PURGE: My quest to rid our house of stuff week-by-week for a year

Week 52: Continued with Freecycle

2010-12-31T14:33:00.000-06:00

I wasn't able to get rid of 10 items, but I wanted to again highlight Freecycle of Champaign-Urbana. You do have to join before you can use it, but that's easy. Once you're in, you post a message like this:

OFFER in SE Urbana: Pillows, Tree lights, Car Air Filter, etc.

2 Standard pillows made of down
3 strings of tree lights with alternating blue and white lights
Car air filter CA4309
Wok scrubber made of bamboo
All from pet free and smoke free home

It will send an e-mail out to members. Those interested in your stuff will e-mail you to arrange for pick up. Usually, I just leave my stuff on the front steps soon before I know someone will arrive. I posted this yesterday around noon and it was picked up before 4pm. Piece of cake for #262-265 and closing out a year of PURGE!

Week 52: A Change of Plans

2010-12-31T14:10:00.000-06:00

As soon as a pulled into the driveway and saw the "OPEN" sign unlit, I knew that my plan for this past month to PURGE to my 4 favorite organizations around CU was foiled. All Things Kids was closed for the holiday season so employees could spend time with their families, according to another posted sign.

Understandable. But still I felt let down.

To the "T" I followed the directions they laid out in their e-mail, facebook page and website: all consignors were allowed to bring only the 30 best of their clothes during the month of Decemeber. I carefully picked out some of the items I was sure they'd accept. Lately I've been feeling a little rejected by the amount of my stuff they've been turning away. On December 27th, those feelings of rejection were replaced by betrayal.

Why hadn't they posted on fb that they were going to be closed? No e-mail either! Some forewarning would have been appreciated considering they'd be closed for a whole week!

When I got home I realized that they had posted to fb. Twice. And on their website (though I never check that). Whoops! It was my fault. I felt so guilty.

Like last January and February when I was getting really ticked at the MTD because anytime I rode a bus, I would get nauseous. On top of feeling frustrated with the circumstances that made it a necessity for me to ride the bus, I was angry at the drivers for their hard braking, making me sick to my stomach. I was jealous of people who could productively read while in this cage and all I could do was squeeze my eyes closed and hope I wouldn't vomit. Turns out it wasn't the fault of the MTD, but I was pregnant. Whoops! Luckily all my angst was bottled up inside or else I would have had to write a very apologetic letter to them.

Anyway, in the bind of not being able to PURGE to ATK, my back up plan was to donate to Empty Tomb again. Perhaps this is more fitting as it is my favorite place to PURGE. I was able to get rid of #255 a pair of Maternity Pants, #256 7 Maternity Shirts , #257 a jacket, #258 a Suede Jacket, #259 a sweater, #260 a pair of pants, and #261 15 pairs of baby socks.

Perhaps I could have gotten some money for the maternity clothes or baby socks, but with PURGE the main point is to just get it out of the house. I'm happy just know that it will be used again and for the time being stay out of a landfill.

Who's "Purge?"

2010-12-30T13:44:00.000-06:00

Me: Hold on, let me just put this on the front steps for PURGE
Bean: Who's "Purge?"

Week 51: The I.D.E.A. Store

2010-12-29T11:15:00.000-06:00

Look at all that JUNK! This is the kid of stuff that ends up 1) in your junk drawer, 2) at the bottom of your kid's toy box, 3) in the back of your pantry until 4) you throw it away.

No MORE!

Take your little reusable items of metal, plastic and paper to The I.D.E.A. Store. It's on Springfield, just East of Neil, so you probably pass by all the time and drop off is easy. Check out this list of stuff they accept, because you likely have several items they take.

Here are some items we collect regularly (#245-254):

Metal Bottle Caps

Metal boxes and tins from Altoids, cookies, candy

Plastic Tab Closures from food bags

Plastic Toys no larger than 2"x2"

Toy Parts

Wooden Crates from Clementines

Brown Paper Grocery bags

Shoeboxes

Sleeves from hot drinks

Paint Sample Chips

My junk draw is now the collection spot for this stuff. When I open a bottle of beer, the cap goes in there. When I finish a loaf of bread, the plastic tab goes in there. When a cheap small toy breaks, it goes in there. After a couple weeks, I make a run to the I.D.E.A Store where it will be sold to support the work of the Champaign-Urbana School Foundation and the Champaign-Urbana Public Schools.

I love PURGing for a good cause and keeping my crap out of landfills!

Week 50: Goodwill

2010-12-21T00:06:00.000-06:00

I had a great idea to end PURGE with a bang and try to get rid of 10 items and donate them to some of my favorite organizations around Champaign-Urbana. Mei Mei kicked it off last week with 10 of her clothes to Empty Tomb. This week we brought the 10 items to the left to Goodwill.

Bean snagged #233 surf board from the Clean Water Garage Sale, during the buck-a-bag deal. #324 The album used to hold pics of my flower arrangements, but I have no sentimental attachment to them. #235 The water bottle is from my college dancing days, but as you know, I have a fear of drinking from plastic now. #236 The incense sticks have been in the basement and I've owned them since junior high. I can't remember when I got #237 the globe candle, probably high school when I was in to black-light responsive stuff. There's #238 a small pin just below that that says "Diva" from when I bought my DivaCup. #239 The red shot glass was definitely from college when we got a gift set of Tuaca. I dunno when/where I got #240 the journal from. I think #241 the phone was my dad's from when he and my mom separated. And #242 the blue box was given to my from a garage sale where I bought a bunch of diapers.

I also purged #243 a 5-pack of pink Christmas ball ornaments as well as #244 several santa ones. I took pics, but then accidentally deleted them off my computer. Bleh. That's bonus for thr 10+ PURGE this week.

Week 49: Mei Mei's contribution

2010-12-16T23:07:00.000-06:00

With Bean, my firstborn, every time he outgrew an outfit I got sad about how he was growing up and how he'd never wear it again. I might have even shed a tear, or two, or three.

With Mei Mei, things are a little different. I've grown to savor every minute of each day, treasuring it because I know she will never be that many days old again. And each day that passes brings new experiences we share and new skills she learns. I'm excited about her potential for growth the the possibilities of her future.

I see her outgrown clothes with different eyes too. I'm not bummed that she is no longer tiny enough to fit in them, I'm excited about the opportunity to clothe another cute newborn with those same clothes, likely a newborn that is born into a family that is not as financially blessed as we are.

So it is with a happy heart that on behalf of Maewyn, I donated these #323-#232 10 newborn clothes to Empty Tomb. We've been having horribly cold weather, so I'm hoping these onesies and undershirts will keep a baby warm. We've been so blessed with so mnay clothes for her from friends, it's a joy to give some away to those in need.

Week 48: Random Kids Stuff

2010-11-26T22:39:00.000-06:00

This is from a really long time ago (probably two months), but I never got around to posting about it. I guess that's what happens when you have 3 kiddos! All Things Kids accepted #315-317 all that is pictured to the left, #318 the blue striped shirt to the right, and also a knit sweater (not pictured).

All that is below: #319 that Turkey Outfit went to a friend and #320 the blue and brown striped one underneath it went to another. #321 Shoes and #322 Clothes went to Empty Tomb.

Week 47: Bathroom Makeover

2010-11-15T17:31:00.000-06:00

On Bo's paternity leave after Mei Mei was born, he took it upon himself to give our downstairs bathroom a makeover. Fabulous idea, if you ask me. Part of the reason we are PURGing is so that when we move from this place, there's less junk to throw away because we don't want to move it and don't have time to deal with it. Instead we PURGE slowly and find good homes for all our junk. Our eventual move from here means first selling this place, which means sprucing it up.

And did he! Not only did Bo paint, but he also replaced all the fixtures too. So now instead of chrome like we have in each of the other bathrooms, the downstairs bathroom is outfitted with brushed nickel. Our original fixtures (#309 Towel Rack, #310 Light fixture, #311Toilet paper holder, #313 Faucet) plus a #314 wall decoration went to Habitat for Humanity Restore. They take all sorts of household stuff.

These are just the types of things that would end up in the basement, attic or garage. They still have many great years of use, so why not hang in to it. Trust me, you'll never use it. Save yourself the time and get rid of it now! Bring it to place that can use it right away and you save it from going into a landfill too!

Week 46: Similac Sharing

2010-11-14T22:36:00.000-06:00

The hospital gave us a bunch of free Similac stuff when Mei Mei was born, but we likely won't use because I'll exclusively breastfeed. A friend of mine who had a baby 2 days after I did requested all of it. So I gave Lisa #304 4 bottles Similac, #305 4 Nipples, #306 2 canisters of dry formula, #307 3 Coupons and #308 a cute gift bag (gotta count everything that leaves the house!). It feels great to help a fellow mom! I know I'll keep getting stuff from Similac in the mail and the rest will go to Lisa and her baby.

Week 45: Coats for Kids Drive

2010-11-14T22:23:00.002-06:00

My kids' children's ministry at church are sponsoring a Coats for Kids drive to benefit Empty Tomb. Actually, they are collecting all types of winter outer wear: coats, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, etc. So, when I went through our tub of stuff from last year, I found some extras that we won't use.

My mom loves to crochet scarves, so my boys picked the bright blue ones located in the middle row and we donated the rest of #299 Baby hat (Mei Mei already has too many) and #300 6 hand-made scarves.

If you'd like to donate, I'll be collecting them for ET even after the drive at church is over, so just post a comment or contact me directly.

I also made a drop to Empty Tomb myself after taking another look at my closet and PURGing some stuff that I thought a mom of 3 shouldn't wear. At the top is #301 some lounge wear that says bride '04. Yep, that was me over 6 years ago. The drawstring waist doesn't quite hold up to my newly shaped waist and the hoodie is a little bleached on the cuffs. In the middle are #302 hospital socks. Really no one should wear these outside of the hospital, but what a waste to throw them away. The 4 long sleeve shirts #303 were all too short and too tight. Granted, I tried them on right after I gave birth, so that's understandable. But I'd like my clothes to be flexible enough that if I gain a few pounds the still fit alright.

There are several more tops that fit this description, so I'll go through them slowly. I'm finding it so much easier to PURGE but not as easy to buy clothes for myself. I hope I don't run out of clothes soon!

The Challenge to Live Simply with a New Addition

2010-11-05T13:35:00.001-05:00

My daughter, Mei, was born in the middle October, and I've been maternity leave from PURGE since then. Hee-hee. J/K. I've still been setting aside items to get rid of, but just haven't quite gotten them out of the house yet.

With our new addition to the family comes a LOT of things in the house that will eventually need to be PURGEd again: clothes, play gym, co-sleeper, carseat, etc. In fact, part of what is already set aside to PURGE soon is some of her freebies from the hospital and stuff she's already outgrown.

Despite all the stuff that coming into the house for our baby girl, we're still committed to living simply. We've bought very few things brand new for her if any. We got a lot of hand-me-downs from friends and freebies from freecycle, which got us mostly covered. The few things that I did buy, I got from consignment, garage sales and craigslist. Getting used items instead of buying them new helps lessen our impact on the environment.

We still need a crib mattress and we prefer to not get a used one, so we are looking into new organic ones. Too bad all are several hundred dollars (eeep!), which is why we still haven't gotten one yet. We've got our eye on the Pebble Mattress by Nook. It would last her for years and should also last for her kids. Now if that's not green, I dunno what it. But is that worth $500 green ones? I love this dad's review of it, especially when he calls it "nanorganic!"

Professional Clothing Drive

2010-10-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

It starts tomorrow and run this week with multiple drop off locations benefiting the Center for Women in Transition and the Salvation Army. See here for details.

Week 44: Stuff That's Been Around WAAAAY Too Long

2010-10-10T22:24:00.003-05:00

I wouldn't characterize Bo and I as hoarders, but there are a few items, especially in the basement, that needed to go long ago.

For example, #294 5 Cans of Expired Soup - I can't even remember what recipe I had that called for broccoli cheese soup, but the cream of mushroom was for a Beef Stroganoff recipe. At some point I swore off "cream of whatever" soups, and at that point should have donated these to someplace who could have used them. Instead, this week I cut the labels off to donate to Red Bird Mission, as I have done in the past. Then I opened each one up to wash it out and recycle the can. What a waste! Surprisingly, the soups looked and smelled just the same as brand new cans of soup. You decide if that is good or bad.
UPDATE: After I posted this, the Eastern Illinois Foodbank tweeted me: "FYI, food past date doesn't always mean we can't use it. Bring it by and if it's unusable, we'll toss."

On that same food rack in the basement (our pantry is small so we store extras downstairs), I found #295 Several Other Non-perishable Foods that were not expired (sounds like an oxymoron) and that we'll likely not use. The Jello-Os were actually in the pantry, but still hadn't been touched in years. The rice was for making homemade rice pudding (yeah, right!, well at least not anytime soon). The pasta is not tasty compared to our fave: Barilla. And the tomatoes won't get used cuz we rarely cook with them anyway, and if so we'll get fresh or jarred. These got dropped off at County Market for The Food for Families Drive of Eastern Illinois Foodbank. FYI, the foodbank can do a LOT more with monetary donations, so if you wanna support them, give moolah, but if you're not gonna use something in your pantry, give it to them instead of tossing it, like I shamefully did with the soups.

