I realized it would just take five minutes or so to get the things organized and ready to go downstairs.  Five minutes later, they are.

Having a place to put your things makes a difference.  When I have things I don't need or more than I need, it is overwhelming as I have no where to put the stuff.  I notice it is the same for laundry.  After the big closet clean-out a couple years ago, ongoing purging has meant made putting away my laundry a five minute job.  Things have a place and space to go.

Keeping up what I have done so far is very doable.  However, I notice when I buy anything new, if I am not replacing a used up item, it takes a minute to figure out where the new item is going to go.  This is a part of my thought process whenever I buy new things now.

Recently, I purchased a countertop water filter.  We drink a lot of water and having purified water is important to me. However, I did not know where I was going to put it before it arrived.  First, I couldn't picture the exact size of the item and second, I wasn't sure how far the spout was from the bottom of the container.  I didn't know if I would need to purchase and additional stand.

The packaged arrived and it sat for several hours as I delayed unpacking it while I figured out where I would put it.  I determined that if it would fit under the upper cabinets, it could go one place, if not but it was not too wide, it could go in another.  If neither would work, it would have to stay on the island until I could purchase a floor stand.

Well it has found its home and we have been using it for two weeks.  I had to move an item somewhere else before I could place it.  Since I had been decluttering that pantry, there was room for the other item in there and all worked out.  I may still decide on a floor stand but for now, its place works.

I do find myself asking, "Where will I put this when I get it home?" whenever I am shopping.  I like that I am more mindful of my space and a thing's place before it comes into my home.  Still a ways to go but the progress I have made is noticeable and  appreciated each day. 

Thirty-one Day Decluttering Grand Total is...

I began my fall cleanup October first and started strong.  My goal was to declutter five items each day.  Mid month, illness delayed my efforts but I picked up the challenge again in November to complete my thirty-one days.

It was interesting how varied and random my items were.  Some things were mine, some were items left from my children, and some were from my teaching years.  Items came from every room in my house and although I'm glad to have it all out of here, it's hard to see a big impact because of that.  It amazes me how I can take bags of stuff, big black lawn bags of stuff, seven so far, out of this house but not see a huge impact.  Of course, I notice as I am more in tune to details but I doubt my husband has noticed.

As I decluttered and came across empty containers or emptied baskets, I gather them all together and now have three apple boxes full of containers.  I gave a couple away to a friend who stopped by and when asked, picked out four containers for items she was trying to organize.  When I am finished with my whole house declutter, any containers I do not need will be donated.

I found letting go so much easier at this point in my life.  I was hanging on to a lot of my teaching items in case I go back into that field but was able to let go of a lot of it.  I now have a bunch to donate to the local teaching center and to a local preschool.

I will continue to declutter as we head toward the end of 2018 but of course this time of year is busy so I will not have a daily item goal.  Today, I came across six rolls of wallpaper that will be the beginnings of a new donation pile.  This coming week will find me tackling the holiday decorating so that should generate some more things as I focus on the meaningful decorations and let go of the rest.

I think the process of focusing on meaningful things has really helped me make a mental shift which makes it easier make decisions about which things are important and which items  I still want tp be a part of my life.  I can glimpse a bit more the life I imagine and therefore can work toward.  I feel that simplifying my surroundings will open more room for creative space and time. Oh, and the grand total is two hundred and one items!

Third Week: Thirty-six Items and a Travel Trailer

Accountability is important when making a commitment to something. I'm finding that posting these pictures and blogging about this decluttering effort is really helping me push through when life gets busy or I get lazy.

A major item that was released this week was a travel trailer.  We had just purchased it last year, a 2016 model, and had not been able to use it much at all.  I had purchased many items to 'furnish' it with adequate bedding, dishes, bath items, etc.  A hail storm hit here at the end of the summer and it was quite significant at our location.  We had several things damaged and the trailer was one of them.  We had no indication of the extent until the adjuster came out and a few days later we were informed it was totaled!

We did not expect that and the thought had not even entered our minds.  It turns out the labor is quite expensive when replacing hail-beat siding and there was more dents than we had initially seen.  The inside was still in new condition so it was a bit of a struggle to decide what to do.  Our lack of proximity to a dealer who could do the work, inevitably swayed the decision to let the trailer go to the insurance company.  It will be auctioned off and we are confident that the new owners will feel blessed to get such a nice trailer at a good price.

It also presented a conundrum:  what to do with all of our 'furnishings' and personal affects that had to be removed.  Most will be moved to our older trailer that we keep down by the lake and those things traded for will be brought back and donated.  Until then, I now have to store all that stuff.

This kind of unexpected happening is what throws me off.  The phone calls, emails, appointments associated with any insurance claim is very time consuming but USAA makes it as simple as possible.  Then there is the time to take possessions out of the trailer and make decisions about it, then store it.
Regardless, I managed to continue with the decluttering goals in the house and below you will find the items released this week:

 

Oct. 15: two magazines, a plastic cup, a water bottle and a cookie cutter.

Oct. 16: three pairs of old shoes, and not pictured; a cell phone case plastic jewelry all in the trash.

