• UNCLUTTERER HOME
  • FORUM HOME

or Register - lost password?

Unclutterer Forums

The community for people interested in home and office organizing.

Unclutterer ForumsWelcomeHello!

A Thing A Day: 2011 Challenge

(4679 posts) (144 voices)
  • Started 1 year ago by happymonkey
  • Latest reply from pkilmain
  • RSS feed for this topic
Overall Rating: 9 votes

Tags:

  • a thing a day
  • ATAD
  • decluttering
  • decluttering daily
  • donating
  • eco-bag
  • FEW.
  • glass
  • green bag
  • high school
  • home workouts
  • home workouts review
  • junk room
  • mug
  • reusable bag
  • save money
  • stuff
12…234Next »
  1. happymonkey
    Member

    Since it's already January 1st for many Unclutterers, I thought I would start a new thread for our 2011 ATAD challenge. As with the old thread, the challenge is about getting rid of one object a day, for as long as you want your own personal challenge to last.

    Whether you have a few random items to sort through, or a house stuffed to the rafters, letting go of one thing a day will set you on a path to eventual freedom from the tyranny of your stuff.

    Items can be given away, trashed, recycled, donated -- the disposal process is up to you, as long as they are out of your space and your life.

    Make yourself accountable and encourage others by listing what went out today!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  2. Nuria_P
    Member

    Good idea, I'll join it!
    By the way, I wish you all a happy and uncluttered 2011!!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  3. jbeany
    Member

    Excellent plan - the tag list on the other one is so long now, you have to scroll down forever to start reading the posts!

    Today's OUT - a handful of bubble-lined mailing envelopes that had made it into the recycling pile, but aren't accepted in the recycling bins. I also shuffled things around in the storage area, with the intent of finding space for some new, stacking storage units to hold my recycling. That will be an IN, but it will be worth it to not have things scattered all over in there.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  4. DanielleandTom
    Member

    I'm on a tear today (as I was yesterday), as my daughter and husband are out of town visiting my in-laws. A bunch of spring/summer clothes to consign on Monday, and 2 large black trash bags full of stuff for donations (mostly household stuff and Christmas goods, some clothes that our donation place will use for textile recycling).

    Also cleared the pantry of expired food and the medicine cabinet of expired medicine. That was eye-opening!

    Husband comes back Sunday at noon so I have one more day to declutter completely uninterrupted. My daughter is with ILs until next Saturday though, so maybe he'll help!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  5. pkilmain
    Member

    jbeany - if you click on the red time of the last post, it will take you to the end of messages, much easier to scroll up a few to the last one you previously read!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  6. happymonkey
    Member

    I'm starting the new year by uncluttering my Christmas decorations.

    Out:
    box full of unused and/or broken ornaments
    stockings purchased 5 years ago and never used (we already had some)
    lots of tree lights (replacing with new LED)

    Happy New Year, everyone!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  7. tmichelle
    Member

    Today I'll be cleaning up the Christmas clutter that so far has escaped the trash/recycle bin at my parent's home. I will also help her take down her Christmas tree and get rid of some of the tacky ornaments she has overlooked.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  8. lottielot
    Member

    ooh, nice new uncluttered thread! Happy new year to all!
    I am waiting for my dh to go back to work on Tuesday, he is driving me crazy with all his mess, especially in the kitchen. Nice to have him cooking, really crap to have to clean up everything afterwards as he seems to be unaware of the presence of a kitchen bin...I may float the idea of putting the tree and decorations away today.
    Out: some paper flowers and vase my ds2 made me for mother's day. Very cute but I don't want it cluttering up my bedroom.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  9. Jennifer
    Member

    A big Happy New Year to all!

    Out: empty bottles and dull razors from the shower, assorted papers from my temporary desk (the dining room table), packing material from my new desk (yet to be put together), three boxes of work related supplies relocated to the actual work office, old pillows donated to the dog beds.

    Dusting, vacuuming and washing floors today, nice not to be working around clutter.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  10. Nuria_P
    Member

    Today I haven't done much, really, but yesterday was a big day... I got rid of one of my couches! we are planning on buying a new one later this year, and the one we got rid off was only used to store clutter... that was a big out!
    My frontroom looks 3 times bigger now, and much easier to clean and keep unclutterer.
    Tomorrow, it will be time for the kitchen...and that will probably be a long list of "outs"!!!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  11. DanielleandTom
    Member

    Donations:
    Sheets (great condition but don't fit any of our beds, I had them for when I worked at camps and needed to stay in college dorms)
    Cutting boards
    Old computer bag
    Kitchen odds and ends

    Trash:
    Freezer burned food
    Ornament boxes--I bought plastic multiple compartment ones so we don't need the individual boxes they came in anymore

    Posted 1 year ago #
  12. badkitti
    Member

    Today I've done nothing, including not doing a ginormous pile of marking. Grrr to em

    However - 6 or 7 clothing items now waiting to go to charity.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  13. candy
    Member

    Trash: Old performance review papers and illegible notes from personal development training course. Bunch of recipes and other miscellaneous cuttings from various magazines. Christmas cards from family/friends (no, I don't keep them).

    Charity bag: A very comfortable but unflattering dress (wonder why I ever bought it in the first place). Three long-sleeved t-shirts that look nice but attract/generate static electricity in a very unpleasant way.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  14. Rosa
    Member

    We have been cleaning house, so I can't even list everything; there are 2 small cardboard boxes and 4 paper grocery bags of things in my giveaway pile, even though we dropped off the old giveaways on Dec 22.

