Straight Dope Message Board

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by sahirrnee

I watch Hoarders for inspiration. I do NOT want to end up like that.

I do that too.

We just moved into a larger apartment at the end of June. I still cannot believe how much stuff we pulled out of our previous place, a quite small one-bedroom (we're now in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom. Even though it's only the two of us plus the cat and the bird, we do appreciate the extra space, and having two bathrooms is at times quite useful for a household of more than one).

I've got all the boxes unpacked, and someone from my local Freecycle is coming tomorrow to take at least some of the empties off my patio. I still need to hang pictures, finish neatening up the storage room so we can get a table in there for sewing/crafts/electronics/etc., get a shelving unit (we already own it) into DH's computer area (currently using plastic drawer units), and get under-the-sink areas under somewhat better control (this task will probably require buying or building shelves to put in).

OTOH, it's quite clean, since this place is a lot less cramped and in better condition to begin with (very little in the way of inherited perma-stains). Friday, I went through and cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen, dusted and vacuumed our bedroom and the living room, and vacuumed the second bedroom. The last is currently a storage area, with intent to add hobby work area as we get more settled. Garbage went out and things like dishes, catbox, and birdcage have been attended to today, so while it's not House Beautiful, it's at least reasonably acceptable. Now to KEEP it that way and improve on it a bit.

[Broomstick]

Originally Posted by digs

Would this idea help anyone else?

I recently did some traveling, and found I could fit everything I really need in a backpack (a few clothes, lots of books and art supplies). And it got me thinking, "What if I called home right now and said 'Quick, before I get home, I'll give each of you kids $50 to throw out all my stuff!'"

The advantage there is that my family wouldn't be sentimental about my 5th grade doodles, or that old toaster oven that I just KNOW I could fix. The times I've tried to declutter myself, I keep rationalizing keeping things, and throw out 10% of what I should.

A less-severe compromise would be "Okay, if I went on a sabbatical, I could probably fill a large box with everything I just HAD to have." So why don't I just pack up a box, go somewhere for the weekend, and tell my kids to go crazy with the dumpster I rented?

Think it'd work? For me, or for you?

It wouldn't work for me because I have some things I genuinely do feel a need to keep that would be tossed in such a scenario. Such as the magazines I keep because some of my writing was published in them. Every time I have a helper they start marching towards the dumpster with the set and I have to say no, I'm keeping these because they're my published work, and maybe the archival-quality sleeves they're in (as opposed to the genuinely throw-away magazines with the rips and beverage stains and so forth) might have been a tip off these are special? I also have a few comic books and graphic novels that have my artwork in them. I don't have a lot of such items, but enough that I don't want folks going through my stuff without me around. They occupy all of one shelf of my rather extensive library so I don't think keeping them will result in a hoarding problem. There are a couple other things around the house that are the same way. Short of the apocalypse or a house fire I don't want to part with them.

I will note, however, that having a helper is extremely helpful in clearing out my home and we've made much progress that way. I'm not the sort that follows the helper out to the dumpster snatching bits off the pile along the way. What I need help with is deciding to get rid of it in the first place, once I am able to make that decision I can keep to it.

The other reason that I won't go for that method is that it only treats the symptoms - the pile of stuff accumulated. It doesn't touch the cause, which is my tendency to gather too much stuff in the first place, and hold on to too much stuff that is genuinely stuff and not something of actual value. It would do no good to clean out my home to the bare walls if I'm just going to fill it up again in a few years and then I'm back to where I was before the clean-out. I don't want just a clean house, I want to change my habits so I keep a clean house.

[digs]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

... I don't want just a clean house, I want to change my habits so I keep a clean house.

Ooh, THAT's a toughie. Anyone got a good article I can read on that?

