Paper and paper clutter!

Now that the great cooktop debacle is over, I want to talk to you about paper.

I’m not talking about things like wrapping paper or nice little pristine notebooks waiting to be filled.

No, I’m talking about all the paper we tend to hold on to. The paper “clutter” that seems to be everywhere.

Stuff like old tax returns, pay slips, bills, manuals, scraps of paper with notes on, receiptsm magazine and newspaper tear outs, insurance papers, financial statements, health info and notebooks filled with random notes.

Off course, some paper we need to keep, but those tend to easily get lost in the pile of paper we really don’t need to hold on to.

Just about everyone I know, have way to much paper floating around. And I for one, want that to be over, once and for all.

It’s time to tackle the paper monster, hanging around in the house.

You might remember I tried this back in May. My intention was to scan all the important ones, and then get rid of it all.

Now as you probably gathered from lack of posts about that particular task, I never succeeded.

I sorted some, and even scanned some, and then I had to tuck it all away because of visitors. And you know how that goes. Out of sight out of mind! Yeah, that particular project never made it out of the cabinets again… until now!

I really do want this stuff gone! So I’m giving it another try, but this time I’m doing it in a way that might help me actually get there.

You might remember my 21 day declutter challenge in September! Which turned out to be a pretty successful project, mostly because of you guys.

I’m thinking maybe a new challenge is the way to go, to get my pile under control, a 21 day paper challenge.

I might try to tackle the project by topic, but topic or not. There are a few steps that will be the same, regardless of what pile I’m attacking.

SORT
I will sort papers into what I need to keep, should keep, and want to keep. The rest? Goes into the toss pile.

SCAN
All papers in the keep pile will be scanned.
When a piece of paper has been scanned, and checked that it looks OK, a new evaluation is needed.
Do I need to keep this as a physical copy or can it be tossed now that it’s scanned?

FILE
As I scan along, I will end up with a few documents I will need to keep physical copies off, like for example birth-certificates, ID cards, passports, vehicle title, active mortgage documents and so on. There are more, of course, but we will get to that.

The physical keepers, I will categorize and file into binders.

SHRED
As I sort, scan and file my paper, I will end up with quite a lot of paper in the toss pile. All this will be shredded, then tossed.

I’m super careful with anything that might have my name, bank details, credit card details, health information or anything else on, that might say things about me. I do not want to set myself up for identity theft, therefore I shred all personal papers leaving the house.

21 DAYS
21 day, sound like a long time.. will it take you that long?

I have no idea. My experience from earlier tells me that the scanning part will be what takes the longest. And from a health point of view, I want to spend as little time in front of the computer as I can.

Right now, there are piles and piles of paper to go through. Sadly as most of it has been sorted several times before, and I believe most of the papers I have.. are the scan-able ones… ouch 😦

Will I get it done, in 21 days?

I’m certain I will get it done (cocky I know).. but if I don’t… at least I’m going to be a heck of a lot closer, than I am today 😉

Do you have a pile pile from hell, that needs some work? Why not join me and we can tackle the paper monster together.

Not everyone will be scanning, I’m sure, but there might still be work to be done, with sorting, filing and shredding.

I would love the company 🙂

Our recycle plant – and a awesome find!

A couple of miles down the road from me, we have a large recycle plant. They will take anything you want/need to get rid off.

One of their best ideas is the “Used goods/Exchange house”.

They have this separate building right before you drive into the recycle plant, where you can bring things like furniture, kitchen items, books, art, sports equipment, music instruments, old sinks… you name it, they will take it, IF it can be useful to other people.

You can not bring trash… if you do, they will direct you to the regular part of the recycle plant, where you can toss your trash for a small fee.

It’s free to leave your stuff at the Exchange house, and it’s free for people to browse all the items they have on display. Should you find something you like! Just stick it in your car.. and drive off.. at no cost to you… all free.

Last week… B and I took a full (as in an overfull) car to the Exchange house, as I figured that some of the items I had been discarding, might be useful to someone else. Last week was my second run, and tomorrow I’m doing it again. That’s three runs just with items from my 21 day declutter challenge 🙂

I love the idea of other people being able to use my old items, the items kinda get a new lease on life 😉

Now.. every time I visit the recycle plant, I always take a peak into the Exchange building, just to see if something useful would pop up, and guess what?

During last week’s trip, I scored big time!!!

I came across a small metal “tub”, which I assume, have most likely been some sort of old drinking trough for horses or something. The tub was pretty grubby looking, but I turned immediately to B and told him “I’m taking this home“.

He looked at me like I was nuts.. and I can’t say I blame him! Here we are, bringing stuff FROM my house to declutter the place… and I want to bring something BACK?