Oct. 17: pair of sandals, book, jewelry pouch to donate, a shoe box and magazine in the trash.

Oct. 18: six plates and a vintage school desk.

Oct. 19: a crayon maker, a jewelry box, a velvet folder, the shirt below and a cornhusk doll which is not seen but is in the crayon maker box.

Oct. 20: two small glass cups, a birthday glass, a kids wallet (all donated), and a pair of slippers for the trash

Oct. 21: a drawstring bag, a hourglass timer, and four paperbacks.

The grand total for October so far is one hundred forty four items! This past Saturday, we took three large yard bags of the stuff I had collected since the last drop off, along with the desk, and donated them to the DAV.  This week we've started new bags and can't wait to fill them.

Seven Day Declutter Results: 73 Items Going Out

My goal is to get rid of five things each day in October.  Right now I am only counting items that go into the donation bags.  In the first seven days in October, I have been able to add 73 items to the donation area.  I have also put many things in the trash or recycle area but I'm not counting those.  

What strikes me is the randomness of some of these items.  Some things are left from my almost grown children and some things are left from my teaching career.  Some things, like Jello molds, are just things I won't use anymore as Jello is not plant-based. I actually used to often make my kids Jello cubes or Jigglers as they are now called.  The NASCAR ones are about 20 years old and may be collectible now.  Who knows, maybe it will make the DAV a few dollars.  

I feel good that I have been able to exceed the five item goal on most days.  It will be interesting to see the monthly total but as with most long-term projects, motivation in the beginning is easy.  It's the daily grind where momentum can slip so I will have to guard against it.  If you are working on having less stuff in your house and blog about it, put your link in the comments below and I'd like to check it out.

Oct. 2:  2 NASCAR Jello molds, Christmas Jello mold, Girl Scout book, fish key chain, purple headband with flower, red hero cape, 7 plastic leis, Scooby Doo Halloween bucket.





Oct.3:  21 books.





















Oct.4:  12 books, atlas, gag dice, dress up ring, wooden box.

Oct. 5: New Year's hat, bee tin, 2 cross stitch pattern magazines, one Wellness text book.














Oct. 6: My 'w' Book, paperback, penguin tub toy, character toy, Spanish Language Course.














Oct. 7: Water game, prickly ball, 4 western history paperbacks.

Five Things Everyday for My Fall Declutter

Spring Cleaning has never been my thing.  When those warm winds start blowing after a cold winter, the last thing I want to do is stay in and clean.  I want to be outside, soaking up the sun as I dig in the dirt and plan my gardens.

Fall cleaning makes more sense to me.  I'm getting ready to be stuck inside after closing the windows up for the winter.  I have to live with my dirt and clutter all winter.  That is motivation for doing a fall clean and declutter.  

I am ready to continue with decluttering.  It has actually been an ongoing mission for the last two and a half years although not consistent due to real life things such as special events, vacations, activities, illness; yeah real life.    I have gotten rid of bags of stuff including clothes, books, small appliances, dishes, odds and ends, etc.   I can tell a difference in most areas but to others, the change may not be as obvious.  We still have way too much stuff. Things are still far from my optimum goal of  quite minimal spaces with the exception of my craft supplies.  

To make a more structured and focused effort this month, I have decided on the number five.  There is no particular reason as I could have easily picked 3 or 7 or even 10, however, it's my number and I pick five.  I will git rid of a minimum of five things each day.  That will be one hundred and fifty-five things for the month of October.  I actually started the last three days of September but October is my focus month.  

There are also things I recycle or throw away but I don't always count those. My five things for today were found on a side table in the den.  Why were they there?  Leftover random things from years gone by.  I actually use to use the school house box which is made out of plastic canvas.  I kept my Post-It notes in it when I taught school.  There is a panda puzzle which I'm not sure has ever been used, a new beach ball, a stack of very large play money, and a package of waxed rope, in today's group.  

It is interesting how things accumulate and we just don't notice them anymore.  These things have been sitting there since 2015 and maybe longer. So many things we own but don't use or need.  I was listening to Minimal Mom on YouTube today and she talked about how we have to manage the inventory in our houses.  I had never thought of stuff in that regard but the statement is utter truth.  Managing inventory may sound like something you want on your resume', but it denotes something that requires attention and therefore energy.  

I'm at a point in my life that I don't have extra energy to manage inventory.  The answer of course is to have less inventory.  

What's also interesting is how our view of our things change.  I went through cookbooks recently and it was so easy to part with so many of them.  I donated two brown grocery sacks full.  I have went through those same books in the past and obviously those were put in the keep stack last time but easily landed in the donate pile this round.  The books haven't changed, so obviously I have.  

I'm sure I have looked over the above five items at some point in the recent past also and for some reason decided they were keepers.  Today, they didn't require even a second thought as to their future in this house.  

I don't foresee posting every day about this topic but I will take pictures of each day's items and post them at some point.  That's for accountability on my part.  If I miss a day I will double up on items the next.  There are no big plans for October but in real life, you never know what may come up.