This thread for 2023 is now closed!

Head on over to the Daily Tally 2024 thread.

1002+/1000 items gone in 2023

I have thought about it and I am going to try to do a net 366 items out. That is a very reasonable average of one per day. (leap year)

More details after you start the thread.

Good job you guys!

I will make a new Daily Tally 2024 thread tomorrow! I wonder what I should make as my goal. I am not sure if I even have another 1000 items to get out of my home. Well, I do have 1000, but do I have 1000 that I don't want to keep? I will think about that. I am sure I have 500.

It really is kind of amazing to me that I donated or tossed over 1000 actual items from my house that I was saving... just this year. I look back in this thread and think about allll those things and how much space all of that took up! It is pretty incredible. Everything from a couch, a recliner, and a TV to small things like extra pens and bookmarks. I am proud of myself!

Oh, Lila, that is so awesome; you are going to feel so much lighter and hopeful going into the new year.

I think we're all on a roll, and I'm loving it.

Tada!

Nice job Lila!

Also nice job CM.

Lila, now I feel like you need to make a new goal thread for 2024. This one is checked off!

Annddddddddd drumroll:

TotsDad and I purged more of the garage and I HIT MY GOAL of over 1000 items GONE from my home in LESS than a year! Wow!! We did so good and I am so excited! It was WELL over 50 items but I lost count so I am counting 50... because I know I have never overestimated, so this is a true success hitting the goal!

Some items that left:
Books, magazines
Christmas decorations
Clothes (lots!)
old shoes, hats, coats, socks
a few toys
some drinking glasses
flashlights
pool noodles and floaties
blankets
duplicate/cheaper tools
all kinds of junk from ex's hoard like old masks, breathing strips from the 1990s, old receipts and junk mail (I did not count the paper trash but it felt good to toss it!)
a broken hamper
a whole box of really old trim and dowels (I was sorely tempted to keep these, but my son was the voice of reason: they are 20 years old, dirty, cut to wrong lengths, if he needs any he will spend a couple dollars and buy exactly what he needs) - I did keep 3 dowels.
an old tarp that was huge, dirty, and had holes in it

All this stuff GONE, and now I have sooo many empty bins to store things in! I even put some of Ex's books into some of the totes for him, to keep any mice out.

I am REALLY proud of myself!

1002/1000

And success breeds success! Because I did streamline and consolidate the sewing tote box. Got rid of some stuff, have a few things like interfacing and iron on tape that I want to make a small box for rather than carry in the tote.

There were some patterns in there and somehow that led to going through a shelf of pattern and quilting books. Some quilting books found their way into the donate box. The donation box is approaching two cubic feet worth of stuff now!

That's great, CM! Every step is a victory!

You are an inspiration, Lila!

On the main thread I posted about how I finally got my sewing machine working again. In the process, I was opening up sewing supply tote boxes to find my oil and tools. Found a quilting magazine to put in the donation box.

That's just one small item, but as I was looking at the contents of the boxes I thought, hey, I bet I can go through these and find other stuff to get rid of and neaten up the boxes. It's even possible I may decide to go to just one sewing box. I have two with handles, the bigger one of which was given to me and the other I picked out. I may not need the bigger one, it's kind of bulky.

GREAT JOB LILA!

Great job Lila!

I am so impressed!

You are doing really well at taking advantage of your help. Some of those th8ngs sound like they were probably really hard.

Well we worked hard in the garage! I lost count at one point but I know it was at least 280 items so that is what I am counting! It was probably 3/4 donated and 1/4 thrown away. I am so excited!

Some items that went out:
tools
candles
Halloween costumes and decorations
Christmas decorations
a whole bin full of old camping gear
pans, silverware, cups, knives, spatulas
dog toys
newer comic books
unmatched tupperware lids
rags, baby items, toys
car seat and booster seat
tire pump, craft kits
a beautiful dress Teen never wore
a very pretty doll in a wedding dress
a fish bowl, a small aquarium, cat food and water feeders
flashlights, old stuff like glues and soaps and caulk
car stuff, gloves
a brand new crock pot in a box
all kinds of random items

It filled the entire back of my SUV and two big trash containers, and still have 3 boxes of stuff to go in the next load to donate!

952/1000

Three more clothing items that I don't really like but are in nice condition, into the donate box.

672/1000

30 items of clothing into the donate box. Wow.

669/1000

sometimes I can just move as slow as a turtle. But I am still going.

One baseball cap into the donate box.

639/1000

One slightly used bath sponge, into the trash. I really didn't like it. It was just taking up space.

bit by bit.

638/1000

2 rather new shirts into the donate bin, and a small, raggy towel I was hanging on to was used to clean and then tossed into the trash.

637/1000

Four small candles in glass jars and 7 perfectly good plastic lids for Pyrex dishes (I have too many), all donated today.

634/1000

Old ruined pair of sandals and a jar I was saving but never use.

623/1000

more today: small tv, tv stand, VCR.