Also in the basement, and it has been not only since we moved but since I came here for college 12 YEARS AGO, #296 a Bunch of Used Candles and Wax. In high school, I was crafty (not at all like I am now), and used to make candles as a hobby and give them to people too. I have not made a single candle in at least 12 years. It will also be a while before Bean and Monkey are old enough to help with that. I thought the I.D.E.A store would take it, but they only take unused bricks of wax. I tried to Freecycle it, but no takers. Would this be the first time since I started PURGE in January that I'd need to throw something away? Nope! Yesterday, I posted it for Free in the arts and crafts section of Craig's List and some picked it up today! That was a close call :)

We've also owned this #297 Full-Size Mattress and #298 Full Size Box Spring for over a decade. Bo had it before we met and he thinks it was his brother's. I've had it since 2001 when I moved into an unfinished apartment, then it became "ours" again when we moved into our current house and it's been in the guest room. Bean decided it was his (as was the guest room) soon before Monkey was born, which worked out well cuz we needed him out of the crib/toddler bed and out of the nursery. So yeah, it's old but it's served us well for a while, especially as Bean's bed for the past 3 years or so..that is until he puked on it a couple days ago. Luckily 2 mattress pads saved it from bad damage, but it still got stained, and we've been looking for an excuse to get Bean a new bed. So out to the front porch it went while I posted it to Freecycle yesterday. I was really hoping to not have to chuck it because even Bean was wondering "Someone wants my bed with my throw-up on it?" Yes. It also got picked up today too :) YAY!

Week 43 PURGE: Summer Wardrobe

2010-10-01T16:30:00.001-05:00

Apparently, PURGE has really helped us pare down the closet.

Recently, when I dropped off some stuff at Empty Tomb their sign said they officially be collecting fall and winter clothes on October 1st. That inspired me to take a look at our closet and see if there was any summer clothes that we wanted to get rid of before the end of September.

There was not much to give away! We are finally at a point where we are actually wearing almost all of the clothes in our closet on a regular basis. :)

Granted, I've been pregnant this summer, so there were several things that I didn't wear by virtue of that. Still, I found a couple tops that I was pretty sure I could part with for one of the following reasons:

1) It looked too "young." A mom of 3 should be wearing it. (#287 Black T-shirt with glittery turtle)

2) It was cut to short. With my body changing, even at the same weight, I'm wider, so shorter tops are exposing my tummy. Not cool. (#288 Green T-shirt)

3) It hung too low. I hate bending over to reach something fearing that I'm exposing myself to the world. (#289 Creamy yellow short-sleeve shirt)

Bo got rid of #290 2 polyester v-neck T-shirts. He was convinced when I told him that there was dust on the exposed parts of the hangers because he hadn't worn them in so long. He also parted with #291 a slithery button down shirt, which I know he hasn't worn in a while. He said that sometimes when he picks the kids up, the slithery-ness makes the buttons undo themselves. Not like I have a problem with that...but others likely do ;)

Lastly the T-shirt on top is #292 Bean's famous manatee shirt. It's so hideous, but I convinced him it was cool by telling all my friends to compliment him on it. I got it from All Things Kids for 50 cents. It lasted the summer, but then the stuffed manatee that's sewn to the front (no, I'm not kidding) started falling off.

In addition to the clothes, I donated #293 two water jugs. With the baby being due soon, I know I'll get another one from the hospital. Still, I prefer my stainless steel Kleen Kanteen, so I'll probably donate that other water jug too.

SNAP Hunger Challenge: Day 2-4 Reflections

2010-09-23T22:22:00.002-05:00

Not eating free food at work is hitting Bo pretty hard. At first it was just candy and cookies that he couldn't touch, but today his employer provided Papa John's Pizza for everybody. Well, everybody except him; he had to graciously decline. It did give him a chance to share about the Hunger Challenge and for that I'm so proud of him. Still, he's frustrated. To make matters worse, tomorrow is Friday, when all his co-workers always to out to eat together and he will have to stay at work and eat what he's packed. He's not thrilled about that. He wonders if the SNAP challenge is extra hard because he's not surrounded by other people in the same boat, experiencing the same struggles. Though this is a simulation, I'm sure that are real people who experience this real isolation on a daily basis. No one should have to face this.

For me, I thought the hard part would be not going out for lunch most everyday, but that part is not so bad. The worse is not enjoying the frills. I like freshly grated parmigiano reggiano on my pasta. No can do on a SNAP budget. I've been trying to prioritize healthy, fresh, local foods if I can, which leaves little money for treats. It makes be feel guilty about spending money on a sweet treat when I could be filling my and my family's tummies with something more nutritious. So I made Jello and have rationed that for the week with a loss of only 50 cents.

On a happy note, I've fallen even more in love with squash soup than I was before. I made organic butternut squash soup for about $5.60 (not including the cost of dry spices) and it was enough for two dinners for my kids, 1 dinner for each of us adults, and one lunch for me. Because my kids love it so much we'd already been eating it about once week, but I"m even more convinced that it needs to be a staple in our dinner rotation. Though next year, we're growing our own squash, so we can save even more money.

I hope that my next post will be a compilation of ideas that have come from this enlightening experience. I won't lie, I can't wait for this challenge to be over, but much good has already come of it.

SNAP Hunger Challenge: Day 1 Reflections

2010-09-21T12:28:00.006-05:00

This is hard. Not so much the feeling full part, but feeling satisfied. I'm also probably eating too much, but we've decided to not fixate too much on keeping track of every cent, but being very aware of being as frugal as we can.

PB and Pekara is good - The peanut butter sandwich for lunch was delish and filling. Even Bo only used one slice of honey wheat bread from Pekara because it's pretty large and dense (4.59 for a loaf). I may be sold on bulk peanut butter from the Co-op too ($4.49 a lb).

Living without the frills is the biggest challenge - Poor Bozie managed to survive without his free Starbucks coffee from work, which has apparently become a staple for him over the past couple months. He was also bummed to have to turn down homemade baked goods that coworker brought to the office and as well as candy on someone's desk. I had the same issue with the candy. It kinda helped that it was Dove chocolate, and I could not rationalize how someone on SNAP would have free access to that. At dinner, I also skipped on the freshly grated REAL parmigiano reeggiano that usually makes my pasta look like a blizzard swept over it. THAT was hard.

I know we definitely broke the bank - The apples we got cost about 70 cents each. Yikes! But it fairly satisfied the sweet craving that hit me in late afternoon. In general, my philosophy is that if it's healthy, especially local and organic, it shouldn't matter what it costs, just get it into my body or the kids' bodies. It's also important to us that we expose our kids to a variety of foods like mangoes, plantains, and kiwis. True story, last week when Bo took care of the boys while I had an evening meeting, they all went on a special trip to the grocery store and picked out coconuts to bust a hole in, drink the milk, then whack open and eat the flesh. This is their daddy-son bonding activity, but costs over $2 per coconut. Wouldn't you rather our kids being doing this than snacking on unhealthy food? It's too bad that some healthy food, even a simple apple, can be a luxury.

All of a sudden that box of Jello that has been gathering dust in my pantry for 4 years looks good - That afternoon sweet craving lasted into the evening. So I made Jello. Not my preference, but it was the cheapest option we had on hand. I'm looking forward to Saturday because also in my pantry are 2 Reuben's chocolates. At $1.60 a pop, they are totally not doable on a SNAP budget.

We're not really doing it with the kids, but kinda - They still have their Kashi cereal each morning (to the tune of almost $4 a box and their whole milk from Kilgus farm to the tune of $4.49/gallon). This is their thing, so we left it alone, but I did skimp on them. They get food at school, so that we don't count. At dinner they each had an egg, while they usually have 2. I might have caved and gave them more, but that was all we had in the fridge. 1/2 slice of Pekara honey wheat bread was good for Monkey, but Bean asked for another 1/2 after his first 1/2, so I obliged. They also had a banana and yogurt smoothie. No veggies, but we'll make up for it tonight with squash soup. They weren't hungry after dinner, I don't think, but I know they usually eat more. Each of them can eat 3 slices of pizza and it's not because they're big boys. They're only 2 and 4 years old and each of them are in he 30th percentiles for their heights and weights. I can't imagine only being able to spend $4.50 a day on a teenage sons!

SNAP Hunger Challenge: Day 1 Breakfast

2010-09-20T09:32:00.005-05:00

Breakfast:

Cream of Wheat made with:

1 c Milk (Kilgus Farm Whole Milk from the Food Co-Op)

3 T Cream of Wheat

Reactions: Very satisfied and full. This is comfort food for me. I think I could eat plain Cream of Wheat like this pretty much every day, but we'll see after a week. Milk, however, is a "must" or else this would be gross. It could be made even healthier with mix-in of fruit or nuts, but I can't complain about getting nearly half my daily value of iron in one sitting, which is important while being pregnant. So far so good.

Week 42 PURGE: The I.D.E.A. Store Continued

2010-09-17T20:59:00.000-05:00

Well it turned out that The I.D.E.A. Store was interested in ALL the items I packed in this sack that I wasn't sure about. Besides the little toys, none were specifically listed, but I thought I'd give it a shot. One September 30th, you can be the proud owners of any of the following:

#281 Edges to foam play mats - I gave the mats to church, but they don't use these parts

#282 Paint stirrers - These were a freecycle find, but I only needed a couple

#283 Glass Brick - I got as a momento

#284 Misc little toys (in circular container)- random knick knacks from the basement

#285 Plastic lids to baby bottles (in orange shoe box) - I gave away the bottles and forgot to include these

And last but not least the 2 finds that started began this whole PURGE to The I.D.E.A. Store:

#286 Colorful Toothpicks and #287 Twist-ties - both of which were scattered along the bottom of our kitch junk draw.

After I dropped off my donation, I also got to look around the store, and it's incredible. At this point my limited artistic ability renders me mostly interested in the bulk markers and crayons, which were really cheap, but I'll go explore with the kids sometime and I'm sure we'll have fun. I also got more ideas of things to purge including those wooden crates that clementines come in and the metal tins for cookies and such. I'm going to start seeing junk in a whole new light. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Week 41 PURGE - The I.D.E.A. Store

2010-09-16T19:25:00.008-05:00

It all started Sunday night when I bravely decided to attack the junk drawer in the kitchen. One word: "scary"...there was a Daily Illini, in there from December 2002.

It was motivating to expect that basically everything in there could be PURGEd because we hadn't opened the drawer in months *cough* years *cough* except for recently when Bo was looking for a spare car key, which by the way, wasn't in there.

Armed with the confidence that when I was done I'd have a whole drawer of reclaimed space, I started to PURGE and managed to salvage several candle sticks and put into separate sandwich baggies a bunch of colorful toothpicks, a handful of twist-ties and a couple dozen aluminum can pull tabs.

I thought someone might be able to use them for something, so I tweeted about it. Gotta love social media because chambanamoms almost immediately replied that The I.D.E.A. Store might take them.

Haven't heard of them? Neither had I, but it's my favorite combination of being able to PURGE and help a good cause, in this case, the Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation and the Champaign-Urbana Public Schools. Plus, for those of you who are creative, this seems like the Mecca of craft supplies!

Here's a list of what they take. Unfortunately in my excitement of PURGing, I had already trashed some fun stuff they could have used like old keys, key chains, string, and some straws, just minutes before I had heard about this place :( Luckily this list inspired me to scour the rest of the house, especially the basement, to find more stuff to donate. Here's what I found:

#274 5 Shoe boxes (one is buried)

#275 9 Advertising Magnets

#276 6 Brown Paper Sacks

#274 18 Paint Chips (in the plastic rectangle box)

#275 1/2 Bag of Rafia

#276 Foam Egg Carton

#277 Straws

#278 Altoid Container (cinnamon, yum!)

#279 Wrapping Paper

#280 Quilted Fabric Scrap

Until they open on Sept 30th, they are taking donations on Fridays from 4-7, so I plan to drop these off tomorrow. I also have a sack of stuff I'm not sure if they'll accept but we'll see and I'll report that for Week 42.

I'm not one for being crafty, but at their prices and knowing that I'm not wasting money on new products and also not having to clutter my house with supplies, this may be just the perfect thing to get me to do more art with the kids. When we're in the mood to create, we can just head to The I.D.E.A Store and buy what we need then and there!

Week 40 PURGE - More to Empty Tomb

2010-09-08T09:32:00.007-05:00

I feel like it's been a while since I've PURGEd to my favorite (cuz I believe in their mission and also cuz they are close to my work, making donating easy) local charity: Empty Tomb. So they are the happy recipients of this week's PURGE.