[Lsura]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Imp

Well, I'm impressed

That room looks amazing now! So empty, and just calling out for a comfy sofa for you to be able to curl up on with a book, or a nice desk to turn it into a home study, or.... any useful purpose you can think of (and stretch your paycheck to) to reward you in your progress, and to prevent any backsliding

Thanks! Before it went bad, I used it as a meditation space and I want to do so again. So I don't want television or anything noisy in there, but I am on the hunt for a futon I can put in there and make it into more of a guest space.

[perfectparanoia]

Originally Posted by Lsura

Thanks! Before it went bad, I used it as a meditation space and I want to do so again. So I don't want television or anything noisy in there, but I am on the hunt for a futon I can put in there and make it into more of a guest space.

Awesome job!

Now that the bathroom renovation is over, we got around to cleaning out the garage. It really wasn't that bad, it just looked awful because while the contractor was using it, we couldn't really put anything away.

We also hung some shelves in the linen closet to hold my collection of bathroom stuff that I stock up on when it is on sale. It's so nice to know how many items I already have and what I don't again.

And, it's Monday morning and the whole house is tidy! Everything is put away! Keeping the house up on the weekends when the kids are home and have friends tromping through all day is tough and this is the first time all summer we have managed to do it.

[Broomstick]

Well, one the things that gets in my way is that no one else prioritizes the house cleaning. As of noon today I've had "urgent" requests to move furniture, move machinery, rehab a bathroom, mow a lawn, trim trees and bushes, and run a half dozen errands. And some of them waved money at me, too, which I do very much need.

>sigh<

I am declaring the afternoon to be a Clean Up Broomstick's Home Space Time.

[Broomstick]

OK, that didn't happen. It didn't happen because the "oh, it's just a 10 minute fix, no problem!" plumbing issue in the upstairs apartment turned into a 3 hour ordeal involving bailing, buckets, debris, a toilet leaking like a sieve, discovery there is NO water shut-off valve for that bathroom, the toilet plumbs into the building pipes with no shut off.

[Insert cursing and swearing of your choice in this space]

We FINALLY figured out how to shut off the water going into the toilet by jury-rigging the busted intake thingy. And bailed the toilet tank. And cleaned up the bathroom.

Three hours. THREE FREAKIN' HOURS! Three hours I had intended to spend cleaning up MY place!

Then I went downstairs to MY place.

And found my kitchen had flooded. Being under the problem bathroom and all.

[Insert LOUD cursing and swearing of your choice in this space]

Fortunately, as my house is much more organized than it used to be, I quickly found and deployed buckets, went to the rag bag and pulled out sufficient absorbent stuff to sop up what the mop couldn't get, and cleaned up the kitchen.

I am NOT happy.

See, it's NOT just that I'm lazy! Stuff really does happen!

Grr.

I have elected to use what feeble energies I have left to cook a real and tasty dinner for us and will veg out in front of the TV watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or maybe nature specials. Whatever. I am done cleaning stuff up for the day. The cleaning can resume tomorrow.

Grr.

I need a hug. And the upstairs needs a new toilet.

[Seanette]

(offers hug)

[Broomstick]

Thanks.

I need to remind myself that things ARE better than they were a year ago, this is only a temporary road block. I will get my life organized, my house cleaned up, etc., etc.

[Sarabellum]

I am feeling very overwhelmed and depressed about trying to keep my house clean(er). Last month I had all but 1 bedroom and the garage clean and orderly. Now it's ALL a mess again. Behind on laundry again, barely staying even on dishes and kitchen cleaning, the clutter is reaccumulating...

I did clean the toilets and vacuum and sweep downstairs. But there's so much.

I need a swift kick in the rear.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by Sarabellum1976

I am feeling very overwhelmed and depressed about trying to keep my house clean(er). Last month I had all but 1 bedroom and the garage clean and orderly. Now it's ALL a mess again. Behind on laundry again, barely staying even on dishes and kitchen cleaning, the clutter is reaccumulating...

I did clean the toilets and vacuum and sweep downstairs. But there's so much.

I need a swift kick in the rear.

