How do you manage to keep up with it? Do you have a system and if so, please share!!

I decluttered 2 years ago and I am sitting her realizing I am right back where I was before I started. I need to totally start over but I realized that I was missing a valuable piece which is the upkeep.

TIA.

It's taken me over a year to downsize from our 3000 sqft home to our 1500 sqft home. At the old house, it always felt empty. But getting it all over here, made me realize how much junk we had and I am not a junk store-er!

I think the biggest thing to get over is the need to save things. NOt everything needs to be saved. And what I do have saved needs to be on a use-it timeline. Like fabric, seasonal decorations, clothes etc. If you are packing it away because you can't use it but don't want to get rid of it, you need to just get rid of it. LOL. I realize now that there are a ton of things in my garage that I have not used or referred to in a year and I'm going to attack it next week. If I had my way, my garage would have bikes, seasonal decorations, my washer and dryer and that's it. We had a 3 car garage and now we have a very tiny 2 car garage (supposedly but I think they need to be really small cars, LOL)

My biggest hurdle now is getting off my butt and selling the two things I'm done with...baskets and fabric. I'm just too lazy and overwhelmed right now to start! :help:

But when you say declutter, what do you mean? The kid's stuff? Your stuff? What are you having a hard time keeping up with? Everyday things? eh, I guess I didn't really help but it has been on my mind lately. My house is ok, it's the garage that needs work, LOL.

I'll ditto Jennifer and add that when you bring something new into the house, make sure something old is leaving it. That tends to help a lot. Also, maybe once a month or even every-other month, I go through everything again and pare down.

Thanks Jennifer

At this point I am having trouble with my house and the clutter. I can't clean properly because I have to clean all the "stuff" off. I am not a stuff store-er either but it just seems to pile up.

For example. I went through and got rid of an entire bin of Christmas decorations, I was thrilled, I just didn't love the stuff. Well my mom comes by with a bunch of you guessed it.. Christmas stuff!!

My son is an only child and only grandchild and he gets so much from relatives. I get rid of stuff but there just seems to be so much more!!

Maybe I need to be more strict about what I get rid of??

Thank you as well Rachel, we were posting at the same time! I do need to instill a one in, one out policy, that may help (Can you all tell I am stressed by the massive amounts of "stuff" that will be coming into my house next week!!! LOL

We have 2 large rubbermaid storage totes in the garage that we use for goodwill-drop-off stuff. As soon as it gets close to full we put them in the van and get them emptied. This has really helped me keep on top of regular decluttering. I look at the item and think of the square footage or even square inches it takes up in my house and ask myself if it's worth it. I also limit clothing storage to 2 years. If it isn't going to be used by then, it goes (except for a very limited amount of sentimental baby clothes, like 3 outfits per baby, that I keep put up).

I de-clutter constantly. It's the only way to stay on top of everything.

every season I declutter the clothes, so 2x a year we get rid of any clothes that don't fit, weren't worn or are messed up in some way.

I declutter DD's toys before her birthday in Sept and again before Christmas. I'm also not above opening and rewrapping any gifts that she gets from other people and just not giving her the ones that don't fit in with out lifestyle. (mean mom I know)

I toss magazines every month. I have 1 bin for them and when the bin is full it's time to go through them. I tear out the pages I like & keep them in a folder in my filing cabinet. the rest goes in recycling. catalogues go out the door right after I've looked through them.

The biggest problem I have is craft supplies. I just want to keep all of it because you never know when your going to need that ball of yarn that you've had for the last 10 years. Usually i just let DD use up what ever she likes, then I don't feel like it's not being used & I have an excuse to toss out what reminants she does leave.

Chole

add that when you bring something new into the house, make sure something old is leaving it. That tends to help a lot. Also, maybe once a month or even every-other month, I go through everything again and pare down.

and ditto that too. I usually do a boys room every couple of weeks. Now, my desk is a whole other story. I clean it off and a day later it's cluttered again. grrrrrr! My desk is a daily struggle. But again, I have to have clean surfaces or I can't function at all.

But again, I have to have clean surfaces or I can't function at all.

Im the exact opposite. I've found that, for me, a clear surface is a mess waiting to happen.

If I clear off and end table next to the couch to where it only has a lamp I guarantee that within a few days it will be covered with books, mail, etc.

But, if I take the time to "decorate" the end table with a cute little display of stuff that makes me smile it will remain nice. I won't want to mess up the cute by adding mail to it. LOL!

I try to declutter a room a week. That way by the time I've done the whoel house, it's ready for maintence again.

My big thing is toys. my MIL loves to buy these big toys, paint them and leave them here! Then says if I'm goingto get rid of it to send it back to her......she lives in AR and I'm in MN. I tell my littles we should share their toys with kids that don't have as many as they do.


I also keep a rubbermaid bin just for Goodwill stuff- and clothes I find as I do laundry go right in the bin. Any full bags go right in the trunk- even if they sit in my trunk for 3 wks. atleast the stuff isn't migrating back.lol

I do the same as Chole--magazines get recycled when I'm done reading them (as well as newspapers). I also open my mail right away. Junk mail gets recycled immediately. Bills get filed in the bill holder (after taking out the junk that comes in those and the outer envelopes--those go right into the recycle bin as well). I have a nice basket that holds the current newspaper or magazines till I'm done with them. Books get put back on the bookshelf right away instead of just set down on the table or wherever.

If there's a place for everything, generally, it's easier to clean/keep on top of it. That's the biggest hurdle.

Make the most of your space. Take advantage of your upper wall space by getting taller bookcases or closet organizers (they are fairly inexpensive...we got ours at Home Depot for $35 or so) instead of wasting that dead space above your closet rod.

I have more tips...I'll come back later--time to make supper now. :)