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Old 01-15-22, 12:11 PM  
Vantreesta
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lreidgreen View Post
Yes I know I said I was only doing a drive by but saw this post and wanted to share what i recently bought:
https://www.amazon.com/Reusable-Groc...76&sr=8-8&th=1
I haven't used this set yet but I have some of the bags pictured that I purchased previously in a smaller set. I have given away or lost many of them so I purchased this set because they all fit in a zippered bag. I currently use different ones for my large grocery shopping trips but they are large and take up a lot of space in my car. I keep a single one of the Bee Green bags in my purse so when I run into the CVS or for a quick trip to the grocery store/farmers market I have a bag. The ones in the smaller set fold up into a pouch in the bag itself. This larger set it looks like they roll up into a compact package to fit into the zippered bag. I can attest that these bags are good quality and hold a surprising amt. of stuff
Thanks, Leslie!
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Old 01-15-22, 12:18 PM  
lreidgreen
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Originally Posted by BunnyHop View Post
I've been buying storage bins lately. I'm not sure that's good or bad, because it can be so tempting to just keep buying bins to hold ever more stuff.

My goals are organizational, though. My pantry has been a hot mess for ages and even though I do go through and weed out stuff that must go, things are not well organized. I'm thinking I'll go for broad categories, putting like items together, etc.

The bins I've bought are open top, so no lids to keep track of, and they are all either crystal clear or translucent.

I just wanted a bunch of these, which are out of stock in all the Walmarts anywhere near me. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays...x-15/430879032 I provide the link in case anyone else has been hunting for something similar. The bin actually measures 15" x 10" x 9.5", I think there's a typo in the item headline.

Instead I wandered through two different Targets and got an assortment of other similarly large bins. Not sure how I'll deploy them, but I'm optimistic.
Anna, I swear I didn't read this post before I posted the article about bins. I am not bin shaming you, I promise!
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Old 01-15-22, 12:37 PM  
adawn
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lreidgreen View Post
Here for a drive by. I just read this article and I know it touches on things we already discussed, but I am posting it as a reminder for me and others should they want motivation and strategies for decluttering:

https://roselounsbury.com/pretty-bin...ake-organized/
Good reminder. I think Marie Kondo has the bit about the bins in her original book. My mom and I were pretty bad about buying so many bins through the years. Some did get used and later repurposed if they were no longer needed for the original use. But then we actually started decluttering bigtime after 2012-ish and ended up with a huge excess of open bins and baskets, and bins with lids, and carts on wheels with drawers, and so forth.

So I think I've written before about how I've sold all the carts and several groups of bins on craigslist. Or we've given some bins/baskets away or donated them. (I usually let things sit empty for at least a year before deciding it's time to let go.) But there are some woven bins from Container Store that were very pricey, so I have a little section in the basement for the pricey, decorative ones (I think there are less than 10 of those).

And there's one type that's a useful size and they folded up flat so we kept those and I later ended up using them for some of my stationary. But we still have some cheaper baskets and bins (mainly odd, random sizes) that we need to donate because we've stored them for enough years in the basement that I doubt we will ever have a need for them if we haven't repurposed them by now.

Regarding the new scanner...
Everything is humming along smoothly with my document scanning project and I am scanning and recycling A LOT of paper documents. My mom has been keeping a banker box full of monthly calendars from 1976 to present day for various reasons and the box most recently sat on the dining room table for the past year (except when it was moved to her closet for Thanksgiving and Christmas), but she never worked on her "project" which would have led to us being able to get rid of the calendars.

I offered to put the calendar pages through the new scanner and my mom was thrilled. I removed the calendar pages in various ways depending on the binding but it was relatively simple for all of the calendars. Took me about 3 days of scanning a little bit each day in my spare time but I got through all of the calendars. It also turned out that about 1/3 of the box was at least 15 years' worth of my dad's old monthly business calendars and my mom agreed to just throwing those out vs. me having to scan them even though they did have a few things of interest in them that weren't on the family calendars I scanned. That was a relief.

I should finish up scanning her paper files today for the home--stuff like when the boiler was replaced and how much it cost. (FWIW, I love the old part of the house and the cast iron baseboards vs. forced air heat but yikes! expensive to replace that heating system!)

When I finally get to my SINGLE banker box with all of my personal files, I plan to scan my monthly planner pages (I have less than 10 planners so should go fairly quick). I always wondered what I should do with my old planners because they take up room, yet I keep most of my important dates/events on paper vs. a digital calendar on my phone or laptop. I also want to scan and recycle all my car maintenance records and things like that--basically anything I think I would actually go back and reference. I haven't combed through my banker box of files in awhile so it will be interesting to see what's in there.
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Old 01-15-22, 12:40 PM  
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Just want to add... I still buy new bins! But I usually wait until I know approximately what I need for a specific area/space and that I don't already have the size/type I need in my collection of bins I'm no longer using.
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Old 01-15-22, 01:00 PM  
BunnyHop
 
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Originally Posted by lreidgreen View Post
Anna, I swear I didn't read this post before I posted the article about bins. I am not bin shaming you, I promise!
LOL!!! I promise, I'm laughing. Too funny.

