Tomorrow!

The project starts tomorrow!

Decisions:

• No Free Box until summer, it all goes to the Goodwill or gets packed up in the attic for a future yard sale.
• Clothing will not count individually. I have so much to get rid of, 10 items will count as one day's worth of stuff.
• Trash does not count.
• If it is Dan's, he has to agree to let it go. Unless it is clearly trash and he is being unreasonable. 

So there you have it.

Tomorrow comes the pictures of the first thing to go!

Yay!

Waiting

I am waiting. Waiting to start this thing before I begin tossing stuff out. I could toss things right now, I know where a bunch of stuff is that I want to be rid of. I did not put it there in preparation for this blog, but I know it is there. It taunts me with its presence.

Do I toss it now and risk running out of things I am willing to do without?

I think it can live there in the closet until I start this.

In other news, I have made a chore calendar for me and my husband. He needed some reminders of what needed to happen and when. I have already found a few flaws in it, things happening two days in a row that only need to happen every 2 or 3 days. I will mark it up this month and then remake it for next month.

One of the chores I added was called "Tidy Up"

For that chore you spend just 5-10 minutes looking around you and finding what does not belong where it is currently existing, and you put it where it belongs. Things like the screwdriver on the desk that can go live with the other tools in the garage. The socks on the floor under the desk can go be in the dirty laundry bin. The blankets tossed on the couch can be folded and put neatly on the back of the couch. The Neosporin can go back into the medicine cabinet, the baby Tylenol can go back in the diaper bag... things like that.

I find that he and I both can become somewhat oblivious to things that are out of place. Or say "I didn't put it there, so I don't have to put it away" but if we are going to keep this house clean enough to have a free range toddler rampaging through all the common areas then we both need to be willing to do it just because we know where it goes.

I also made a list of House Rules.

If you take it out, put it away
If you see it needs to be done, do it
If you spill it, wipe it up
If you bring it in, take it back out
If you use it, put it back where you found it
If you start it, finish it
If you open it, close it when you are done
If you make it dirty, clean it
If you drop it, pick it up
If you use the last of it, replace it
If it is trash, put it in the trash bin
If it doesn't have a home yet, find one that makes sense
If you don't know, ask for an idea
If you need help, ask for it
If you want a hug, come get one.

It was inspired by this rule list that I saw in my Uncle's house for his girls.. I don't remember how it all went, but there were some that stuck with me. "If it breaks, fix it" for one, and the last one on it, "If it cries, comfort it"

It seemed a little impersonal in a way with the "It" factor, but I suppose you could put pets and people into it, if it is an it.


I think that if we can stick to actually doing these chores and making the house stay somewhat tidy it will be easier to reduce clutter because things will not get lost in the mess.

I will just have to wait and see if it works! 

Getting Ready

As the new year approaches and the start of my little project comes closer I am getting ready for it in odd ways.

While I debated just gathering things now to get rid of, I decided that it would have more impact if I chose each one daily instead of trying to plan ahead.

I decided that a "Free" Box on the curb might not be the best idea, so I will just put together a box to go to the Goodwill every week.

Even if a Free box might get me some publicity... It is still in the thoughts for maybe some of the stuff with a little bit of value to it. But how to protect it from the Portland rain?

Mostly it is the rain idea that keeps me from wanting to put a box on the curb.

I don't want to end up with a box of soggy goods that now are not even able to be donated to the Goodwill.

Ugh... decisions.

Beginnings

I started this blog with one goal, to declutter my home and make my life more simple.

My plan is, starting on January 1st, 2011 to throw away or give away one thing a day that currently is taking up space in my home.

My husband and I just moved into a new house with our 6 month old son and as I was looking at all the boxes piled up in the garage, all the STUFF we have between the two of us, I wanted to try and cut that back.

We both are pack rats, we both hold onto things for too long.

I think he has a harder time letting go of stuff than I do. Just in the 3 days we have lived here so far I have thrown some stuff away and he pulls it from the trash and asks "Why is this in the trash?"

The broken this, the old and nasty that... Isn't it obvious?

I think this journey will start off easy and become harder and harder as I cut down on the THINGS.

I am still debating some concepts as well. If I clean out my clothes, does each item count for the one a day or should it be shirts one day and pants the next? How do I get rid of things that technically are my husbands, but are no longer good. He has things like dried up old paint from highschool that hung out in our art closet for a year. But in that year, I never saw him paint, or even attempt to paint, but when I pointed out that it was bad after I tried to use it when I was painting a light switch cover for my son's room, he said "it's still good, I can make it work again" but never did.


Of course I will not remove anything of his that has clear sentimental value, but really... Old paint?

But before I get to his things, I have my own stuff to get rid of!

Onto other questions, should I put it in a covered box on the curb with a "Free" sign? Or just pile it into a bin and drop it at the Goodwill once a week?

How do I let go of craft project items I have hung onto for years now and carted from house to house to apartment and across three states? I keep meaning to DO something with them. Will this make me use them, but then what to DO with the finished craft?

Does it count as decluttering when I throw out something that technically is trash and useless (even though I have held onto it for years...) ?

Should I count outgrown baby clothes that I do not want to save for a potential sibling? 

And my biggest worry... Some things that I need to be rid of were once gifts from other people. Do I worry about them reading my blog and perhaps seeing something they gave me years ago in my Give Away box?  I do want to photograph each thing that I am getting rid of so I can mark my journey.

I will just have to solve all these problems by the first of the year and begin the process of getting rid of STUFF.

Here's to beginnings! May the Clutter be gone!