#270 2 girls T-shirts that I got from a freecycler for Mei Mei - The are ever so slightly off-white but I didn't think I could whiten them without ruining the design.

#271 One of Bean's shirts that he made in the fall of 2007 - He just grew out of it now. Considering it's slightly stained and has his name on it, I knew there was no use in attempting to consign it.

#272 A shirt of mine from my church's children's ministry - A bunch of kids signed it and they're all grown up now, plus it's also a little discolored. I shouldn't wear it anymore.

#273 2 plastic cups - I've had these since high school. They are very fun, but I'm paranoid to drink out of plastic anymore.

#273 Fleece Blanket of Monkey's from when he was a wee babe - We just have too many blankets. We got so many compliments on this, I hope someone else can love as much as we have.

Just FYI, Empty Tomb will start taking fall and winter clothes starting on October 1st. I can't wait! I already have some stuff set aside to PURGE ;)

Another Challenge: SNAP Hunger Challenge 2010

2010-09-06T23:52:00.001-05:00

Easy Cheese, Vienna Sausages, Ramen Noodles. I refuse to eat these things. Unfortunately, one may not have much of a choice when surviving on $4.50 a day, the average SNAP benefit (formerly known as food stamps) in Illinois.

Last week, Bo and I made the hard decision to take the SNAP Hunger Challenge 2010, which means that we have a budget of $126 our family of four for the week of September 19th-25th.

*GASP* No going out for lunch for the entire week! That's my daily weekday getaway during my lunch hour with a plethora of options on Green St. At least as far as the kids go, we almost never take them out to eat except we've started taking them on Friday nights as a new tradition. I think they can manage one week without that, especially if we make an activity of cooking together.

It will also be harder for us to keep our food local and organic, which we've been really trying to do recently. Will we be able to afford our Kilgus Farm milk or our eggs from T&S or Moore's? I think I'll be ok with just even just having healthy options like fresh produce and whole grain bread. I'm afraid that if we buy those we might only have enough budget left for unhealthy processed food product, or even worse, that we'll run out of food. 84% of Feeding Illinois clients report that over the previous 12 months they have been in a situation where the food they bought just didn’t last and they did not have money to get more.

What do you say to your kids when they tell you they are still hungry and you have nothing more to feed them?

I can tell already that this challenge won't be nearly as fun or therapeutic as PURGE, but I have no doubt that it will be an eye-opener for us. Care to join us?

Garage Sale PURGE - Christmas Stuff (Wk39)

2010-09-06T21:42:00.007-05:00

Looking through my camera today, I realized that I had one more group of items that I PURGEd for the Clean Water Garage Sale but forgot to document on this blog.

Behold, my Christmas junk:

#264 - Hand towels - the cardinal set, the teddy bear set, and the two mini ones in the middle were both really soft, and I hated to see them go.

#265 - 6 Pink Ball Ornaments - These we got when we first got our tree to be fillers, but now we have enough ornaments with meaning.

#266 - 6 Mini Ornaments - Just got these last year as a gift and we don't need them.

#267 - Pair of Ugly Ornaments with faces on them (one tree, one pine cone. ewww). White Elephant gift.

#267 - Candles - These are cute, but again, just trying to streamline.

#268 - Stuffed Bear - I've have this since 2nd or 3rd grade from my best friend. I've put it out each year since then. It holds a special place in my heart. But I have a pic of it and that'll due.

#269 - Snowmen decorations - These are kinda cute too. I like things that match but are not exact duplicates, but they are not exactly the look I'm going for.

Last Christmas I set these aside in the basement to be donated before this holiday season to Goodwill or something like that. I'm glad I didn't have to wait that long! I know for a fact that many of these sold at the garage sale, so that's a bonus too.

Ugh, I really need to find this pic today. It's been harder to PURGE as I get closer to my due date because there is so many other things on my mind and to prepare for. And at the same time I'm refilling my house with more stuff for the baby. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks I can get a little farther ahead because I have no idea how PURGE will go when my baby girl gets here.

Week 38 PURGE- Paper to be Shredded

2010-08-28T20:59:00.009-05:00

This morning Monkey and I made a fun trip to the University of Illinois Employees Credit Union. Nope, not for banking. For PURGing!

As mentioned in a previous post, the UIECU periodically hosts a shred event for confidential documents. So this week, I cleaned out our file cabinet of archived #262 bills and PURGEd anything over a year old. I also had a box of #263 confidential documents related to graduate school which made up the bulk of this box.

Thankfully Bo helped by loading it into our trunk. I'm pretty sure this box was the second heaviest PURGE item (the heaviest being a tub of textbooks). And then luckily two friendly UIECU staff unloaded it from the trunk to the large semi truck-shredder machine. There wasn't even a wait!

Despite this being a fairly simple PURGE project, I learned a lot. I've already requested that my bank bills be sent electronically. I plan to do that with more financial statements so there's less I'll have to shred and recycle.

PURGE is helping me realize the small ways that I can reduce what comes into our house, so there's less to PURGE later. What a fun and insightful challenge for the year!

What do your rooms look like?

2010-08-26T21:48:00.001-05:00

Check out the Clutter Image Rating that I found. It is used to assess if a person has a hoarding problem.

For us, our bedroom is a 1. We've gotten good about making this our getaway retreat spot. Only our nightstands have some clutter on them.

Our living room is between a 1 and a 2, but much closer to 1. I have a a couple small piles of books that I want to PURGE, but haven't yet. We don't have anything on the couches that would prevent people from sitting.

Our kitchen is a solid 2. We don't have anything on the floor, but the counters are currently covered with dirty dishes and the kitchen table has an assortment of papers on it. I LOATHE cleaning the kitchen, so the counters and table issue is a more-often-than-not type of situation.

They should have one for your vehicle. Both of ours would be like about a 4 today and 2 to 3 in general.

So, walking through your house RIGHT NOW, no cheating, pick the numbers that describe your bedroom, living room, then kitchen. Be honest!

Week 37 PURGE - College Textbooks

2010-08-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

Another school year has begun! While U of I students are buying their textbooks for the next semester of higher education, I got to PURGing mine.

I'd like to think that all the important stuff I learned in college and grad school is still stored in my head. So my "library" of textbooks (really just an unorganized pile on the floor of my basement) is doing nothing but providing hiding places for spiders and crickets.

Remember I mentioned that the Urbana Free Library collects books to sell for a fundraiser? This gave me extra motivation to donate my books soon because the next sale starts tomorrow and runs through this weekend during the 35th Urbana Sweet Corn Festival.

With an imaginary deadline (not a real deadline because they take books all year round) to work towards, I headed to the basement and dusted off over 25 books (#237- #261) from mostly my college years. My grad school books I plan to give away to friends and students of mine.

I contemplated selling them to earn some extra cash, but convinced myself otherwise after thinking about the hassle of looking up each book's info, posting them online or elsewhere and dealing with people who may or may not be interested in buying then. Kudos to you who can both PURGE and sell stuff for some extra cash! Maybe someday I'll have the patience to do that too. For now, I was happy enough that they were PURGEd and will likely get reused, not recycled, or worse, trashed.

And many thanks to my hubby for his help with this week's PURGE. Books have been by far the heaviest thing we've PURGEd and he did all the heavy lifting to get these out of the house and to the library. Gotta love a man who loves to PURGE!

Week 36 PURGE - Toiletries

2010-08-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

In the past I have Freecycled toiletries, but thanks to friend, fellow blogger, and PURGEr, I know now how to donate them to a good cause.

Local charity, Empty Tomb, collects new and barely used cosmetics such as lotions, perfumes, make-up, etc. and assembles them into gift baskets. At Christmas, children from families of limited financial resources gift baskets for their parents. How sweet it that?

I was motivated to PURGE my bathroom drawers and under my sink and this is what I found.

#227 1 Full-size Conditioner

#228 2 full-size Face Washes

#229 2 Travel-size toothpastes

#230 1 Tube of Acne Medication

#231 1 Body Mist

#232 2 Travel-Size Conditioners

#233 1 Travel-Size Shampoo

#234 3 Trial-Size Body Lotions

#235 1 Travel-Size Soap

#236 2 Trial Size Eye Creams

You too can bring your donations to Empty Tomb at 301 N. 4th St. in Champaign on Monday through Saturday from 9:ooam to 12:30pm or 2:15pm to 5:00pm. The drop off door is on the north side of the building; just ring the doorbell. You'll love the feeling of less clutter and knowing that your donation helped a child give a beautiful gift to a parent this upcoming holiday season.

Week 35 PURGE - to Friends

2010-08-15T22:50:00.000-05:00

PURGING can be hard enough, but to keep things out of landfills when you are PURGING can be even more challenging.

It will take a little extra work, but finding a new home for your stuff (as opposed to the trash) is well worth it. This week I PURGEd specifically to people I knew and it left me with a positive feeling that I was helping them out a bit too, in addition to all the usual perks of PURGE.

#219 Parenting Magazines - went to my friend Cyndi. This is the same Cyndi who received several of these during Week 3. She's a preschool teacher and uses them in her classroom for

arts and crafts.

#220 Size 12-18 Month Tops and #221 Pajama Sets - This went to a friend, Declan, who was the recipient of some of Monkey's clothes in the past, such as in Week 4. Several things I gave him were returned, so I don't count them as an actual PURGE, but Declan's mommy told me that he's in this size now and his growth has slowed, so he should be able to make use of Monkey's clothes this time. I can't wait to see him in these!

#222 Size 9-12 month boys's winter coat, #223 Tops, #224 Pants, and #225 Pajama Sets - Jay, the recipient of the 0-3 pants from Week 4 and the baby food from Week 19, got this lot. His mom my told me on the phone that they LOVE hand-me-downs and he just started wearing this size. Hope they still fit him when it starts to cool down.

#226 Stickers - I just got these from my mother-in-law last week, so it hardly seems like a PURGE, but we also got a small tub of stickers from her too and we're keeping those. Because this was basically new and in the box, I thought it would be best to let someone else have fun with them. I'm thinking that our children's ministry can use them for prizes or rewards or something. (no pic, got rid of it too fast).

All of this stuff I just brought with me to church and handed it out like it was Christmas in August ;)

You probably know people who could use some of your stuff more than you. It just takes asking around, but it's a great opportunity to help out a friend. Give it a try, you'll like it, as you know you're helping them with something they need and not just adding to their clutter.

Last of Garage Sale PURGE (Wk34)

2010-08-15T22:25:00.001-05:00

The first Clean Water Garage Sale of 2010 created a lot of momentum. I was inspired to clean out even more for Part 2. I just forgot to document it until now.

#211 Wireless Router. We got a new one a couple in between the two garage sales. SOLD!

#212 Bag of Rags - These have been on the floor of my closet for months. We've done fine without them during that time. SOLD!

#213 Boppy Pillow. We now have 2 and no one I knew needed this one. SOLD!

#214 Bag - I used this a lot this year, but I got a new one. I can't remember if it sold, but if it got donated to a local charity, I know someone will make soog use of it. It's nice looking and in great condition.

#215 Photo Album Book - This was made of phthalates, so I didn't want my kids to play with it much. SOLD!
#216 Box of 12-month Boys Summer Clothes and #217 Blankets - Monkey still was wearing these, but he can fit in the next size up too, so I thought I'd PURGE these while they were in season. SOLD!

#218 Bag of Stuffed Animals - There were the few that didn't have as much sentimental value ans were just collecting dust. All were in good condition and some still had tags on them. Some SOLD!

What Not to PURGE #1: Recyclable Water Bottles

2010-08-14T11:29:00.000-05:00

Welcome to "What Not to PURGE (WNTP)," a new segment of this blog.

My quest to PURGE is not just to get rid of junk in my house, its also to reduce my carbon footprint by living more simply. I've been trying to get better about buying items used or getting them from Freecycle because it crazy how much energy is needed to make a new product and how many harmful byproducts come from production. If you've seen "The Story of Stuff," you know a bit about this.

In light of the Clean Water Garage Sale, I wanted to put another challenge out to my vast (yeah right) readership. Watch "The Story of Bottled Water."

In my family, we switched to stainless steel water bottles. Everyone in my family has their own, actually, Bean and Monkey each have two: one they keep in their bed/in the house and one they take out with them. We take these everywhere we go so we always have access to water from our own faucet or a water fountain somewhere.

In my opinion, stainless steel is the way to go. Plastic sippy cups and water bottles that you can buy are harmful for your own body when you drink from them, they release nastiness when they are produced, and then you are done with them they end up in the trash, or if you recycle them, more nastiness is released into the earth.

Stainless steel is more indestructible, lasting for years before needing to be replaced, if ever. It is inert and non-reactive to what you are drinking (as opposed to some aluminum water bottles you may have seen around). Also when you finally do toss it (I dunno why you would) the metal is easily recoverable, reducing the amount of emissions when recycling it.

If you can't find yourself a stainless steel water bottle used (like I found one at the Clean Water Garage Sale for our baby girl), this is one item totally worth buying brand new. In the long run, it will pay for itself and the impact on our Earth from producing it will be far less than the alternatives of buying bottled water, or using another type of drinking canister.

