The Queen of Purge
by Susie Glennan
www.thebusywoman.com
I thought I'd share my latest obsession or should I say compulsion on decluttering...
My Uncle died on March 7th. SO my family and I drove back and forth between his house and mine gathering his things. His house is 7 hours away and the 4 trips just about pushed me over the edge. I was the recipient of a lot of his nice furniture, many CD's, keepsakes and memorabilia. However, bringing it all home has made me go into a compulsive mode. After all, I AM the hand me down queen and am grateful for any good stuff someone wants to give me (IF I can use it that is. LOL). But when I have too much stuff, I get a claustrophobic type of feeling. That is the warning sign that itsup1;s time to purge the house of unused items.
So after our last trip I realized that there was just too much and I had been having trouble getting rid of things such as a dollhouse I made for my oldest over 12 years ago! Now come on, it was cute, but unfinished (still needed molding and curtains). Since there was no room for it in the new house, we left it on the side yard and didn't raise it off of the ground. So when it rained several times in the past year, water seeped up from the bottom. Then there are the two microwaves that work at 75%, tons of plastic chairs (a housewarming gift for all of the parties we wanted to have), old broken pots left by the previous owner, my table saw that I made the dollhouse with, also left outside and very rusted... and on and on and on! Something snapped into focus. I'm not sure what, but I have become a purging QUEEN!!! I've made so much room by throwing things away and combining boxes half full that I am in awe! And I'm still working on it!
I took advantage of one of my yearly FREE pick-ups by the city. And to say it feels good is an understatement! LOL Someone wrote an article about the trash man being her best friend. I had to laugh and agree! What a way to look at it. Then it hit me! I always scurry around on the weekends looking for anything that is trash and I can throw away. The trash is picked up on Monday! {{{light bulb moment}}} I am slightly compulsive and didn't even put two and two together until now.
So now I know how to explain to the family what I need. {smile} Really though they already know. Every year for my birthday and Mother's Day I request a deep housecleaning by the family, or a cleaning crew. They always attempt to do it themselves, but I always PRAY for the cleaning crew if you get my drift. Their hearts are in the right place, but they just can't accomplish what a cleaning crew is paid to come in and tackle.
Okay, back on track... For some reason, this time my compulsion is becoming an obsession as I have been going through every closet and cabinet, in every place in the house; bedrooms, bathrooms (DONE!), kitchen, garage, laundry room (DONE!), and outside in two sheds and a workroom which has been the dumping ground for the past year. You would not believe what I've gotten rid of. I have empty cabinets in the kitchen and laundry room! This is SO great! There's even space in the pantry.
I didn't do this all at once though. I have been doing it little by little each day. I do some each morning and it feels GREAT! Well, I am physically sore. But it FEELS GREAT!
One last thing... How many of you have papers from long ago that you don't need to keep, but can't just throw in the trash? Personal information know matter how old should be shredded. Let me tell you about one of my new best friends... you're going to laugh, but when I had to shred 10 years of papers I kept for tax purposes, it took me something like 3 to 5 days. So last week I said to my husband, "Hey Steve, how much do you think ShredEx would cost to come shred all of my boxes of old files?" He said, "Oh gosh Susan... probably $1000." Then while writing an article I stopped cold and called ShredEx. Guess what??? They only charged me $65 for 10 bankers boxes! I was so thrilled I could hardly take it! Now they're only a West Coast based Company, so you'll have to find a company in your own area that does the same thing. But so man people I've told (who live near me) are excited to call them and purge their papers.
So this got me to thinking... How many people DO NOT purge their old papers because they're not sure what to do with them? For years we've had tons of papers and didn't know where we could dispose of them. We all have a lot of personal information that you can't just throw in the trash. If we can share this information with others and find some companies to refer people to, it MAY just help them get the desire to purge those old papers! Look for your local paper shredding company in the yellow pages or call a local paper supplier to ask them. They'll know where you can find someone to shred those old papers. Take advantage of this if you have a lot of old files and papers. You'll be so glad you did!
Copyright copy; 2003 Susie Glennan - The Busy Woman, Inc.
Susie Glennan is the President of The Busy Woman, Inc. - DBA: The Busy Woman's Daily Plannerreg;. Her products have been featured in Real Simple and Parenting Magazines, CBS Early Show, San Antonio Living Show and many more! She is the editor of Organizing Round-Up as well as Busy Woman Tips Articles.
Susie has been happily married since 1982. She is mom to 3, a Home Maker, Teacher, Toastmaster, Speaker and is Author of numerous articles that have been published in magazines and across the web.
www.thebusywoman.com
Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com
