2020 in 2020

2020 Decluttering Update

declutteringthestuff 2020 in 2020, decluttering, LiveWithLess, Pandemic Life, simplify

We decluttered 2051 items during 2020! Our decluttering “grandtotal” since we began in 2014 is 19002!

This might be one of the few positives for the last 10 months – this and our new grandbaby!

We began our mindshift in mid-2014 with a desire to simplify our lives (physical, financial, emotional) with one aspect being the removal of clutter from the house. The decluttering gods must have know, since our house flooded in 2015 and we removed 11827 items that year.

We have debated if we should continue to count the stuff that leaves the house and every year initially decide we are done counting, until I declutter something and start mentally keeping track. This year it wasn’t even debated – I just printed out a new page!

Our lives are definitely simpler than they were in 2014. We both learned to say NO to extra obligations at work – this is probably the biggest change for both of us. We also decided to think more about our purchases before making them. That, in turn, helped simplify our finances.

This journey in Decluttering the Stuff has been life changing!

Decluttering the Freezer

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If you are like me, once something is put in the freezer I tend to forget it exists. Anyone want a popsicle that is 11 years after expiration?? Glad I was looking for something that sparked this decluttering!

And while I was doing that, I found these drink mixes in the outside frig and freezer – just a few years after expiration!

Weekend Chores!

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Hoping everyone is well and safe for this holiday weekend. We are both doing chores around the house – this will keep us away from others for the weekend!

John is working on the sprinkler system in the back – this seems like a never ending project. This is what happens when you get multiple leaks in the pressurized line, dig up to fix it, and realize the previous owner didn’t use the proper thickness of pipe. No wonder our water bill was so high compared to everyone else! I really wish I had taken a picture of the roots growing into the cracked pipes. He is also adding a new line.

I decided to do a little decluttering as I was cleaning. We replaced my iPad with an iPad mini for my birthday so the old cover can go. My iPad was so old, they would only give me $20 for the trade-in. Guess it is better than nothing.

When I got into a kitchen drawer, I found these old Weight Watchers point “calculators”. Guess they can go since they now have a great app for tracking your points and determining points for various foods.

An old sleep shirt and a couple of nonworking pens – you would have thought no more would exist in our house but you are wrong. I was also able to convince John to get rid of these baseball themed pajamas – he would wear them one day a year for pajama day at school/work and well . . . he’s retiring this year!

And these old headphones! Who uses corded headphones anymore?? These are so old they are literally falling apart.

Decluttering the Pants

declutteringthestuff 2020 in 2020, decluttering, LiveWithLess, Weight Loss

Kiddo #2 and I have been decluttering the excess weight from our bodies. We’ve decluttered 97 pounds in the last 11 months! Hooray for us!

Since COVID lockdown 238 days ago (I know, can you believe it?!?), I’ve worn yoga pants every day. They are definitely getting baggy but who is seeing me? When I teach, the students can’t see my bottoms. We recently ventured out to visit my sister-in-law and I actually put on a pair of jeans. They were too big! That was the inspiration for going through my pants. Since I was going through mine, kiddo #2 decided to do the same.

We decluttered 18 pairs of pants, 1 pair of shorts, and 4 shirts.

Whenever we have to teach from school again, I’ll need to place an overnight delivery of pants! Right now it looks like we will be distance teaching for the remainder of the school year with the current rates of COVID.

23 more items gone from the house!!

Day 100 of Isolation – decluttering the extra closet

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Since Kiddo #2 was home for 24 hours, we decluttered her bedroom closet. Yep it is still called her bedroom and kiddo#1’s room is still hers. Kiddo #2 left home 13 years ago but some things never change!

Kiddo #2’s room is set up with a bed and dresser.

Kiddo #1’s room has the extra TV, bookcase, and sofa sleeper. When she visits, that’s were she sleeps, even if Kiddo#2’s room is not being used. Silly girls!

Here’s the 117 items decluttered!!

Day 99 of Isolation – decluttering the bathroom

declutteringthestuff 2020 in 2020, decluttering, Life Happens, LiveWithLess, Self-Isolation

Kiddo #2 came out to trade cars again. She ended up coordinating and delivering over 5800 diapers to local shelters! WAY TO GO!!

