I went back to that same out of the way cupboard today as I did yesterday and rid it of the last remaining 6 homeschool catalogs from 2011 and then went on to find a huge stack of old 2011 coupons clipped right before I switched our family over to homemade cleaners and natural beauty treatments. My coupon collection is much smaller now.

What struck me today as I was decluttering was all the paper I have been getting rid of. From old magazines to catalogs to coupons day after day during this challenge I have been taking stacks of paper to the recycling bin.

What makes it worse is that most of these items that are heading to the recycling bin I have not needed in years. Who needs a 2 years old homeschooling catalogs?

I need to start dealing with paper right away the minute I am done with it. I need to make the effort to take it right to the recycling bin instead of letting it stick around in a pile thinking “I don’t want to walk all the way over to the recycling right now”.

Um….I run marathons...bike miles..take kickfit classes… and yet I can’t seem to convince myself to walk the maximum 50 steps give or take a flight of stairs to toss something in a recycling bin rather then toss it on the floor or table nearest me.  Now that is a slap my forehead and scream “DUH” moment.

Yep even fitness fanatics can be lazy. It is time to change my ways starting with this weekend. I am attending a neighboring cities homeschooling convention and I know that the goody bag will come filled with papers, and that I will be handed even more papers at the lectures I attend.

This year I am dealing with those papers right away instead of shoving them in cupboard to deal with them later. Monday morning you are going to see a picture of all those papers that I know I will not use in my clutter busting post, along with the photo of what items I actually did keep.

Do you struggle with paper clutter? If not please help me with tips on how to avoid it.

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Today was one of those decluttering days where I wandered around trying to figure out what area to attack next. I tried my workout dresser and found just two pairs of pants. I looked on our book shelves but I had just decluttered those not that long ago.

So I started opening cupboards that we don’t use often and sure enough in seconds I found a huge stack of homeschooling catalogs from 2011.

Which made me think. If I emptied my barely used cupboards of stuff we no longer use, would I be able to refill them with stuff that is lying around in piles driving me crazy!

For instance I have trays and cookie cutters that I use just a few times a year in a convenient cupboard that could be used to store the small appliances that I use almost daily instead of having them pile up on the counter. If I put these trays and cookie cutters away in the less convenient cupboards instead of things that no longer have any value to me it seems like I might have a more efficient storage system saving me time and stress.

Right now I am concentrating on removing clutter, but when the clutter is gone it seems like better organizing what is left is the answer to my pile problem.

Perhaps the next challenge needs to be…organizing 15 minutes a day every day for a month. But….it is summer..the weather is nice and I want to be outside..so it can wait until fall (but should it..hmm..food for thought)

Do you find that poor organization is sometimes as much a problem for you as clutter?

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Today is May 15th meaning I am half way through the Clutter Busting Challenge with Money Saving Mom.

My home is 105 items lighter than it was May 1st and hopefully by May 31st it will be 217 items lighter.

Today the children help me rid their VHS collection of 6 more videos and one strange looking toy that was floating around in the box.

When I went to put the videos in the closet with the others waiting for yard sale day, I was greeted by…..

This very tall stack of videos. Over the last few days the children and I have gotten rid of 22 videos.

It took us just moments a day, yet the impact is impressive. Small steps really do add up over time.

This is how I live my life. Many years ago I gave up making huge lists of expectations and goals for myself to obtain at lightening speed and turned my focus instead to living my life at a snails pace.

What does that mean? It means concentrating on the small steps I have done instead of the BIG goals I have yet to reach.

It means celebrating that you are  down one pound instead of getting so caught up on numerous pounds you have to lose. It means cheering for yourself out loud when you make that treadmill go 1/2 a mile further than you have ever made it go before even if it was just 2 miles total and your BIG goal is to run a marathon.

It means clapping for myself when I remove one more pile of clutter from my home, instead of getting down hearted about the dozens of piles left.

It means accepting yourself in the here and now, and being willing to push yourself just one step further, yet at the same time not fussing over the fact that your not perfect yet; because you will never be perfect, the best you can hope for is to be a better person tomorrow than you were today.

That is my daily prayer for myself that I will continue to improve as a person in all areas of my life until the day I leave this earth, even if it is just at a snail’s pace.

Do you celebrate the smallest of victories?

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I call myself the snail pacer because I believe that there is no project out there worth over throwing the balance of my family home life for.

I do set personal goals beyond my role as a home manager and homeschooling mom of three; I just accept that I will reach those goals at a slow pace.

Sometimes however, certain unforeseen events get me behind. Such as just the other week when both my husband and I came down with horrible colds leaving our children ages 10 to 17 to basically fend for themselves (good thing I taught them how to cook).

