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

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

546/1000

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.

Good job, CM! Go you!

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

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

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

555/1000

3 tv remotes and a cookie tin. Donated.

558/1000

oops, I can't add.

559/1000

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

Lila,

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

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

Good job Lila!

That was a hard one!

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

513/1000

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

Moving blanket that the cat peed on when he got accidentally locked in a room - gone to the trash.

475/1000

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

521/1000

Yesterday I put a new pair of cotton gloves into the donate box.

476/1000

One old disgusting pillow from ex's hoard. Really it was mine a long time ago and he 'rescued' it, so out it goes.

477/1000

Old bottle of spray ex kept around, that doesn't even work anymore. Five containers of old lotions and stuff that are very old.

483/1000

One old threadbare green towel with a hole in it, into the trash. I normally donate things like this to the animal shelter, but ex left it dirty on his floor and then broken glass got on it and I just did not have the energy to wash it or anything. Out it goes.

484/1000

Another old, thin, raggedy towel into the donate bin!

485/1000

Lila, you are getting there! I am pulling for you to hit that halfway point!

Before we went on vacation I looked around and decided that I probably need to get rid of 25% of the stuff in this house. Some rooms only have a few extra things, but others could cut down 50% or more (looking at you basement, spare bedroom)

So, as I cut down, I am going to try to balance everything in with something out. I think this will discourage me from bringing things in (do I want this enough to get rid of something else?) and also help keep me from just churning.

Here are my rules - the items out do not have to be the same type or size, but they have to leave AFTER I bring the new thing in. - since I am already over capacity I cannot keep a buffer of things I already got rid of.

The things have to involve a DECISION. So, for example, when I worked in the basement this morning, I gathered up an entire paper grocery bag of recycling. None of that counts, because I just picked it up and thought "recycling." Boom. The same way you would pick up a fork from the dishwasher and put it in the fork drawer (assuming you are at a point in your life where forks have an actual designated space with enough room for all of the forks).

But, I also put a smashed and tattered bow into the trash bag. That counts even though it is a very small item, because it was hard for me to accept that the bow could not be reshaped and reused, or used for a craft of some sort (probably could, but I don't need it or know anyone who might) or even recycled. Trash is my biggest, hardest area. So the labor that went into that bow was a far bigger step than when I donated the twin bed. And really the thing I am fixing here is me, not the house. If I fix me, the house will be easy.

So - tally in yesterday 15, tally out 1 ideally I will get to all 15 today, but 15 is a lot.

2.

Not going to explain everything because the last explanation almost sent me back to rescue the bow from the trash. I didn't. A little stronger every day.

This is so profound, SubC! I love the thought of fixing ME, not the house. I never thought about it quite like that but it is so true. And, I totally get the 'decision' part, too. Like the dog toys. I have a real attachment to every dog toy, especially ones that used to belong to my heart dog who passed away. My current dog inherited a lot of her toys because she never destroyed any of them. But he is rougher on them and sometimes takes out the insides. But he still plays with the ratty things so I have a hard time tossing. But he has like 30 toys in a basket in the living room, maybe more, plus I have 2 bins downstairs for later use. So when I tossed the 2 ratty ones it was a decision. I've been considering getting rid of them for weeks, but finally did it.

Two ratty dog toys, into the trash.

487/1000

I am up to 4.

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

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.

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

17 dog items from the bins, donated for training.

505/1000

I pulled everything out of the top shelf in the closet, sorted, dusted the shelf and found 6 old cleaners/bottles of stuff to dispose of.

464/1000