    So, as far as I can recall:

    a ton of unmatched winter gloves, hats with holes in them, kid's art projects, ruined baby books (chewed, scribbled in) - into the trash.

    Recycling: all the purely paper art projects (except the few I put into the binder to keep), junk mail while we were out of town.

    Donate: toys, a lamp, and a board game my son spontaneously decided he didn't need anymore because we cleaned his room and he was frustrated trying to find places for things. Matched and whole but nonfitting hats, mittens, and gloves; excess winter scarves; about a shelf-foot of books (we got a lot for Christmas, so weeding had to happen); a pink dress and two more pink shirts (I finally gave up on wearing pink because it just highlights the broken blood vessels in my face that I hate.)

    Posted 1 year ago #
  15. jbeany
    Member

    I'm sorting my jewelry making supplies into my newly purchased organizer. Wow, time to stop buying new supplies until this lot thins out! Amazing what you forget you have when it's crammed in multiple boxes and not visible all at once. I've been sorting and tossing misc. junk that got tossed in with the supplies "justincase" I ever got inspired to use it, as well as ripped bags and unneeded labels. I've filled one little trash bin already, and added a few costume jewelry pieces that I had considered taking apart for beads to the donate bin. OUT!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  16. pkilmain
    Member

    It's too windy to burn all the trash I've created cleaning my office, but hopefully that will happen soon.

    Out: 2010 calendars! Christmas cards, a bunch of non-working pens uncovered when emptying stuff from meetings, conferences, etc.; excess little gifty sizes of toiletries (most opened so not donate-able)

    Relocated: a bunch of pads of lined paper that made their way to my office. DH was thrilled to take them off my hands - he is much more a pen/paper person whereas I tend to use the computer; also to DH a book from a church meeting I attened in - oops, 2009 - that I know he will enjoy (found when emptying the same things that resulted in pens)

    Donate: excess mittens/gloves (got 2 new pair of much nicer ones for Christmas)

    @jbeany - I have managed to keep my beads to one compartmented container, but I just hate that you have to buy so many of the seed beads (and other small ones) when you just need a few. I use beads mostly to embellish my quilts, so having 500 when I need maybe 50 is a pain.

    Posted 1 year ago #
  17. SunshineR
    Member

    @pkilmain: hi! If you are quilting as part of a group, could you share those tiny seed beads among the group, or do you prefer to have your own "stash" at home? Aren't those tiny beads a pain, especially when they are sold in little plastic bags???

    Posted 1 year ago #
  18. cjhaab
    Member

    Happy New Year! It's the end of the 1-1-11 and I'm happy to say it was an A-1 day for decluttering.

    Recycled: about 1.5 shelf-feet of old software books not used for at least 8 years since I got my current job
    2 outdated, pretty calendars saved as a source of pictures to make my own greeting cards (not gonna happen)
    4 magazines (I'm pretty good at fast disposal of them)

    Decluttered: my desk - dusted, filed some things, paid the bills including online banking, wrote checks and prepared them for mail, shredded old bill stubs, put current volunteer folders into newly cleared shelf space instead of crammed between scanner and monitor
    Living room and front hall - put away newly received Christmas gifts, tissue and boxes
    Glasses/mugs cabinet in kitchen - removed all items and wiped down shelves, put back only those glasses, cups and travel mugs that we use and like

    GWB (Goodwill basket): several plastic mugs and many drinking glasses, incl. a set of authentic barware beer mugs acquired from an authentic bar by DH in college (after 38 years the sentimental value and memory of crazy adventure -escaping the bar with mugs under coat- have finally subsided)

    Moved to storage: mugs which match my dinnerware

    Keep up the good work, all ye wonderful unclutterers!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  19. jbeany
    Member

    My beads made it down to one big organizer with a handle and another large tray that wouldn't fit inside the handled organizer. Still, big improvement over what I had, as it's all now in easy to see compartments. I even had to go get another little divided bin to tuck into the handled one, but it should be soooooo much easier to create something. I tend to make big, chunky pieces out of real gemstones, especially turquoise, so I've got a lot of big, heavy beads. Beads the size of wild plums and table grapes, yes. Seed beads not so much! This is the bin I couldn't fit it all in ... http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3267&PRODID=xprd1130390 So, yes, I need to quit shopping at Fire Mountain.

    But, while I ran to the store for the last bead bin, I also picked up some more organizing things - a label maker, an inexpensive 3 bag laundry hamper, more of those thin velvet hangers, and a handled bin for under the desk for recycling office paper. The hamper is now labeled and tucked into my rearranged storage area for my plastic/metal/glass recycling. The office paper bin is also labeled and in place, so my random recycling efforts are organized. The bead organizer is labeled as well, and I put a bunch of annoying hangers in my OUT pile. That wasn't enough for the day apparently, so I shifted some furniture around in the craft room to make the space work better. More IN than OUT, but much less clutter in the end!

    Posted 1 year ago #
  20. Ella
    Member

    Cleaned out the cabinet holding cleansers and kitty supplies. Threw out grungy old sponges and disappointing cleaning products. Why ever did I put those loser products back in the cabinet in the first place? OUT! Consolidated all the kitty care stuff (clippers, comb, thermometer, wipes, etc) in a jumbo ziploc so I can easily grab it and see at a glance what I need.

    Changed the Miele vacuum bag and filters. Tossed out a bagful of cat hair, roughly the equivalent of a whole 'nother cat!

    Posted 1 year ago #

12…234Next »

Reply »

You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.

Home | Archives | Forum | About | Contact
Unclutterer is brought to you by Dancing Mammoth and the letter U. © 2012