In sum, those recyclable bottles from bottled water are #1 on WNTP, because you should try not to buy them in the first place. I know, it's a challenge. I never said PURGE was going to be easy but, are you up for it?

Next UIECU Shred Event Coming up!

2010-08-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

I don't think it's only open to members, so I thought I'd spread the word.

The University of Illinois Employees' Credit Union is hosting it's next "Shred Event" on Saturday, August 28. You can bring up to five boxes of your old documents and they’ll shred them for you while you watch....and it's for FREE!

There are two locations and times:

Five Points Branch

206 East University Avenue

Time: 8 am-11 am

First Street Branch

Urbana 2201 South First Street, Champaign

Time: 12 pm-3 pm

Photo Credit: juvencioroldan

Book PURGE for Urbana Free Library

2010-08-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't noticed, purging for fundraising has been on my mind!

Photo Credit: PaPeR.cLiP (It's good to be back!)

We all have books lying around the house that we aren't likely to read again any time soon. Why not PURGE them and have some extra shelf space?

3 times a year the Urbana Free Library hosts a book sale, which raises over $20,000 annually for the library. Some of the book they sell are ones removed from the library's collection, but most are donated by people like us! UFL takes book donations anytime at the circulation desk and they will give you a form so you can even write off your donation on your taxes.

It's so easy! This weekend after the Clean Water Garage Sale, I brought a trunk-load of books over that didn't sell. The librarian brought a cart out to my car, loaded it up for me and wheeled it all back in. So, all you need to do is go through your bookshelves and PURGE.

I'll be doing this over the next couple weeks because the next book sale is on August26-30th (but like I said, they take books all year). I need to attack my school books from grad and undergrad most importantly. I know we also have some cookbooks we can get rid of and a couple novels. I'll be updating with pics and stuff about what we manage to get out of the house.

What books can you PURGE?

