It seems like every magazine I’ve picked up recently has had something in it about decluttering and organizing. You would think that spring is fast approaching or something! Well, in my own personal attempt to start spring cleaning early, I too have jumped on the “declutter and organize” wagon in hopes that I won’t have to spend so much time looking for stuff daily. I also would love to have my home be a place of sanity and order rather than chaos! Here’s what I’ve done so far:
I started selling DVDs and Blue Ray discs that I don’t want through Amazon . In just over two months I’ve earned a little more than $150! Not too shabby considering these are things I would have made pennies on at a garage sale or nothing on had I just donated them to Goodwill.
I tamed my magazine stack! I have a bad habit of subscribing to a crap load of magazines and then letting them stack up regardless of whether I’ve read them or not. So, one day I just sat going through them, ripped out the pages I wanted to keep and filed them into a cabinet and threw out the rest of the magazine. I still have about half of my magazines left to go, but it feels a little more manageable. When I have a little extra time I’ll go through one or two and when I have a lot of extra time I’ll go through even more.
I finally got rid of clothes that don’t fit. There is no sense in keeping clothes that don’t fit. I had five bags of clothes to give away once I took the time to tackle my closet! Clothes I haven’t worn for three years or more instantly went into the donation pile and the rest I took a few minutes to decide whether to keep or toss. I took the ones that were really difficult to part with and put them on a separate rack. If they have not been touched in the next few months they will be heading out the door too!
I don’t really have any fancy clothes that I was getting rid of so rather than attempt a consignment shop I opted to just give them to a local thrift store that raises money for battered and abused women and children.
I broke some glasses. I decided it’s silly to keep a bunch of glasses in the cupboard when it’s just me and my husband that live here. I threw the excess into a bag and took them down to the recycle bin. Breaking them wasn’t intentional, but hey at least they are out of my way now and I can see the glasses that are still in the cupboard.
I scanned my articles. As a writer I keep everything I have published. This meant stacks of newspapers and magazines just for a single page that had an article in it. I decided to scan the articles to clear all those newspapers and magazines out of my place. The best part is now I can load them to a web portfolio for my friends and family that live out of state to see.
Next up is my pantry. I confess I have avoided this one like crazy because I am an avid couponer who sometimes takes the freebies a little too far and ends up with things like 80 cans of green beans that I don’t know what to do with. To tackle this project I am trying to figure out what I really need to keep and what I am okay with giving to a food bank.
I’ve still got a long way to go in my anti-hoarding endeavor. Just in the things I have parted with though I feel happier. Everything that leaves my apartment feels like a little weight lifting off of my shoulders. I hope I can keep this up and avoid bringing more stuff back in!