As for me, I've given lots of other methods a chance to help, but I do think the open top bins I've bought are what I need. I want to sort similar groups of things into a container so they don't drift around the cabinet.

For example, I keep certain condiments and foodstuffs in the fridge. As they run out, I buy an extra and stick it in the pantry. I want a place in my pantry that will quickly show me whether or not I have a backup on the shelf so I don't inadvertently buy another one. That one big bin will save me a lot of space, because it's actually containing the stuff I want to keep track of as a group. And yeah, they are specific things I actually use, not stuff I bought cause I thought it was interesting. (I'm trying to break myself of that general habit now that I'm cooking for one. The pantry turnover is a lot slower than it used to be and I don't need stuff sitting around on the shelf.)

My brain doesn't seem to be capable of remembering what's in the pantry, and since I love to cook and bake I need a quick, visual way to sort and contain the various categories of stuff that never seems to sit on the shelf as tidily as I might wish.
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Old 01-15-22, 01:06 PM  
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Join Date: Dec 2008
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I am trying to not by bins because that just means more stuff. I like the stackable ones they sell at Menards because they stack so nicely and are heavy duty. I have donated a lot of bins to Goodwill. When I ask them, they are always happy to take them. My goal this year is to purge so I have two empty bins. I got two emptied at Christmas but then used the empty ones to store more items in.

Last night while putting away laundry I went through my pants/leggings chest. I managed to add 5 to my pile ready to go to Goodwill. I have a large coat rack that is too big for my place and found a smaller one on Amazon. I would love to find a new home for the rack but may end up taking it goodwill as well. Last weekend I cleaned out my 3 drawers in my kitchen.

Keep up the good work.
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Old 01-15-22, 02:30 PM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lreidgreen View Post
Here for a drive by. I just read this article and I know it touches on things we already discussed, but I am posting it as a reminder for me and others should they want motivation and strategies for decluttering:

https://roselounsbury.com/pretty-bin...ake-organized/
I really enjoyed this article Leslie! The 5 tips were great for self evaluation. I'm pleased to say I do well with #1. I've gotten in the habit of always having a thrift box staged and it does help. I really need work on #5. I feel guilty about feeling guilty. lol. Especially when it comes to rehoming items that were gifts. The other tips, I'm somewhere in the middle. Loved the Elsa/Frozen reference..."Let it Go!".
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Old 01-16-22, 04:29 PM  
Vantreesta
 
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That's a good reminder about bins not necessarily meaning organized. The things I just ordered are for clothes I know I'm keeping. When I'm at the store I have to remind myself not to buy any of that stuff unless I have a definite, right-now use for it. I did keep most of the bins, containers and organizers that my mom had when we went through her stuff. I figured since I wasn't spending money on them it would be okay to take without knowing yet how to use them.

I got the Halloween stuff put away today finally!! It took over an hour of carrying and lifting tubs, stacking, pulling out and restacking. There's one tub, one box and village platforms that didn't fit, but no, I am not getting rid of them!
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"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch."
"God, please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am."
"You can't run from your problems. But you'll both feel a little lighter when you get back." ~New Balance shoe ad
You don't have to be fast, just keep moving forward.
Note to self: You don't get to complain about things you won't work to change!

Word for 2024: Accomplished; Word for 2023: Grounded; Word for 2022: Consistency; Word for 2021: Mindfulness
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Old 01-17-22, 04:55 PM  
eventmom
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donated several items to our clubs silent auction and most sold! sold a pair of pants on ebay.
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Old 01-17-22, 07:16 PM  
BunnyHop
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
The Great Pantry De-cluttering has been achieved. Whew.

One thing I FINALLY realized is that the shelves I have are not all the same depth. The whole thing makes a U shape, with shallower shelving on the sides, much deeper on the back wall. This means that there are ten big corners (one on each side of five shelves) in which to lose things. The bins I've put in place seem to negate some of that.

I also totally rearranged what's in there, removed almost all the mason-jars-as-storage I'd been using for years, made room on lower shelves for the roasting pans and baking dishes that are so awkward to remove from a tight spot. Easy now. Whew.

I've even left the footstool in there, open and ready for action so I can reach things on high shelves without a hassle.

Time for a break now. Progress!!!
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