I have thought about it the past couple weeks and I really really really want to become organized. Like those anally organized people you see on tv but not crazy because i'm not a crazy person . Does anyone feel like you are one of those people? If so let's talk Oh and i'm not talking about just in the classroom I'm talking about life in general!
A couple of years ago I tried using FlyLady. She sends daily emails, with reminders of things you should be doing. I made a list of daily chores to do & posted it on my fridge. My goal is to go back to using that list, I stopped using it when I started at a new school/new grade level & went back to school all at the same time. Grad school is done, so now my goal is to get organized & stay organized. I still have things in my basement that were just put there when I left my former school. 15 mins. at a time. I can do this.
I am crazy organized. Borderline obsessive. I get crabby if my chores pile up, and I always know where everything is at all times. I'm a little nuts.
I consider myself a very organized person, but I have a LOT of stuff! I stay on top of things that need to get done, meaning I don't wait long to handle things such as making important phone calls, etc. I've always had the "old-fashioned" calendar booklet that I CANNOT live without where I can see the entire month at once w/ enough space to write a few things in each date. I never was one for those weekly planner booklets, or keeping thing on my cell phone. A couple of months before it becomes the new year, I transport any info that I need to carry over & mark important dates, etc. If I ever lost my calendar though, I'd be LOST & have to remember everything I wrote in it. I plan to move during spring/summer & I really need to downsize since I have tons of clothes, shoes, & papers, etc. I already started & donated 2 garbage bags of stuff & I'm not done yet. I have so many clothes, it's not even funny, but I LOVE to shop. I have a wall closet in one rm & a good-sized walk-in closet in another rm that are both plum full. I have 2-4 items of clothing on ea hanger in the closet. I also have 2 dressers that are full of folded clothing, socks, etc. Then, I have a couple garbage bags of clothes that are off-season. Finally, I have another garbage bag of clothes that need to go to the cleaners. I plan to buy those Huggable Hangers for my entire wardrobe to help save space, plus donate clohtes I haven't worn in a long time. I'm constantly working on de-cluttering & organization & I'll be glad when I get to the point where everything's in it's proper place!
See, I'm just the opposite. I call myself a "thrower." It feels so good to take a bag of stuff to Goodwill!
Throughout the years, if I could get back all the $ I've spent just on the clothes & shoes I've donated, I'd have thousands of dollars.
You can get a tax credit... 2 or 3 items on a hanger and clothes in bags may look organized but it sounds a bit unmanageable...especially if you are moving to a smaller space. Consider really DOWNSIZING...read the following for some motivation: http://inmyownstyle.com/ I love the phrase that 'clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions'.
This is great, czacza. I've started on this a bit during the past week--cleared two full garbage bags out of my kitchen cupboards, one for the trash and one to donate. I love the space I see in my cupboards now!
Thanks for the site. Yep, which is why I said in my 4th paragraph that I really need to downsize. And yes, I do make sure to get those tax refund recepts when I donate. Once years ago, I lugged in 4 garbage bags of good clothing to a place called Plato's Closet who buys used clothing. Little did I know that they sell mainly to the teenage customer. The manager went through every peice while she asked her teeny-bopper salegals if "this peice was good or not (meaning in style)." I ended up w/ $40, which is OK, but not worth the trouble to lug all those things out of the car, in the store & back in the store. The fact is, my clothing was better quality than most of the clothing in that store, but due to the clientele, they didn't want most of it.
Ms I, you also said in one of your paragraphs ( not sure which number ) that you have pieces of clothing doubled and tripled up on hangers. You regale us with your purchases and have talked about clothing stored in garbage bags. You might need to decide if purging is about getting a return on your investment from salespeople who cater to a second market clientele ( doubtful) or getting organized.
I tend to hang on to stuff for the kids, if there's any chance they'll grow into the clothes. But there are so many needy people out there; if I'm done with something I donate it. In Brian's recent coat drive, for example, I donated a leather jacket I haven't worn in a couple of years. Then, the other day it hit the single digits around here. All I could think was "Thank GOD he had that coat drive."
I drop clothing in the charity boxes at my grocery store. If someone can use my unwanted clothing and housewares, that's great! :thumb:
Seriously, I have more than enough STUFF. I'm one person; there's a limit to how much STUFF I need or can use. If I can help someone else who hasn't been as fortunate, then that's what I try to do. With that in mind, it's a whole lot easier to say goodbye to things.
Everything on the hangers, I wear at the moment (season). Everything in the bags are off season or need to go to the cleaners. But I think there's going to be some things in my walk-in that I can donate. And regarding my saying about $ I could get back, I was just talking because for that matter, it would be nice if we ALL could get back $ on ANYTHING we bought, which can't always happen of course. Anyhow, I like to shop, like many people do!