For me, watching something like Hoarders or Hoarding: Buried Alive provides that burst of motivation.

[carnut]

Originally Posted by Sarabellum1976

I am feeling very overwhelmed and depressed about trying to keep my house clean(er). Last month I had all but 1 bedroom and the garage clean and orderly. Now it's ALL a mess again. Behind on laundry again, barely staying even on dishes and kitchen cleaning, the clutter is reaccumulating...

I did clean the toilets and vacuum and sweep downstairs. But there's so much.

I need a swift kick in the rear.

No you don't. You need to quit looking at the entire task. Break it down into smaller projects: Clean the bathroom; sort the kitchen food cupboards; sort the non-food cupboards; spot clean the carpet. They are all separate small projects.

Most of us can't do it all and some of us don't even try. But try to do something every day. Even if it is just something small.

On some days, I am able to accomplish more than one thing. Some days, I can accomplish a lot. But some days, I can only accomplish one thing regarding de-cluttering. Life just gets in the way. But doing nothing at all because the whole thing is overwhelming is what gets you into trouble.

And on that note, I'm going to move a bunch of paperwork into an unoccupied room for sorting and start sorting it.

[Broomstick]

Originally Posted by Sarabellum1976

I am feeling very overwhelmed and depressed about trying to keep my house clean(er). Last month I had all but 1 bedroom and the garage clean and orderly. Now it's ALL a mess again. Behind on laundry again, barely staying even on dishes and kitchen cleaning, the clutter is reaccumulating...

Take a deep breath...

I did clean the toilets and vacuum and sweep downstairs. But there's so much.

But you got at least that much done! Sure, there's more, but you DID get some tasks done! Be glad! You have clean toilets and floors! Yay!

Meanwhile - my plans were completely derailed: my work colleague was sidelined by a kidney infection (when she started pissing blood she went to the ER - she'll be fine, but obviously needs some recovery time) so instead of working on my own projects I had to go into work to cover for her. Well, it's just one of those weeks, I guess. I might get Thursday off, in which case I'll do some stuff then, otherwise I'm not off again until Sunday.

I did do the dishes and take out the garbage before leaving for work though. I can at least do that much.

[rocking chair]

making the bed is unhealthy!!! the bbc said so!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4181629.stm

so i'm going with it. no bed making unless i am changing the sheets.

now that the heat waves have broken i'm going to get back into it. time to corral the painting supplies and actually get the last little bits painted, and the paint neatly stored.

then get ready to closet change on labour day weekend!

[carnut]

Originally Posted by rocking chair

making the bed is unhealthy!!! the bbc said so!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4181629.stm

Interesting. My mother taught me to toss back the covers, get up and complete my morning ablutions, and complete my toilette before going back to make my bed. Her claim though, was that airing out the bed linens would help prevent me from getting yeast infections. Maybe she was right.

[Sarabellum]

I did get caught back up on my kitchen, and started making some headway on my laundry backlog.

I still need a swift kick in the rear, though. LOL.

[Seanette]

About all I've gotten done most of this week was maintenance (laundry, dishes, trash, cat box, bird cage). At least the place isn't any worse than it was a week ago. Unfortunately, it's not any better either.

[carnut]

Yesterday, I began to remove things from The Dreaded Heap (TM) which is a space that separates my bedroom from my office (think of bedrooms with knocked out walls). Stuff went into this area a couple of years ago when my basement flooded and I had to get paperwork and electronics out of there. Since then, it has only been disturbed when I have been looking for something specific.

The dust level is horrible. When I disturbed it, dust went flying or rolling in several directions. But so what? I am removing it down to the now bare (but dry) bedroom where am sorting all things. Some of the stuff I have uncovered is totally needless. It feels good to sort into filing or shredding piles and shake the dust off to boot.

That space will be replaced by an Ikea freestanding shelf unit that will serve as both a room divider and organizer. Once I picked up the shelf unit, I had to clean the space. But it will probably be two weeks before the new unit is up. I want to attach it to the wall and that task will take two people.