She will be finishing her residency program next week and temporarily moving back in with us August 1st. Job searching during a pandemic has been challenging to say the least. She can save the money in her savings account for the move when she gets a full-time job. She has arranged for per diem work at a local clinic to hold her over until she takes her board exams in October.

Because of this, she wanted me to declutter “her” bathroom. Our Saturday afternoon fun was just that!

78 items were removed from the bathroom! Productive day!

34 items to a local women’s shelter! 

We consolidated the bandages.  There was an empty blood pressure device box.  Where’s the device?  Who knows.  The stethoscope is gone – kiddo #2 called it crap and said we don’t need one.  She also laughed at the diameter of the 80’s curling irons.

Items above going to the shelter.
And the other stuff leaving.

Tomorrow is her closet – imagine, she wants some of the stuff that we’ve been storing in her room since she moved away to college 13 years ago to go elsewhere! I’m hoping most of the stuff will be hers!

Day 84 of Isolation

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Today represents the completion of our 12th full week of self-isolation due to “Safer/Stay at Home” orders. My, how time flies (is there a sarcasm font out there?)

Kiddo #2 “graduated” from her Pediatrics residency program tonight. She doesn’t actually finish until June 30th. Usually they have a big celebratory dinner and invite the families. Instead, they did a small virtual ceremony earlier than usual. We are so proud of her!

2 more steps are required – pass the Pediatrics board exam and find a job. Many places are under hiring freezes, even for doctors. Since the kids aren’t in school, they (and their families) aren’t getting sick! Add to that the people losing their health insurance due to layoffs and you have plenty of uncertainty. It seems weird to think we are in the middle of a PANDEMIC and some medical professions are not “needed” at this time.

On the home front, John played with the sprinklers (again and still!). Things are looking so much better. Can’t wait to post a picture of the grass actually growing!

I moved to the middle drawer to declutter it. Here’s the stuff that was decluttered and the before and after pic. We have no idea where the rest of the Cuisinart mini is. Maybe decluttered earlier? Most of the paper pile was recipes torn from magazines and newspapers along with a BUNCH of recipe empty recipe cards.

Stuff decluttered from the middle drawer. 149 items!

Day 2 of Isolation

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Today is St. Patrick’s Day!  It’s weird not having 150+ middle school kids checking out your clothing to make sure you have green on.

So today I decluttered!  Guess I should have counted how many pictures I removed but totally forgot to do it – maybe a trip to the trash can is in order.

I went through an old box of photos, digitized the ones I wanted to keep, threw away many, and put a few into the small boxes for the kids.

No pics for this one – sorry!

Other things that happened at our house:

  • took the car to get looked at (see our Random Acts of Kindness post!)
  • went to work to pick up my scanner before the complete lockout at 2 pm.  The county has extended Barb’s out of school until April 30th.  All school buildings are off limits.  I needed the scanner to digitize some of the pictures.
  • watched “The Rainmaker” movie
  • John did some yard work as well as transplanting a bush
  • made Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potato dinner.  This has to be one of the easiest “holiday” meals to make!  We embraced our Irish roots with non-traditional Irish foods.  I seem to remember reading that Irish immigrants to the US started eating corned beef and cabbage because it was cheap.  Anyone know for sure?
  • John took a nap
  • FaceTime with the grandkiddo!  She is growing so much!
  • Talked with both Kiddos – kiddo #2 was venting that her noon conference was about potty training in midst of Coronavirus pandemic.  Guess they want the Pediatricians to remember parents will still have concerns about things other than Coronavirus.
  • Talked with both mothers.  They find it funny that we are both considered “elderly” when they first started talking about the age groups most vulnerable.  The media has lost the term elderly.  Guess too many people were offended being called elderly.

Hope everyone is taking time for mental health breaks in their day.

old work stuff needs to go

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As a teacher, we hoard all kinds of teaching supplies.  Last weekend I went through a cabinet in the hallway that housed OLD teacher editions of textbooks (copyright 1993) and associated supplemental materials.  We are in the early stages of adopting a new textbook and these are at least 3 adoptions ago!  I couldn’t tell you the last time I looked at them.