621/1000

Here we gooooo!

Skate box, several large boxes of expired food, container of Roundup, cute jar with expired jam in it, package of dusty plasticware, large dusty box of tea, small booklets about plants.

618/1000

Big sleeper sofa, old wrecked recliner, damaged shelf, and messed up kiddie pool - all gone to the dump!

607/1000

A large floor lamp, a stereo, and a big shelf - out of my house forever!

603/1000

Ten more small items from my kitchen, donated! Measuring spoons, a baster, plastic serving spoons, etc.

600/1000

Six items: 5 kitchen utensils donated and one too-small chip clip into the trash.

590/1000

I cleaned out a closet and got rid of a whole box of very old expired food and the contents of two milk crates of old food. This made a lot of space and I am proud of it, so I am counting this as 3 items (not counting dozens of cans - just 3 containers full).

584/1000

Can opener that was annoyingly difficult and I hated it but kept it around. Into the trash.

581/1000

Three decent dog toys donated, one ratty one in the trash, and one new one that the dogs don't care for is set aside to give to my friend who has a new puppy.

580/1000

One ratty dog toy into the trash. I am always tempted to keep these until they are threadbare. I'm getting better.

575/1000

One pair of shoes that was getting holes in them, de-laced and put into the trash. I saved the laces and put them in another pair of shoes that needed them. I had been saving this pair forever thinking "oh I can use them when I mow the lawn, they are not that bad, etc" but it was time to declutter them.

574/1000

Thanks SubC!

Today I threw out two half-empty bottles of resin and a box of face masks with resin spilled on them (all would have been salvageable, but I am just giving it up). And I donated one of those microwave splatter guards that I never use. It is big and plastic and takes up a lot of space. A paper towel works fine.


573/1000

Lila,

I just wanted to say that I am impressed at your perseverance!

Today I put 10 things in the donation box so far: a couple of candles, a cloth face mask, some notebooks, other random items I found. Still working on my bedroom, which is where this all came from.

569/1000

oops, I can't add.

559/1000

3 tv remotes and a cookie tin. Donated.

558/1000

One old dog toy and a dog brush that I had two of, but one was cracked. The cracked one got tossed.

555/1000

5 items of Teen's old clothing and one shirt that doesn't look good on me, donated. One garlic press with the finish flaking off, into the trash.

553/1000

Good job, CM! Go you!

I hope to add to my declutter numbers today or tomorrow.

I realized I had a couple of things - three actually depending on how you count - I could post here. It is trash day tomorrow, and this time I remembered to get the ancient bottle of barbecue sauce and the two bags of frozen bananas from the Pleistocene Era that I wouldn't trust for making banana bread anymore, out to the dumpster.

It's not so much the amount as simply that I remembered! Go me! Hopefully I will remember more often. I'm on a campaign to get food that's sat around for awhile dealt with. I'm fine* with discarding anything expired or otherwise iffy; it's just that sometimes when it's been around a long time it blends into the background and I fail to notice it.

*Well, I do get a slight pang when it's something like fresh produce that I bought with good intentions for something like smoothies but didn't use promptly. Ouch. Still, if it's bad, out with it. Sunk cost fallacy does not deter me.

One old ratty dog toy, one sock with a small hole, one underwear looking ragged - into the trash today.

546/1000

A few days ago I sorted my towels and washcloths and put a bunch into a bag and gave to a dog rescue. I counted but now I forgot how many. I know it was at least 12, so that's what I will count. Yesterday I got rid of 8 cheap plastic plates that were starting to show plastic bits on the food! Into the trash they went.

543/1000

One stupid chair and one crappy stool. Trash.

523/1000

One old messed up lanyard and the candle from a lantern that broke, into the trash.

521/1000

Four VHS tapes given to a neighbor, one package of scented wax melts and one more small toy figurine into the donate box.

519/1000

Sorting the toy box: 2 items in the trash, and 6 small toys in the donate box.

513/1000

Good job Lila!

That was a hard one!

17 dog items from the bins, donated for training.

505/1000

Nice work SubC. Let guilt go if you can, and know that there will be a time you won't have to deal with this stuff anymore because you won't buy too many things! Same for me.

I did not get much decluttering done after all, but did do a lot of laundry.

Added one pair of old undies to the trash. Slow and steady...

488/1000

I did it. I passed 15.

I found a bin of old art supplies hiding in the scullery and I opened a box of glitter glue. I counted each container as one because I experienced them as separate things - I had to check if they were dried out. I had to talk myself out of trying to reconstitute them. I had to talk myself out of cutting the tubes open, saving the dried up glitter bits and washing the tubes for recycling. I was really angry at myself for buying them and hoarding them and never using them and wasting them. I stopped counting at 19. There must have been a clearance sale.

I thought about the plastic toys on the curb.

I put them in the trash.

I am up to 4.

I took the trash when I went to the store so I couldn't second guess it anymore.