continue to throw out or give away the clutter in my house

Garbage day is a day later this week because of the Memorial Day holiday last Monday. It gives me another day this week to try and get rid of some junk. I am determined to get that basement cleaned out two bags at a time.

I threw out two bags from the basement. I couldn’t believe that I had even bothered to bring that stuff downstairs. I am finding it easier and easier to get rid of junk I thought I needed to keep. A bag of small plastic hangers? Really why would I have thought I needed to keep them? A bag of wire hangers (all tangled up)really why did I think I wanted to keep them?...I have been slowly replacing my hangers with sturdy plastic hangers that have nonslip rubber for the blouses or the pants. So I need to throw out the old hangers as soon as I replace them with new hangers. Keeping extra hangers is just allowing me to keep clothes that I should get rid of also. I really think 43 Things and FlyLady are saving me from becoming a hoarder.

I am determined to get rid of something this week. I know that there are plenty of things down in the basement that need to come up and go out. I did get my food pantry arranged, and I cleaned out some old food. We are buying less at the grocery store, and we are having less waste. I want to get back to my goal of getting rid of one bag of stuff a week. It won’t be hard as we have bags and boxes of Brooklynn’s baby toys and clothes and books to pass onto someone else. It is currently stacked up in my dining room. It needs to go this week.

I think that I need to pick a minimum of clutter to get rid of every week. I don’t seem to be making as much headway as I had hoped. I think that I should get rid of at least one large garbage bag size of clutter to either the local charity or the garbage. I think I can easily meet the one bag minimum a week. That would at least put me at 13 bags gone by the end of this year.

I finally cleaned out the upright freezer. The freezers bottom two shelves had old food that had partially thawed when someone left the freezer door open. I had thought about trying to save some of the food, but I knew it wasn’t safe to eat it so I just left it sitting there refrozen. I finally pulled it out and bagged it up for the garbage man. We are trying to learn to buy less food at one time, because I would like to get rid of the freezer and just have the one refrigerator. I am trying to cut the electric bill down any way I can. I will probably need a bigger refrigerator, but that has to wait for now.

how much stuff we have packed into the basement and the garage. I have to throw out stuff every week, but I have to make sure I have enough garbage stickers. I am determined to declutter my house and my life. I am trying very hard not to buy anything. I do not need any more stuff. It is getting easier to make quick decisions about what stays and what goes. I realized that I can not even enjoy the nice things I have because of the clutter around the house. Refocusing on my goals.

My daughter and I are going to bring up thngs from the basement today. We have many things that should be thrown out, sold, or donated. It will be cooler working down there. I am trying to live by the rule that I cannot take anything down to the basement for storage unless I bring something up to get rid of at the same time. I want to get the clutter out of my home. I think I will still have more stuff than some of my family members, but I want to enjoy the things I have. Right now I always seem to have something in the way.

but still a long way to go. I am finally getting to the point where I can quickly make a decision about what to keep and what has to go. I am finding the only problem I am having right now is the price of the garbage stickers. I am having to spread out my disposal expenses over several weeks. I spent $15.00 this week just on garbage stickers. It seems like that is going to have to be the average. Luckily, some of the metal objects or items that are still good are being taken by people driving by. It was suggested to me that I put my usable items out early and don’t sticker them until the last possible momment. I am amazed at how quickly the stuff will disappear. I hope to have my entire house in order including the garage by the end of this year.

I definately made some headway on reducing clutter this weekend. I actually had no trouble bagging up a bunch of my old clothes, throwing out a lot of paper clutter, and finding places for things I still think I need to keep. I am trying to incorporate lifestyle changes while I am reshaping my life. This decluttering of my home and my life is the first step. Father Jerry told us during his homily that we have to much stuff. He pointed to the large amount of storage businesses that have recently opened up in our area. He told us to beware of having our possessions take over our life. Although I don’t rent space at a storage facility, I have let my possessions take over my life. I am refocusing on decluttering my life.

Where did all of this stuff come from and who brought it all in here? I cannot believe how much stuff I have in this house. I have stopped buying anything but food. I still keep getting overwhelmed by the piles. I have to budget throwing out the junk, because the garbage stickers cost so much. My neighbors suggested putting things by the curb the day before garbage day. They told me that people often come by and pick up things they think they need. I will try that with the usable stuff I want to get rid of that won’t sell in the garage sale.