He tried to put up some good arguments, but I was pretty determined. I told him I had the perfect idea for it… HE couldn’t see it.. but it wasn’t really like he had much of a choice.. I was bringing the darn thing home if I had to carry it myself 😉

15 minutes later.. we are at my place, deep knee into cleaning the tub.. scrubbing all the dirt away, getting rid of old attached plasterboard pieces and washing away rust.

And then, I find the perfect spot… and then, I fill it with plants (to check out how it will look, come next spring)… and THEN, he finally gets it 🙂

What do you think? Not a too shabby idea.. right?

I LOVE it!

It’s perfect in my garden.. and in addition to being a different and cool planter box, it’s gonna be great for my yearly barbecue, as a huge icebox, filled with wine, beer and champagne 🙂

I mean, seriously.. what’s not to like 😉

My fellow 21 day declutter challenge bloggers;

Still in the middle of it:
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, on day 11
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, is making some hairy goals for the month of October
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, on day 20, only one more day to go!
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, working on her closet. 11+ bags so far.

done, just like me:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, 14 days. Total count: 146.
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad , decluttered her old room, while visiting her mum.

Medication – a shed!

Seems like I still can’t get out of the habit of posting every day…I’m sure I’ll get there eventually, but obviously not today. For right now it feels like I’m still working on my declutter challenge.. even though I am on day 23 😉

Today I want to talk about expired medication!

I have this drawer full of medication, and it’s been a year since I looked through this drawer hunting for any medication that might have expired. September 2015 I wrote about the importance of doing a regular medicine “cabinet” shed.

In that post I talk about why paying attention to medications expiration date, is important.
I touch on the topic of potency, storing and how to dispose of old medication…

Here is an excerpt from my post:

I tend to do a yearly shed… just to make sure that I have control over what’s in my medicine “cabinet/drawer”. Expiration dates, what I need refills on and what, if any, I need to take down to the chemist for them to dispose of, safely!

As I have tried all sorts of medication to try to cure my shoulder/neck/headache problem, you might say my drawer looks like it belongs in a chemists office, rather than in a regular household. Some of it belongs in the “been there, tried that, didn’t work” category, and it is time to let that stuff go.

And here we are… out-the-door.. they go!

Most of them expired, but also some no longer used (as they didn’t work), ergo no reason to keep them.

20 items
just can’t help but still do the counting 🙂

SO! What about you? Have YOU looked through your medicine cabinet lately?

As some of my fellow bloggers are still into their 21 day declutter challenge – I will continue to post about their progress:

Still in this challenge is:
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is on her day 10
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, is making some hairy goals for the month of October
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is almost there, day 20, one more day to go!
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, have gotten rid of 11++ trash bags from her closet, and are still hard at work on it…

and already done just like me, are:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, 14 days. Total count: 146.
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad , decluttered her old room, while visiting her mum.

21 day challenge – A follow up!

Even though I’m done with my 21 day declutter challenge, it seems like I’ve gotten used to doing a daily post.

I was originally planning on taking a few days off, but it seems like I just can’t help myself… I feel compelled to sit down and write a few words 😉

During these 21 days, I have to admit, I have surprised myself. I thought I would struggle with my goal of 231 items out-the-door. But no! It turned out to be much easier to “loose” the items, even so.. never in my wildest dreams did I think I would end up with around 400 items leaving the house.

It’s been quite a while (last year) since my focus was on decluttering, so you might say I’ve had a bit of a break from it all. And during this year I’ve been “beating myself up” a little, over the fact I couldn’t ever seem to get back into the groove of it.

Now on the other hand, I think the break has been a good thing.

I have noticed during this challenge, that it’s been easier to shed items that have survived several culling’s before. The items themselves have less “power” over me. I’m firmer in my decisions and I have a clearer vision of how I want things to be.

Decluttering can at times be emotional draining, memories and feelings come popping out of the woodwork, and sometimes a person need a break, a time-out! It’s good to take the time to process… sort of let your heart catch up with your brain.

This is what my break have given me. Time to “heal” so to speak. And now I’m more focused than ever to get the stuff out of the house.

So if you find yourself at a standstill… it might be time for a break, to let all the impressions sink in and give yourself time to recoup and gather new energy.

My decluttering isn’t going to end with this 21 day challenge… no, I’ve already got plans for more challenges, as they seem to make me more “accountable” 😉

It hasn’t hurt that I have had some great bloggers join me or cheered me on. I have to give credit where credit is due. Without you, my wonderful blogger friends, I’m not sure I could have done this.

THANK YOU ALL!

