As God is my witness! Simplifying THIS year!!

[cab54]

I have been trying to declutter and donate, toss, or re-purpose. For the past 3-4 years. Feels like 1 step forward and two back, sometimes....

But, as God is my witness I am gonna get ON it with a vengeance. I realize it is a process...something I will be doing the rest of my life, but I have to stop the procrastination and hem-hawing.

Steps I wanna take to simplify my life:

Toss, or donate two things for every new thing I bring into this house (dh might be a different story).

Buy needs only, not wants.

Declutter surfaces. make my home LOOK neater. (is this even possible? We'll see!) This calms my mind and soothes my spirit.

Cut down on kitchen gadgets or at LEAST store them in the basement. in a box, till I realize I can do without them.

Cull wardrobe. Donate to women's shelter. Besides having 3 sizes in there 'just in case' I lose weight, I have items I KNOW I'd never wear enywhere. Begone!

Cull H&B aids. Do I really need all that crap? I am really a simple person---I like clean and nicely groomed. The rest needs to go. Use up or give away.

Keep hair short. Why take 30 minutes of my resting/chilling/cleaning/cooking/knitting/quilting time 'fixing' my hair?? (was it broken?) I'm 57. No one's looking, and I don't care if they are. Keeps it out of my face while I'm decluttering and organizing, and gives me less time doing what I hate. (fixing' hair!)

Begin FLYlady again this year. Her '27 fling boogie' and 'hot spot control' help me keep on program. And her 'weekly house blessing' makes sure I at least get some area dusted, vac'd and mopped regularly. Keeps laundry up, too

Hit the garage and basement areas. Soooo much needs to go in those areas.

Get back to OAMC, or at least double-cooking when preparing. I do believe buying things in bulk lessens cost alot. And this will make my days simpler. I'm for that!

[Spirit Deer]

I'm right there with ya. I'm home all day every day and I'm just sick and tired of the excess always in my line of vision.

Check out the Home Project Organizational Challenge. We inspire each other. Ditto for the Hobby and Crafts Use It Up Challenge, if you have too much excess craft stuff. I've expanded that in my own case to include anything in my various stashes, such as home improvement stuff that has been sitting here for years uninstalled, and any other UFOs that are currently annoying me.

[heartofmine]

Wishing you good luck. I've been decluttering a lot lately getting ready to move into our new house. I've decided I want to change a few things too and not keep so much clutter or stuff around we don't use and be more careful about what I buy and is brought into the house. I want a simpler life. The house may be twice the size of the one I'm in now but I'd like to have half the stuff.

[krbshappy71]

Moving here too but I'll admit I haven't pared down near as much as I vowed to. OOPS!! I just cannot seem to get rid of baby stuff, maybe its too soon. Youngest just turned 18 so am still feeling like "where did the years go?!?"

I am going to try Flylady again as well, reading through her website but don't know if I can tolerate the mass amounts of email it sends when I joined last time. Ugh.

We're here for you!!

[Spirit Deer]

Sometimes when you go back through the stuff you've already sorted the second and third times, it's easier to let stuff go.

I have a big job in our guest room which has become a catch-all because we don't have a basement. So that's in desperate need of a good going-through. And I'm so ready to toss stuff left and right.

[cab54]

Moving here too but I'll admit I haven't pared down near as much as I vowed to. OOPS!! I just cannot seem to get rid of baby stuff, maybe its too soon. Youngest just turned 18 so am still feeling like "where did the years go?!?"

I am going to try Flylady again as well, reading through her website but don't know if I can tolerate the mass amounts of email it sends when I joined last time. Ugh.

We're here for you!!

You know what I did? NOT join. (FLYlady) I just check her site everyday, work in the 'zone' we're in, and do Kelly's missions. I had read about the emails and I figured why sign up when everything you need to know is on her site!?!

Then I thought maybe I was missing something, so I joined. Yep, the emails and reminders are insane! SO, I UNjoined again, and I like just following her through each zone.

I also look at her videos on you-tube. Just type in FLylady and they'll pop up. I got a lot of help from her 'routines' video, and her 'not getting sidetracked' one.

[cab54]

Sometimes when you go back through the stuff you've already sorted the second and third times, it's easier to let stuff go.

I have a big job in our guest room which has become a catch-all because we don't have a basement. So that's in desperate need of a good going-through. And I'm so ready to toss stuff left and right.

Yes, I keep reminding myself that it's a PROCESS I'm doing, I'm not working toward a goal. In other words, I will ALWAYS be decluttering. So, going back over and over areas and drawers and closets, I find I do finally toss things.

[erinalexmom]

I have been decluttering for the past 3 or 4 months and I am so much happier with less "stuff"! I am starting to see progress too! There are some rooms that I have decluttered so well that they just stay clean or only take about 10 min to pick up. Its great!
Another way I have been thinking about "simplifying" is to shop once a month instead of every week. I hate to go to the store and I could just do it and be done for the next 4 weeks after that. I also want to make a monthly menu and monthly shopping list and just buy/fix the same things every month and keep it all on my computer so that "whats for dinner" "what do I need at the store" isn't an issue.

[rebecca]

I've been doing alot of decluttering. It's gone out to the garbage or being donated. I cannot stand seeing clutter! It drives me up a wall. To think we thought what we are tossing or donating was necessary! What a waste!