[Mama Zappa]

My latest: I got our computer's firewall set up so the multifunction unit (print/scan/fax/copy) will work when using the buttons on the device itself.

How does this relate? It means I can go through stacks of things like stock statements, and scan them, and shred the originals. I mean, I always *could* (by initiating the scan from the computer itself), but this requires fewer steps both literally and logistically. Now I can stand at the scanner with a stack of stuff, feed one group of papers, hit a button, wait a few seconds, then send the next batch.

So once I'm done that stack, I grab it, sit down at the computer, and glance at one file at a time to make sure it scanned, rename that file to something meaningful, and feed it to the shredder.

The shredder and my Dropbox account don't know what hit them .

I've barely made a dent in things, but at least I've got a start. c

[Lsura]

I intended to get more done this weekend, but I dd maintain the last few weeks worth of work. I'm ok with that - my big project right now is sorting/shredding, which, as I've started working through stuff, it looks like I haven't done in a major way since I left knoxville in 2004 - and in that time I've moved three times, two of them cross-country. oops.


FWIW, maintaining is the hardest part for me, so the fact that I'm getting stuff done and keeping it neat means I am slowly for ing the new habits I need to have.

[Broomstick]

So, does cleaning up the upstairs bathroom, helping to get the new toilet and shut-off valve installed, cleaning up the subsequent leak, getting that fixed, then cleaning up the *#$*~! bathroom again count? And having to mop the kitchen up where the water leaked from upstairs?

FINALLY I think I'll be able to get to the second "bedroom" down here tomorrow, to start making some progress again.

[j666]

You're all an inspiration.

I spent the week-end going through stacks of mail, making a list of things to do - fully expecting to find the list in three years at the bottom of another pile.

But, I did half the things on the list.

[moejoe]

I moved just about ten days ago and today I unpacked the last box. I still have a few pictures to hang, and I need to figure out where to put handbags and sweatshirts, but other than that I'm all moved in and everything has a place. Ten days, huh.

[Broomstick]

You know, this thread isn't for people like you. It's for those of us who take ten years to unpack, not ten days.

[Seanette]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

You know, this thread isn't for people like you. It's for those of us who take ten years to unpack, not ten days.

What about the ten-week types?

[perfectparanoia]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

You know, this thread isn't for people like you. It's for those of us who take ten years to unpack, not ten days.

What about those of us who take 24 hours? I knew damn well that if I didn't do it as fast as possible inertia would set in and I would have unpacked boxes forever.

This weekend was a struggle. I injured my shoulder and I am not allowed to use my right arm. Tidying the house with one hand (and not being able to bend over to pick stuff up) was challenging.

However, the main floor of the house and the basement are all tidied up as of today. The bedrooms are a bit of a mess. Mine isn't too bad but I need the kids to actually do theirs tonight.

But my husband fixed the front walkway. There is only one more mini-project I wanted to get done before the end of summer (levelling the stones around the garden). While I can't really help, I think hubby will be able to do it next weekend.

[carnut]

Originally Posted by perfectparanoia

What about those of us who take 24 hours? I knew damn well that if I didn't do it as fast as possible inertia would set in and I would have unpacked boxes forever. <snip>

Nope. Though this is for the person who does it as fast as possible until inertia sets in and doesn't get to the final stuff for two years - or more.

[Mama Zappa]

I bragged too soon. It took something like an hour hands-on to scan one manila envelope full of stock statements, including time to glance at each document and rescan a few of them. Phooey. Still something I need to push on with, because getting rid of even one binful of rarely-needed but can't-ditch paperwork is going to be a big victory. The fun part was seeing stuff from 24+ years ago (stock reinvestment paperwork, so we really do need to keep it).

[Lsura]

Originally Posted by carnut

Nope. Though this is for the person who does it as fast as possible until inertia sets in and doesn't get to the final stuff for two years - or more.

