Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Planning for the Purging
I'm wicked excited for this opportunity to have support for the CC2CC (Carlene's Clutter to Clean Challenge). I'm trying to decide if I should start in one place in the house or if I should just do random purging. The advantage of starting in one place is that by the end of the month, there should be at least one area that is clutter free. The advantage of randomly catching and releasing stuff from anywhere is that approach accommodates my "Oh, Look A SHINY SQUIRREL!" distractibility. I have two days left to decide.
Fellow CC2CC-er's, which approach are you planning on taking? Is there another approach I should consider?
Fellow CC2CC-er's, which approach are you planning on taking? Is there another approach I should consider?
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Resources
I thought it might be helpful to share some resources with you all to support you in your decluttering.
General Donation Pick-Up
There are a number of charities which will pick up donations. A few years ago I cleaned out my attic and basement of all sorts of odd things which had accumulated. Some of it was my stuff, some of it was from roommates who had moved out and left things behind. It was a *crazy* amount of stuff, but I can't stress how awesome it was to have someone else pick it up and cart it away for me.
I used Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Boston as they had left a flyer on my door at one point. I was able to schedule the pick-up in advance and that gave me a few days to get my act together but also gave me a deadline.
You might want to schedule a donation pick-up for sometime in January - especially if you have some unwieldy items that might be difficult to move/transport on your own. You can do a google search to find a local charity - or check out http://www.donationtown.org/. You can enter your zip code and it will find charities that pick up in your area.
Electronics
Got some old electronics to get rid of but don't want to pay a fee? Best Buy will take it all for free! You can check out the details at their recycling website.
Cars
One of my favorite places to donate vehicles is Good News Garage which is a program of Lutheran Social Services of New England. I encourage you to read about the great work they are doing.
Shredding Services
Iron Mountain provides secure shredding services. They have partnered with a number of office supply stores to offer their services. UPS, Staples, FedEx and Office Max are all partners. Check with your local store to see if a particular location offers the service. Or you can go to http://www.ironmountain.com/Partner-Search.aspx.
Medications:
If you have old medications to dispose of please review these handy guidelines: http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm.
Linens:
Many animal shelters appreciate blankets, towels and other linens to make cozy spaces for little furry friends.
Books:
Goodwill & Salvation Army will take books. You can also take them to a used book store to get store credit or cash. Typically, one will receive more in store credit than outright cash. If you aren't going to just donate them to get the books out of the house, schedule an appointment to take the books in and then use the store credit at Christmas time to buy gifts for others! Or, one could donate the store credit/gift card to a local school, library or other program.
Craigslist & Freecycle
You can put items out on the curb and post a "curb alert" in the Free Classified section to let folks know what items are there free for the taking. This is good to do the day before trash day as whatever does not get picked up by other folks can then be picked up by curbside pick-up.
Freecycle https://www.freecycle.org/ is a place where you can post items you'd like to give away. Others will contact you to come pick them up. DO NOT get involved with this if you are unable to resist the temptation of "free" items. You'll just end up hoarding more things...
If you have a specific item you'd like to donate somewhere and aren't sure how/where to go about it, let me know and I'll do some research for you!
Also, if you have other ideas and suggestions for donating or disposing of items, please leave them in the comments below.
General Donation Pick-Up
There are a number of charities which will pick up donations. A few years ago I cleaned out my attic and basement of all sorts of odd things which had accumulated. Some of it was my stuff, some of it was from roommates who had moved out and left things behind. It was a *crazy* amount of stuff, but I can't stress how awesome it was to have someone else pick it up and cart it away for me.
I used Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Boston as they had left a flyer on my door at one point. I was able to schedule the pick-up in advance and that gave me a few days to get my act together but also gave me a deadline.
You might want to schedule a donation pick-up for sometime in January - especially if you have some unwieldy items that might be difficult to move/transport on your own. You can do a google search to find a local charity - or check out http://www.donationtown.org/. You can enter your zip code and it will find charities that pick up in your area.