As I was cleaning up the mess left from our week as sick parents, I thought about a few tricks either I or people I know have used to help catch up on housework in a hurry.

Tips For Catching Up on Housework Fast

1.Take the laundry pile to the Laundromat

I know of two people who have done this and I have to admit I have been tempted many times. If you are so far behind in the laundry that the children may soon go naked, gather it all up in containers and head to your local laundromat with a cup of coffee and a good book if you are lucky enough to go child free, or a pile of coloring books and crayons if not (but still bring coffee). Don’t forget your quarters.

 2.Hold A Family Working Bee Day

Announce the night before to the children that the next day will be a family working bee. Make sure you have enough cleaning supplies to go around. Delegate tasks according to age. To motivate your workers tell them the day ends in take out pizza and a Redbox movie.

3.Have the Spouse take the kids out while you work

This is what happened last week after my husband and I were both ill. He already had plans to take all three children out on Saturday so I just used the day to clean without interruption and it is amazing how much more I can get done without anyone home.

4. Hold a cleaning date

Not romantic but if your hubby is willing, drop the children off at a friend’s house and spend the day catching up together. My husband and I did this often when the children were younger, as we found we could clean the house top to bottom in half the time that it took with little ones under foot.

We always made sure to leave enough time for ice-cream out together to celebrate catching up with the housework.

 5.Hire Help

Consider helping out a teenager by having them come in and entertain the kids while you catch up the piles. Or perhaps you know of a housekeeper who doesn’t mind a one time gig now and then just to help you catch up.

 6. Decide what is important

Before you employ any of the points above the first thing you have to do is decide what has to be addressed first.

For our family last week it was restocking the cupboards, followed by laundry, bathroom cleaning, and then clutter pick up. My children had actually kept the kitchen up pretty well while we were ill otherwise it would have made the top priority list.

Keeping these tips in mind should help you catch up in a hurry and get you back on to a balanced track.

Do you have any tips you to add?

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7 more videos bringing the total to 16  VHS tapes to sell.

I have been having the children help me declutter their VHS collection. Each morning I have called all three of them over to the box that holds the videos and held one up and made sure all three were in agreement that the title could be sold.

Decluttering with them reminds me of the saying “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” even this morning, one brother could not believe the other wanted to keep a Tailspin Video while both brothers wished their sister would give up her barbie titles (which she insistent on keeping).

Together they were able to find 7 videos they all agreed could go within just a few minutes. Team work really is both fast and effective. Had I done the work on my own I am sure I would have faced disgruntled faces later when they discovered I had sold a title they wished to keep.

If your children are too young to help in decluttering their toys you might benefit from another method I used when the children were younger. Go through the toys by yourself (get the children out of the house while you sort), remove what you think is no longer played with but instead of selling or giving them away right away,  store them in a place out of site from the children for 1 to 3 months, if in that time the child has not asked for stored toys changes are good that they never will and you can get rid of them.

Do your children join you in decluttering their things?

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Today’s collection of stuff reminds me that even FREE comes with a cost.

Besides one of the videos and the magazine on the very top of the pile, all of the rest of the 21 items seen here were free.

Most of the free magazines came either using recyclebank points or mycokerewards points or obtained through free offers I found on Money Saving Mom.

The Rescue Hero’s video came free with a toy, the pile to the side of the magazines is all things my son and I received in our goody bag at the 10K we did this weekend.

We tend to associate free with too good to pass up. However, perhaps we should think of the costs first

1. The cost of time to move the item around.

2. The cost of our sanity when we see piles of things we are not using lying around.

3. The cost to the company that produced or gave out the free items that we are not going to use.

Some of this pile did have use to me, the video that came with the toy was watched over and over by a once three year old in my home who just could not get enough of the action and adventure within.

The magazines were read by me, and some of their pages are now in an idea book waiting for time and and a creative mood to collide with one another.

The race stuff… well my own church gave out the wristbands and our family already each has one, we did not need more and had I known they were being placed in our bags I would have pointed out to the bag stuffer that my family already had enough.

I don’t like too many magnets on my fridge, nor do I use sweatbands (I love Bondibands). Usually however items like this get left in a pile for months  as I try to think of a use for them since they were free; but not this time, this time they are going straight to the toss pile.

Do you struggle with free items?

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Today is one of those days where just finding 7 things seemed like work, but I made myself do it and the whole process took less than 2 minutes.

LESS THAN 2 MINUTES! That is how long it takes to get rid of 7 things in our life space that don’t need to be there taking up our time and energy and leaving us feeling defeated as we gaze around our cluttered homes.

You don’t have to feel defeated you can over come. Making  small realistic snail pacing goals can make a huge difference over time.

Being a snail pacer myself I love projects like the Clutter Busting Challenge Crystal is hosting this month. They reinforce what I already know; small every day steps towards a goal leaves you feeling triumphant and spurs you on to set and reach more goals.

