giant pile of stuff on the porch. baby stuff (not from my kid, from babysitting but the youngest is 8 now, probably won't need a gate) some house stuff and a beautiful new toaster oven that does everything perfectly but always burnt the toast.

this first pile is from the crawl space, all stuff I wasn't sure about so left for a year or so down there. now new stuff can go down there if I'm not sure. also, had gotten rid of all the old clothes last time I did this, so it was nice not dealing with that

this is the logic, with some kudos to the first chapter of bethanns ebook (that I read quickly on amazon) :

*****all that stuff on the porch, if I ever decide I really needed some of it, it would probably cost $25 or $50 to replace the item or two I need. so why not have the joy of a clutter free house for the price of Maybe In The Future spending $50?******

How will you get rid of the stuff?

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The road to success is always under construction.

free garage sale on porch until I get it all in the truck to the thrift store later today. will email a couple of friends about the cool stuff. already had the area rug go off to a friends, the heaviest thing out there!

to post what you got and come get it. they ask that you just be nice and repost when there's nothing left or when all the good stuff's gone.

I popped out an email to some friends and the really good stuff is gone, the rest to the goodwill, all done. I feel "lighter."

I haven't been here in a couple weeks, but topics hit home for me.
My advice is to use Craigslist Free section if you have Craigslist.
Also did you know that Salvation Army looks at your furniture when you are dropping off
for rips/tears/stains? I had checked them out online so I was aware. I took an upholstered chair
(hand me down from my mom) today and I had used some cleaner to get spots off the arms before i went.
However in the sunlight in the parking lot the worker saw a spot on the back of the seating area-his supervisor said
he could still take it.
I didn't take the hand me down couch-the fabric is in good shape but one leg likes to fall off. Its at the curb and
hope someone will take it before the trash man comes tomorrow.

I've gone through several decluttering phases. I always acquire more to declutter, but it's less all the time. What I really learned recently is that the absolute best way to declutter is to empty the room out entirely, and move back what you want, in the location you want it in. Isn't that how everyone cleans their garages??


I learned this the hard way when we got flooded. I had to empty out the 2 rooms that had the most junk, our family room, and the game room. I moved all out paperwork, photos, books (1000 +), albums (300+), music, computer games, legos that weren't being used, and a huge mound of toys, school supplies, and misc crap in the family room. With a few exceptions, I only moved back things that i had sorted thru..photos being the major exception. I still haven't put everything away properly, but I'm still chipping away at it. Let me tell you though, nearly everything has a place now..which couldn't be said before, which is why it was laying around. It was a tedious process, but I thought about everythig before I put it back. I'm dong a slower process in my bedroom, but the key for me is to sort all like items at once, not a drawer at a time. I emptied my closet entirely, and put everything back color coordinated..very unlike me, but I LOVE it, and always hang my clothes up where they belong in the closet. My next step is to empty all my drawers at once. There's something about seeing it all together gives you a much greater perspective of everything you have than doing it drawer by drawer.

My goal is to hit every room in the house, either all at once (bathroom could be dome that way easily) or piecemeal...my goal is to touch everything I own, and make sure i want it, and that it is being stored at the best location.

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I live my life in celebration that I've got a life to live.