PURGE for another Garage Sale Fundraiser

2010-08-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

If you missed donating to to the Clean Water Garage Sale, you can still get rid of your stuff for a good cause. A friend of mine e-mailed yesterday about a garage sale she is organizing to build a women's shelter in Ecuador. I pasted her e-mail below so you can see the details. You can contact them for delivery times or pick up. So it's very easy! Happy PURGing for another good cause!

~~~~

Attention Friends and Lovers of Chambana:

I need your help! I am broke broke broke and trying to get to Ecuador to collaborate again with the women in my "extended family" to work to get the shelter we dream of having for women there built and functional! Together with the help of a generous friend of mine, we're calling upon our friends to donate items to be sold in

a garage sale on Saturday, August 21st, 2010 in the Cherry Hills Subdivision in Champaign. All proceeds will help send me to Ecuador!

Please help a sister out and donate what junk (I say that lovingly!) you can to the cause! All donated things can either be picked up by me or dropped off yourself on location between August 19th, from 6pm-9pm (during set-up) at:

2811 Cherry Hills Drive, Champaign, IL 61822. My phone
Organizers, Rachel Storm and Joan Wingo can be reached at:

217-840-8517 (Joan) and 630-677-7219 (Rachel)

We also are looking for volunteers to do the following:

Staff the sale itself anytime on Saturday, August 21st from 7am-5pm!
Help set-up on Thursday, August 19th beginning at 6pm!
Pass the word around! Do you know more people who might want to get rid of their stuff?! Forward this message!

I plan to fly to Ecuador over Winter or Spring break this year and every penny counts. Please help me get there!

_____________________________________________
Kind regards,

Rachel Storm
Program Coordinator, Illinois Women's Resources Center
The Women's Resources Center, University of Illinois

Student Affairs--Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations
703 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820
MC-302
(217) 333-3137 (office phone)
(217) 244-3167 (fax)
(630) 677-7219 (cell)

Freecycle Leftovers from Clean Water Garage Sale

2010-08-07T18:05:00.001-05:00

The sale is over, but don't miss out on these great free items! If you want to donate financially to help dig the well in Liberia, you can leave a check in the mailbox to "Quest UMC" with "Clean Water Garage Sale" in the memo.

Now at 3916 Aberdeen in SW Champaign, you can find these and a couple other things:

UPDATE: All of these were picked up before garbage collection day. So basically nothing went in the trash of all those donated items we collected ;)

Clean Water Garage Sale - The Final Count

2010-08-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

$104.45.

That's how far we are from digging the next clean well for clean water for another village in Liberia, Africa. Yessir, from 2 weekends of garage sales, we raised

$1395.55!

Thank you so much for any help you may have offered. I can't believe that we are sooooooooo close. If you want to help us reach our goal of $1500, you can make a check to "Quest UMC" with"Clean Water Garage Sale" in the memo and mail it to:

Quest UMC

1212 Butzow Dr.

Suite B

Urbana, IL 61801

Compared to what we've already raised, this seems like pennies, so any thing you can contribute is a great help and would be much appreciated. I know we can do it! Thank you so much already for your donations, volunteer hours, prayers, and support!

For your viewing pleasure: what you PURGEd for the second garage sale:

Photo Credit: Emily Hays

Chambanamoms.com Highlights Clean Water Garage Sale

2010-08-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

PURGE started with an idea from Amy Hatch from www.chambanamoms.com to have "A Year of Living with Less," whereby she'd get rid of junk each week and tell the world about it.

Brilliant! Potentially embarrassing, but also brilliant.

I decided to join her with "PURGE," but it's basically the same thing. I've been keeping Amy posted about things over here and when I told her about the Clean Water Garage Sale and it's connection to PURGE, she asked me to write an article for chambanamoms.com!

I nearly wet myself. I read Chambanamoms.com multiple times a day because I'm connected with them through every possible social media. I'm indebted to them for the amazing deal we got on our 2011 Toyota Sienna when we discovered we needed a van to accommodate Mei Mei by October. To randomly with a T-shirt from them at a pool party was the icing on the cake (though Bo wears it cuz it's too bug for me, even while pregnant).

So I was quite honored to be asked to write an article about the Clean Water Garage Sale and PURGE, but I was nervous. A grad school friend of mine commented that it has to be easier than writing a dissertation. Yeah, maybe, but only five people read my dissertation and only because they had to!

I'm hoping this will have more of an impact. May it encourage you not only to PURGE but also to put your junk to a good cause, whatever that cause may be.

"Living with Less," "PURGE," "Decluttering," etc.

2010-08-05T09:45:00.000-05:00

Whatever you call it, you did it!

A small group of Clean Water Garage Sale volunteers met last night to unpack and organize from the last sale. AND we also sorted and priced all the new donations that came in. Thanks, newbies! Here's a preview of what you'll be able to buy tomorow from 8 to noon and Saturday from 8-2 at 3916 Aberdeen in Champaign:

Furniture (numerous bookshelves of different sizes $5-$10, hide-a-bed couch $20, futon couch, directors chairs - set for 25 or $15 each, white resin patio table and 4 chairs $25, kitchen cart $5, recliner)

Baby and Children's Items (space saver high chair $15, bouncy chair $10, boppy pillow $5, multiple car seats - $10, art desk with chair $10)

Children's Toys (Legos, Megablocks, door basketball hoops, coloring supplies, many Spidrerrman things, baby toys)

2 full Tables of Children's Clothes (infant to middle school, boys and girls) - 50 cents

Adult clothes $1

Shoes - $1

Books - Hardbacks $1, Children's books and Paperbacks 3 for $1

DVDs - $1

VHS - 25 Cents

Sport Equipment (junior golf clubs $20, assorted balls $1, free weights, rackets)

Home Electronics (coffee maker $7, phones $1-$5, hand-held massager $3, iron $3, printer $5, speakers $3, carpet cleaner, vacuum )

Household Items (kitchen, office, bathroom, linens, rugs, home improvement and repair items)

Home Decor (wall art, candles, knick knacks)

Holiday Items

Luggage, Bags, Purses

Don't miss the $1/bag at 1pm sale on Saturday!

Funds Raised from Clean Water Garage Sale are "Well Spent"

2010-08-03T11:40:00.001-05:00

If you're wondering if your contribution to the Clean Water Garage Sale makes a difference, IT DOES. Check out the pics below of the 2nd well that Quest has funded. The first one was in Wazon, with funds mostly raised from our first garage sale in 2008.

A procession of singing and dancing on the way to the dedication of the well in Zoeger Town, Liberia

Words of appreciation from Zoeger Town UMC to Quest UMC and that includes you too!

Dedication Ceremony

Drinking the first flow

This well to access clean water in Zoegar Town...

Means no more of this: carrying gallons of dirty and diseased water from the nearby creek.

MANY THANKS for all your help and support with the Clean Water Garage Sale!

Come shop again at our next sale this Friday from 8-noon and Saturday from 8-2 at 3916 Aberdeen in Champaign. And don't miss the $1/bag at 1pm sale on Saturday! If you want to volunteer, you can sign up here.

Clean Water Garage Sale

2010-07-26T01:53:00.000-05:00

Holy Smokes! This is the "before" picture. Thanks to all who were inspired to PURGE and donated their stuff to the Clean Water Garage Sale. We raised just over $600! We still have a lot of great stuff left over, not junkie stuff, cuz really we didn't receive any junkie stuff. We're going to have another sale in 2 weeks (on Friday and Saturday at 3916 Aberdeen Drive in Champaign), so it's not too late to PURGE for a great cause.

Here's a view from the other side:

Garage Sale PURGE - Closet (Wk33)

2010-07-21T13:18:00.001-05:00

#200 Box with cat on it - Got this from a very dear aunt when I was like 10. It's served me well but I found new home or PURGEd the other things in it. I don't think my kids will use it.

#201 several envelopes - These are from the office stuff I had left in my closet and said that I'd attack them another time. That time has come ;)

#202 Perfume bottle (it in the case with the envelopes - I can't even remember where this came from but it's nice.

#203 Cell phone charm - same story as #202

#204 U of I lanyard - from college obviously. Haven't used in years. Coulda let the kids play with it, I guess but off it goes.

#205 Peace Shirt - Wore this to my church's murder mystery party last year when Bo and I were John and Yoko.

#206 Chinese-looking Purse - got this from my mom. I think a friend of hers made it. It's cute, but I won't use it.

#207 Japanese-looking bill fold - I remember my dad using this. I never did.

#208 Dia de los Muertos card - Bo's brother got us a bunch of pretty cards. I didn't know who to give this one to.

#209 Day Runner - Electronic works just fine for now, though this helped me get through grad school.

#210 - Little Christmas notepad - Got this from the kids I sat for in college. Very sweet. Way to tiny to actually use.

Garage Sale PURGE - Basement (Wk32)

2010-07-21T13:12:00.000-05:00

#193 Egg-crate bed cushion, #193 3 Small Rugs, #194 Over the door shoe holder, #195 2 chair cushions, - all of these my cousin left here when she moved from U of I. I don't even remember how long ago that was, prolly before I had kids.

#196 Willow Tree Figurine - I got this for serving at church. It's my only one, so it kinda seems outta place.

#197 Jesus plate - got this as a gag gift to our small group from a member when she moved. A relative got it for her cuz she was Christian. LOL! Seriously? I'm a Christian, surely I want a plate with Jesus to eat off of! ;)

#198 Water bottle for large rodent - left over from when I/we had guinea pig(s). Won't be needing that anytime soon, though that's what I said when I PURGEd baby stuff back in January, when little did I know I was pregnant.

#199 Candle/scent thing - I can remember getting this in high school and Ive just let it collect dust. It was so gross, I had to put it in the dishwaher on "pots and pans" to get it clean. Ewww...

Garage Sale PURGE - Purses and Bags (Wk31)

2010-07-10T23:52:00.000-05:00

#186 Diaper Bag - We used this for Bean and Monkey, but will need a new one for Pumpkin cuz it's tearing on the inside.

#187 Purses - Now that I actually use a purse on a daily basis for work, these little ones just won't do. I need something that hold more than a wallet, keys, and cell phone.

#188 Cosmetic Case - Never used. I have one I like pretty well, at least for now.

#189 2 Backpacks from Read Across America. We got 2 new 2010 ones this year, so we'll rotate these out.

#190 Shoe bag - Very nice, but I've discovered that I don't have a need for it.

#191 Black Shoulder Bag - We sometimes used this as a back up diaper bag for the car or an overnight bag for Bean, but it's too small for any of our purposes now.

#192 Crown Royal Pouch - An old roommate gave us this and we've had it in the toy room, but the kids never really played with it. People kept asking up why we have that in the toy box. It's just a draw string pouch! Ah well, I'm sure someone else can get more use out of it.

Garage Sale PURGE - Home Decor (Wk 30)

2010-07-10T00:19:00.001-05:00

#180 "Character" Candle - Must've gotten this as an award or something. I don't even remember.

#181 - 3 Votive Holders - I used to have such a collection of these, cuz I made my own candles. I'm glad I've gotten rid of most. Now to get rid of the candle-making supplies....another time for that.

#182 - Candle sniffer - I debated about donating this. In high school it took me forver to find just the right one. CanI do without?

#183 - Chinese rope things - I'm sure I got these from my mom, but dunno where to put them.

#184 - Ridiculous Cross and glass thing. Bo got this as a white elephant gift for Christmas this year. Actually, he let Bean choose during his turn and Bean chose to steal it from someone else. It was very sweet. He was so proud to lay his hands on it. I was too, until I realized it is made of lead. This needs to be out of my house.

#185 2 mini vases - These are super cute and I thought I'd use them cuz I like to arrange flowers (even took a course on it in college). I can just imagine a cute little boquet of flowers in them. The truth is that I really don't have the time.

There's still plenty more stuff like this in the basement. Pray that I have motivation to attack that before the garage sale. I got a head start, but it's a dump/garage sale gold mine down there with much to go through! 2 Weeks to go. Don't delay on your PURGE and help dig a well for clean water in Liberia.

Garage Sale PURGE - Office and Paper Products (Wk29)

2010-07-10T00:06:00.001-05:00

These were all in the basement. Oh the basement, expect several more posts about that this year. In the meantime, this is what I managed to PURGE!

#174 Mousepad - This is cute cuz you can put a picture inside. We both have laptops now, so no use for this.

#175 Desk Organizer - Our desks are our laps, so again, so don't use this and neither of us have a need for this at work either.

#176 Name Stickers - Got a stack of these when I directed our children's ministry, but we soon switched to preprinted name tags.

#177 Pins - Bo used these when he took art classes.

#178 Baby Shower Banner - from when I was preggers with Bean.

#179 Invitations - left over from Bean's Birthday Party last year.

Garage Sale PURGE - Bedroom Bathroom Stuff (Wk28)

2010-07-09T23:51:00.001-05:00

#168 Thread, #169 Needles - Um yeah, like we sew.
#170 Pretty Hangers - Nice, but we have more functional hangers. I'm sure someone would appreciate these.
#171 Cotton Ball Holder - This almosts matched our bathroom set, which is my my MIL bought it on clearance, but it's not quite right.
#172 Cosmetics box - this cutie thing hold tissues, cotton balls, cotton swabs, etc. and has a mirror. Very cute. Hopefully someone can use it.
#173 Bed Sheet holder things - We used to need these when we didn't have deep pocket sheets. Now our problem is solved.

It doesn't amount to much, but definitely reduces some clutter in our drawers. It's all useful stuff, so hopefully it sells on the 24th and we have more moolah to dig a well!

Garage Sale PURGE - Kitchen Stuff (Wk27)

2010-07-09T23:38:00.000-05:00

#161 Football-shaped Candy Jar - Got this as a white elephant gift this Christmas. It was full of stale candy, some of which I ate. The rest I tossed and this has been sitting in our pantry ever since.

#162 - Hot pad - Dunno if these homemade ones actually work. Our neice made this years ago. We have enough to work with already.

#163 Take Out for Two, #164 Sushi Gift Box, #165 2 Bamboo Sushi Mats - We got these as gifts, but usually buy our sushi from restaurants. I just don't trust making our own. Counting down the days until Pumpkin is born so I can eat raw fish again. Kofusion here I come!

#166 Wooden Pie Plate Holder - We broke the pie plate a couple years ago. :(

#167 - Water Pitcher - This is from a Brita set, but I dunno what happened to the rest of the pieces.

There's probably a lot more from the kitchen that we can get rid of, but this is what I found for now. There's still the utensils, the cookbooks, little gadgets. Well, every little bit helps simplify our house, and helps raise money for clean water in Liberia!

Garage Sale PURGE - Linens (Wk26)

2010-07-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

The guest room is now completely converted into Bean and Monkey's room. Well, we're still going to store some sleeping bags and air mattresses in their closet, but other than that, it's all theirs. So, while cleaning out the closet, I was able to PURGE some linens that we really don't need anymore.

#156 White with Flowers Full Size Duvet Cover and Pillow Case - I've had this since high school, but don't use it anymore.
#157 Full Size Flannel Sheet Set with Teddy Bear Print (Flat and Fitted Sheets, 2 cases) - Got these for college, but don't use them either. We *might* for our baby girl, but is it really worth holding onto for that long? I think not.

#158 Queen Size Light Blue Blanket - We have used this, but have other newer ones we could use.

#159 Queen Size Maroon Flannel Sheet Set (Flat and Fitted Sheets, 2 cases). Now that we have bamboo sheets, Bo will never go back to flannel.

#160 King size fitted sheet in Navy Blue - this was actually in my office closet at work for some reason. I think someone used the flat sheet for something. My boss said I could find a home for it. I was gonna freecycle it, but then the garage sale came up.

So, any old bedsheets or blankets in your closet? I'm sure you do!

Garage Sale PURGE - Play Room (Wk 25)

2010-07-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

Got to the playroom this weekend with a mission to PURGE. It seems that there's sooooo much stuff in there, but really we don't buy our kids a lot of toys, so I dunno what that's all about. Anyway, the boys and I packed up the mess in the playroom and there really wasn't that much junk it just needed to be organized. Below is what we did get rid of.

#144 Ping Pong Ball - Dunno where the rest went cuz we had a bunch

#145 Pink Brain-Shaped Stess Ball - free from some information fair

#146 Dinosaur Fossil Putty - Party favor

#147 Jumping Frog - Another Party Favor