The text bank book even mentions that IF you have a computer to contact them and they will send you a disk with the text questions.  I’m assuming it is a 3.5 floppy!

So here are the pictures of all the supplemental materials I got rid of.  The actual teacher editions I took back to school just in case anyone wants one. (doubtful, but you never know)

Why do we keep things like this??  Any other middle school science teachers have these still?

decluttering the medicine shelf

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So after yesterday’s spice cabinet shelf decluttering, I was inspired to tackle the medicine shelf.

IMG_0341 cropped small

IMG_0342 small
after the decluttering

 

9 containers were removed or consolidated.  The large extra strength “Tylenol” was used to refill the smaller container here, in my purse, and in the car.

The fish oil was almost empty (4 left) in the opened container so it was consolidated with the new one.

The old prescriptions were for pain meds we barely used.  Discarded the meds (not down the drain!) by mixing them in a ziploc bag with leftover bacon grease from breakfast.  I sure wouldn’t want to sift through that!

And I thought we were done decluttering!  8 more items decluttered!

the darn spice cabinet

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I’m not even sure why I opened the spice cabinet this morning.  It still hasn’t come back to me.  But when I opened the cabinet, there were 4 new bottles of spices lined up across the opening.  John went shopping!

But then I inspected them more closely.  All 4 bottles were for spices we already had plenty of!

First thought – “OMG How much did that cost?”

Next thought – “This cupboard is a disaster!”

Imagine the “heated” discussion we had about the purchase of spices!  After decluttering the cupboard, we have a lifetime supply of ground cumin, cumin seeds, cayenne pepper, Old Bay, ground ginger, poultry seasoning, and whole allspice.  All are duplicates of full bottles.

So in all, I decluttered 6 bottles of consolidated spices and old stuff (Fruit Fresh anyone?  And how about an old Mrs. Dash?)

I was able to consolidate the Old Bay and garlic powder.  Both had a large container and a small container.  (Note:  Our Old Bay large container (6 oz) is nothing compared to that found in the cupboard of a Marylander!)

IMG_0340small

Sorry not before and after pics of the cupboard but here’s the bag of duplicates.  They are going into the pantry with the new understanding that John is not allowed to purchase spices without “prior approval” (or at least making a concerted effort to confirm a duplicate doesn’t exist.)

 

Our 2020 Goals

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We are a little late in posting this post!  The idea of 20 in 20 is from Melody over at The Minimalists Next Door.

Goals for 2020

  • declutter 2020 items in 2020
    • I doubt we will hit this amount but we will give it a try!
    • go through all the pictures
    • tackle the garage again
  • visit 20 public lands, hopefully spend 20 nights
    • national parks, national forests, BLM lands, state parks, county parks, etc. count.
  • do 2020 squats
    • there are plenty of squat challenges out there but with our bad knees, doing hundreds at a time seems unreasonable.  We figure we can average 5.5 per day for the year.
  • lose 20 pounds each
    • we joined WW (formerly Weight Watchers) so this should help.  We weren’t very effective without the accountability.
    • Barb has already decluttered 11.8 pounds in 2020 and John is at 8.7 pounds.  (20.5 pounds together so far in 2020!!!)
    • maybe we should check these off as decluttered boxes at the end of the year

So what are your goals for this year?  Let us know in the comments!  You might just inspire us to add a new one to our list!

After 30 Years, it’s being Decluttered!

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I have finally hit that section of the garage I’ve been dreading.  We found a box labeled “Pictures” and ” Fragile” taped up.  When we opened it, it was indeed pictures, in frames, from our old house that we moved out of in 1989!  Wonder what other boxes have been sitting out there for 30 years??  I’ll let you know if I find any!

Now I bet you are wondering how I know it was that old?  Several clues:

  • It was still sealed and it definitely wasn’t from the great flood of 2015
  • only newborn pictures of kiddo #2 (born in 1989)
  • only my brother’s first 2 kids (born in 1983 and 1987), no other nieces or nephews
  • WE LOOK SO YOUNG!
  • A lot of pictures of us before we had children!

And here’s a picture that definitely sparked joy when I saw it!

matulich john Barb abt 1983 resize
sometime between 1979 & 1984