<p>A strategy that D used when she was doing a major clean-out last month: When considering a group of like items, keep one or several as a representative sample, and get rid of the rest. She culled her stuffed-toy collection from dozens down to two. (I’m trying to work up the nerve to do the same thing with 3 large sterlite boxes filled with 15 years’ worth of dance costumes :o)</p>
<p>My D has an entire dresser full of specialized leggo sets–one drawer for each of the sets. So far, no one has seen fit to move them to plastic bins (tho we have some of those for the kids’ leggo as well). We also have huge plastic storage bins full of wooden blocks, wooden train sets and other great classic toys that we can’t part with. Unforunately, since we don’t have a basement, they fill up most of our cupboard space in our hall closet as well as space in our living room. 
We can’t part with them and they’re too heavy to store in the attic (which isn’t that strong).</p>
<p>Legos are amazingly compactable. I realized that I could put each special set in a plastic bag, and then put all in a large bin. One problem is figuring out how much of the boxes to keep - some of the Mindstorms sets seem to have a lot of info on the box, and the Playmobil pictures are sometimes key. So I just flattened or cut out where I could, and stored the pix with the rest of the toy set.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestion–will definitely keep it in mind & share it with S, who is the declutterer-in-chief. We are working with MY junk, since it is what irks S the most. LOL!</p>
<p>I’m frustated on the level of clutter around the house, but I’m happy to report that all Legos are long gone. Except for the occassional stray little one found here and there 
</p>
<p>Tonight I attacked the bill basket (a large covered basket I keep under the kitchen desk), with lots of the 2010 paperwork. I was able to make a pile for recycle, a pile for shredder (mostly things outdated by a newer statement), and a subset to keep. It’s probably not the best strategy, but it’s better than the years when I had less of a strategy and more paperwork kept long past its usefulness. </p>
<p>My Dad has gone back home, so we are now stashing the Christmas stuff. Yay, I culled out a small bag of give-away items first.</p>
<p>I spent the morning cleaning out the bathroom cabinets (our 7’ vanity has a few of them ) and tossing useless junk, then moved on to clean the master closet - jackpot! I found a box of cassette tapes that was moved from our old place and has never been open, so in the trashcan they all went! Then I discovered another forgotten treasure - a box ot Time magazines, still with our old address. Now the recycle bin if full, too. I chatted with a friend on the phone, and she was in shock, “You threw out old magazines? They coul become a collector’s item someday!” I told her based on the two keywords that she used, “could” and “someday”, I made the right decision about the magazine stash. 
I did not make it to the Northwest Center’s collection bin tonight, but I will make a trip there next weekend. The boxes are packed and ready to go.</p>
<p>colorado_mom, If it’s works, it’s a good strategy!</p>
<p>You all have inspired me. I got all the jeans D left behind & offered them to her younger niece. We told her to try them on & return anything that was too large for her to let D try them on when she comes back (they are kids sizes 10-14, so not sure if any will fit D & she has PLENTY of clothing already). She fits juniors sizes fine for the most part anyway.</p>
<p>Went to Target to finally return an item that didn’t fit & purchase something that DID fit. Will be going through D’s drawers in the near future & bagging things she left there (she rarely wears them & not sure when she’ll be returning). If she wants them they will still be available, but if she doesn’t, they’ll be ready to donate. This way, she’ll be able to unpack next time she comes home instead of literally living out of her suitcase.</p>
<p>I also picked out a few things from my closet that I haven’t worn in a long time & have put them in the recycling to take to the church. Have taken empty cartridges for recycling & gotten $5 credit for each one (as long as I buy items at the store valued at least as high). We recycled 28 empty cartridges from my brother & my mom! Am able to mail packages at Office Depot, which counts toward purchases made there for the $5 credits.</p>
<p>S is set to help me get everything out of our “office warehouse” at my mom’s so we can have the carpet professionally removed, cracks patched & floor sealed. S is also prepared to trash and/or donate all the junk there (much of it decades old). There are baskets, gift bags & more, as well as receipts & checks that are ancient.</p>
<p>Good work, HImom!</p>
<p>Thanks–S came home from filling up mom’s trashcan, so says we have to wait until Sunday (day after trash is picked up) to do more.</p>
<p>HIMom, great start! Keep filling up that trashcan untill all junk is GONE. :)</p>
<p>Garbage day is tomorrow. DH will not even have a chance to say goodbye to some of the “treasures” that I buried on the bottom of it. And the dot matrix printouts of his business e-mail convesations from 1993 - RECYCLED.</p>