Electronics
Got some old electronics to get rid of but don't want to pay a fee? Best Buy will take it all for free! You can check out the details at their recycling website.
Cars
One of my favorite places to donate vehicles is Good News Garage which is a program of Lutheran Social Services of New England. I encourage you to read about the great work they are doing.
Shredding Services
Iron Mountain provides secure shredding services. They have partnered with a number of office supply stores to offer their services. UPS, Staples, FedEx and Office Max are all partners. Check with your local store to see if a particular location offers the service. Or you can go to http://www.ironmountain.com/Partner-Search.aspx.
Medications:
If you have old medications to dispose of please review these handy guidelines: http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm.
Linens:
Many animal shelters appreciate blankets, towels and other linens to make cozy spaces for little furry friends.
Books:
Goodwill & Salvation Army will take books. You can also take them to a used book store to get store credit or cash. Typically, one will receive more in store credit than outright cash. If you aren't going to just donate them to get the books out of the house, schedule an appointment to take the books in and then use the store credit at Christmas time to buy gifts for others! Or, one could donate the store credit/gift card to a local school, library or other program.
Craigslist & Freecycle
You can put items out on the curb and post a "curb alert" in the Free Classified section to let folks know what items are there free for the taking. This is good to do the day before trash day as whatever does not get picked up by other folks can then be picked up by curbside pick-up.
Freecycle https://www.freecycle.org/ is a place where you can post items you'd like to give away. Others will contact you to come pick them up. DO NOT get involved with this if you are unable to resist the temptation of "free" items. You'll just end up hoarding more things...
If you have a specific item you'd like to donate somewhere and aren't sure how/where to go about it, let me know and I'll do some research for you!
Also, if you have other ideas and suggestions for donating or disposing of items, please leave them in the comments below.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Welcome. And, THE RULES!
Greetings to my beloved family!
How wonderful to see you all. Our family get together is one of my favorite days of the year. We don't see each other enough - but I suspect we'll be learning even more about each other through this challenge! Thank you, everyone, for participating.
A quick note... I've never blogged before - so I'm a little unfamiliar with what I'm doing. Any and all feedback on this format of communicating is welcomed.
I stumbled across this idea via my professional organizer, Jen Hunter, of Find Your Floor. http://www.findyourfloor.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/findyourfloor
She referenced this post from The Minimalists and it inspired me. I always do better when I have accountability, thus my desire to entice you all to play. Also I've inherited or learned much of my cluttering behavior from my family so consider this payback. :)
Since it was my idea and I'mbossy assertive, I get to make the rules for our first month of the challenge. After the first month, feedback (which is welcome!), will be received and as a group we can decide if we want to continue, what modifications might be necessary, and if someone else wants to take the lead for a month.
Now, THE RULES!
Taken directly from The Minimalists: "This month, each of you must get rid of one thing on the first day of the month. On the second, two things. Three items on the third. So forth, and so on. Anything can go! Clothes, furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, etc. Donate, sell, or trash. Whatever you do, each material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day."
Here are the fine details for January 2014 which I've developed specifically for our family:
1) You may only get rid of your own stuff. Exceptions as follows:
*Parents of minor children are allowed to purge their children's items on each Monday. (January 6, 13, 20, 27)
*Items of unknown or questionable origin, as well as abandoned items, may be purged as long as one has cleared it with other household members.
Example: previous roommates who have moved out have left items in the garage & basement. As long as I've confirmed with current roommates and landlord that the item has been "abandoned" I may get rid of it.
2) All items must be off one's property or out of one's control by midnight each day. No stashing it in the trunk of the car to take to the dump or Goodwill the next day. If you have to drive to a donation box at 10pm at night - so be it! This challenge requires hardship. And suffering! Alternatively, you could plan ahead by 24 hours and pick out stuff for the next day to donate during the daytime.
