June Declutter Club

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homemade4me

MHH Member
Jun 30, 2020
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San Diego County
I am behind but today :

1 pair of slippers that should have been thrown out a long time ago, but because I seem to have to get every little inch of use out of something......I thought of this challenge!!!

A years worth of credit card receipts I never go through because we don't use it that often.......so an envelope full.

About 20 fast food packets, ketchup, hot sauce etc. from the bottom of the jar ....we don't eat fast food that much so they had to be old....how long do those things last anyway?

Thanks for this challenge!!


Laurie

2021 JOY
 
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jampss

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Oct 24, 2007
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1 avocado slicer tool - donate box
2 empty mini pocket notebooks - donate box
3 three bathroom items: soap dish, animal bobby pins set, water pik - donate box
4 old boxes broken down - placed in recycling
5 five items from plastic stacking drawers: old mini box, glitter glue, 2 mouse pads, plastic pencil sharpener
6 packs of 4x6 photo paper - donate box
7 old freebie library kiddie bookmarks - threw away
:)
 

luludou

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Dec 28, 2007
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Québec - Canada
Darn just reading MissJoDee - I forgot to buy bibs when I ran my errands this morning.

Decluttered a set of dishes that were way heavy. On the other hand my mom gave me some (there are less pieces) so there is more space in the cabinet but it isn't empty. I just wanted white dishes but dh didn't want to throw away a 'good' set of dishes. since mom's aren't all the same... they just might be given away next time I do the cabinets... I bought more white dishes at the dollarstore this morning ;).... which means I will have what I want at the end by taking a detour
 
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missjane

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Oct 13, 2007
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Louisiana
I've been reading through the posts and trying to catch up. After reading the May posts of decluttering and seeing how many are dealing with people's stuff after their passing....it prompted this question.

How many of us are rethinking what all we are hanging onto? I know I have been. My mom, who is a hoarder, has filled up two BIG houses with "stuff," the house she and my Daddy lived in and my grandmother's house that she bought out my uncle's part of after my grandmother passed away. We'll have all that to deal with when she's gone, if she doesn't outlive us. I have two sisters who are also hoarders. When is enough, enough? KWIM? Dsis#1 has at least 20 wooden spoons!

I've even started giving some (not all, though ;)) of the sentimental items I kept from my children's childhoods to them. I've kept them because of the attachment I had to them, but if they have no meaning to my children, why keep them? They'll only have to deal with them when I'm gone.

I have really started to weigh the, "how much would I really use this and where is this going to be stored?" against the "oh, that's pretty and I want it!" before I purchase things. I'm not 100% good at it all the time, but I'm much more thoughtful about what I purchase than I used to be. I don't want my own children to be overwhelmed after I'm gone trying to deal with my stuff.

I don't know...it's just where my mind is going at this time.
 
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Holiday_Mom

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Sep 12, 2009
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How many of us are rethinking what all we are hanging onto?
I am! My mother-in-law is a saver and her cousin was a "collector" of books and records. When her cousin died, the first thing his wife did was get rid of all the books he had. I do not know how she did it all those years. There was a path way in their house to get from the kitchen to the living room. Books on shelves filled the rooms and hallways. It was like a very disorganized library.

My in-law's house has knick-knacks, knitting machines, yarn, craft books tucked away in corners, shelves and on the wall. The garage is filled with shelves of yarn. The basement has years and years worth of grocery store bags and plastic containers like margarine tubs and Cool Whip containers for storing leftovers.

I helped moved my grandmother from her one bedroom apartment to a studio apartment. When she moved from the studio apartment to the nursing home, my 5 little ones at the time helped me to move her. My parents were not able to get time off because they were dealing with their own health issues and had no more time left to take off. My grandmother could not part with the empty margarine tugs. She wanted to make sure her neighbors would get them rather than recycle them. I left them out on the front step for the neighbors but no one was interested in them.

Seeing the attachment to things that aren't being buried with them has changed my perspective on what I value. Yes, I have hobbies and there are a lot of books that I own but I have to do a heart check to make sure that they are not taking me away from relationships that I want to cultivate. At the end of it all, we can take anything with us but we can leave memories (and perhaps a few meaningful items) with our loved ones.

When my grandmother died, she had a closet full of clothes, a television, and a few boxes of personal items like poetry she wrote, paintings she painted and photographs that hung on the wall. Recently, my dad passed on my grandmother's paintbrushes to my daughter who does art. She was thrilled because it had meaning and they were really nice brushes. LOL!
 