Goals setting is not about the speed in which you reach the goal; goal setting is about having an end in mind that spurs you on.

These 7 VHS tapes don’t look like much but so far in only 8 days in I have gotten rid of 56 things. Enough to fill a huge box for recycling, a box to give away and a box to sell.

These VHS tapes will be in the box to sell. People still buy these. I do at yard sales all the time as we still have 2 working VHS machine and enjoy using them with .50 cent  titles we find at yard sales or free ones we borrow from the library. VHS tapes take a beating that DVD’s won’t.

Got to admit there are a lot of warm fuzzy memories tied up in the “Elmo Saves Christmas” and the “Veggie Tales” ones. I can still see my children with their chubby toddler cheeks all snuggled up on my lap with their sippy cup in hand, giggling away as we watch  the same show for the 4th time that week.

Ach! I got pictures…..

If you have been following my Clutter Busting Challenge this week, you might be wondering if that big box of vinegar and tide bottles actually made it to the curb for recycling pick up. Yes it did! It is sitting out there as I write this. I can see it out the window and so far no strange looks from those walking by.

How is your decluttering going?

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Today I started on my bag collection. I am thinking I might get 2 days worth of items out of it all together.

Looking at this picture I find myself thinking, well maybe I should keep that little black backpack. It might come in handy for….

“It might” are stumbling words for those of us on a clutter busting mission. Chances are “it might” is truly an “it won’t”.

“It might” is yet another stealer of our time, energy and joy in our today.

I find the best way to deal with an “it might” item is do one of two things.

1. Get it out of the house the very day you decide to toss it. Every time I have a full box for the thrift store I try to get rid of it that very same day I filled it. I usually get my husband to drop off my boxes  that way I can’t grab it out of the box last minute as I arrive at the drop off location.

2. Create an “it might” box. Write the date you placed the item in it on the side of the box, and if in 6 months time you have not used it the item is not a “it might” but a “it won’t” so get rid of it.

Do you struggle with “it might” items?

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This morning I got rid of the very last of the empty vinegar bottles, a pair of gloves and a old bike helmet.

So that brings my total to 26 empty vinegar and tide bottles not the 28 I feared. However it is still way more than one person should ever keep as spares in her basement. I now have just the 10 I need for a batch of my homemade laundry detergent.

As I was decluttering the morning I thought about the seductive woman described in Proverbs 7. I couldn’t help but relate my love of buying and storing things I don’t really need to the seductive woman.

These things are attractively dressed, they promise me more time, more money, or a different life in which I will be able to pursue the activity that they are (sewing & scrapbooking supplies) but in reality they steal those very things from me.

To be a good steward I need to live fully in the present, I need to focus on the stage of life I am in now, and these things keep me from enjoying my current life to the fullest.

This month I am getting rid of 217 of those seductive things. Sure some of them are no-brainers like a lifetime collection of vinegar bottles I created when I gave in to the seduction of laziness. Others however are tough to let go of like craft supplies that spoke to my creative side so loudly that I no longer heard the sensible side of me that realizes that in this stage of life I simply do not have time to create past the words on this laptop and the stitches created by my hands when I am winding down for the night.

What are the seductive women in your home? Are you brave enough to toss them?

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I did my Saturday, Sunday and Monday toss on Saturday afternoon. I am actually very embarrassed to show this photo to the world. So before I do here are my lame excuses.

Lame excuse number 1 : We moved my laundry area to the basement a year ago so the recycling bin is on a different floor.

Lame excuse number 2: I have a shelving unit on either side of my washer and drier and it seemed easier at the time to just place these items there than lugging them up the stairs as I emptied them.

Lame excuse number 3: I make my own laundry soap so I do need some of these to store it in (just not this many).

Lame excuse number 4: I truly had no idea that things had gotten this bad. I mean ya I knew I had a few too many, but not THAT MANY.

So here is the picture of my 21 things (7 a day for 3 days)…….

Okay stop laughing now. Yes that is in fact a picture of 21 empty bottles of vinegar and tide. I use vinegar as fabric softener and tide for the whites (I use my homemade laundry soap for all our other laundry).

This story gets worse. Tomorrow you are going to see more of these bottles, and on Friday I am going to have to ask my children to help lug the huge cardboard box they are sitting in up the stairs with me and to the curb for the recycling guys to pick up.

Yes that is right everyone who drives or walks by that morning before the recycle guys arrive is going to see this large mound of 28 empty vinegar and tide bottles and will ponder for the next few miles just how one family could go through that much vinegar and soap.

Oh well, live and learn, and I have learned. I have learned that if you avoid the little for too long it becomes something big and embarrassing.

What did you get rid of today?

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