THANK YOU, sweet friends, for the encouraging words! Going through paperwork is so BLAH.... that it makes OTHER kinds of cleaning.... positively exciting.... in comparison!!!
I am "listening" to television.... to entertain myself while I do this paperwork stuff. But it is so DEPRESSING.... to hear the different "political sides" in the budget debate... to hear than CONSTANTLY insulting, deniegrading, calling each other names...... it's awful! I would NOT call this stuff "entertainment"!!!!!
So... working my way through the mountain of paper.
As far as the rest of the decluttering business....... absolutely the most helpful thing (to me) is NOT bringing more stuff in!
It has been so hot this summer that I have NOT gone to yard sales. I have even skipped my favorite half-price day at the Thrift Shop.... which happens every other Sunday. With the economic downturn... I have NOT been doing "recreational retail therapy". The book that I bought yesterday was one of the few non-grocery-store things that I have bought in quite a while.
(Always this disclaimer: people with children cannot stop buying stuff. Children genuinely need stuff!)
OK.... back to the paperwork!
And... with my goal for Christmas "Simple and Peaceful"..... I have cut out the "WOW! That is a great bargain! I'll buy it and THEN figure out who to give it to for Christmas." Too many of those things don't work out.