Time to take out the trash-My wife’s decided what she wants for Christmas — a Dumpster.

Winona Daily News ^ | 11-14-05 | Jerome Christenson

[Tamar1973]

ROTFLOL! My father in law brought two rubbermaid bins to our church flea market. He thought they were just full of old barbies and other girly toys my sister in law used to play with eons ago. There were plenty of barbies and other girly toys but there were also a handful of old duplicate check stubs going back to 1992 stuffed in the box with them. His three car garage can't even hold one car in it because of the worthless junk stuffed in the various rubbermaid bins laying about.

[Mr_Moonlight]

I got out a trash can and the shredder and set my self to reducing the evidence of half a decade of family income to so much confetti

A lost cause, as it were .. as every days mail brings half a dozen new credit card applications (YOU ARE PRE-APPROVED!!) which need to be ripped up by that shredder ... yer just treading water on this. Not to even mention all those "Balance Transfer" checks that come in the mail for the credit cards that you already have ....
SHEESH !! I'm on at least my 3rd can of 3-in-1 oil this year just keeping the blades of my shredder lubricated so that it doesn't choke on all this stuff!
Weeding out collected financial records from 15 years ago? Man, you're ahead of the game if you can acually accomplish that !!!

[sgtbono2002]

I moved into my present home 10 years ago and still havent opened all the boxes I packed at the last one--probably never will.

[I_saw_the_light]

I wish I had the small fortune that would be required to buy enough rubbermaid containers to put all my crap in.
Then maybe I could stack them high enough to get my car in the garage. Or heck, build a garage out of them.

[Dianna]

I moved into my present home 10 years ago and still havent opened all the boxes I packed at the last one--probably never will.

I have sealed boxes from the move before last! My husband used to be military... I want so much to just toss the whole darn box, but I'm afraid there is something priceless in there and I'm just too lazy to check.

[rllngrk33]

My wife’s decided what she wants for Christmas — a Dumpster.

I'd be a truly happy man if my wife asked for a dumpster for Christmas.

[Miss Marple]

Clutter! I am getting rid of as much as I can!

For those who are interested in getting control of this stuff, I would like to suggest www.flylady.net. I have used this lady's system and it works!

[SoDak]

For me, financial records would be a good start. In reality, I could probably fill 2 or 3 dumpsters to capacity with junk I could just throw away and never miss.

[USMCPOP]

Not all that long ago, I found some great Personal Computer components in a dumpster behind my workplace. I was all excited until I realized that these were things that my wife had brought from our house and chucked into the dumpster! She vowed to never again use the dumpsters at our place. True story.

[HowDidIGetHere?]

Miss Marple: I love Flylady too. Just checked her site for tomorrow's mission. JILL

[SoDak]

Good grief, I have maybe 12-15 totes with PC parts in them. Hard-drives, CD drives, modems, video cards, sound cards, you name it. You want them, they are free to a good home. I'm taking them to the Salvation Army soon, along with a bunch of other junks I have that doesn't seem dump-worthy.

[Keith in Iowa]

I hope the guy is smart enough to shred all those old financial documents before chucking them into the dumpster...

[Keith in Iowa]

Ooops...missed the part where he did....

I scanned to quick thru the article...

[azcap]

Then maybe I could stack them high enough to get my car in the garage. Or heck, build a garage out of them.

 

I think your on to something. Instead of using cordwood or straw bale construction, millions of Americans could recycles their waste by building Rubbermaid garages. Simply empty your existing garage and closets of all their contents, insert them into Rubbermaid boxes, stack the boxes outside the garage and fill in the gaps between boxes with concrete. The average American could add 1 to 2 stalls to their garage, and still have all their stuff safely entombed if they every really need it.

 

[Marie]

I think your on to something. Instead of using cordwood or straw bale construction, millions of Americans could recycles their waste by building Rubbermaid garages. Simply empty your existing garage and closets of all their contents, insert them into Rubbermaid boxes, stack the boxes outside the garage and fill in the gaps between boxes with concrete. The average American could add 1 to 2 stalls to their garage, and still have all their stuff safely entombed if they every really need it.

You know, I was really happy. We're unpacked from the move last August, my wall is built, my kitchen island is finished and last weekend my husband just put the doors on the pantry I built. Just this morning I gathered my family and vowed *not* to start another project until after the holidays.

Now I'm going to be researching newspaper and rubble construction methods for the next month. (They are not going to like you one bit after I tell them it was all your fault!)

[ntnychik]

I call mine the Rubbermaid Archives. The minute I turn it into dumpster food, I'm going to need something really badly. You watch.

[Katya]

Do you really polish your sink everyday? I'm astounded by the housekeeping on that site.
On second thought, Please don't ever post that link again...I'm concerned someone else in my household might see it. LOL

[Miss Marple]

LOL! I don't polish it, I just make sure it's clean and no dishes are in it when I go to bed.

I SWEAR by following those routines. You don't get it all done in one day, or even a month. But slowly decluttering (for 15 minutes at a time, daily) and establishing a morning routine (which I can do in half an hour) really does work.

I have been married for 30 years, and the last year is the first time I have never been ashamed if company drops in. And I don't spend all day doing housework, either. (All you have to do is to check on my postings and you would know that I am here a great deal.)

Well, it's not for everyone, but it sure did work for me!

[trisham]

For those who are interested in getting control of this stuff, I would like to suggest www.flylady.net. I have used this lady's system and it works!

*****************

Thanks for the link! I spent hours yesterday in the basement, filling garbage bags and vacuuming. I'm in the midst of de-cluttering.