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Decluttering mayhem-mayhem-mayhem!

May 25th, 2010 at 09:45 pm

It's a heat wave in Minnesota! After weeks of cold dreary weather, suddenly days of 90s temperatures. AA hasn't worn clothes for over 24 hours:



The past few days have been filled with productivity, because all three of us adults got the decluttering bug simultaneously.

I think it was triggered by having two couches in our living area for several weeks. We bought a new one but could not give the old one away, even though we advertised on Freecycle, Craigslist and Freemarket. The condo would haul it away to the dump for $80. That hurt both financially and environmentally. Finally we decided to offer $30 on Craigslist to help someone with the moving costs, because A) People kept backing out of picking it up, and we figured transportation was an issue, and B) If someone just took the couch to get the money, at least it would be a cheaper haul-away fee than $80. As luck would have it, some guy picked it up for his boss, because he had a moving van for his own move and she needed a couch. So I felt good that it was actually getting a home and we weren't just paying to send it to a landfill. He said she'd given him some money to move it, so together with our money he did all right that day! Smile


So once that was gone, the sudden clearing up of space inspired us to take on three closets and several clutter hotspots, including the area under the coffee table and a built-in shelf in the living room. Now we're thinking we'll try and sell our entertainment center, which is awesome but too imposing for our small space, and also not babyproof for when AA starts crawling. Hopefully we can make enough to buy a sleeker unit with doors at Ikea. Or we can mount the TV on the wall and buy cabinets to store our DVDs. Either way would open up the space more.

AS and I spared no expense when we furnished this condo, using a HELOC to buy furniture we couldn't afford, including this $1000 entertainment center:

One day I was adding up the cost of everything we'd bought on the HELOC: dining-room table and 10 chairs, armchair, couch, padded sleigh bench, padded butterfly chair, entertainment center, king-size mattress, iMac desktop computer and two iPods ... we kinda went nuts. NT was a little shocked, but then he estimated what he'd spent on LPs, CDs and DVDs, and realized that he'd probably spent as much just on that habit! We're a household of reformed spenders. (Well, partly reformed anyway, LOL.)

So back to decluttering. We got rid of tons of empty boxes, worn-out clothes and bedding, an old computer shell; things that had just been sucking up space in our closets. I went through a couple stacks of paperwork and dumped a bunch. We tore out what we wanted from some magazines and put them on the free table. We got rid of a canning pot that was huge and hadn't been used in years. We reorganized things so that you can actually see everything that's in the closets.

We decided another couple of purposes for our surplus money: new luggage and some closet organization. AS is going to plan how to redo our closets so there isn't so much awkward or unusable space. And while we were cleaning we decided our battered, 12+-year-old luggage would have to go. There are some great sales at Sears, and you can buy online and then go pick up, so we'll probably do that soon.

We'll probably use up the entire surplus on the household purchases we've planned so far. That's OK, because we've learned of some other money coming in: two more freelance projects for AS, a medical refund for me, a bonus (one week's pay) for NT. So our surplus will probably be bigger, and I may still be able to accomplish some of my financial goals, such as speaking with financial planners, before the end of the year.

Wow, I can't believe I was able to finish this entry! AA has been super-clingy today, but she's finally taking a nap. I'd better go, though, and see if I can get one or two other things accomplished before she wakes up...

8 Responses to “Decluttering mayhem-mayhem-mayhem!”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1274821384

    Great job! Decluttering and organizing feel great, don't they?

  2. Analise Says:
    1274821449

    AA is such a beautiful baby!

    I love the feeling of accomplishment after decluttering and re-organizing.

  3. Miz Pat Says:
    1274822935

    To heck with the decluttering - that is one cute baby - SMOOCH SMOOCH TICKLE. Okay - lost mind there.

    Congrats on getting so much done. Kiss Baby AGAIN!!!!!

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1274829676

    I am with Pat! Big Grin *smoochies* *tickles*

    Interestingly, my friend just bought a similar looking "entertainment center." Bought an IKEA shelf, and turned it sideways! Easier to do with the ultra light flat panels...

  5. Apprentice Bliss Hunter Says:
    1274831585

    Great Job !! :-)

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    1274893744

    I know, there's something about a naked baby that requires even more kissing and cuddling than a clothed one! Smile
    I love the increased openness that happens after a declutter. Feels like my lungs have room to expand and I can breathe deeper! I've also gotten a few things off my boring paperwork to-do list. I'm thinking about trying a scheduling tool so I can keep up the momentum--I have so many things to do with varying timelines, and I'm afraid I'll miss something!

  7. Looking Forward Says:
    1274896835

    Oohh..Baby belly!!! Look at her cute bellybutton!!

  8. merch Says:
    1274971152

    Very cute baby. Congrats.

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