#148 Small High Bounce Ball - Got a bigger better one recently as a party favor. I think I'm seeing a trend of where we are getting things.

#149 Cricket Car - from a McDonald's Happy meal, it came from a friend a couple years ago. My kids have never even eaten McDonalds!

#150 Plastic Easter Container (not pictured)

#151 Legos TMNT and some skater dudes - we have enough Legos and these aren't full sets anyway.

#152 Glow Worm - we have 2, and only need 1...I use the "need" loosely here.

#153 Stuffed Animal Ornament

#154 Animal Suction Cups - I've had these since college :( Shut up, they're cool, they've just lost their suck.

#155 a lone glove (not pictured) which was in the dress-up stuff but no one ever played with. This I trashed.

It's not much, but really the kids play with the rest. Can you spare anything from your play room? Even if it's just a couple little things like this? It all adds up!

Garage Sale PURGE - Movies (Wk24)

2010-07-02T11:30:00.000-05:00

The Clean Water Garage Sale will be on Saturday, July 24th at from 8am to 2pm at 2009 Burwell in Urbana (the Martin's House). Let me know if you wanna help out in any way!

Bo's parents were a huge help by donating several items, including 2 brown paper sacks of movies to sell at the garage sale! This inspired me to go through our own movie collection and see what we could pare down. We added 4 DVDs and 2 VHSs (#138-#143) to the list below(and tossed 4 DVDs and 3 VHSs). If you are interested in a presale, DVDs are $1 a piece and VHSs are 25 cents (OBO). Let me know if you are interested in any. So, do you have any movies in your collection that you are willing to part with for a good cause? Would you consider donating them to the Clean Water Garage Sale?

DVDs for Sale ($1)

Anger Management

Bicentennial Man

Bound

Bridget Jones's Diary

Caddyshack II

Casino Royale

Cast Away

Conspiracy Theory

Desperado

The Devil’s Own

Clean Slate

Evolution

Extreme Days

Fantastic Four

Fatal Instinct

Good morning, Vietnam

Guilty by Suspicion

Hanging Up

Igby goes down

K-19: The Widowmaker

Killing Zoe

Little House on the Prairie: The Premiere Movie

Medicine Man

The Mission

Mission: Impossible III

Murderball

Newsies

The Pearl

Phenomenon

The Rainmaker

Rent

The Saint

The Simpsons Movie

Stand and Deliver

Stealing Home

Topper Returns

Two Weeks Notice

The Whole Nine Yards

VHS (25 cents)

Armageddon

Beloved

Benny and Joon

Birding for Kids

Black Stallion

The Blair Witch Project

Contact

Dead Poet’s Society

Fantastic Voyage

Forrest Gumo

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ghost

How to Begin Birdwatching

Just Cause

Liar Liar

MASH

Moby Dick

Naked Gun 33 1/3

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sense and Sensibility

Shine

Small Time Crooks

Snow Falling on Cedars

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Wild Thornberrys Movie

Winnie the Pooh Sharing and Caring

Garage Sale PURGE - Nursery Closet Clean Out (Wk23)

2010-06-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, nevermind about being silent as I get ready for the garage sale. If I have time, I'll do a play-by-play!

Last night I cleaned out what will be our baby girl's (Pumpkin's) nursery closet. It's currently overrun with her big brothers' outgrown and out of season clothes. For my project last night, I just focused on tackling Monkey's stuff.

If he's anything like Bean (who was born almost exactly 2 years and 1 week ahead of him), he'll still fit into his 18-month pants this fall. So I just boxed those up and moved them to his closet.

I folded his 18-month PJs and kept them in Pumpkin's closet. I guess I'm figuring that even though they look kinda boyish, they are just jammies and no one is really going to see them, so maybe we'll use them for her. If it turns out that is not the case, I'll PURGE them then.

My sister-in-law knit some of Bean's and Monkey's sweaters, and I didn't want to PURGE those at all, so they have been moved to the boys' closet as well.

Two onesies were stained pretty badly. I haven't decided if I should try to freecycle them or put them in an US'Again Bin. They are hanging in a plastic sack on the doorknob of my back door, so I'll be encouraged to do something quickly about them.

A couple of items were brand name items that I'd like to consign. Because they off-season, it will be best to consign them at the end of the summer/beginning of fall. So, I boxed them up and moved them to the basement. I have a section for consignment down there and have been keeping up with it pretty well.

Lastly, I boxed up the rest for the garage sale. Probably my favs are a brown sweat set with raccoon on it and a light blue sweater with a hound dog's face on the front and its rear on the back. Too cute!

To that I added that to some clothes I lent a friend's son and she returned. I found in it in the consignment section of the basement when I brought the other box down.

With #6 and #7, we have a fairly good contribution of toddler boy's clothes! In the past we've found that baby and children's items really brought a lot of people to the garage sale. Do you have a closet in need of cleaning? You might find some treasures in there that worth giving to our garage sale. BTW, it will be on Saturday, July 24th, so get PURGing!

Garage Sale - Collecting and PURGing

2010-06-17T12:02:00.000-05:00

It'll be quiet around here for a while because I'm setting aside PURGE items to be sold at our church's garage sale. Last time our small group organized one, we raised over $1300 to contribute to digging a well in Wazon, Liberia. So we're doing it again and YOU can get involved by PURGing your junk to me. If you haven't come on board with my quest to PURGE, now's your chance! I'm collecting basically any items in good condition that can be sold; so no clothes with stains, or broken electronics, or toys with missing parts. Be in touch about how to get your PURGEd items to me. Help us dig another well to provide clean water to our friends in Liberia!

Weeks 20, 21 & 22 Catch Up

2010-06-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

Been really busy lately, but the PURGing hasn't stopped. Just the blogging about it :( So let's play some catch up, shall we?

#118) "Anna's Book"

Got this at a book sale even before I had my own kids. But knew some friends' daughter would get more use of it

Went to: Anna

#119) 5 Size 12-18 month boys one-piece outfits

These were only very slightly stained or bleached, but I wasn't sure if I could consign them.

Went to: Empty Tomb

#120) 4 White Bath Towels; #121) 2 Pink hand Towels & #122) 2 Black pillow cases

These were in the guest room closet. We need the space and don't even use them when guests DO come over.

Went to: Empty Tomb

Box of baby/kid stuff including #123) Bottle nipples; #124) Plastic cups; #125) PJs; #126) Onsies; #127) Shorts; #128) Shirts

Been waiting since last summer to consign these baby clothes that monkey wore a year ago. The other things I just found in the basement.

Went to: All things kids

#127 Household cleaning supplies (Spic and Span; Lime-A-Way; Kaboom Shower, Tub, and Tile Cleaner; Windex Original (Refill Jug);

Goo Gone; Lysol All purpose Cleaner; Lysol Antibacterial Kitchen Cleaner; Small stack of Bounce dryer sheets)

We've decided to switch to more natural cleaning products. My laundry room is even less cluttered!

Went to: Freecycler

#128 2 Cosmetics Bags, #129 3 Sunscreens, #130 Lipstick

We've also gotten picky about what we put on our bodies, so now we use more natural cosmetics.

Went to: Freecylcer

#130 Red Travel Mug #131 2 plastic shot glasses & #132 2 Za's cups

Again, the plastic is such drinkware has been associated with health risks. We're sticking to glass and stainless steal from now on.

Went to: Freecycler #133 Window fan (one blade is broken off) #134 Digital Camera and cords (busted open just bit when I dropped it, and no longer works) & #135 Hair dryer (that only blows cool air)

No use for items that are broken.

Went to: Freecycler

#136 Curling Iron

Never use this any more and it wasn't really good anyway.

Went to: Freecyler

US'Again - When to use them

2010-05-14T13:50:00.000-05:00

In Week 12 and this week, I PURGEd some pretty junky textiles that were in pretty bad shape, by dropping them into one of those red US'Again drop boxes. There are several locations around Champaign-Urbana generally in business parking lots. I wanted to share a few words of caution when using these bins. Really, they should be a last resort for getting rid of your textiles (clothes, shoes, bed sheets, etc.) for a number of reasons:

1) They are for profit. Even at the last stage, people in Third World countries are still buying the textiles that you donated. Granted, it's for very cheap, and it created jobs, they are making money off of your stuff.
2) They are not local, so more gas is consumed for transportation of the items (maybe not by you, but by them), especially since they seem to deal a lot over seas. In my opinion it's better to give a charitable organization in your local community.
3) They recycle, and it's best to see if your item can be re-used first, as your item currently is. But this is also a huge plus of them over other organizations. If they can't reuse a textile because it is too worn or stained, they can recycle it into something that can be used. Now, while this keeps your items out of landfills :), let's not forget all the energy needed and all the pollutants released into the earth in order to recycle that item into something useful :(

Now, I'm not sure what charitable organizations such as the Salvation Army do with textiles they can't use. They might bring the clothes to be recycled by another group such as US'Again, but they might just toss them into the garbage. So, if your item is not in that great of shape, save your local charitable organization the work, and just make a trip to your closest US'Again drop box. But like I said use it as a last resort. You'd be surprise by what people will take off your hands if you offer it on Freecycle.

Week 19

2010-05-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of myself for this week because I was out of town for several days, but managed to PURGE!

#109 4 Jars of Baby food

I got these a couple weeks ago from a friend who's a teacher at church. He used them for an activity, but didn't open them. Even though baby #3 is on the way I hope to make our own baby food as we did with Bean and Monkey, so I didn't want to keep these for myself. A friend of mine said she could use them immediately, so I left them on her doorstep on my drive out of town earlier this week.

Went to: A friend Jen and her son Jay

#110 3 Pairs of Bo's Jeans

These were some holey jeans and I didn't feel right donating them anywhere.

Went to: US'Again Bin

#111 1 Pair of Bo's Dress Pants, #112 a Collared Shirt of Bo's, #113 Several T-Shirts of Bo's; #114 2 of my own collared shirts

My husband must be praised for going through his closet and PURGing some unneeded items this weekend. We also stored away much of his winter wardrobe. This was a huge help in making our PURGE quota for this week. Thanks Bo! I dropped these items off as my last stop before exiting Champaign earlier this week.

Went to: Empty Tomb

Bachelorette Party Items - #115 2 straws (you can imagine what they looked like), #116 2 Mardi Gras-type necklaces (you can imagine what they were adorned with), and #117 Mylar Bachelorette Party Banner

These have been stored (read: hidden) in my closet for almost 6 years now. I'm glad the boys never found them because they both love to wear Mardi Gras necklaces! Really what is one supposed to do with such things? I'm not a frequent bachelorette party attender, so they have sat. I hate to toss them in the trash because of the plastic and what not, so they have sat. You can't sell such things at a respectable garage sale, so they have sat. I couldn't think of a place to donate them, so they have sat. I couldn't bring myself to offer them on Freecycle, so they have sat. When someone posted to Freecycle that they were looking for bachelorette party items, I e-mailed back immediately and hoped she was serious cuz I had to describe what I had. Thankfully she could use all of it. The morning that I left for my trip, I just hung them from my front doorknob and she came by sometime to pick them up. It feels good to be rid of something I'm pretty sure I'll never use again. It feels even better that I didn't have to toss them in the trash. I'm hoping the fact that she got those items off of Freecycle will make for some funny conversation at the party ;)

Went to: a Freecycler

Week 18 - Red Bird Mission

2010-05-06T21:54:00.000-05:00

Last Summer I went on my first mission trip. It was to Kentucky on the Eastern side which is considered part of Appalachia, a very impoverished multi-state area of our very own country. Red Bird Mission is located there and I was blown away buy their comprehensive services to the local communities surrounding Beverly, Kentucky (i.e., prenatal care, day care, a K-12, health care (including a hospital and dentist office, a cheap clothing shop, food pantry, and economic opportunities such as locals selling their crafts). While I was there I got to help with home improvement. Well, it was one of the best run charities I've ever seen, so I knew my donated stuff would go to good use. My church is taking another trip out there so I'm sending this stuff along with them.

103: 160+ Box Tops for Education & 104: 25+ Campbell Soup Labels

All the lockers in the Red Bird Mission School and vans that we drove into the community to bring our home improvement supplies were bought with these. Absolutely amazing!

#105 2 Toothbrushes

These are for the dental clinic. I'm assuming they give these out to free to patients.

#106 4 Teddy Bears

These are given to children who visit the clinic.

#107 Box of Colored Pencils and #108 Pipe cleaners

They'll use these in the school.

Oh, I wish I could go, but at least a piece of me is going. Maybe I'll find more that they can use in the couple weeks before the group leaves.

Week 17

2010-04-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry. Still no pics, but at least I'm still PURGing!!

#97 a Collared Shirt, #98 a T-Shirt #99 Pair of Boxers and #100 one of Bo's T-shirs

Another sweep through the closet and pick up a couple more things to PURGE. I need to be honest with myself that I am not going to fit into my summer clothes of years past, especially the fitted ones and after baby #3, I'm sure my summer body next year won't fit into them either. I don't think Bo will miss this T-shirt. Time will tell ;)

Went to: Empty Tomb

#101 2 Patio Chairs

We got these from Jon's parents. The other 2 in the set were ruined in a storm. These have worked well for us for a while, but I'd eventually like a new of our own. We didn't sit on these a lot recently, so when a Freecycler was looking for patio furniture, I told her she could have these.

Went to: an anonymous Freecycler

#102 Ginormous Jar of Marachino Cherries

These have been in our pantry for I don't even know how long. We have no use for them. They're opened, so I don't even know if they are good anymore. When I dumped them in the disposal though, the smelled just like the always do. Scary! Prolly all the sugar.

Went to: Garbage disposal and Recycling

Next week, I'll be hopefully purging more kiddo things cuz All Things Kids takes clothes each month during the first 2 weeks. Before June we might find out if we're having a boy or a girl, which will help give more direction in what we can PURGE and what we should hold on to.

Week 15 and 16

2010-04-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

Man, what a rough week! Being gone last week really set us back, so we tried to do double duty. Pics may be uploaded later. We're still figuring out our new camera. We still need to PURGE our old camera....

# 87 H-lock for Carseat

We had an extra one and I'm sure there's even another one lying around somewhere. So Bo gave it to a friend from work/church who is having twins. Hopefully we find the second before their babies arrive.

Went to: Jon and Erin

#88 Boys Shoes, #89 Boys Sandals and #90 Baby booties

We've decided that the one children's clothing item that we will buy new are shoes. The need to be supportive and such. So we won't be using these for Monkey or Baby 3.0. We just freed up some more closet space in the nursery!

Went to: All Things Kids

#91 2 Boxes of Nursing Pads

I prolly won't use these even when Baby #3 is born cuz I have cloth washable ones that I feel are more environmentally friendly. Dunno what I've been hanging on to these and storing them in the basement...

Went to: All Things Kids

#92 "What to Expect When You're Expecting" Book

Before we were pregnant the first time, I told Jon if he saw this book at a sale to buy it so we'd have it on hand. He did and I was proud. Until I got pregnant and read it. It's the worse pregnancy book ever, but it super popular. Hopefully another mother who won't get freaked out by reading the 101 thing their fetus could be dying from will find this more useful.

Went to: All Things Kids

#93 Sippy Cups

Our boys have stainless steel ones sippy cups. Monkey never even used these hand-me-downs from Bean, so I know we won't use these again.

Went to: All Things Kids

#94 Lotions and #95 Sprays

The Clinique Lotion I just got as a free sample from Macy's, but the other was in my bathroom for years. The sprays were also in my bathroom underneath the sick. It's looking much less cluttered each week!

Went to: A Freecycler

#96 Scrub Shirt

I found one lone scrub shirt and was about to give it to our friend Canaan like we did with the others. This one was stained and have rips in it, though, so I doubted he could use it. I've also tried using these as rags, and they are pitiful. So it went in the trash.

