Been so busy!

Being busy really isn't an excuse for not posting, I guess I just haven't made it a priority.

What have I been doing to declutter? Well, I have been posting things on eBay and also found another avenue...amazon.com. Ok, it's not like I didn't know it existed, I just hadn't tapped into it. I have now items listed on there and can't wait to see how it goes for me!

They have this program called FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) where you list your items, send them to their warehouse where they store and ship them for you. Of course there is a fee for all of it, but I'm willing to find out if it is worth it for all the inventory I have cluttering up my living space! I've even taken items off of eBay to post on Amazon.

Fingers crossed!

Words of Wisdom?

Oh, the delay in posting. I've been really busy and was going to go out of town tomorrow so was trying to get things caught up, but all plans had to be cancelled due to a death in the family.

A few days ago while I was at work (which is in a house), the lady of the house was cleaning things out. She is a person who likes to de-clutter on a regular basis. Her house is so nice to be in, it's large and not cluttered. There is actually room to walk around without bumping into anything! Honestly, I probably know where things are in her house, better than I do in the house I live.

One day maybe I'll post some pics of what her pantry, fridge, cupboards, etc. look like.

The reason for this post is because she said something that stuck with me. I'm sure I've heard her say this before, but she said, "There's no sense on keeping this stuff if nobody is using it." She threw out a perfectly good dry erase board calendar.

Let me tell you, I was soooo tempted to say, "I'll take it!" when she asked if I knew who could use it, but the better part of me took over and I didn't say that! How many calendars does a person need? I have a pocket one I've been carrying in my purse to keep me on track, the one on my laptop, another in my Blackberry, and a larger one that I thought I would use...and don't.

Out with the old, in with the new?

Last night I went out and bought new ski clothes. What I had was ill fitting...and outdated, I'm told. The pants I was using were about 2-3 sizes too big for me and the jacket, big, puffy and outdated. I didn't think I looked that bad, but I did know that there was more comfortable gear out there.

After about $200 (clearance prices), I have a cute new outfit...and things to get rid of. Well, sort of. I don't want to get rid of the puffy coat because it's cute. The black pants, yeah, they can go...at least I thought so! My guy said, "I like your thinking! BUT, maybe you should keep them for sledding." He said this so I wouldn't ruin my new white pants. Good thinking.

What to do?

For now, I'll wash and store the old stuff. By next season, I'll definitely want to get rid of my "dated" fur hood, JLo lookin' coat!

Accidents happen

Do you know what happens when you have too much stuff and no room for what you do have?

Accidents.....

The good thing is that since I've been de-cluttering, there really wasn't anything on the floor where this glass fell so it was fairly easy to clean up. I only had to move two garbage bags in order to vacuum. If I had less clutter in my room, I could fit a proper side table where this glass could be set down.

In the past, searching through bags and moving lots of things around just to clean up the mess would have been necessary, only to find that I had missed some pieces...months down the road!

On the bright side, now there is one less glass in the house!

It's been over 10 years

Sometimes I wonder why I feel the need to hold on to things. In the case of this cell phone, I think I kept it so that "one day" I could go through and get any information/phone numbers I had saved on it to transfer to another phone, or make a phone book. Well, nobody told me that "one day" never comes and if I really wanted something or the information was so important, I would have done it right away.

This old Nokia has not been used for over 10 years! I doubt I even have the charger for it anymore (wait, I probably do!)...and if I did, what could I possibly need from this phone?! Out it went...one small hunk of clutter gone from my life, never to bother me again. Whew!

That reminds me...I think I have a broken iPod...somewhere.

Donated and Trashed

The car is lightly loaded and ready to be donated. I will take it today. I was able to get rid of:

• A comforter that was never used along with matching shams and pillowcases (I think)
• A good pair of Sketchers I haven't used in 3 years!
• Leg warmers (not sure why I even had these), a shirt and a pair of pants.
• Nice and soft Wamsutta Pima Sateen bed sheets. After buying some Wamsutta Dream Zone sheets, I felt ok letting these go. I'll just have to buy another backup set of what I have now. ;)
• A brand new under the bed rolling shoe storage rack (my bed sits on the floor as I don't have a frame)
• One book
• Almost forgot...the mosquito net curtain thing. :)

I also threw away:

• One pair of DKNY shoes which I LOVED when they were intact!
• Two mismatched shoes - I'll probably find their mates in my de-cluttering process.
• An old tank top that I also used to love, but it was so worn out that I would never wear it again. It was in with my pajamas (which I have too many of!).

Below are pictures of my garbage can with the trashed items, and donations ready to go:

Dreaded Hand-Washing

Yesterday I didn't go home, so couldn't get anything done. There wasn't anything pending for eBay, and I wanted to spend time with my guy after housesitting/caretaking duties were done. Honestly, I didn't even think about my clutter!

I guess the only thing I did to help my clutter situation was to wash two sweaters and one blouse that have been in my "to be hand-washed" pile. Of course I wouldn't actually wash them by hand, I threw them in the washer on a very delicate cycle at the house where I am staying!

The reason I chose to do wash away from home, is because of the lack of space at home, and the abundance at this house. I was able to lay out these three items to dry without wandering aimlessly trying to figure out where I was going to lay them out.

Later today I will bring more items from the "to be hand-washed" pile and get them done! Then, maybe I can keep it under control at home and not have so many to do at once. There are clothes in the pile that I haven't worn for months!