March Declutter Club

[catnipper]

Hello all,
I like the idea of rolling spare change. Which one of you was looking in my storage building at my jar of pennies?? Just kidding. That's a great idea to put the money towards Christmas. Since my husband is out of work, there's not a lot in the Christmas fund.

 

[SparkleNana]

Tuesday morning! Today... we begin with breakfast with ds31, ddil#1 & dgd10! The rest of the day is flexible... depending on their needs (for sleep, among other things) I will be alternating between..... ((1)- most important) resting/conserving energy for family time.... and (2) cleaning/decluttering!

 

[SparkleNana]

Baby steps ARE making things better! Just picking up, doing laundry, doing dishes. Sweeping. They make things look MUCH better.

Hopefully.... the energy will last for some decluttering this afternoon!

 

[Christmaslvr]

Not much decluttering going on here but I have been using some scrapbook stash to make cards and finish up a baby album that I started months ago. Of course I haven't made a dent in supplies, but it feels good to be using some things up (and not buying new things!)

I do have some clothes to look through...I will get to that this week.

AND I forgot I have a 2lb 2.5oz coffee can overflowing with pennies. Years ago when I was saving change I use to separate pennies from silver. We are going to sit down and roll a little at a time and see what we have. It will go into our "moving fund"...even if it's just a few bucks.

 

[SparkleNana]

Christmaslvr... getting money into the "Moving Fund" is VERY exciting! I know how thrilled you will be.... when you can move to the OTHER coast of the USA.... and NOT be 3,000 miles from your relatives and old friends! I forget.... which month are you moving? And is it definite... or a "target" date?Catnipper... good for you for rolling those coins too!

Piratemamaof3boys... don't you just love Easter stuff? It is so cheerful!

I did "routines" and "general clean-up".... and things look OK!!! I HOPE to get some REAL deluttering done tomorrow!!!!!

Isn't it funny? The more stuff we get rid of.... the more we hunger for "open, clear space"!!!

 

[MinnieCo]

Nancy, I still haven't been to our big scrapbook store since last year sometime. I almost gave in the other day, but I kept driving. I'm purging and I'm not going to buy something unless I absolutely need it. I still have to buy basic card stock, but I can do that at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I don't get in nearly as much trouble there as I do Archivers.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I fully agree about Archiver's. For years the sales people all knew me by first name. Since I decluttered I'm not down there as much. When I cleaned up my Scrap Studio I found over 300 sheets of just Heritage scrapbooking paper. I have a better selection of heritage paper than any shop. I really do need an Archiver's fix. I think I'll go next week. I have an album I need to finish. Maybe I'll spend a day down there scrapping.

 

[jampss]

Decluttering

Well, for me, I cleaned and de-cluttered on Wednesday this messy dusty computer/school/junk room. I use something called Freecycle and it's a yahoo group. You post what you are getting rid of and folks who want it, come and get it!

Now, I can sit at this computer and not feel the chaos of mess all around me. Well, until DS7 gets home from the grandparents, anyway! He's a mess maker, but loves doing "crafts" at the big table in here!

I post my cleaning over at the Cleaning Year Round Jump Start thread.

Sounds like everyone is doing great of decluttering and keeping everyone else motivated to do it!

 

[Colleen in PA]

For those of you who are rolling your coins...we used to take our coins in bags to Commerce Bank....they had a machine in the lobby that you could just dump them in, it would calculate the total and they'd give you bills...NO FEE! And, you didn't need to be a bank customer either. They were always super friendly because that is one of the things "secret shoppers" tend to do when they come into the branch. Commerce is now TD Bank, but it might be worth a call to your local banks to see if they offer this service...free! It might save you time rolling all of those coins!

 

[Ahorsesoul]

My credit union has a change machine they will dump coins into. My DH will not take his change into the bank so he has me do it. I change him $10 for this service. lol

I need to get back to decluttering. I haven't done any in the last week or so.

Remember you are not only doing yourself a service but also a service to your community by keep your local thrift store in business by giving them your clutter!

 

[Christmaslvr]

Nancy, I still haven't been to our big scrapbook store since last year sometime. I almost gave in the other day, but I kept driving. I'm purging and I'm not going to buy something unless I absolutely need it. I still have to buy basic card stock, but I can do that at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I don't get in nearly as much trouble there as I do Archivers.