Week 15 - Vacation

2010-04-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

Was out of town this week. Next week I'll double up and hope to get rid of at least 10 things!

Week 14 PURGE - Garage

2010-04-08T21:39:00.000-05:00

We did more adding this week then PURGing, but it's all good. We just bought a huge hunk of metal called a 2001 Toyota Sienna minivan and it obviously takes up a lot of space in the garage. This new addition was necessary for another new addition, which is our 3rd child, who expected to be born in mid-October. We just found out this week that I'm 12 weeks along. SURPRISE! As you know we weren't planning on this or else I wouldn't have PURGEd so much of our baby stuff such as the car seat and various other useful items. So we're excited about the baby, but PURGing will be a lot more interesting because there were many things I was planning to PURGE and now need to keep plus, we'll need more stuff for baby #3, especially clothes because s/he will be born 6 month off my other kids and hand-me-downs won't work well. PURGing has never been more important!

This week, in order to fit the minivan into the garage, we needed to PURGE some things. Honestly, we didn't spend too much time doing it and mostly just shoved stuff around. We took several things to the curb to be Freecycled and all were picked up in a couple hours:

#82 at least 8 Clay pots of various sizes

#83 3/4 Bag of Scotts winterizer fertilizer

#84 1/3 Bag of Scotts summer guard

#85 Several metal garden stakes

Then we picked up

#86 Various papers, receipts, plastic bags, and other pieces of trash

We trashed or recycled that stuff. This was the first week since starting PURGE that our garbage can was full. I'm so glad most of our stuff is staying out of landfills, at least for now. We'll definitely take another sweep of the garage, but that was good enough to get us started and not burned out.

Sorry there is no picture. I took the stuff out to the curb and it got picked up so fast. We might not have pictures for a while because I broke our camera by dropping it right before our sonogram this week. Ugh, that's another thing we need to get, a new camera. And this is how our house can get full of junk if we don't actively PURGE...

Week 13 PURGE - Spring Wardrobe

2010-04-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

Like I said last week, PURGing from closets can be fairly easy for me. I've actually had this stack of clothes in a plastic bag since last fall. They were the ones that I either didn't wear at all last summer, or wore and they didn't fit quite right, or otherwise knew that I didn't want to wear again. I wanted to give them to Empty Tomb, but they only take in-season clothes, so I waited ever so patiently until now and PURGEd:

#76 4 pairs of burmudas

#77 1 pair of shorts

#78 2 Dresses

#79 3 Collared short-sleeve shirts

#80 2 Tank tops
#81 3 T-shirts

Next week: Garage PURGE

Week 12 Purge

2010-03-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

No creative theme for this week, but we our whole family did some great PURGING.

#70 Bean's Sneakers

We got him a new pair of New Balances, that kinda look Spiderman-ish. We it's a win-win situation cuz they are great sneakers, and he likes them cuz they are blue. The ones pictured to the left had holes quickly growing around the toe. Obviously not consignable, and I didn't think donations to local charities would be Went to: one of those red bins of by US'Again that you see in parking lots of some businesses.

#71 Sleeping Bag

This was in the closet in the boys bedroom. We actually have 4 sleeping bags and rarely use them, so I figured I could get ride of at least one without much impact on our sleeping bag availability. Went to: Melinda, a friend from church who just bought her husband a tent for his birthday.

#72 Lotions

These still has some lotion in them so I dedicated myself to using them up so I wouldn't have to give them away or trash them. So I lathered myself up every day and within a week I was able to just recycle the bottles and not waste anything. I felt good about this PURGE cuz it took some focus, but really wasn't that hard.

Went to: Recycling

#73 Summer Maternity Clothes

These I had set aside in my closet because I was going to consign them. But my heart broke for a mom who posted to free-cycle that she was in need of size small summer maternity close. Being a small person myself and knowing how hard it is to find clothes, I was confident that she wouldn't receive anything had I not contacted her. The satisfaction of knowing that she would use them was more valuable to me than the small amount of money I would have made if they happened to sell as consignment.

Went to: Toni on Freecycle

#74 and &75 2 of Bo's Sneakers

These were both in our basement and I convinced my husband to PURGE them cuz he just bought a new pair of sneakers and has another pair for running and another for junky stuff like mowing the lawn. I was proud of him!

Went to: one of those red bins of by US'Again that you see in parking lots of some businesses.

Next week: Spring Wardrobe PURGE

Week 11 Purge - Winter Wardrobe

2010-03-18T22:15:00.000-05:00

It's really easy for me to PURGE from closets because I'm not sentimental or otherwise attached to clothes. My memories aren't weaved into my clothes, as I know some people's are, so I can be pretty ruthless. Granted, I still have my wedding dress hanging in there, but I've considered even donating that (more on that later). My clothing philosophy is that if I'm not making the most of out the clothes in my closet, I'm sure there is someone else who could. So why not just pass it on?

Here are some closet PURGE strategies that have proven useful to me in the past and with this PURGE:

1) Discard the dredges. Delay doing laundry for a really long time and see what is left in your closet. Because we tend to wear our favs first, what left is like scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you have no desire to wear an item that's left in your closet after a long laundry delay, PURGE it.

Using this method, I PURGEd #64 Some Long Sleeve Shirts that I really have no inclination to wear anymore.

2) Employ the hanger trick. If you do still have a desire to wear an time "some time" in the future, reverse the hanger that it's on, so it's hooking towards you. Decide on a time-frame (a season, a year) that you are willing to keep the item to see if you do happen wear it. If/when you do wear that item, return the hanger to its original orientation, and you get to keep your clothes. If that "some time" never comes and you still have clothes on reversed hangers at the end of your designated time frame, PURGE them. This is also a sneaky way of PURGing from your spouses closet cuz it's not too obvious of a tactic. For that, I'd allow a year. If s/he doesn't wear something in that time, it probably won't be missed if you PURGE it.

Using this method, I PURGEd #65 3 Wool Sweaters that I had from last winter, but never wore this winter and #66 2 Lounge Pants of my husbands, that I'm sure he won't miss.

3) Eliminate duplicates. At one point I had dozens of boxer shorts that I like to sleep in in warmer months. While I did wear each of them at some point, I really didn't need all of them. Just keep a handful of your favorites and you can still rotate through them. Keep enough so that you won't have to do laundry constantly, but not so many that you only wear something like once a year. For me, this needs to be done with PJs, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and basically any comfy clothes. If you have more than you know what to do with, PURGE the ones that aren't your favs.

Using this method, I PURGEd #67 a Sweatshirt and #68 a Matching Sweat Set, without batting an eye, because I know I have plenty others.

4) Find the right fit. For a very few items, they pass the hanger trick because I actually wear them and I may even wear fairly them regularly, but I hate them for one reason or another, usually because they just don't fit right. Do they expose my lower back? Do they expose too much of my chest? Too tight? Too loose? Or maybe they are just loosing their appeal for other reasons. Getting old and pilly? Not really my style anymore? So I give them one last shot and wear them again and really think about if I want to keep them. If you feel uncomfortable or self-conscious or otherwise don't feel like a million bucks, PURGE it! There's no use feeling bad about how you look and/or feel in your own clothes.

Using this method, I was relieved to add #68 2 Long Sweaters to the donation pile. Neither were very old, but were getting pilly. Both were fairly loose and I was self conscious bending over and exposing my cleavage. While I've been wearing them, I wasn't feeling great in them. I feel much better knowing that someone else with a different body shape than mine will likely be happy in them. I also PURGEd #69 1 Long Sleeve Collared Shirt of my husbands because it was too large for him.

All in all about 4 bags of winter clothes went to Goodwill. And man was I impressed with the new facility! In Champaign they moved to just north of the interstate off Prospect in the old Rhodes Furniture building kinda behind Culvers. They have a drive up and everything. People came out to my car to help unload. It was a very smooth process and a nice place compared to the cramped building and pot-hole ridden parking lot that I was used to up until January.

So, what are your strategies for cleaning out closets? And what are the things you just can't seem to get rid of no matter how hard you try?

Week 10 PURGE - Car

2010-03-11T23:14:00.000-06:00

Car PURGE sounds like I got motion-sickness and had to pull over to hurl out the door. Considering the amount of filth that has collected this past winter in our one shared car, I could have hurled while cleaning it out finally this weekend. I had hoped that a road trip to the East Coast for Christmas would force me to clean it out once during winter, but that trip was canceled and along with it went my only incentive to PURGE the car.

Well, when this Saturday brought our first taste of spring, Bean and Monkey were so eager to play outside that it freed me up to be the "Car Cleaning Monster" as Bean called me. Armed with a crate (to bring items inside), a trash bag (to throw stuff away), a vacuum cleaner (to suck up fallen breakfast items from the past 4 months), and a vengeance (to unleash on our unsuspecting Civic) I gave that car a much needed PURGE.

I was too embarrassed to take a "before" picture in fear that you might think my family are carriers of dysentery. Ok, there was nothing that bad in there, no forgotten diaper, not even an old sippy cup with sour milk in it. No, the worst of the gross stuff was #59 Crumbs and Cereal from when we've had to do breakfast on the go. You gotta love bagless vacuums and their not-so-subtle way of telling you that you should vacuum more.

The next main items PURGEd from the car were #60 Arts and Crafts that the boys make at school and Sunday School. No joke, I found a coloring sheet from Thanksgiving! Also some placemats from a Mexican restaurant that the boys colored on. Most of those went into the recycling, but we kept a few as mementos.

I also found #61 Thank You Notes from the boys' teachers for their Christmas presents to them. I let them read over them, but the went immediately into the recycling after that. I try not to be too sentimental. The point is to keep as much as possible from entering my house, so I don't have to PURGE it later.

There was also #62 a Bag of Spare Clothes for Corban to bring to school. Luckily he hasn't needed them, cuz I was thinking that they were there already.

Surprisingly, our trunk isn't that bad. But, #63 a Bag of Bags finally got brought back to the grocery store so they can recycle them. That was about it back there.

There was also a lot of toys, books, cups and bowls, but that's not really a PURGE because they just went back into the house. Thankfully, I was able to quickly get them cleaned up and put away where they need to go, so they didn't add to the clutter of the house. Our new rule is that whatever is brought into the car is taken back out, so that the car is not a storage facility anymore. We'll see how long we can keep this up with two kiddos who love to eat in the car and bring toys in the car every morning :/

BTW, sorry there are no pics again. I can't find my camera! I took pics, so I'll upload them later.

Next week: Winter Wardrobe PURGE

Week 9 PURGE - Returns

2010-03-04T22:08:00.000-06:00

It's amazing how much stuff in our own homes that add to the clutter don't even belong to us. So, this week's PURGE challenge was to return stuff to their rightful home, which isn't ours. No pics this time. I only took some, and since the kids were sick the past couple weeks I'm just trying to catch up at this point.

#53 - Baby Swing
This has been in the basement for way too long and it belongs to church. When I was Children's Ministry Director, it was broken and a friend fixed it, but I never brought it back.
Went to: Children's Ministry

#54 - Pie Plate and #55 Scarf
We've had both of these since our New Year's Party. We knew that the pie plate was Jenina's cuz she made an amazing shiitake omelet for our annual breakfast potluck. When I returned the pie plate plate I asked her about the scarf that was also left at the party and it was hers too! Luckily she didn't even miss it.
Went to: Jenina

#56 - Baby Clothes
These came home with Monkey from his day care. I was the bad mom that didn't keep his cubby stocked with spare clothes in case of accidents. So when he did have an accident, he came home in these. I don't want to be the worse mom that doesn't return day care clothes. So in addition I packed a thank-you note and some cookies :)
Went to: Monkey's day care

#56 DVDs, #57 Bib, and #58 Sippy Cup
We borrow movies from my in-laws almost every weekend, but we are bad about returning them. :/ Last time a sippy cup came home with us too cuz Monkey seemed pretty attached to it. I don't even know about the bib, but I wanted to bring it back so we have a stash over there.
Went to: Bo's parents' house

We have a couple more things to return to friends, but it was hard getting them back. We'll have to tackle that in weeks to come. What are you borrowing that needs to be returned?

Next week, car PURGE!

Week 8 PURGE - Freecycle week

2010-02-24T13:01:00.000-06:00

One person's junk is another person's treasure. I've never believed this more than since I joined Champaign-Urbana Freecycle several months ago. It boggles my mind what people are able to give away and what people are willing to take. You should join for nothing else then to laugh when people post an offer for a professionally mounted ringneck pheasant in flight position or post a search for Richard Simmons exercise videos. If you are partnering with me to PURGE, you should definitely join cuz you'll be able to get rid of stuff that you've convinced youself should just go in the trash if only you can bring yourself to part with it. Because you don't have to deal face-to-face (there's no exchange of cash like on Craig's List), you don't have to be embarrased about offering your junk. See my comment on another local mom's bad pennies. With Freecycle you have nothing to loose, except for, well, your junk. So this week, I challenged myself to give as much away as possible using only Freecycle.

#43 Handful of Pens and #44 Binder - I have 2 storage places for pens. One is in my bedroom closet in a set of plastic drawers that also hold other office supplies. Those drawers were left over from my college years because I wanted everything I needed close to my desk, but not on it. I know, this doesn't make sense to now have in my closet, but WHATEVE. Those drawers are to be attacked some other time. The other hiding place is the basement. Oh the basement. We've moved all of our office stuff (all except what's in my closet and a desk that has been in our bedroom since I wrote my dissertation) into a big, but somewhat organized pile in the basement. This is an improvement, believe me. In this pile I also found one large binder I was willing to part with (I might need the others to organize my grad school papers).
Went to: Krista

#45 6 Scrubs - We've had these in the bottom drawer of our washing machine. Somehow we inherited them from Bo's brother when he moved from this area years ago. They're really soft, so good for PJs, but I'm too in love with my own jammies to put these to use. I used one as a rag, so it was pretty badly stained. And just FYI scrubs don't make good rags.
Went to: Canaan, a friend from church, and fellow Freecycler who's in vet school

#46 9 PC Video Games - We accumulated these over the years and have been storing them in the basement. Bo has played with all of them, but some of them we played together in college and maybe during an early bit of grad school. They bring back very fond memories (like naming our characters, kinda like naming kids, but you can be more crazy). Because we knew that we'll never play them again, we tried selling them on Craig's List but all offers seems spam-licious.
Went to: Karen

#47 20+ Travel/Trial Size Toiletries - I'm sure you have these too. You snag them from hotels...heck, you maybe even sneak extras. Well, the ones you don't open and use can be donated to homeless shelters or troops overseas. What to do with the opened ones that you only used once or twice while you where at the hotel? Freecycle! We now have one very clean bathroom drawer because all of these are gone!
Went to: Joy

#48 2 Bath toys - Well, we used them as bathtoys, but they're just random stuff that float. PURGd them from the bathroom too.
Went to: Joy

