I took six liquor boxes of stuff to Goodwill the other day; there's more to come, but that was a pretty good haul considering half of it came from one room (and the other half of it was from my mom's decluttering).

When I go through the file cabinet, I like to take a few folders at a time so I can go through them wherever I like. I then create piles: recycle, shred-and-recycle, garbage (that which cannot be recycled), and piles of stuff that should be in other folders (doesn't happen all that often for me, but then I'm the only one who ever touches the folders) but isn't yet. When I bring the appropriate folder to the couch (or wherever), I put the errant piece of paper in it before it gets returned to the cabinet.

Perhaps I'll do that, Steve - I could use a box for the folders that I'm sorting through, and just do parts at a time.

Although...if I clean the office *first*, then I'd like to move the filing cabinet into the office from the bedroom, since that seems like a much more logical and usable place for it (and then it would be convienent to use for my business records as well, which it just isn't at all now).

But it will be lighter to move if I clean out the folders *first*.

I guess I need to "organize the process of organizing" before I can even start! ;-)

I agree with Steve. Also, going through papers goes so much quicker in front of the TV.

A short while back, my 2-drawer filing cabinet (mostly paid bills) was in such sorry shape I just dumped the drawers in a laundry basket and went through it in another room while watching TV. I saved very little.

Mainly shop for a dining room table and six chairs. I really don't enjoy shopping. But I don't enjoy football, either, so this weekend might be a good time for DD and I to have some girl time while dad bonds with the boys over football.

Then put the tree away so I can get the new table in that room.

Finally: A weekend plan for me!

Tomorrow our college son is going back to school. That means all his STUFF is out of here! If I also take down the Christmas decorations, the whole house will look emptier!!

We still have one more family gathering this weekend -- a New Year's Day dinner for the extended family. That means a quick straightening up of the house and some easy cooking (thank goodness for spiral cut hams!).

But next week, when the kids are back to school ... watch out! The tree is coming down, the decorations will be packed up, and I'm going to sort out the two shelving units in the basement where all the holiday boxes live. I also need to tackle the file cabinets during January and shred a lot of old stuff. I sense full trash bags in my future, lol.

Good luck to everyone on your weekend plans!

I must clean out my bedroom closet, again! I have been using this as a staging place for all of DH's papers and hobbies as well as the care package I want to send my dd and dgd.

I have an empty closet in another room which is close by and have been debating about putting all my clothes in there. That way, any mess that will accumulate in the MBR walk-in closet will be dh's. When I reorganized, I had put all of dh's personal stuff in this closet. The only things of mine in there are my hung-up clothes and a couple of closed bags that are holding my purses and seasonal clothes. Am I asking for more work by moving my stuff out of there?

Marie,

You have an EMPTY CLOSET??? Go for it! I think it's an excellent idea to move your things away from the mess. Then you can close the door to the MBR closet and have your things arranged in a peaceful (uncluttered) setting.

I'm alone today with no excuses not to work on decluttering. Have to do my regular weekly cleaning but then I will tackle my very last holiday storage item, which is to pick off tinsel from my strings of light, find some cardboard or tubes to wind them around, then repack them for storage.

Then hopefully I will have enough steam left to work on some other projects. Have to start mucking out son's room, which I dread. I need to go through my closet again and weed things out. Ditto for daughter's and son's closets. We've decided to do a yard sale so I'm trying to pack things up in boxes for that as I clear.

Ann

DH's brother & his wife have come for the weekend, so we'll be spending a good amount of time with family. We only see them maybe once a year.

We are hoping to get a few things done. DH got my new shower dispenser installed. We've done a thorough cleaning of the tub so it can be re-caulked. DH's going to work on some misc. cleaning up. I'd like to get both drawers of my nightstand cleaned out. Of course, there's always the regular stuff like laundry.

It took from afternoon until evening, but we are officially de-decorated! The decorations are packed in the storage room; the tree stuff is ready to go in the attic tomorrow afternoon (we need daylight to do that!).

I miss the Christmas tree, but the living room looks bigger!

Jamie, I'm glad that you started this thread because I finally cleaned out the master bedroom closet. I moved my clothes to another closet which I think will help to keep things in order in both closets.

The mug box is still in its original location. I still have to move it.

I finally through out 3 pairs of old "favorite" shoes. I still have to go through the rest of my shoes but they are on the very top shelf in the MBR closet, out of the way so I will do that on another day.