Still in this challenge is:
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is still working hard at her place
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, is making some hairy goals for the month of October
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, still going strong on her day 19, Total so far: 698.

and already done are:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, 14 days. Total count: 146.
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, got rid of 11 trash bags from her closet!
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad , decluttered her old room, while visiting her mum.

21.22 – The last bits and pieces!

It seems like I’m supposed to be done with my 21 day declutter challenge, as yesterday was my “last” day.

Having said that, there are a couple of items I still would like to count up into my total of items out-the-door for this year.

Earlier this summer, even though I haven’t written about it, I did shed a few items, as a friend and a family member left my house with a couple of extra items in their luggage 😉

In addition to these earlier decluttered items, there are a couple of item that made it out of this house during the 21 day challenge, that I had completely forgotten to add into my former total.

So here we are.. the day after the end of my 21 day declutter challenge, still writing about things that have left or are leaving the house as a result of the challenge.

DAY 22…

37 items out-the-door!

Stuff my sister took
Grandmothers jewelry box
1 of grandmothers necklaces
2 of grandfathers shooting prizes (goblets)
10 pieces of clothing
14

Stuff my friend took
1 leather jacket
6 makeup/facial items
4 pairs of jeans
25
Stuff I forgott to count earlier
1 top
1 black jacket
8 software CD/DVD’s
2 printer manuals
=
37 items

My final count:
– 392 items part of my 21 day challenge
– 417 items out-the-door so far this year

Told you I wasn’t done yet 😉

OK! But now you are done.. right?

Uh huh.. sorry.. I just remembered about the pile of discarded medication that is ready to go… oh.. and the artwork I’ve got in a pile ready for me to take some pictures…

Guess this means I wasn’t quite as done as I though…

I’ve been joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, 14 days. Total count: 146.
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, was we heard from her, she had fallen into her filing cabinet…
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, has gotten rid of 12-13 bag/boxes of stuff!
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, have shed amazingly 671 items so far.

and
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, got rid of 11 trash bags from her closet!
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad , decluttered her old room, while visiting her mum.

21.21 – The final cull!

We’re at the final day of my 21 day declutter challenge.

I’m floored with how fast time have flown. It feels like the beginning of September was just a few days ago, and here we are on Sept 25th and at the end off this particular journey.

I set out on my 21 day challenge to try to get back into the decluttering mindset, little did I know that I would end up running amok in my own house. Not only have I passed my 21 days with flying color (I have surpassed the goal of 231 items, and I have decluttered every day) but I still have quite a few items just waiting to leave the house.

I thought it would be hard to find the 231 items, as I have decluttered quite a bit the last few years. But this time around my mind have been more determined than ever, and there are items that have survived all my other culling’s, that have left or will be leaving the house, this time around.

It seems like every time I do another round, I’m harder on my stuff, they have to have more qualities to survive my culling’s. And I’m noticing a trend of wanting less and less, left in my house.

It’s a good trend, as long as I just don’t get to the stage where I “throw the baby out with the bath water”, so to speak. Now.. I believe I can easily do another challenge or two, before I get to that particular stage 😉

So how have I done, on this last day of challenge?

Here we go….

?? items going out-the-door!

1 large floor vase
1 bench (to sit on or use as a table)
21 pieces of jewelry
3 watches
1 jewelry pouch
27

1 small ironing board
17 Eagle creek and other brands packing cubes/bags
14 pieces of random stuff
59
1 basket
1 pair of boots
2 kitchen towels
=
63

That’s 21 x 3, baby!!!!

Not bad for the challenges final day, if I may say so myself 😉

How have I done throughout this challenge?

My final count = 380 items out-the-door!

And you know what? I’m not even done yet 😉

I’ve been joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, 14 days. Total count: 146.
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is still deep into her filing cabinet…
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, has gotten rid of 12-13 bag/boxes of stuff!
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is taking a day off, she have shed amazingly 671 items so far.

and
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, just got rid of 11 trash bags from her closet!
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad have been visiting her mum and decluttered her old room.

21.20 – A random bunch of stuff!

We’re at day 20 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

I can’t believe I’m almost at the end of my 21 day declutter challenge! It’s gone by pretty fast.

Has it been hard?

No not really, I thought I would struggle more to come up with things to get rid off, but I’m finding I actually have more than enough to cover today’s and tomorrows “quota”…

So much so that I almost want to continue on to see how far I can go. Now mind you I did say, almost. Which means, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, on me actually following through on that particular thought 😉

So where are we today? Well, I’ve been searching “high and low”… and this is what I’ve found:

20 items going out-the-door!