#49 8 Thank You Notes - Leftover from Monkey's birth for gifts we received. They're too baby-ish to use now. They've been in that big, yet somewhat organized pile of office supplies in the basement.
Went to: Joy

#50 Nonstick Skillet - We bought this as part of a set of pots and pans in the summer of 2001. We had picked out the set online, but couldn't find it in store locally. So while we were on a road trip to week-long dance workshop on the East Coast, we stopped a Kohl's to picked it up. We sold the rest of the set at a garage sale almost 2 years ago, but somehow missed this one in the depths of the basement.
Went to: Kim

#51 Mug - It's funny how this also related to our college dancing history. Bo and I each got one of these mugs because we were on "Let's Swing," a WILL special where we danced with to live music featuring The D'3 and UI Jazz Band. This has been in the basement too, cuz we only use a couple mugs.
Went to: Kim

#52 Kitchen Utensils - We have too many duplicate utensils from combining households. I'm sure there is more I could have gotten rid off, but these were just what I found from a quick swoop of our utensil drawer that I already cleaned out just a bit in Week 4 PURGE. In another week, my theme will be to clean out kitchen drawers.
Went to: Kim

So, are you conviced about Freecyle? Next week I'll PURGE by returning items to their righful owners.

Week 7 PURGE

2010-02-18T10:32:00.000-06:00

Playroom. Wine cellar. Home theater. Guest room. Music studio. Game room. These are just a few of my favorite dreams for our basement. Even though I know we won’t ever have all of these things, each item I PURGE brings us one step closer to at least finishing the basement and somehow making use of that space for something other than storage of stuff we don't use.
My accomplishment for this week was to sort through some children’s stuff in the basement and box up what could be sold at All Things Kids, a consignment store in southwest Champaign. Consignors can only bring 2 crates (tubs, boxes, etc.) of clothes from the 1st through the 15th of each month, but there is no limit on other items, which you can bring them any time.
Above is what I PURGED this week:
#35: Car seat cover - Used by Bean only. Monkey was fine using his puffy winter coat.
#36: Crib sheet protector - Used by Bean only. He slept in one position well enough to make this useful. Monkey, not surprisingly, has always been a mover and shaker all over his crib even when he was an infant.
#37: Head-positioner for car seat - We never used these cuz the Car Seat Class we took at Carle told us they were useless and perhaps harmful to some babies.
#38: 2 Diaper bags - I *think* I might have used one of these once, but not as my everyday diaper bag.
#39 Mini-electric Breast Pump - I got this from my sister in law, but I never used it cuz I had my own electric one that was portable.
#40 Potty Chair - Got this at One Week Boutique, but we never used because Bean always sat in one of those rings on the toilet, and Monkey is just starting to do the same. The rings are much better in my opinion because I don't have to directly deal with poop and pee :)
#41 Box of 3-to 6-month clothes - It was sad to see these go. I forgot how small babies can be :( If/when baby #3 comes along, we'll get new or consigned stuff. I'd rather have my space back. Plus, you never know, we could have a girl.
#42 Box of 6- to 9-month clothes - Including the aforementioned puffy winter coat
Went to: All Things Kids

The Story of Stuff

2010-02-17T13:42:00.000-06:00

This video is a must see analysis about where our stuff comes from and where it goes. The Story of Stuff can have a happy ending but it's our job to change the cast of characters now!

Week 6 PURGE

2010-02-11T14:44:00.000-06:00

#30 - 3 Diaper Wipes Containers
I cleaned out the boys' closet this week and now I can see the floor! Bean was impressed too ;) These were hidden in a corner since Bean was a baby. They came in handy when we had diaper changing stations all around the house, which is convenient when your kid needs 12 diaper changes a day. Now that Monkey likes to sit on the potty, we've been using more TP.
Went to: Lacey and her daycare (she also pick up another 2 bibs I found, but didn't want to count it, cuz I purged the majority of them last week)
#31 - Kids Hangers

These were scattered in the boys' closet, so I bagged the them up to give to a friend who said she needed them. Her kids' clothes end up in laundry baskets or all over the house. Glad PURGE can come to the rescue!
Went to: Tanisha

#32 - 2 Bath Books

These were in the boys' bathroom. When Bean was a baby, we got the seal one from one of the Urbana Free Library's book sale. BTW, if you want to stock up on cheap books this is the place to go for 3 books for $1

The rubber duck book we got as a gift from my dissertation advisor when Monkey was born. I don't think I need to repeat that we have ENOUGH books.

Went to: Lacey and her daycare

#33 - 4 Bible Craft books

These have been in the basement and were the few that survived a PURGE that I did years ago. I've received to many of these as hand-me-downs and many are not very good. These were, but I knew someone else would get better use of them.

Went to: Patti and her children's ministry class.

#34 - 3 Diaper Ointments
We bought these before Bean was born cuz I read somewhere that when you kid gets diaper rash, you don't want to have to run to the store to buy it. Monkey has never gotten diaper rash and Bean got it fewer times than I can count on one hand. So, we just kept one small bottle of Burt's Bees Lavendar stuff, which should hold us over.
Went to: Lacey Lee and her daycare

:( Landfill :( A pair of Bo's old boxer shorts that he's owned for at least as long as I've known him, which is almost 11 years. I found them at the bottom of his underwear drawer. When I pulled on the waistband, it permanently stretched. The elastic must had dried out. I had Bean bring it to him to ask if they still fit and we all had a good laugh. Adios, Chief!

Purge - Week 5

2010-02-03T09:29:00.000-06:00

#25 See N Say - Another item that wasn't ours. As Director of Children's Ministry, I always got handed whatever was left in the classroom after tear down and clean up. One week, this was found under a table. It's been in the playroom for several months because I keep forgetting to return it.

Went to: Our church's children's minitry toy box

#26 Baby Toothbrush/Gum Massager and Storage case (Oval thing on top)- Bought this new for Monkey. He was pretty observant about Bean's toothbrush, so took to that quickly. We didn't use this very long so it has been sitting useless in the boys' bathroom drawer.
Went to: Joy and Isabella after I posted it to Free-Cycle

#27 3 Bulb Syringes - These were also in the boys' bathroom drawer. We use them as bath toys because the boys barely ever get sick and when they do, we've NEVER found these to be useful. We have enough bathroom toys.
Went to: Joy and Isabella after posted it to Free-Cycle

#28 - 38 Adult-size hangers
They've been in our closet. After the Week 3 purge of my clothes which I donated to Empty Tomb, many hangers were left over that I didn't need. Even if I buy a bunch of clothes, which I hope to do come spring, I won't need all of these hangers.
Went to: a coworker, Tanisha who told me of her need of hangers and was gonna buy them brand new at store. Double win: I declutter she saves on cash.

#29 About a Dozen Bibs
They were in the playroom closet which is where we keep all the boys' clothes. Tey still uses a couple bibs, but just the plastic- or vinyl-type ones that we can rinse off and reuse pretty quickly. I'm sure there are more cloth ones in the laundry, but that means we're USING them. The pic is just of the more boyish ones. I gave the others away before I took a pic.
Went to: 2 different families on Free-Cycle (sharing the love)

#30 Children's Ministry Curriculum - 3 Teachers guide, 1 student book and 3 CDs
BOXES of curricula were given to me when I became CM Director. I purged a lot a long time ago. This is what was left. I kept it cuz I was teaching in the age range, but I soon realized that I'd rather come up with my own stuff. I also almost never do music stuff with the kids, so the CDs would have been useless anyway.
Went to: Someone named Laura who posted to Free-Cycle that she was looking for this kinda stuff and this age range. Coincidence? I think not.

Purge - Week 4

2010-01-28T09:32:00.000-06:00

#20 Plastic Bags - We have reuseable shopping bags, but sometimes we forget them, especially at non-grocery stores. Our punishment is that we go home with plastic ones. We deal with them by rolling them up and tossing them in our pantry. My mom even taught us this special way to tightening them up really small. Still, they are junk and mess up our pantry, but I hate to toss them in the trash. We remembered to bring them back to the grocery store on Saturday along with our own reusable bags. Score!
Went to: Meijer

#21 Kitchen Items: Doesn't every one have a kitchen junk draw? We do. These were just a couple things that i pulled out while looking for something else. We never used the spaghetti measure (that painter's palette thing). The yellow zester and the metal scraper thing both suck at doing their job. And we now have an amazing Microplane that does so many things we want it to. We also have fun cheese slicer that eliminates the need for the two pictured here.

Went to: Good Will

#22 Girl Books

We've had these on our bookshelves too. I got them before I was even pregnant cuz it's so hard to find good books with girls as the main character. These two books also do a great job of talking about girls as strong, fun, smart, beautiful, etc. We've read them a couple times, but again, I was pretty sure someone else could use them more than we do. I hope our boys do see girls as those things, but we can talk about it and live it out, which is prolly more effective for them than reading about it in a book. Anyway, it was Adsen's b-day this week, so she got them.
Went to: Adsen

#23 0-3 Month pants
In October, we gave a lot of our baby stuff and 0-3 month clothes to Jen and her adopted son Jay. Some how these 2 items missed getting included and were in another box of baby clothes. Luckily he can still fit in them. Awww...they are sooo tiny!

Went to: Jay

#24 12-18 Month Pajamas
I'm positive I bought this at a consignment somewhere when I started to wise up and not by all brand new clothes for Bean. It's the first 12-18 month outfit Monkey has outgrown. It's kinda liberating to get rid of something so quickly after it's lost its use for us.

Went to: Declan

#25 Children's Ministry Materials

I passed the baton of leading children's ministry at the beginning of January. Talk about liberating! It would have nearly impossible to do that plus a full time real job (that plus full-time fake job of grad school was already a stretch). This was also an opportunity to pass along materials that I have been collecting over the years. Man, if only I could count all the stuff that was passed to me and I trashed, but that I did a long time ago. Here are some binders and folders of administrative documents and also curriculum. You might recognize these as some of the multi-year inhabitants of our junk room
Went to: Melinda

Purge - Week 3

2010-01-21T09:35:00.000-06:00

#12 About a dozen fall/winter shirts, #13 Bath robe, #14 Dress Socks
I went through my closet and cleaned out what amounted to 13 pounds of clothes. I got rid of anything that I've had it since college, was too short, too tight, too loose, cut too low, uncomfortable or not exactly my style. Some things were new and in great condition, and will hopefully find a good home. Clothes that don't fit have really been ticking me off and I'd rather just wear a hoodie and look like a slob then wear something that I'm uncomfortable in. And at work as far as my dressy work clothes, if I haven't worn it yet, I'm prolly not gonna wear it, so it's better if someone else will. The bathrobe I've had since college and rarely use it.
Went to: Empty Tomb

#15 Magazines
I have an ongoing subscription to "Parents" magazine, which was a Christmas present last year from my brother and sister-in-law (Thanks, guys). It is chock full of helpful information, but I tend to only need to read things once and it's in my brain, so really archiving the past year on the shelf underneath my television isn't really necessary. I just saved 3 of the most recent issues.
Went to: Cyndi, a preschool teacher

#16 Cooler
This isn't even ours, but we've been borrowing it for YEARS. We initially borrowed it from Bo's dad for our annual BBQ each summer. Since then it's been in our basement and also our garage. I'm sure many of us have stuff that isn't ours and not only is it taking up space in our house, but the person whose it is prolly misses it. Give it back!
Went to: my father-in-law

#17 Baby Crinkly Books
Like I said the week before last. We have PLENTY of books. These are a few of baby ones that we don't use anymore cuz Tey is past the stage of eating books. YAY! I love that we can read for long periods of time each night with both boys.
Went to: A new grandma named Jenny who bought them from Craig's List ($3)

#18 6-9 Month Onesies, #19 6-9 Month Sleepers and #20 6-9 Month Coat
Monkey doesn't fit in these anymore but a coworker's baby does! Just FYI, we haven't made a final decision not to have anymore kids, but these things take up space and someone else can use them immediately. In this economy, I'd much rather someone else who needs them be able to put these to use immediately than for them to sit in our basement to be *possibly* used in the future. If and when baby #3 comes along, we can get stuff at consignment. And you never know, we may have a girl the next time around ;)
Went to: Tanisha and Jacory

Purging Earnings: $3

Purge - Week 2

2010-01-14T09:39:00.000-06:00

The laundry room was the target area of this week's Purge. I posted these to Free-Cycle with the request for one person to pick up all and I got 25, yes 25 responses! Who knew my trash would go like hotcakes? Rebecca, the lucky recipient of all this junk, will hopefully make more use of it than I did.

#7 Dryer Balls (BTW I'm continuing counting from last week, so I know the total # at the end of the year)
I think these work pretty well, but Bo wanted to get rid of them. The are Earth-friendly in that it decreases your drying time and you don't need dryer sheets, but in the process of making these thingers, the some bad toxins are released. Bo wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

# 8 Dreft Laundry Detergent
We only bought one of these when bean was born and also used it when Monkey was born. We never finished it and there was about 1/3 left! Now we just use "All" for our laundry cuz it's also perfume and dye-free. So this Dreft has just been sitting in our laundry room collecting dust, literally. I had to dust it off.

#9 Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
I got this as a free sample in the mail and have never used it. I'm pretty sure I've had this since soon after we moved into our house, 7 years ago this week!

#10 Clorox Toilet Tabs
We used to use these before the kids were born. Man they kept the toilet clean! But especially in the guest bathroom, which we didn't use as much, you'd get a waft of bleach when you finally did use it. No good.

#11 Can of Lysol Disinfectant (Mountain Air scent) and #12 Glade Potpourri Spray (Rainshower scent)
I don't remember ever buying these. I might have inherited them from a college roommate. Wow! I haven't lived with anyone else since 2001. I probably didn't just want to throw them in the garbage. I'm glad someone took all of these off my hands.

Purge - Week 1

2010-01-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

#1 Infant Car Seat and Base (baby not included)
In November we moved Monkey into a larger carseat in the hopes that he would more the roadtrip to Virgina more. Well, we never made that trip, and still the carseat stayed in the garage since them. Bean also used to ride in this carseat. It will expire in another year, so it still has some use in it, but certainly not by us!
Went to: Jenna, a new mom who just gave birth to a premie 2 months early. She hasn't been able to work due to a high risk pregnancy and her boyfriend just got a job. Needless to say, money is tight and she posted a need for baby items large or small on Free-cycle.

#2 Play Gym and #3 a Box of Miscallaneous Baby Stuff
Burp rags, teething rings, a pacifier (never used), random baby clothes including at least a million socks, outlet covers, a baby blanket, some Baby Oxi Clean, and a play gym have been inhabiting a box our basement for since the summer. I just keep adding to it as I find stuff. It's stuff I didn't think would sell, but for someone who is not picky, it's certainly useful.
Went to: Jenna from #2 was the lucky recipient of all it it.

#4 Children's Books
We have plenty. And we read a lot of different books each day, so it was really hard to purge in this area. These are the few that aren't read as often mostly cuz we have other books just like them. Went to: Urbana Free Library. The sell them each season at a book sale to raise money.
#5 Ink Cartridges and #6 Batteries
Most of us probably don't go through many of these, but don't throw them away in the trash! Many locations have collection boxes and will dispose of them for you. Don't forget to tape the battery terminals
Went to: Urbana Free Library drop boxes.

:( Lanfdill :( My House Slippers -
I've had these for years and they served me well. They needed to be tossed last year when I got a hole worn in one foot's toe. That hole has since worn all the way through to the point that my toe was actually touching the floor. This year, pieces of sole were falling off in chunks. I got a new pair (thanks, Cheryl), but haven't seemed to find the time to get rid of these. Until now!