*raises hand in shame*

[carnut]

Originally Posted by Lsura

*raises hand in shame*

Me too Lsura, me too.

[Sunspace]

As part of the preparation for the move to college (at my age!), I'm inventorying and packing books. Inventorying, because these particular books are all going to someone else eventually. I'm putting them in marked boxes with packing lists, and then they they're going into the crawlspace and out of my life. It's an act that has some sadness, because the books were all once part of a dream. But it was a dream I was unsuited to, and now I'm moving on. Freedom and a new phase!

[moejoe]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

You know, this thread isn't for people like you. It's for those of us who take ten years to unpack, not ten days.

Ordinarily I might shuffle away in shame but I'm a reformed clutterbug and this move has been a revelation for me. About a year ago I started watching Hoarders, and thinking hard about my own home. I started de-cluttering and kept at it until I felt like I only had things I wanted or loved (just like they say you should).

It wasn't easy. I took piles of stuff to the goodwill that I had been hanging on to thinking I could sell them, and I threw away things that probably could have been of some use to other people. I also let go of really awesome things that I knew I might use someday, but hadn't actually gotten around to using in the years I'd owned them.

When it came time to move I was actually able to pack without having to sort, and when I got here and unpacked I could see where everything should go, and I was able to put things away in a really tidy and logical way.

As I'm typing this I know it's true, but I still can't quite believe it. I now have a home that's completely clutter free so, go me.

[VunderBob]

Last weekend, I gave away a 15 year collection of hobby magazines, clearing out 5 file cabinet drawers in the process. Once I'm done reorganizing the leftovers, I will get rid of 2 2-drawer cabinets, too.

I'm not doing without the magazines, however. I bought the DVD library that the publisher now sells. I've also been scanning and destroying all sorts of papers, similar to a previous poster here.


I have a fantasy of reducing my household possessions to that which can be moved in a single 16' Penske truck. Considering the last move used more than half a moving van, I got a long way to go.

[Dr. Woo]

I've been slack lately, partly due to the disruption of my dog's post-surgery crate rest requirements. I've had to spend nearly all my time in the family room, plus I've turned the downstairs into a sick room, with throw rugs all over the hardwood floors, a bunch of dog supplies hanging around, etc. Discouraging (and the dog ain't too happy either.)

But. Yesterday I laundered the family room couch. Cold water, tumble dry low. Okay, just the seat and cushion covers, but man what an improvement! I also doodled around and filled a couple of holes/defects in the drywall downstairs. Filled, sanded, textured, sanded and primed. I need to go out and get the paint, but I know the colors so the rest should be easy.

I gotta bite the bullet and buy a bookcase for the spare room so I can unpack these damn paperbacks. One day at a time.

[Broomstick]

And here I am worn out from just the second-job lawnwork and doing the week's shopping today. Tomorrow I have two more lawns to mow, the laundry to do and then maybe I can do some de-cluttering....

>sigh<

I think I'm actually getting more de-clutter done in my half-hour-before-I-leave-for-work chore time than I am on the weekends when I'm doing the chores I can't do during the work week.

[Seanette]

I've gotten rid of all moving boxes that aren't still doing something useful around here, thanks to Freecycle.

[j666]

I don't worry about neatly packed boxes and crates. I have a large enough house. Every 2 to 5 years I go through one and am overcome with emotions and memories ... and then I cull.

I can cull things with good memories easily; I can't deal with painful memories.

[shantih]

Hey, can I play too? I got onto a decluttering kick in the last month or so of last school year, which left me with a neat and organized closet for the first time in ever, a night table instead of a vaguely night table-shaped mound beside my bed surrounded by piles of things, and all sorts of order behind closed doors that might not have been obvious to anyone else, but I knew that the candles and candleholders and pet drawer and medicine cabinets and pantry were as they should be, and that was just enormously satisfying.

