It’s as hot as hades in Sydney today and none of my light and breezy clothes fit. (cf weight loss thread). I had trouble finding anything suitable (a rant for another thread) but managed to get two pairs of pants and one top. Even before I brought them into the house, I went through the spare wardrobe and removed four bottoms and two tops.
One in, two out is my new rule regarding clothing.
The same works for anything that can be used in any kind of “shop” courses. My Electronics’ teacher had obtained most of his materials by bin-diving.
Well, I had a good start just before Christmas, but I then got bronchitis, and haven’t done a darn thing since.
And the box of Christmas china (and random other china) is sitting there, looking at me as if to say, “Not this year, either, you lazy bint!”
Just cleaned out my sock drawer(s). I don’t know how they accumulate; maybe they breed? Filled half of a garbage bag, stuck it out on the curb with a ‘free socks’ sign, and they disappeared within an hour.
Small but satisfying, isn’t it? I love opening my sock drawer (yeah, the one which wouldn’t close properly before because it was stuffed full) and be able to see all my socks & tights at a glance.
Yeah, it is. I went through a spate of trying to find socks that didn’t cut off the circulation in my legs (as I’m diabetic), and built up quite a supply of rejections. I finally figured out that ankle socks are the best bet for daily wear and rag socks work well for slobbing around the house. As a result, most of the socks that I put out for some homeless person to find were in nearly new to barely worn condition.
We also have a ton of games in a closet. My new son-in-law expressed an interest in classic board games, so I wrapped a couple for him and gave them to him for Christmas. (With lots of other stuff.)
When my kids were in school I was involved with the GATE parent support group for our school district, and I started a networking event where GATE kids would gather in a big multipurpose room and play games. They were supposed to bring them, but we brought lots ourselves. When our kids graduated I donated them to the group so they continue. which helped clean out the closet. Still have lots to go.
I haven’t looked at this thread in depth, but I will for ideas. I’m retiring soon, and one of my projects is to clean up so we can move from a five bedroom house to a three bedroom condo across the country.
I’ve got about three years. It’s going to be tight.
One kid is going to be in a permanent and probably pretty large house later this year, and the other will move in another year. First step is to have them take their stuff. Or else.
Then I’ve got to kiss goodbye to my closet full of completed but cool jigsaw puzzles. I doubt many are worth selling on ebay. There is a good thrift store (for a charity) which I get my puzzle fix from - they will be ass deep in puzzles soon. Ones I do and don’t keep I put out for people in the neighborhood to take, but I have too many for this to work.
Then cut down the video tapes. Not too many. Donate the clothes I’ll never wear again. Cut down to only one of each type of tool. Go through the slides I got from my father and digitize them. Get rid of excess t-shirts and tote bags from conferences.
I’ll be studying this thread.
Win/win.
Retirement and downsizing are great motivators. I dumped nearly all of my work clothes: ties, suits, sport coats, slacks, chinos and the like. Then culled out all the old “I’ve been there!” tee shirts (ditto souvenir mugs), and duplicate jeans in sizes up and down the waist expansion changes over the years. Fuck it, I can buy new jeans if I need them. Dress shoes: gone! Twenty boxes of books to The Sallies. Bags and bags of the wife’s business attire. Uploaded CDs and LPs to iTunes and got rid of bulky stereo components and large speakers (it killed me, but a good idea in the long run). Sent all my old military crap to my grandson, who was interested in it. Garage sale for a lot of miscellany that included tools, framed poster art, etc.
Senior citizen facilities also like jigsaw puzzles.
And board games! Specially if they have any kind of pawns or other figurines. Someone brought a Carcasonne to the old folks’ home where my Grandma lives and it’s been a double hit: with the better-shape crowd for the game itself, and with some of the others as just pretty colored pieces to play with. I hear the therapist is in seventh heaven; I recommended several stores she could try but don’t know if she’s been yet.
They already had several of the classics as well as dominoes and cards, but they didn’t even know there were new board games invented in the last, oh… 200 years?
I have all but done my taxes - deadline is 31st Jan - the form is complete and and checked and I’m just leaving it a day or two before double-checking and submitting. But it means that I have done a sort and sift of the paperwork, and got rid of loads.
Oh man.
I’m back to college this semester (for the first time in about… 16 years) and between my regular job, taking care of four kids myself, and now school, homework, and labs…
Yea, my housekeeping has slacked off like majorly bad. I need one of those SDMB-patented “swift kicks in the rear” and right sharpish.
Good idea. I can save some out with relatively large pieces and not too weird a picture. I like weirder ones than normal.
My waist has hardly budged in 3 decades, so I don’t have a lot of stuff that won’t fit, but I have stuff that I look at and decide I don’t want to wear. Work clothes are khakis and button down shirts which I might wear anyhow. Hardly any suits. I’ll keep the one I got married in which I can almost fit in, and maybe one more.
My wife commutes down the hall so she does not have an excess of work clothes. The clothes will be the easiest to clean out.
Silicon Valley companies used to give out lots of T-shirts - getting rid of them will be the hard part.
No, just someone to point out the solution right in your post. Four kids can get a lot of house work done.
Now, if you can’t get the kids to do their shares, then we can have a good old-fashioned pile on.
They’re little kids… and unfortunately not super helpful unless I stand over them and MAKE them. And right now I don’t really have time to do that. You know, 'cause I’m drowning in homework.
My eldest is 10, and he’s been pitching in, making dinner a few nights a week. My second-oldest has been pulling her weight as well, helping with the two youngest. (Helping them get their homework done, etc.)
Looks like Fridays are gonna be my new “clean” days.
You know, this is not a clutter and clean up topic; you don’t have any issue other than life happens. Four kids, the oldest ten, the best you can manage is teaching them to take care of themselves without losing it. You do not need an ass-kicking, you need a grandparent riding shotgun.
However, if you’d like one piece of advice, make one day - Saturday? - the food prep day, so everyone can just nuke up a meal any time the rest of the week. And resist the temptation to rely on pre-frozen meals. They all have too much sugar or fat.
tl:dr - yeah, I was a tad snarky, sorry.
My kids are 18 and 21 and aren’t any better at keeping up with the chores than your 10-and-unders :(. They quit believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy over a decade ago, but their faith in the Dish Fairy remains strong despite some pretty significant evidence to the contrary.
Do look into what we call “investment cooking”, where you spend a day doing major-league food prep and freeze meals, which will certainly make everyone’s jobs easier on a day to day basis (and hey, piled-up dishes DO count as clutter that must be dealt with). It’ll free you up for homework, and make it easier to keep up other aspects of the housework.