Holiday_Mom

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I like this idea. I can't post everyday because I did a big declutter in the winter. However, I have at least 7 boxes going out to recycling today.
 
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Lana

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Oct 13, 2007
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Southern Illinois
Allen is cleaning the little (over stuffed) table off around his chair and that area. Lots of seed magazines and such going into the trash. When he was down he was building quite a collection around that area!

I worked on the table and finally got the plastic Easter tablecloth off. Threw alot away from there but still a small section to go thru.
 
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Miss JoDee

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Apr 22, 2011
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Gurnee, IL
Day 6
5 pairs of socks
1 bottle saved for craft I do not need
2 unused tote bags
1 photo album
I yellow pages book
1 Small box
1 Empty container of protein shake
1 piece of year old mail from village.
 
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Miss JoDee

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Apr 22, 2011
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Gurnee, IL
After having to clean out mom’s house and knowing what was sent to the local thrift store after our family of lots of different households is exactly why I am going through my house. I keep telling DH we have to much stuff. He says he is comfortable in our house. I will continue to reevaluate after this month and do it again during the HHP whole house cleaning.
 

luludou

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Dec 28, 2007
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I am like MissJoDee, after cleaning out mil's house and now seeing how mom's house is piling up with the 'funny' ideas she gets from her alzheimers I do not want to keep for anyone. Anyhow I've been bringing toys down from the attic for the grandkids and my kids don't wan them... they tell me to leave it here for when they come! I have way too much. My dh is also comfortable with what we have but I feel like it's too much. I will continue decluttering a little at a time.
 

Miss JoDee

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Apr 22, 2011
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Gurnee, IL
Day 6
5 pairs of socks
1 bottle saved for craft I do not need
Day 7
3 pieces of plastic canvas
1 old tableclothes
4 curtains and other fabric I won't use or should be used by any one else.
I also have a large box filled with fabric that will go to a friend that quilts and her Ddil makes items for an Etsy shop.
 
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jampss

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Oct 24, 2007
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I've been reading through the posts and trying to catch up. After reading the May posts of decluttering and seeing how many are dealing with people's stuff after their passing....it prompted this question.

How many of us are rethinking what all we are hanging onto?
I am!! My mother was a hoarder. Her mother, we believe had OCD. My sister is a semi-hoarder. I have small tendencies towards keeping stuff and being ocd'ish. But both my kids ... DD29 was as a child hoarding but in her teen years, we took everything out, painted, new curtains, carpet, etc and then really purged and only put back into her room the essentials. After that, she was pretty good, had to fight it and when stuff got out of hand a little, she was on it and doing a clean and purge. My DS17 ... has extreme OCD (hoarding in the same mental illness family as OCD).

All that said, it's a struggle ... but in January 2019, DD and I did the Marie Kondo or KonMari deep declutter of the entire house. We joke, but not really, that DD who was moving to VT soon, didn't want to inherit the 'mess' someday perhaps!!! It was the BEST gift she could have ever gave me!! To do it together was motivating and accountability so helped! We laughed over things and said, "Why did we keep this?" and we also went through the stuff I saved for her! And in the end, she only kept a few baby clothes of hers, some toys and kiddie books. She had over the teen years, gone through her artwork and put into folders the 'best of the best', so that was done. We still looked through those and laugh at her cute drawings of the cat or the pics she made of our family at ages 5 or 6 when it was a head and lines coming out of the head for arms and legs!!

So! Yes, that is a GOOD question!!


 
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luludou

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took 3 boxes on the top shelf of dh's garage in the recycling bin. another one is his old pair of ski shoes but they are yucky and dry...got them out so he can decide if he keeps them or not
 
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Miss JoDee

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Apr 22, 2011
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Gurnee, IL
I didn't even do any declutter yesterday so today will have to be 19 items. I was feeling "off" so it didn't get done. I have a closet and a dresser waiting for my attention.
 

Miss JoDee

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Gurnee, IL
Day 9 & 10
11 pieces of glass removed from picture frames
4 sewing patterns
3 cookies cutters
1 quilt book to friend
 
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Miss JoDee

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Apr 22, 2011
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Gurnee, IL
Day 11
1 duffle bag to DD(34)
2 Beach towels to DD(34)
1 small TV to DD(34)
3 earrings sets to DD(34)
3 pieces of Mom's jewelry to DD(34)
1 wallhanging to donation box
Day 12
2 picture frames to DD(32)
1 bottle of perfume
1 large wall mirror
1 cloth napkin
1 bath rug
1 hand towel
1 worn mattress pad
1 torn gift bag
1 clothes hanger that doesn't match the rest
 
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