Exceptions: Items being put out with recycling or trash may stay on the property until pickup day.
3) Items must currently be on one's primary property. Now is not the time to worry about anything in storage elsewhere such as one's office, one's classroom or a storage facility. Your primary residence, barns, sheds, outbuildings, automobiles, yard, attic, basement, crawlspaces and/or camping trailers (ahem!) all are great places to start. In fact, one could get rid of an automobile or camping trailer as an item.
4) This will be fun! There will be prizes at various points along the way and at the end. They will be completely arbitrary and at my sole discretion.
5) I am the judge and arbitrator. Should any household and/or family members run into any problems or engage in any debates about ownership of an item or eligibility of an item to "count" towards the day's tally, each side may present their case to me and I will decide the outcome. All decisions are final.
6) You may sell, donate, trash, gift or recycle items. There is no rule that you can't make money off of this venture.
7) You may not gift any item to other members participating in this challenge or household members of those participating in this challenge. There is no loophole of vicariously hanging onto something by giving it Russie & Nate or Carl & Elizabeth Rose. You may not send items in the mail to any of my roommates, either.
8) I reserve the right to add to, change, eliminate or modify any rule. However, I will use my powers for good and not evil and will not change the rules simply to benefit myself.
9) Everyone should strive to check in at least once a week with a status update of your progress. I will check in more frequently to provide example, motivation and entertainment.
10) If you miss a day, you must make it up the next day. However, if you are going out of town I encourage you to plan ahead and select your items ahead of time. You are not allowed to "double up" on days more than once a week.
11) Items which are to be thrown away as part of regular consumption do not count. Example: When you finish a gallon of milk, recycling the container does not count as an item as you should be recycling it anyway.
12) Items which come in a container count as one item. If you throw out a box of old Tic-Tacs, you can't count each Tic-Tac as one item. The whole container counts as one item. However a box containing 12 books can count as 12 items since books are sold/purchased/handled as single items. Junk Mail/Bills will be treated as follows: Outer envelope, bill and return envelope count as one item as it arrived as one item - not three separate items.
13) Do not question the items someone else is purging. There is nothing worse than finally making the decision to let something go only to have a (well intentioned) family member say "Are you *sure* you want to get rid of that?" If a household member asks for input/advice that is fine. Please support them in their decision making.
14) Do not "take back" an item that someone else is getting rid of. If your spouse is throwing out or donating a book that looks interesting... TOO BAD! You absolutely cannot take it out of the trash, recycling or donation box. I will develop appropriate "penalties" for a violation of this rule.
I think that covers the basics. If there are any questions, post them and I will respond to clarify. Please note that I may be enlisting minions to spy on you and keep you honest. Feel free to tattle on your spouse if you find them sneaking items back into the house. Also - please share the exceptional moments when you see someone make a really hard decision about an item or achieve a particularly significant goal! As I said - rewards (and penalties) are arbitrary.
I am really excited for this - and I hope you are too! If anyone needs encouragement, email me, call me or post here and I'll do my best to help.
Yours in decluttering,
Carlene
How wonderful to see you all. Our family get together is one of my favorite days of the year. We don't see each other enough - but I suspect we'll be learning even more about each other through this challenge! Thank you, everyone, for participating.
A quick note... I've never blogged before - so I'm a little unfamiliar with what I'm doing. Any and all feedback on this format of communicating is welcomed.
I stumbled across this idea via my professional organizer, Jen Hunter, of Find Your Floor. http://www.findyourfloor.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/findyourfloor
She referenced this post from The Minimalists and it inspired me. I always do better when I have accountability, thus my desire to entice you all to play. Also I've inherited or learned much of my cluttering behavior from my family so consider this payback. :)
Since it was my idea and I'm
Now, THE RULES!
Taken directly from The Minimalists: "This month, each of you must get rid of one thing on the first day of the month. On the second, two things. Three items on the third. So forth, and so on. Anything can go! Clothes, furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, etc. Donate, sell, or trash. Whatever you do, each material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day."
