Organizing and Purging the House/ Spring Cleaning

Hi M., I have a few thoughts for you as I am going through the same struggle. (I'm a keeper of things and my husband is not) I realize it is unrealistic to keep everything, but we've learned ALOT from the DIY network. Items that have "perceived" value are the toughest to get rid of like the stuffed animals or kids paintings / projects from school; things that take up space, but are sentimental. DIY suggests lining up those items and photographing them for a scrap book that your kids can reminice through in later years. It's much easier to store a picture than it is to store the 5-ft stuffed Scooby-Doo you won at a carnival. lol I have also signed up for a local website called freecycle.org which has been established in the hopes to keep perfectly working bulky items or household goods from going into landfills. I just recently scored a 6yr old whirlpool dishwasher from someone upgrading their kitchen. It is all FREE but subject to rules & regs posted at the site. I'd encourage you to check it out and sign up. You can post items to be taken or request items that you are looking for. We've off loaded quite a bit of stuff that is getting good use in other homes now. As far as your photos...You may just want to get an airtight container to protect them in until you are ready to sort through them. I am so glad I did that because our basement flooded twice and the photos were unharmed. (and still are awaiting their final destination in a photo book. lol)Hope this helps. C. B. ~Norwich, CT

I just recently went through all my photos. I made a box for each child, one for me, and one for others to go through and see if there was anything they wanted. I am slowly taking 1 day a week to put them into scrapbooks. I do have some that I don't find neccessary to put into a scrapbook but don't want to get rid of just yet. So I have set them aside to put into a regalar book just incase. I have gotten through a birthday vacation from 2005 and am working on my wedding/honeymoon from 5 years ago. Then I will move onto continueing what will be our "Disney Vacation" scrapbook. Then do my childrens seperate books. I have also decided to write them a letter to put in them. This way if something were ever to happen to me or they needed to hear things from me without asking, they ALWAYS have it right there waiting for them. Especially sense those tough teenage years come quicker than we think.
As for the other things, when I don't want a sale I drop the clothes off at a bin and donate the other items to the local Salvation Army or Johnny Cake Center. You can even get tax credits from some of these places.

Craigslist.com is also a wonderful place to sell things...there are also numerous groups on yahoo where you can sell or give away everything that you don't want or can't use anymore!I myself, belong to alot of these, as I am doing the same thing...Good luck!

M., I highly recommend freecycle.com for getting rid of things...It is an excellent way to recycle and saves having to take things to the dump or haul them to the curb--someone will come right to your house to pick it up! My motto is, "When in doubt, throw it out (or give it away!"). Good luck!