<p>H & I have a deal that he’ll declutter the carport so he can buy a new car and have it protected from the elements by parking it IN the carport that has been full of junk from his folks’ house for the 20+ years we’ve owned the house! I’m excited that he’s already making progress!</p>
<p>In general I think “Inch by inch, row by row”… But gonna try hard to make the college senior do big time declutter his room during break. </p>
<p>I had the Breast Ca truck coming this morning to pick up the stuff in garage, e.g. chairs, glass dishes, coolers, … Sick as I am with a cold, I tried on all my pants in back of closet. Then I went thru sweaters and tops. I have no idea why a cold made me ruthless, but I filled many bags with clothes. I may regret all this in the morning, but deed is done. </p>
<p>bw - Good for you! Even if a few things are missed, it’s still worth the purge. </p>
<p>I can’t believe it’s already the end of the year. I did purge my 52 bags worth (2 more this week), but it has shown me how much there is left to do. I think between Christmas and New Year’s I’ll get rid of some basement clutter. My most rewarding purge this year was cleaning out 2 bedrooms and bedroom closets of clothes and toys.</p>
<p>I’m backsliding a bit in my own house, as I’m helping my mom downsize from a 3br house w full basement (& full is appropriate term!) to a 1br apartment. I have purged several carloads of household goods and clothes )some of my father’s who died 25 yrs ago) to a local charity that also had a truck come by for lots of furniture. However, I have been brining some things home, such as heirloom Christmas ornaments, odds n end China peices, etc. </p>
<p>Does the net count, as I’m an only child and will need to deal a this all someday?</p>
<p>nj2011mom, I think the motivation to purge begins when helping parents downsize. You realize how much work it takes to go thru files going back 25 years, and all the “stuff”. Of course you should take some of the nice collectibles, things with sentimental value. I told 2 chairs and a Chinese rug. I invited my closest friends over to take lamps, rocking chair, patio furniture, etc. Everything else was going to charities. </p>
<p>After the pick-up yesterday, I have more room in my garage. I hope to get to more of those boxes piled on top of each other.</p>
<p>Absolutely, I think the net counts, nj2001mom! Inheritance + temporary storage of some of QMP’s stuff mean that we have more “stuff” than we did in August, despite getting rid of things since then. On the other hand, collectively, we have been improving.</p>
<p>Small victories:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Packed up a box to send back to Zappos. The UPS store is sort of out of the way, so I had been saving up my returns to send back in one box. Ready to send that out tomorrow.</p></li>
<li><p>Also found receipts for the things that need to go back to a brick and mortar store. I think I will put those bags in the trunk of my car but it probably won’t be safe to go to the mall until Monday.</p></li>
<li><p>Found some sheet protectors and a three-ring binder for all of the pages that I have torn out of magazines over the past year or so. I did toss some but some I wanted to save, so those are now all organized in one place.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I feel like I’ve lost ground this week with Christmas. Little has gone out and more has come in 
. After reading the new posts, I’ve resolved to get back on track tomorrow. Thanks everyone for keeping me motivated! The New Year is also a great time to purge. </p>
<p>Packed a bunch of boxes that will go to Saks and Ruelala tomorrow. Got a big bag going for Nordie and Lulu returns. Since there is nothing good left in the stores, it is safe for me to go there in person to return stuff! :)</p>
<p>Put away the wrapping paper and tape and threw out some odds and ends I have been saving for future wrapping needs. The closet looks much more organized now! </p>
<p>S2 is going through the many boxes in his room that we packed up two years ago when we moved. He’s deciding what goes with him to his new home, what we should keep for later, and what gets tossed. This is going to help immensely with getting rid of big boxes.</p>
<p>So you ready for the “You want to get rid of that?!” “I saved it all these years!”</p>
<p>I told Mr. that I wanted to celebrate the New Year Italian - style. He said, “Please, no loads of carbs” Lol, I did not mean our food! I meant the old tradition of throwing junk out of the windows! </p>
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<p>S2 is so far doing a pretty good job. Things he wants to keep are going back in the closet, and he’ll take them to his new home in bits over the next few trips. Things he wants to get rid of are staying in the middle of the room. Got rid of two big boxes and all his Playstation 2 game cases. (He’s taking the games back to his home.) Progress is progress.</p>
<p>I have had two boxes of odd socks (one for light colors, one for dark) going for years and years. No kidding. </p>
<p>This weekend they are both going – I am matching whatever can be matched and tossing the remainder. Matched about a dozen pairs of whites last night; will do the darks this evening.</p>
<p>From this day forward socks will be matched immediately post laundry and no odd sock collections will be maintained.</p>
<p>Finally, my kids have said that whatever is left of theirs can be tossed. Dh promised to help me tackle the basement as soon as D1 returns to her home. I’ve been saving boxes from Amazon so we can pack up donations and drop them off in a few days. Yay!</p>
<p>@JEM - Off topic, but my H, who does his own laundry, has a sock system. He has black dress socks, tan casual socks and white athletic socks. He buys multiple pairs of each type at once, discarding the old socks. That way all the socks within each category are easily matched and interchangeable. </p>
<p>JEM, wait a few washes before tossing the single socks. Sometimes they turn up next week.</p>
<p>(And sometimes they get wrapped up in a sheet.)</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve participated in this thread to date, but you all are inspiring. I am getting rid of suits I haven’t worn in more than a year, plus many other clothes that I’ve been storing in my kids’ closets. I was thinking I should look for a place to donate that would help women looking for jobs, but if I have another excuse, it will take me another year.
We did clean out our garage this summer/fall, so husband could put his car in the garage, after living here 8 years. I’m catching on slowly. Happy Holidays everyone. </p>