Well, we have a nasty problem in the cellar, but there's a delightful silver lining. We had a broken pipe or two in the wall, and by the time we realized what had happened, there was water under all the floors and mold creeping halfway up the walls and exploding under the wallpaper. We've had drying machines running day and night for more than three weeks now, and we still have at least a week to go. The silver lining is that we had to bring everything -- everything -- up from downstairs, and it's sitting in heaps in the living/dining rooms.

Okay, so that's not such a terrific thing at the moment, but the good part is that instead of having all this Stuff hidden away in the cellar, where it would have spent the next many years being hidden and adding to the sense of clutter in the house, there it all was front and center and underfoot. I have gone through all of it and it's now in three places: the stuff we're keeping is in neat stacks behind the dining table, the stuff we're throwing away is in a pile on the terrace or has already been carted away by the trash people, and the stuff I'm selling in a couple of weeks at a children's bazaar is in stacks in the living room, waiting for me to go through and sort and apply stickers with prices. What doesn't sell gets thrown out, not only ruthlessly but with glee.

I went through the book shelves in my bedroom today and filled one of those big blue Ikea bags with books that I carted away to the paper bins. (Don't mourn for them, it was stuff like a desk almanac of interesting and important facts which I was given in 1984. There's this internet thingy these days that has more facts and takes up less room, plus has updates on the things that have happened in the past 28 years.)

The house definitely still looks like a war zone, but by damn, I can see and feel that the amount of stupid cluttery dusty unneeded unimportant distracting unwanted Stuff is diminishing steadily, and I can look ahead to a time when I feel refreshed and energized by my home instead of feeling dragged down by it. Woot!

[carnut]

shantih, are you for hire?

[rocking chair]

woke up this morning in a cleaning mode. sorted 4 drawers so far. getting the laundry going. gearing up for the seasonal closet change.

switched the summer work bag for the autumnal work bag.

[troubledwater]

The other day I actually needed the backup power cord for my backup laptop. Because I had already cleared out all the unidentified/obsolete cords and cables, and labeled some of what I had kept, I was able to find the thing when I went looking. At the end of the day, that's what it's about - not keeping every single thing just in case you need it, nor getting rid of everything indiscriminately, but keeping the things you are most likely to need/want and being able to get to them when you do.

Well, it felt like a huge win to me, anyway.

[Hokkaido Brit]

I found my national health insurance bills that I temporarily mislaid and paid the entire year's worth at once. Had to take some money out of savings but it's DONE and I can't lose them again!!

I have also been doing 15 minutes a day of "stuff that never will have to be done again". Today it was shredding three books of my husband's that can't just be chucked. Very satisfying.

[shantih]

Originally Posted by carnut

shantih, are you for hire?

Oh, absolutely! I declutter for birthday parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, and anniversaries. For a low extra fee, I juggle wads of invoices from 14 years ago and random cables from the junk drawer in the kitchen.

[Sarabellum]

I managed to get a little more caught up (though still not back to the high watermark I set last month) over the weekend. I need praise and head pats now.

There are no dishes in the sink! The kitchen is (relatively) clean! Most of the downstairs has been de-cluttered and vacuumed this weekend. I made some headway in my daughter's messy room.

[Broomstick]

Well, I was doing pretty good. Had one of those "I didn't have to look for it!" moments when digging up paperwork to get our health insurance renewed because the papers are properly filed, then I went to look for the e-documents from last year, you know, the documents I scanned so they'd take up less room and then tossed the hardcopies, and...

First, I couldn't find the back-up portable hard drive with the records.

Then, when I booted it up it read as EMPTY!

Instant trigger of every anxiety/nightmare about throwing out Something Extremely Valuable. Also screwed up my sleeping so I'm running on about 4 hours of shut-eye, but I can catch a nap later today if I have to.

Well, after MUCH anxiety and gibbering it seems to have been a matter of a loose cable. Paperwork for insurance completed and will be sent in today. Yay me.

