All Blog Posts (332)

I am back at ground zero.  Read this book (Throw Out Fifty Things) about 1.5 - 2 years ago.  Feeling now revisiting the whole idea is a good thing.  Digging out the book .....re-motivating myself!

I finished remodeling my house (as in major rip out not a nip and tuck) and as is usual one room end up being the catch all room for everything in boxes, bags, and plastic containers. Others had helped throw everything in there and I decided to gird the loins and figure out what to do with everything. I was in the moment of figuring out where to store everything and a wonderful spiritual experience. YOUR BOOK WAS IN THE FIRST BOX I ATTACKED!!! I’m very faith based and I sat down and re read.…

I started with shoes & bags. I'm happy and humbled to say I donated 40 of each! That's 40 bags AND 40 pair of shoes! That surprised me since I hadn't believed there were 40 of each in the closet. That was such a refreshing start! When I look in my closet it feels wonderful to see some of the congestion gone . . . congestion I wasn't even aware was there. We can't change what we don't see!

Will be moving on to the clothing next!

Grateful to be started with my 50…

Well I am off to a good start..

I am a avid reader and I had tons of books around the house, and I mean a ton! Probably close to 1,000 or more..

Some one gave me a Kobo, which is a eReader..I tell you people, I was hooked from day one!! I love that little machine, as soon as I was able to I logged onto the Kobo site, found some free ebooks and then I found Gail's eBook called throw out…

Okay, so I have started; deposited three bags from my bedroom to the Salvation Army, took out a huge mess of magazines. Honestly, I guess this only makes 2 out of 50...so I added a 3rd and threw out some old reading material I had copied...there was a lot...all of the paper stuff went into recycling so I stay green. 

Next step is:  the kitchen and dining room...I am my Mum's daughter...cluttering off spring...

This is a sort of birthday present to myself as I downsize; I am…

The  Throw Out FIFTY Things Movement based on Best Selling Author Gail Blanke's book of the same title is coming to…

So, my last post was almost a year ago. At that time, a lot of the things I did were in spite of a man that I wanted, but he wanted me to move on, not just from him, but in life in general. He told me that clearing was cathartic and he was right. But he stopped talking to me for a while, and kept my motivation with him. Things have straightened themselves out and he is still my friend.

I managed to move on in most ways, but I'm still stuck in more ways than I'd care to admit.…

I have been able to keep up the "50" since I first read Gail's article in Real Simple several years ago. Every once in awhile my husband will join me as I announce "It is time to do another 50." It is so liberating! We are avid recyclers and try to live green. Some of the TV shows (HGTV) have excellent re-purpose ideas. This works for me as I am sentimental, so an old shirt(s) may morph into a pillow. I am NOT strict with the if you have not worn in one year = toss. In Oregon your summer…

From the title you might think this is a post about a "grand old time" of singing songs and unmentionable craziness, but alas it is about finally dumping a bunch of empty wine bottles.   I digress for clarification... I will never forget the one day when I was a in High School, my Mom decided it was time to clean my bedroom.  I was a "creative".  I needed my collections for inspiration!  The shells, rocks, beer cans,…

Go to GoldenMark, Ltd.'s Throw Out FIFTY Things page to submit

your THROW OUT Story! …

So I went home yesturday and told my family about this great new book I found. Let me give you a quick run down of the conversation. First off let me set the stage a bit. I have had this book for awhile maybe 3-4 months. I decided to open it up yesturday and I was just so excited about the words I was reading. It was as though Gail wrote some things just for me to read. I am more excited about getting to the mind set stage of things than the physical throw things out. not because I mind…

You might laugh at me, but that's OK. I am really nervous about getting rid of my clutter.  I am a teacher and have accumulated a lot of stuff.  To give you an idea of how out-of-control it's gotten, my hubbie refers to our spare room as the "2nd Grade room." If that was the extent of my stuff, but no, I have piles of books, things I am forever going to scan into my PC.  I am always afraid I might need something and then have to go buy it again.  At times the piles spill down to the first…

So here it is!  That elusive day every kid dreams of...SNOW DAY!!! I had forgotten all about the joy of hearing that announcement that included your school on that fine snowy morning.  But…

I bought Gail's book on Fri., began my tossing out on Saturday, and now am 152+ objects lighter!  Many of these were groups, like Gail says, so it is actually much more...though I did count every clothing item as one, because these are some of the harder things to part with.

I cannot believe I could get rid of so many things, because at Christmas time I had already cleaned out my kitchen drawers, cupboards, and a couple of other areas in my house.  The fact that I got rid of so much…

My daughter Holly had inherited my Mother's 1994 Saturn when she passed away in late 2003 after a bout with lung cancer. Having driven station wagons most of her life to chauffer us kids, the Saturn was the first car she chosen for herself.  She had told me she wanted Holly to have it.  It had approximately 9,000 miles on it when she took it over. 

Holly has been very…

I emptied the kitchen drawer and wrote down EVERY single thing in there !!

172 items ! I could not believe it.

Address labels, pens, batteries, and on and on, things I had been looking for, but couldn't find in the clutter !

Things I needed to throw away, but just threw in the drawer, "just in case".

I threw out half the stuff, and put away another 1/4 "where it belongs"

And guess what, now I can see what's in my drawer !

1) 6 lbs. (yes I weighed it) of pencils, pens and various office supplies that I have too much of.

2) Old employment documents from jobs I HATED!

3) Two old address books.  I did look some folks up on FB and friended them there.…