<p>S is a great help & we hope to finish the heavy stuff before he leaves for his job on the East Coast (he really wants to leave the place much better than it is now). It has been a real help having him around. His nice, neat bedroom is an inspiration. He is so much better about decluttering than all of the rest of us (gets it from his uncle/Godfather, who is famous for it). </p>
<p>It does really help with reducing our allergies & allergens when we get rid of all of this “stuff,” but not sure why we get so attached to it. Did donate two strings of lights & some ornaments, but still not as good about culling as he is (I guess we had decades to accummulate).</p>
<p>HIMom, I think decluttering is harder for us, because we have emotional attachment to things that clutter our houses. That bag with old clothes? Those were the dresses my baby wore when she was 2! That decorative glass dish with floating candles? My old cat absolutely loved to drink from it… That old calendar? That was the best New Year’s celebration we had. And the list goes on and on and on… I think we are afraid to part with this stuff beacuse deep inside our souls we feel that we might lose those memories when we get rid of the material “mementos”.</p>
<p>^^
So true, and I think we need to give ourselves permission to save a little of that stuff. At least for me, it’s easier to toss 8 of those baby dresses if I know I get to save 2 of my favorites.</p>
<p>I guess I have a really hard time with all the countless meetings and conferences I attend as well–hard to sort through what to keep & what to toss. I am starting to toss things sooner than I used to, but still have difficulty with that. I am also having to save things for my non-profit (financial records, meeting minutes and all the records). It is a lot more paperwork than I’m used to and it does take up space.</p>
<p>Our non-profit hands out a lot of materials & they also take up a lot of space. It is endless, especially when we don’t have a physical office for the non-profit & it is stored in my home & my mom’s storage room. Oh well, we are fortunate that at least we have some space, especially as the kiddos are leaving the nest.</p>
<p>Five years ago we downsized to a house half the size of our former home. We were brutal in giving away unneeded stuff to charity, but with 3 kids at various stages of education, we kept an apartment stash in the basement to let the take with them as they moved on plus there were some things whose fate we just were not yet ready to decide. </p>
<p>Now Gma moved in with us, storing her undecideds in a storage unit a year ago. We are now going through the unit and emptying the entire basement into the storage unit to do repairs. My DH insists that we get rid of at least half of it, he does not want to move it again. Harsh, but helpful, too.</p>
<p>A couple of beds and a TV cabinet are already on their way out plus lots of little stuff. We decided 25+ year old mattresses can go, if the kids need a bed, we’ll buy them a good one to start them on grown up life</p>
<p>somemom - You’ve done better than most of us! </p>
<p>“I think decluttering is harder for us, because we have emotional attachment to things that clutter our houses.” - True for me too. Sometimes I think it is better to not wait too long to discard things. Otherwise they’ve have time for me to grow attached. </p>
<p>I was so excited to have lots of extra space in the Christmas boxes after receiving new stuff and purging a little bit of the old… Then today I realized I had missed some decoration…darn. The all fit, but back to tight packing. Luckily it will all go in the crawl space, out of the way for a year.</p>
<p>I peeked into the garage today and began looking through bags of clothing for St. Vincent de Paul. I found 6 big bags of great clothing from when my daughter was as thin as she is now. (She went through a few years of dealing with freshman 15). She was impressed by the mother lode- the clothes are classic style, which she prefers, only three yrs old, and in great shape. While I don’t recommend holding on to unused clothes on the off chance they will rise again, this time around, decluttering actually yielded some savings, as we usually replenish her wardrobe with a few items each time she is home. Now we don’t have to. (Also found brand new winter PJs that don’t fit her any longer, but do fit my mom, who is constantly cold- even when it is 90 degrees outside.)</p>
<p>pip-
I am thinking about using electric tape in various shades on my pants hangers, kind of a small-medium-large code so that I can see at a flash which options I have on good vs bad weeks No need to store those clothes, I will just shift them within the closet. I swear I have some pants where 2-3# make all the difference in the world</p>
<p>Good News - I got through shredding a lot of my unneeded 2010 bills etc </p>
<p>Bad News - I burned out the shredder and need to shop for a new one. Any recommendations??? </p>
<p>For better of worse, I do my shredding in big batches. Not sure I can switch to a daily low-volume mode because I have not found a handy place to keep the shredder plugged in and ready. But darn, I hate to splurge on the pricey models.</p>