More decluttering

Well, I'm back to decluttering again.  Today I tackled a small cabinet in my kitchen where I store extra or fancy teas, coffee filters, etc.  

Before                                            After

                                                           
Not a whole lot of difference but I can find things easier now.  Top shelf hold cat medications, Brita filters and a jar of matches.  The only things I threw away were a bag of rose hips and a few empty packages.  I put the box that says Tea on my hutch.
I'll tackle another cabinet soon.  Lorie                            

 

Declutter update

The process of decluttering is going very slowly.  It doesn't really show yet, but I know it will eventually.  Here's what I got rid of over the weekend.

A bag of dried moss
2 more catalogs
old loose leaf paper
a pair of socks
a waist cincher
a single rubber glove
an empty paint can
a cardboard box
a pack of Christmas bulb replacements
a  bag of stale coffee
old medications

I need to really start digging into the cabinets, closets and drawers so that I have room to put things where they belong.

I know this is very trivial compared to what is going on these days, but it does give me a sense of some control in these crazy times.                  Lorie

Decluttering

A few months ago I started  getting rid of something everyday.  As usual, after a few days I forgot all about my plan to declutter.  Well, today I started up again.  Here's what I dumped so far.  I tried to eliminate something from each room.

1.A bunch of catalogs
2.Old bottle of vitamins and 2 empty bottles
3.A stale roll
4.Blue tray
5.Old baby powder
6.Expired acne medicine
7.A book by Suze Orman
8.Old mail
9.2 tote bags
10.Some leftovers from the refrigerator

Not too bad, huh?  We'll see if I remember to do it tomorrow.  Why not join me in my quest to unjunk my abode?  Lorie

Dollar Tree stuff

I've been doing quite a bit of shopping at Dollar Tree the past few months.  I love that they now take manufacturers coupons.  Makes it even more fun shopping there.  Some of the things I've been getting are:  Hefty Zipper Bags, Werther's Candy, and Super Pretzel Bites.  I get them for 2/$1 with coupons.  I have also gotten free name brand makeup with $1 off coupons.  We eat beans often and Dollar Tree sells Goya beans for $1 per can.  I used a $1 off 4 cans so it was like getting one can free.  Some products are made specially for Dollar Tree even though they are name brand so you have to read the coupon carefully in case it specifies a certain weight or amount.  Also, I try to go when I think the store might be less crowded so I don't hold up the line.  They can't scan the coupons and have to enter them by hand.  Please leave a comment and let me know if you have been using coupons at Dollar Tree and how it worked out for you.

Project 10 Pan, Five Bottle. Huh?

During one of my visits to Youtube recently I discovered something called Project 10 Pan.  I don't know who to give credit to because I don't know who started it.  The object of this game is to get rid of old cosmetics and toiletries.  You could just throw everything away but that would be wasteful.  Here's what you do; find all those bits and bobs of makeup, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, etc. and make a list of 10 makeup items and another list of 5 toiletries that need to be used up.  The rules say that you can't buy anything new in these categories until you have no more left of an item.  say you have 5 partial bottles of shampoo you must use all of them up before buying more.  Oh, in case you are wondering what 10 pan means,  it's the container that the eye shadow or powder comes in.  When you can see a little of the pan showing through you have "hit pan".  I'm having a lot of fun with this.  I also created a 5 bottle homemaking  product category to get rid of old cleaning stuff.  Anyway, as you can see, I am easily entertained.  Let me know what you think.  lorie

ADD homemaking

I really don't know if I have ADD but it sure feels like it sometimes.  When I was still working outside the home and had to do the same thing for more than a short period of time I thought I would crawl out of my skin.  I would try to invent ways to make it seem as if I were doing several different things. (Not easy when you are stuck at a cash register.)  I had the cleanest conveyor belt in the store!  I would organize the bags and candy and reading glasses every spare moment I had. 

Now, at home I am the same way.  I have to break everything up into 5 minute segments.  Wash dishes for 5, vacuum for 5, dust for 5.  I use a timer.  You can get quite a bit done in this little bit of time.  In between my chores I have little treats, a few minutes of computer time, reading, or time with my poopie dogs.  If you are easily distracted like me try my 5 minute system and see how it works for you.  Ta ta, Lorie

A favorite product

I have a new favorite bath soap.  It really makes me feel clean and fresh.  I use it on my face too for my acne.  It has lots of other uses also.  Know what it is?  Octagon All Purpose Soap!  I love it.  It's been around for a gazillion years for doing laundry.  I remember my mom washing clothes with Octagon on a scrubbing board.  The package says you can also use it for hand washing dishes.

I love old fashioned products so I was doing some research on this soap and found that it had so many uses.  I had already used it to make my own laundry detergent but I never dreamed I could use it on my body and face.  Philly summers are pretty brutal, so I used to depend on Ivory soap to "unfunkify" but the Octagon works even better.  Ha!  Who would have thunk it?  It's cheap too.  I think I paid $.79 cents a bar.  Try it , you might like it.  Lorie