I don't buy clothes looking for a return on my investment, and I don't have time to 'sell my wares' at resale shops. My time is worth more than that..I make more money for an hour of tutoring than it seems from your report that one would make schlepping unwanted clothing to a resale shop. When I'm editing my belongings, I'm DONE with them. Getting a tax deduction, the good feeling of helping a charity, and organized spaces are recompense enough....but if it's worth it to you to resell, more power to you. Some people enjoy that.
Jeeze, I was going to contribute to this thread regarding organization...but it seems it's turned to something else. :huh:
Donating or selling used, unwanted clothing and housewares is a great way to declutter! What are your organization goals and tips, justMe? Does anyone have Tupperware tips? I swear they multiply... but not in a way that tos and bottoms match...
I'm in a major decluttering mood. In addition to the bags I've cleared out of my kitchen, I have two garbage bags of clothing and a bag of bedding (in good condition, just doesn't fit the new bed in the spare room) ready for donation. As I was packing up the Christmas decorations today, I got rid of some of the things that just aren't in good condition anymore, and was able to "find" some space by wrapping some things in layers of tissue paper instead of keeping them in boxes. Right now, I'm looking at some stacks of books and papers that have accumulated under the coffee table, tomorrow most of that will go. My mother and mother-in-law are both savers; I need to break that cycle.
I started cleaning my fridge today, I only got the top 2 shelves done before I had to stop. (left to go buy college books/eat dinner with fam). It felt good to have just that much cleaned. I'm taking my endorsement test tomorrow so I spent the evening prepping for that.
I am a clutterer at heart but every so often I will have a big purge and clean out all my cupboards. I love the space I create and the way it looks, I'm just not good at keeping it that way! I would love to be a neat, anally organised person but my natural messiness tends to override that :lol: My tupperware cupboard is one thing that actually stays fairly organised - I have all of the lids standing in boxes and the containers sorted and stacked according to size and type. The ones I use most often are at the front of the cupboard. So far so good!
I used this week off of school to do some serious organizing and de-cluttering. I tackled our bedroom closet and am getting rid of a bunch of stuff. Now the only thing left is the mess that has become our guest bedroom... But that is a project I will have to work on through out the year... But it feels so good to get things de-cluttered!
I must have misinterpreted. My apologies. I just took some pictures around the house of my organization musts! Forgive the black and white...it feels more "anonymous". I know...silly. In the top drawer of our filing cabinet, I organize manuals and such in those nifty hate-to-toss zippered baggies curtains and sheets sometimes come in. Clear containers in the pantry for pastas and whatnot. I cut out the cooking directions just once and tape those to the inside lid facing out. If I need the nutritional information, I tape those to outside bottom. For things that wouldn't go in a container, I put them in baskets. There's all my taco sauce I've spoke of before...oh boy. I love pull-outs. I keep all my baking-type things in one cabinet together...measuring cups, bowls, spoons, etc. Then the actual food product is below that. Flour and similar things. Some labels are on the bottoms. And I don't want to show the whole room, but this is one wall of the laundry. There are several more baskets in the room, each for a particular type of clothing. The sheets and blankets are kept on top of the shelf. Each sheet set is in a clear tub with the pillowcases.
Tomorrow we're going to my mother in law's to start the clean out. I won't be touching anything of sentimental value; that's up to her kids to take care of. But I'm planning a massive cleanout of the kitchen, the enclosed porch, the linen closets, and the garage if I can get to it.
I finally gave up and tackled the mountain of clean laundry on the couch last night. Before hanging them up, though, I did another round of cleaning in my closet. The weather changes too much hear to store seasonal clothes. (hard freeze a couple of days ago, now in the 70s, lol) I loaded another garbage bag full to bring to Good Will. Over the span of the year I have brought them a ton, but nothing of great value, so I don't wait for a receipt, I just drop off the bags/boxes my car will carry and wish them a good day. It's getting there. I moved it into a smaller house and stuff just can't find a home. I'm a packrat, too. It's hard!
We spent the last 3 weeks removing the clutter from our apartment. (We were forced to do this because our landlord was giving us hardwood floors. We had to downsize enough to fit all our stuff into our kitchen, dining area and bathroom so the workers could pull our carpet, sand, and finish the floors underneath). It feels amazing. We had accumulated 12 years worth of extra stuff. The best piece of advice I can give is to get rid of anything you haven't used (or seen) in 3 years. Someone else will use it and enjoy it. We didn't even officially donate. We just left it at the designated spot on our front sidewalk where the city likes us to leave large items for trash pickup. People come by every morning to look for goodies.