Michelle: I made a promise to not buy anymore supplies, except for adhesive, which I just ordered online so I will be good for a long while (I hope!) I just finished an 8x8 baby album and am starting a mini chipboard one with the scraps I have. Plus I have been making cards like crazy. I decided to go thru my "stuff" and pull out all the little packages of scraps and make cards from those, instead of cutting into new paper and making MORE scraps! I'll never make a dent in the paper I have, but I think this will clean up what's laying around (again, I hope!)

ETA: No Archivers here or where we will be moving to in FL...I guess that's a good thing...

 

[MinnieCo]

Nancy, Archivers can be dangerous. All of our small, indepedent stores are gone, so that's it for us. I love it, but hate to see all the ma and pa stores go out of business.

 

[MinnieCo]

Working on a bit of a purge and spring cleaning in my bedroom. It's been seriously avoided the last several months. Opened up the window today for the first time this year and did some purging. Not a ton, but enough for a nice looking change. Now I'm off to dust, change the sheets and vacuum.

 

[Christmaslvr]

Nancy, Archivers can be dangerous. All of our small, indepedent stores are gone, so that's it for us. I love it, but hate to see all the ma and pa stores go out of business.

When I lived in NJ, there was only one LSS, which was just ok. Out here in CA, there's not one around at all. In NJ I had Michael's, JoAnn's & AC Moore, and out here there is Michael's & JoAnn's. I think there is a Hobby Lobby where we are moving to in FL. I have trouble staying away from paper and rubber stamps right now!

 

[Christmaslvr]

Working on a bit of a purge and spring cleaning in my bedroom. It's been seriously avoided the last several months. Opened up the window today for the first time this year and did some purging. Not a ton, but enough for a nice looking change. Now I'm off to dust, change the sheets and vacuum.

Sounds great Michelle! It definitely helps to see a change! I still have our bedroom closet to tackle...been saying that for a while now!

 

[SparkleNana]

Monday, March 21st. I've had a break for part of this afternoon. AND.... no big projects. Routines and baby steps. Little minutes... little jobs.... DO add up.

I must admit that I am thinking longingly about the day when I WILL get a "big chunk of time" for some serious deluttering. I don't know when that will be. We never know how long an "unexpected crunch-time" will last. That is OK. Meanwhile.... I will just stick with the "little minutes".

 

[Christmaslvr]

Not really decluttering but I finally got to all of our dvd's and reorganized and alphabetized them! they are no longer in cardboard boxes, but in bins and easier to get to now and easier for us to move them when we move. I also reorganized the final drawer in our living room built ins and was able to re-direct some of Ken's things. I feel better that that is done. At least I know that what's in them is staying with us.

I do have a few things to put together for the Salvation Army store, but have no clue when I'll get there. Once I have what I want to donate, I'll just but the bag in the trunk of my car.

 

[MinnieCo]

You know, I've been letting my husband off the hook in the bedroom, thinking he'll come around if I ignore it long enougg and that's NOT the case. So, I told him Saturday night, I'll just go back to being naggy or move it myself. I'll give him the choice though! I just love having my clean bedroom back. I haven't decorated anything upstairs in my house for awhile and I realize I'm starting to get bored of my stuff. To tossing it out or donating a few things will give me room for some change if I come across anything I might want to change up.

 

[MinnieCo]

Had my daughter do her nomal Spring Break clean in her room today. We tossed one bag of old items not worth saving and put aside another trash bag of stuff for donations. Sometimes she gets carried away, so I always have to do the final approval. Today, there was only one thing I wanted her to keep and that was a church youth poster. But when she came to me, she had that look on her face like...I know I'm pushing the issue...LOL So I compromised. One she kept, one went in the trash!

 

[SparkleNana]

Wednesday, March 23rd. Ds, ddil & dgd have gone to the airport...... to spend the next couple of weeks...... taking care of business in another city. A city that is NOT in Japan! We have had a wonderful visit. A wonderful, exhausting visit. No decluttering got done during this visit. And..... now we have a couple of weeks to prepare for the next visit.

Some preliminary work was taken care of, late this afternoon. Peliminary cleaning and organizing. Necessary supplies were bought..... trash bags, garden clean-up bags... and chocolate!!!

Now... for a restful evening and a good night's sleep!