1 large wooden platter
1 par of gloves
1 ear-warmer
3 jewelry travel “pouches”
2 caps
1 wine bottle cover (it’s really nice and furry and sooooo soft, dang it..)
1 watering can

1 glass vase
1 ipad cover
1 bowl
1 scanner w/charger
1 floor runner that can be used outdoors
4 table cloth runners
1 pancake “spatula”
=
20 items

Bigger things today Jen, bigger things today 😉

At the home stretch now.. only one more day.. woohoo!

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, joined for 14 days. Total count: 146 🙂
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is deep into her filing cabinet…
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, is hating her laundry so much she is tucking away a box of clothing wondering if it counts, declutter wise 😉
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is on day 18, I’m sure she is hard at work on day 19.

and
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, just got rid of 11 trash bags from her closet. I’m super impressed!
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad is visiting her mum and is decluttering her old room.

21.19 – Itsy-bitsy items!

We’re at day 19 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

I’ve been a bit under the weather today, so this is going to be extremely short and sweet.

Gotta keep up with my daily post you know 😉

28 Itsy-bitsy pieces going out-the-door!

1 box of birdseed
1 bottle of orchids fertilizer
6 bookmarks
2 small boxes
3 plastic pouches
1 sports bottle
1 fridge magnet
1 metal box
1 pocket mesuring band
and
11 other random items
=
28 items

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, joined for 14 days. Her total count? 146 (so far) 🙂
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is deep into her filing cabinet… which reminds me.. I should get back to my paper scanning and decluttering project… maybe I can make that my next 21 day challenge?
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, just “emptied” her garage, and are now at 12 bags total… awesome!!
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is on day 18, she has pasted the 650 item mark and working on 700…

in addition:
– Gilly over at Anything but housework, just gotten rid of 11 trash bags from her closet.. how cool is that!
– Liliia at Bring your baby abroad is visiting her mum and have been going wild in her old room, decluttering!

21.18 – A loft cleanup!

We’re at day 18 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

Since I got on a bit of a roll yesterday, getting slightly bigger items out of the house, I figured why not continue on, with the “high real estate” items as opposed to all the teenzy weenzy items 😉

Now, where in the world would I hide some of these slightly bigger items?

Well… why not try my “loft”?

Now I’ve gotta explain, I don’t actually have a loft… what I have is a small storage area built over my IKEA storage cabinets, just to utilize the space up to the ceiling.. pretty much a built in “loft”/storage area/”room” whatever you want to call it.

Since it’s right up to the ceiling there isn’t much height to store things.. but it fits a suitcase, a few boxes, my stored away golf set++

Even though it is kinda tiny, I still managed to find a few items tucked away up there:

18 20 pieces going out-the-door!

7 empty boxes that I had kept just in case…
1 cane that used to hang in my office… joke from ways back
1 bag that held my guest bed matress topper
4 backpack buckle replacement pieces
2 paper bags I have kept forever – you might guess why.. 😉
1 sleeping bag
1 sleeping bag liner
1 travel bag for a full golf bag set
2 waterproof bags
=
20

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, joined for 14 days. Her total count? 146 (so far) 🙂
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, is shredding paper… hmmm good idea..I really could need to do this.
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, had a wonderful weekend, and decluttered some stuff.
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is on day 17, she is just shy of 650 items. I can’t believe it…

21.17 – Honey! I shook the house!

We’re at day 17 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

Gilly over at Anything but housework, made a comment on my blog, the other day, about wanting to “Open the front door, tip the house up and shake it like a trash can!” I loved that analogy.

So what did I do?

I went ahead and shook the house 😉
(only just a little, mind you, I didn’t particular need to have any “post tornado” tiding up to do… my house is messy enough as it is)…

And would you know it… out rolled a few more possessions…

17 pieces going out-the-door 🙂

1 Small collapsible table
1 Large case
1 PC speaker set, still in it’s box
1 Chair cover
1 Large narrow mirror
3 lamp shades
1 large plant box for indoor or outdoor
1 old sink
1 Samsonite hardcover suitcase

So I had this pretty little plant, well guess what! It got knocked over yesterday and broke.. and I think it’s only fair to get to count this as an item out-the-door! The plant? It’s nicely snuggled into a twin pot, which is how I get to show you how it used to look 😉

so here we are…
1 small blue broken flowerpot
3 purple candle holders… did you see this Melinda? 🙂
1 plant pot trolley
1 large grey flowerpot
=
17 items

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, joined for 14 days. Her total count? 146 (so far) 🙂
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, been working on her floor on day 6.
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, had a wonderful weekend, and decluttered some stuff.
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, is on day 16, she is getting closer and closer to 600 items…

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THANK YOU ALL!

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)

Like it? You are welcome to share it :)