[suzie76]

Besides getting rid of excess weight, I've decided to get rid of excess STUFF!!!

I used to be a lot more organized before our son was born in 1999. Looking around our house, I realized I've let things go.

So, I'm going on a clean sweep:

Any books or magazines I don't read or need are getting donated to my library

Any clothes I don't wear for whatever reason are being donated to Vietnam Vets or the dropoff box near our grocery store

Any little knicknacks that are just making more clutter are getting donated or trashed

Any videos I no longer watch or will not watch again will be given to friends or donated to our library

I will finally finish putting our photos in albums

I will make up some healthy menus, and pick a menu for the week on Sunday and shop accordingly

I am going to organize my desk (it's somewhat organized, but I have a big pile of miscellaneous stuff) I will file bills as soon as they're paid, not accumulate a huge "to be filed " folder like I have now

make another folder for Matthew's artwork I want to keep-right now it's just in a big pile

Any other suggestions? I'm ready to go. I have off work Monday, so I'm getting started then!

Sherry

[synger]

I have a "pending" box. All the things that I think I really might need go in there while I'm sorting/cleaning. Then the box goes in the basement. If I don't need to open the box in the next six months, it all gets trashed. That's how I deal with things that I can't bear throwing away right now, but I think I may be trying to justify keeping.

I'd also make a physical list of all these steps, and check each one off when completed. Then you can see how much you've done when you feel overwhelmed halfway through Monday.

[Sheila53]

Sherry, I saw a thing on HGTV about kids and their artwork and schoolwork. Each kid got to decorate a box and then put their favorite pieces of artwork/schoolwork in after everyone oohhed and ahhed over it. Then before the start of the next school year, the kid went through it and got to keep just a few pieces they really wanted to keep, and that continued until the kid didn't care anymore (somewhere in middle school if I'm remembering correctly). That way, everything was kept in one box, so there was a record of artwork/schoolwork throughout the years. I thought that was a cool idea, and one I wished I'd done.

One of the things my friend did when her kids were in their late 20s was frame a particularly wonderful piece of artwork that the kid had done and she gave each kid that for a Christmas gift. It was really a treasured gift.

[Jennelle]

www.flylady.net

The BEST site for organizing your home. Now, if I could only FIND my kitchen sink...

[Sandi]

www.organizedhome.com is also very good. Be careful if you sign up with flylady. You can get TONS of unwanted e-mail.