12.29.2014

And In With The New

At the beginning of this year, I did a huge purge of all things old and moldy and holey. 2015 will be no different. Gone are the days of too big pants, too tight underwear, and year old stewed tomatoes. Actually, I try to be pretty good about either using things or throwing them away, but I do have a bit of hoarder in my genes, and so some things are harder than others to get rid of. However, my neat freak usually wins out and my spreadsheets come out and then there is no stopping me. So here it is, the list.

2015 New Year List:

Throw away: any socks with holes, underwear with holes, mismatched socks (this one is difficult for some reason!) too small pants (this year I have a few thanks to my new office job with no lunch break, which is when I would get a nice walk in), magazines not yet read, newspapers not yet read (don't get scared; there aren't that many of these), expired food items, old paper files, towels with holes, too short sweaters and DVDs I will never watch.

Do this soon: Read any books on shelf that have not been read yet, then give them to Goodwill.  Cook any nearly expired food items.Watch any DVDs, then give them to Goodwill. Write thank you notes. Update Christmas card list.

Organize/back up: photos, contacts, computer files, paper files, drawers, closets, shelves.

Dust/Sweep/Clean: top shelves, fans, under and behind all furniture. Toilet, tub and windowsills. The top of the refrigerator/dryer, the back/front porch and the garage.

Take to Goodwill: All clothing/books/DVDs (see above re too short sweaters and previously read books).

Prepare next year's planner, including running calendar, vacation calendar, goals and expenses/budget. Recap last year's goals, expenses and budget.

Certain things are easy, for example throwing away holey socks. It only takes one (painful) day of walking around with a sock with a hole to realize that it is not worth keeping. Another easy (and fun) thing for me is the rehash of last year's goals, expenses and budget and the preparation of this year's. Lastly, usually there is not very much old food, as we are pretty good at eating things before they go bad. The exception would be things like Halloween candy, which does not get eaten, and therefore sits around for quite some time.

Not as easy to do is the deep clean (it's not that fun), the reading or tossing of old books and magazines (I feel that I "might" read them "soon"), and the getting rid of too tight pants. I mean, what if I lose weight in a couple of months? I wouldn't want to have to go out and buy new pants! That would be a waste. How many pairs of pants does one person really need though? I'm thinking 17. Just kidding. Sort of. Well, at least one in every color and every size, just in case, right? You get my point. They are hard to throw away.

The bottom line is that cleaning out my closet or dusting the top of the fridge makes me feel like I am starting out the year fresh and new. It also makes my brain feel less cluttered, which is the most valuable part of it all.  So let's bring in the new year with a de-cluttered house and mind, shall we?

Do you do a yearly deep clean or purge? What is your least favorite chore? Be honest: how many pairs of pants do you own (and of the total, how many actually fit)?

7 comments:

  1. Don't you just love when the calendar rolls over? It's a fresh new start! Happy New Year!

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  2. It is hard to get rid of unmatched socks... you might find the match! I really should purge my clothes, I have lots of jeans that I don't wear very much anymore. Yesterday my husband and I cleaned out our mudroom and tossed lots of things, including the mouse that had been eluding us! THAT felt good :)

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  3. I don't have any problems with HOARDING per se since we moved onto the boat and had such little space to keep things. Now, even in our smallish apartment, I am still keeping things sparse. Good for you for the deep clean. Happy New Year!

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  4. My pant selection right now is pretty limited but for good reason ;) I've actually been purging a lot of things lately- the nesting urge is kicking in, plus we are bringing so much stuff into the house with a baby on the way

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  5. I actually just made an organization/purging project list today. I have 5 things on the list so I figure I will give myself the first half of the year to get through the list. I have done so much purging in the last 2 years between moving to Charlotte and then moving back but there is always more to be done! And I just went and counted my pants and I have 5 pairs of jeans and 19 pairs (yes, 19!) of non-jeans pants, which can be colored pants, dress pants, or cropped pants. But I actually wear all of the pants (well, maybe not all of the jeans since I rarely wear jeans) and everything fits me as I tried it all on this fall.

    My least favorite chore is cleaning the bathroom!

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  6. Um...I have at least 17 pairs of pants, probably closer to 27, excluding jeans... and they all fit. I just like clothes! But then, I'm also the girl who counted 87 pairs of shoes last summer AFTER my closet purge.

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  7. I haven't been great at purging, but I intend to do it this time around. I have a lot of crap I need to get rid of.

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