Christmas Ornaments, Pepsi Clock, and More!

As I'm keeping on with the decluttering for 2012, these are the items I have chosen to discard in the last thirteen days:

Day 16 - Monday January 16, 2012

A few Christmas ornaments I no longer use

Day 17 - Tuesday January 17, 2012

A historical visitors guide 

Day 18 - Wednesday January 18, 2012

A few empty, unused boxes

Day 19 - Thursday January 19, 2012

A pair of socks

Day 20 - Friday January 20, 2012

A top that isn't quite right for my body type

Day 21 - Saturday January 21, 2012

A bunch of pens that don't work

Day 22 - Sunday January 22, 2012

A Pepsi clock that no longer works

Day 23 - Monday January 23, 2012

Some old stale candy I found in a box

Day 24 - Tuesday January 24, 2012

Paper clutter

Day 25 - Wednesday January 25, 2012

Junk-drawer junk

Day 26 - Thursday January 26, 2012

Dead batteries. These went into the "Dead Battery" container. When it's full it will be given to the Battery Recycle Center in my community.

Day 27 - Friday January 27, 2012

House key. It's useless since I have a new lock.

Day 28 - Saturday January 28, 2012

Cassette tapes and floppy disks

Getting it all out of my house. It all adds up!!!!

Day 2 - Paper

The new year brings plans of organizing. This time of year stores offer sales on file cabinets, storage boxes, and other things for organizing your desks, drawers, and closets. Today I went through much of my paper clutter trying to tame the mess, shredded it, and dumped it into the recycle barrel.

This is only a small  part of what was shredded!

Two bags of shredded paper!

Day 359 - Magazines

Today on Christmas day I have decided to purge my magazine rack of a few old  magazines. They are two December issues of Martha Stewart "Living" (1995 and 1997), and a 1995 issue of a Better Homes and Gardens publication called "Holiday Decorating". It's fun looking through them since they are now a bit "retro", but of course I really have no need for them. A few days ago I offered them on FreeCycle, but so far have had no takers. They will go into the recycle barrel if no one wants them. Merry Christmas to all! 

Quote for today: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 

Day 326 - Magazines

Today I'm recycling some Westways magazines that were dated 2007.

Day 321 - Chargers

I think these are all phone chargers that belong with phones I no longer own. No need for them anymore, so they are going out the door! I will donate them at the next electronics recycle event in our community. Now if I could only have a Dodge Charger! Woot!

Day 306 - Catalog

It's time to recycle, and today I'm recycling a catalog. 

Today's quote: "One little rope could not hold Gulliver down but hundreds of them did. We can break those ties that bind us; one ineffective habit at a time." ~ Marla Cilley, Flylady

Day 299 - Paper Clutter

I went through a desk drawer this evening and found a stash of old bills and other old papers that were no longer needed. They will be shredded and put into the recycle bin.

Quote for today:  "A year from now you will wish you had started today." ~ Karen Lamb

Day 262 - Bath Gel Bottle

I really don't know why I had two bottles of my favorite bath gel opened at the same time. Neither of them was even half full, so I consolidated them and the empty bottle went into the recycle bin.

Left: half full    Right: empty and recycled

Quote for today: “The absolute best thing about getting rid of stuff is that it makes room for the shiny new stuff you really want.” - Matthew Amster-Burton, author of the book Hungry Monkey

Day 252 - Paper Clutter

Today I shredded another round of paper clutter. It's going into the recycle bin.

Today's quote: "Not every paper is a keepsake, believe it or not. If you save everything, that diminishes the value of those special ones. They get lost in the clutter." ~ Marla Cilley, Flylady

Day 228 - Paper

I went through and cleaned out my file cabinets a little bit. Quite a bit of paper was shredded and brought out to the recycle bin. Less paper; more room! I still have tons more, though. I think I mentioned previously that I have lots of paper clutter.

Quote for today: "It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them." - Benjamin Franklin 

Day 202 - Bottles and Cans

This bag of bottles and cans in my garage has been waiting for quite some to be recycled for cash. Today was the day I decided to do just that!

Day 188 - Digital Camera

Too bad batteries got corroded inside this great little camera. Now it's ruined and no longer works. It is going to be recycled.

Day 187 - Big Box

I received a printer/copier/scanner from my kids for Christmas and kept the box just in case there were any issues and we needed to return it. Six months later, no problems, so no more box. Putting it in the recycle barrel.

Day 167 - Mattresses

In the war on clutter, I'm going to the mattresses. This pair of twin size mattresses were picked up today by a recycling company.  

Day 23 - Paper Clutter

The end of January is just around the corner and it's time for W2s, and it will soon be time to do those dreaded taxes. This means the paperwork will need to be in order. Well, my file cabinet is pretty crammed so I weeded out the oldest paid bills and shredded them. 

Crammed file cabinet

Shredded and ready to go!

You will be seeing more of this. Paper clutter is my worst enemy. Arggg!!!

Day 18 - Dead Batteries

Did you know that in California it is actually illegal to throw batteries in the trash? I'm talking about common everyday batteries that are used in toys, flashlights, cameras, and TV remote controls. In February 2006 California became the first state in the US to make it illegal to toss household batteries into the garbage. I knew it wasn't a good idea to let these little buggers go to the landfill and leak their toxic chemicals into the groundwater, but I didn't know it was the law. 

Even so, for some time I had been collecting our used batteries to eventually take them to the local "household hazardous waste collection event" the city holds once every few months. After a little research I found out that our local library has a battery recycle drop off center. So guess what I did today on my way home from work? Yep! Stopped by the library and dropped off my bag full of batteries. They are out of here! ...Until next time.

It is illegal to throw away batteries in many states. I encourage doing a google search and see what the law is in your state.

Day 12 - Plastic Bottles

I am recycling again. Today it's plastic bottles. It is said that plastic water bottles should not be reused, but if they are washed properly with hot soapy water it is okay to reuse them a few times. So a few times it is... and then to the recycle bin!

On their way to the recycle bin...

For more information on reusing plastic bottles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuse_of_water_bottles

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp

Day 11 - Recycle This Magazine

Why are magazines so hard to let go of? They might have some interesting or useful articles I haven't read yet... or want to refer to again. Do you think that way, too? Well, letting go of them is exactly what I'm doing today. I know I will never in my lifetime have time to read it all. So to the curb!

Gotta love recycling! Recycle, recycle, recycle...

Day 1 - Happy New Year

It's New Year's Day - January 1, 2011 - and the 122nd Tournament of Roses Parade is on TV. Their theme this year is "Building Dreams, Friendships & Memories". What a wonderful way to think of the upcoming 365 days. I hope this day finds everyone safe and warm. I've got my cup of hot tea and will be making some home made soup later.


Well, today is the first day of my daily purge. I have a stack of phone books that's going into the recycle bin. Remember the days when we only had one phone book per household?

Out, out, you extra phone books! I don't need you. You're just taking up space. Bye bye!


Day 1 - check. Looking forward to ousting something on day two!