56

Saw this on another blog, and found it pretty apropos, considering the master "purger" that I am. Entertaining as well. AND helpful, for those of you who aren't quite ready to part with that something or other doo hickey just yet. (My oh-so-helpful two cents' worth can be found in parenthesis.)

56 Things You Can Toss Out Now
by Christine Kane
Here are 56 things you can toss out (or give away) right now...
1. All the hotel key cards you forgot to turn it when you checked out. (I don't travel, so lucky for me!)

2. The doilies your Aunt Missy crocheted 45 years ago that got handed down to you. (Personally glad I am able to say "no" when offered doilies.)

3. CD's you haven't listened to in three years or more. (Hm. Considering my CD player in my car has been in un-working order for at LEAST 2 years, that could almost apply to me. Not happening.)

4. The boxes of cassettes you've been meaning to transfer to CD's.

5. The bread maker you haven't used since 2003.

6. Your wedding dress.
NOTE: You can say you've been saving it for your daughter, but here are three signs that your daughter doesn't want to wear it: a] she's already married and wore her own dress, b] she's been roommates with a woman named Pat for nine years, or c] you don't have a daughter.
(GOOD call on the wedding dress one. I paid the $100 something to have mine cleaned, pressed, preserved, and wrapped up nicely in a pretty...albeit BIG...box. And it's been sitting in my closet collecting dust for almost 4 years now. Really. What am I ever going to do with it? Not like I'll forget what it looked / looks like.)

7. Credit card bills from 1995. (I keep back 2 years. Max.)

8. The Allen wrenches from every piece of IKEA furniture you ever assembled.

9. The jacket you spent way too much money on and never wore.
NOTE: Keeping it around just to punish yourself for your bad choices is like going to parochial school all over again.

10. Every scratching post or toy your cat doesn't like.
NOTE: Your cat didn't go to parochial school so there's no sense punishing him.

11. House plants you no longer love.

12. The stacks of O Magazine you swear you'll re-read. (Magazines get read and pitched. Unless there's a FABULOUS article I just have to keep. Those get ripped out and...piled in a drawer. Will get on those eventually...)

13. Every little zippy bag that came with a Clinique purchase. (Ooh. Not with Clinique, but I'm bad about this. I have so many little zippy bags. I know what's going when I get home...)

14. Every unopened perfume that came with a Clinique purchase.

15. Leftover scrunchies in case you grow your hair long again.

16. The "Cherries Jubilee" flavored lip balm that makes you nauseous.

17. Every single regretful lipstick color you bought on a whim. ("Cherries Jubilee" is probably there, too.)

18. Your last four cell phones and all their chargers and blue teeth.

19. Single socks. (Do socks w/ holes in them fall under this category? Good about pitching the husband's holey socks, but mine "can be fixed"! Oy vay.)

20. The Spode Christmas plates and mugs you don't like. (Along with the Christmas bath towels and welcome mat.)

21. The framed posters you had in your college dorm room. (aka, Why the Scarface Poster is no Longer Hanging in the Buescher Living Room.)

22. Old stereo wires.
NOTE: If your husband refuses to let go of any of these mysterious wires, try this: Put them (not him!) in a bin and label it "Random Cables and Wires." After two years, bring it out of storage and kindly note that no one has thought about it in two years. Ask if it would be okay to let go of half of them. Repeat process until all mysterious cables and wires are gone.
(This WAS a battle!!! FINALLY got the husband to agree, once he realized some of the wires went to things he no longer owned, or hadn't been used for any reason in over 4 years...)

23. The nails, screws, anchors, and cup hooks rusting in the bottom of your tool chest.

24. Remote controls that don't remotely control anything you own.

25. Lamps, toasters, blenders, coffeemakers that no longer work.

26. The notion that you will ever be one of those moms that makes beautiful scrapbooks.
NOTE: Put your photos in boxes. No one will judge you.
(Wouldn't say mine are beautiful, but I do scrapbook. Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to them - aka, Wedding Scrapbook which is almost 4 years late - but I DO do them.)

27. Old blankets and linens you keep in case you suddenly have 27 sleepover guests. (AND old pillows...)

28. College text books. (I still have all my text books that pertain to anything theatre or creative writing.)

29. Any boring decorative item that does little more than fill space. (Yea, I do this periodically. And look at it like, "Why on EARTH did I EVER buy that???")

30. Vases you don't love or use. (Like the 8 that are in one of my kitchen cabinets??)

31. Candle holders you don't love or use. (I'm beginning to realize I HAVE to quit buying PL items unless necessary for the shows...)

32. Picture frames you don't love or use. (Part of my upcoming "project"! More on that later.)

33. Class notes from college.

34. The idea that you have to save every piece of your children's artwork and school work because it might mean you don't love them if you don't.

35. The "good silver" you don't use that was passed down to you.

36. Old VHS movies. (But what if I don't want to rebuy them all on DVD??)

37. Unlabeled VHS tapes. (And don't waste your time watching them just in case.)

38. The stationary bike that got even more stationary after you got it.

39. The fabric pieces you've been collecting in case you ever become a quilter. (ha ha, NEVER gonna happen. That's my mother's room. But, she actually is a quilter...)

40. Flashlights that dimly light up only after you bang them over and over on your thigh. (When you have a freakin' MAG LIGHT in the closet that has NEVER had batteries!!! I need to get on that, too...)

41. Old keys that open some door somewhere in the past.

42. Suitcases you don't use. (I may eventually, though, right??)

43. Old computers. (Done. Thank GOD.)

44. Old stereos.

45. Promotional duffel bags with ugly logos and bad acronyms stitched all over them. (Yep, I'm cleaning my closet when I get home...)

46. Anything that makes you say, "But I got such a good price on it!"

47. Anything that makes you say, "But I paid so much for it!"

48. Half-full cans of paint.

49. Extra baby items/Old baby items.

50. Record albums.
NOTE: Don't spend your extra hours in a day trying to figure out if someone will buy them. Really. They won't.

51. Gifts you never liked.

52. All the cross-stitch, knitting, or sewing projects you never finished. (Again, thank GOD I can't sew to begin with.)

53. Any glassware or dinnerware that is a "memorabilia" item from proms or sororities or sports events. (I could probably handle doing this. Some of 'em are kinda nasty looking anyway.)

54. Old information packets you no longer need or that you can easily find on line. (Oh boy do I have a ton of these...)

55. All the hotel soaps that you took with you. And stop taking them. You've got plenty of soap! (What about all the freebie samples I've been acquiring? I do at least use those. So much toothpaste that, even with brushing as I'm supposed to, I haven't had to buy toothpaste in over 2.5 months!!!)

56. The belief that you only have to go through the de-cluttering process once and won't ever have to do it again. (I'm kinda crazy, but I do it at LEAST once a month. Usually twice.)

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