I know this is going to set me back for tossing other stuff. I think the only way I've restrained myself from printing out massive quantities of hard copies is a lack of paper for the printers (still have to go shopping this week). Engine failure in an airplane? NO PROBLEM! Tossing old paper? PANIC ATTACK! WTF is wrong with me?

On the upside - I have a friend coming to visit for a few days later this month and we usually spend some time doing some power purging. Every time we do that we make significant progress and I can maintain it once its done. I'm hoping that will get me back on track.

[Moonlitherial]

So now that my daughter has finished her packing and departed for her year of adventure and I'm no longer afraid that anything I touch will cause her elaborate packing plan to be confused I have started the year of declutter. We're not moving til June 2014 but my goal is to finish with all the throwing out before we leave to meet said daughter next April.

This weekend I took on my bathroom and tossed a huge bag of half filled and expired soap type products that were cluttering every corner. Sometime this week I will assemble a new shoe shelf and sort all shoes and assign them locations that are not "kicked under the nearest table" That will be a huge improvement to my getting out of the door routine.

[perfectparanoia]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

I know this is going to set me back for tossing other stuff. I think the only way I've restrained myself from printing out massive quantities of hard copies is a lack of paper for the printers (still have to go shopping this week). Engine failure in an airplane? NO PROBLEM! Tossing old paper? PANIC ATTACK! WTF is wrong with me?

Rather than printing off paper copies, set up a backup strategy. Even if one set of media fails, you should have a backup somewhere else.

From my clutter perspective, I cleaned out my closet this weekend to get rid of more clothes that are now too big for me. Now, the entire contents of my closet are:

4 signed t-shirts from various celebs
6 t-shirts
1 golf shirt
4 pairs of jeans
1 dress
4 pairs of shorts

I swear it can echo in there now (I love it!)

Now, I need to attack the shoes that I have stored away in various areas of the house. Either there is room for them on the one rack I have in the basement or they are gone! I can't wear heels anymore so I should just chuck them, DAMMIT!

[carnut]

Originally Posted by shantih

Oh, absolutely! I declutter for birthday parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, and anniversaries. For a low extra fee, I juggle wads of invoices from 14 years ago and random cables from the junk drawer in the kitchen.

Awesome talents!

[Broomstick]

Originally Posted by perfectparanoia

Rather than printing off paper copies, set up a backup strategy. Even if one set of media fails, you should have a backup somewhere else.

Yes, well, it's also on my list to burn some CD's, but imagine my panic when the main drive seems empty when I'm finally ready to do that!

In truth, I do have CD backup from about 14 months ago so not ALL would be lost but at the moment I wasn't thinking about that. Hey, that's why they call it "panic", right?

From my clutter perspective, I cleaned out my closet this weekend to get rid of more clothes that are now too big for me. Now, the entire contents of my closet are:

4 signed t-shirts from various celebs
6 t-shirts
1 golf shirt
4 pairs of jeans
1 dress
4 pairs of shorts

I swear it can echo in there now (I love it!)

Oh, I want that!

Another closet purge is on my to-do list.

I can't wear heels anymore so I should just chuck them, DAMMIT!

No, donate them. I can't tell you how many women have brought me heels picked up at the Salvation Army or Goodwill for minor repairs/polishing so they'd have something to wear to a job interview. Personally, I'm a little squicked at the notion of wearing previously owned footwear, but hey, if that's the only way to get the outfit you need to get a job I'm all for it.

[perfectparanoia]

Originally Posted by Broomstick

No, donate them. I can't tell you how many women have brought me heels picked up at the Salvation Army or Goodwill for minor repairs/polishing so they'd have something to wear to a job interview. Personally, I'm a little squicked at the notion of wearing previously owned footwear, but hey, if that's the only way to get the outfit you need to get a job I'm all for it.

I did mean donate. I donate anything that is at all still useable.

In the market for about 20 pairs of size six pumps?