Here are the fine details for January 2014 which I've developed specifically for our family:
1) You may only get rid of your own stuff. Exceptions as follows:
*Parents of minor children are allowed to purge their children's items on each Monday. (January 6, 13, 20, 27)
*Items of unknown or questionable origin, as well as abandoned items, may be purged as long as one has cleared it with other household members.
Example: previous roommates who have moved out have left items in the garage & basement. As long as I've confirmed with current roommates and landlord that the item has been "abandoned" I may get rid of it.
2) All items must be off one's property or out of one's control by midnight each day. No stashing it in the trunk of the car to take to the dump or Goodwill the next day. If you have to drive to a donation box at 10pm at night - so be it! This challenge requires hardship. And suffering! Alternatively, you could plan ahead by 24 hours and pick out stuff for the next day to donate during the daytime.
Exceptions: Items being put out with recycling or trash may stay on the property until pickup day.
3) Items must currently be on one's primary property. Now is not the time to worry about anything in storage elsewhere such as one's office, one's classroom or a storage facility. Your primary residence, barns, sheds, outbuildings, automobiles, yard, attic, basement, crawlspaces and/or camping trailers (ahem!) all are great places to start. In fact, one could get rid of an automobile or camping trailer as an item.
4) This will be fun! There will be prizes at various points along the way and at the end. They will be completely arbitrary and at my sole discretion.
5) I am the judge and arbitrator. Should any household and/or family members run into any problems or engage in any debates about ownership of an item or eligibility of an item to "count" towards the day's tally, each side may present their case to me and I will decide the outcome. All decisions are final.
6) You may sell, donate, trash, gift or recycle items. There is no rule that you can't make money off of this venture.
7) You may not gift any item to other members participating in this challenge or household members of those participating in this challenge. There is no loophole of vicariously hanging onto something by giving it Russie & Nate or Carl & Elizabeth Rose. You may not send items in the mail to any of my roommates, either.
8) I reserve the right to add to, change, eliminate or modify any rule. However, I will use my powers for good and not evil and will not change the rules simply to benefit myself.
9) Everyone should strive to check in at least once a week with a status update of your progress. I will check in more frequently to provide example, motivation and entertainment.
10) If you miss a day, you must make it up the next day. However, if you are going out of town I encourage you to plan ahead and select your items ahead of time. You are not allowed to "double up" on days more than once a week.
11) Items which are to be thrown away as part of regular consumption do not count. Example: When you finish a gallon of milk, recycling the container does not count as an item as you should be recycling it anyway.
12) Items which come in a container count as one item. If you throw out a box of old Tic-Tacs, you can't count each Tic-Tac as one item. The whole container counts as one item. However a box containing 12 books can count as 12 items since books are sold/purchased/handled as single items. Junk Mail/Bills will be treated as follows: Outer envelope, bill and return envelope count as one item as it arrived as one item - not three separate items.
13) Do not question the items someone else is purging. There is nothing worse than finally making the decision to let something go only to have a (well intentioned) family member say "Are you *sure* you want to get rid of that?" If a household member asks for input/advice that is fine. Please support them in their decision making.
14) Do not "take back" an item that someone else is getting rid of. If your spouse is throwing out or donating a book that looks interesting... TOO BAD! You absolutely cannot take it out of the trash, recycling or donation box. I will develop appropriate "penalties" for a violation of this rule.
I think that covers the basics. If there are any questions, post them and I will respond to clarify. Please note that I may be enlisting minions to spy on you and keep you honest. Feel free to tattle on your spouse if you find them sneaking items back into the house. Also - please share the exceptional moments when you see someone make a really hard decision about an item or achieve a particularly significant goal! As I said - rewards (and penalties) are arbitrary.
I am really excited for this - and I hope you are too! If anyone needs encouragement, email me, call me or post here and I'll do my best to help.
Yours in decluttering,
Carlene
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