Unclutterer Forums » User Favorites: EraserGirl

Unclutterer Forums » User Favorites: EraserGirl erasergirl The community for people interested in home and office organizing. en-US Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:03:53 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://unclutterer.com/discuss/search.php Sky on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-34758 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 09:24:21 +0000 Sky 34758@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ Think I'll try a duck shower curtain, thanks. My basic rules are....the 2 minute rule (if it can be done in 2 minutes, do it), fold laundry and put it away as soon as it is dry, make sure kitchen is spotless and everything tidied up before I go to bed, make the bed everyday and spend 10 to 15 minutes doing something in the yard everyday possible (doesn't sound like much time but in my South Carolina heat it's all I can stand and it keeps the weeds down and everything pruned). I agree with the 'made in China' deal but I spent 9 days in Egypt one time and was told by our guide when we visited a carpet shop that if the children, especially girls, didn't learn a trade, they would starve. There were children 8 years old weaving carpets. It was very sad. vjb on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-34755 Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:14:26 +0000 vjb 34755@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ It's late, so I have to be brief, but this thread has been a good reminder for me. My rules: One in, one out. A place for everything. Do it now (if it takes five minutes or less). No disposables in this house. EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33730 Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:51:19 +0000 EraserGirl 33730@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ if you get a DUCK curtain it will wash nicely and not shrink as for drying...don't put it in the drier. stupid people always put them in the drier then complain they are wrinkled (read the comments on amazon) they are meant to be wet and drip dry. <a href="http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/products/For-The-Home/Bed-Bath/Bath/cotton-duck-fabric-shower-curtain.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/products/For-The-Home/Bed-Bath/Bath/cotton-duck-fabric-shower-curtain.html</a> I have also made my own using canvas i had already and shower curtain grommets my advise is to PRESHRINK the canvas then hem it and add the grommets. I won't use anything else i think plastic liners are creepy. Ella on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33504 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:07:46 +0000 Ella 33504@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ The impulse behind my No MIC month is simply to see if it can be done -- that is, to see just how much I am dependent on China for certain products and whether I can get them anywhere else. Low wages and government subsidies to manufacturers make MIC products cheap, convenient, and highly competitive, but the environmental footprint is heavy. Juliska: Please don't take my experiment personally. Any choice I make to purchase This-Not-That impacts some worker somewhere, and impacts the environment somehow. I'm curious to see what I can learn about that (and about myself) during the No MIC month of September. Juliska on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33502 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:56:04 +0000 Juliska 33502@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ I understand the impulse behind the not-made-in-China rule: not wanting to support sweat-shops, or take business away from local employers that are losing jobs to China, but what about the Chinese workers themselves? They're not monsters, just human beings who need to work, too, to support themselves and their families. I try to shop local and support small industries, but if something has to come from China, I remember that my money will support a Chinese worker's family. This is personal for me, because when I was a kid, my own grandmother (not Chinese) worked in a Blaupunkt factory in Europe. Someone I knew sneered that he would never buy anything made by Blaupunkt, because it was "not American." I asked him if my grandmother was not entitled to have a job, and he was completely flustered by the thought that an actual person with a name and and a face and a granddaughter worked at the despised factory. Ella on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33491 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:57:49 +0000 Ella 33491@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ EraserGirl: Thanks! I'll look around for canvas duck. Does it wash easily and dry without wrinkles? As for the cooling stand, I already have my laptop elevated atop an open-weave basket base, but still it overheats a bit. BTW, I'm not looking to buy strictly USA-made, but rather, strictly non-MIC. EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33483 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:30:51 +0000 EraserGirl 33483@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ @ella, i have not used a shower curtain liner in years, i use canvas duck and it works fine. MADE IN USA. now the fan will be trickier, you can get by with just raising your laptop off the desk. obviously this bamboo cooling stand is probably not made in the US but you can think of something similar? perhaps something you can make? <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Macally-ECOFAN-Bamboo-Laptop-Stand/dp/B002IYDGV6" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Macally-ECOFAN-Bamboo-Laptop-Stand/dp/B002IYDGV6</a> Ella on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33446 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:09:05 +0000 Ella 33446@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ I picked up my guidebook from the library today: "A Year without 'Made in China': One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy" by Sara Bongiorni. I plan to try No MIC for only one month, and I hope this book will help. I already see trouble ahead with two items I "need" to buy: a mini desktop fan to cool my laptop; and a new shower curtain liner. I've shopped around and found these two items in many stores, but all made in China. I suppose I could cheat and buy them before September 1st, or I could wait until October 1st... or maybe I don't really need them. For now, I think I'll hold off unless I can find non-MIC alternatives, which, after all, is the whole point of my challenge. I might start a separate thread for this adventure. EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33371 Mon, 29 Aug 2011 06:29:13 +0000 EraserGirl 33371@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ I'm am working towards the no China rule... I TRY to choose USA if it is available but a lot of our commodities aren't made here anymore. I have a few places i won't buy things from basically i read labels. yesterday i was shocked to see a used shirt from Burma and no way was that a possibility! I WISH i could say 'no plastics' but they exist for a reason. All I can say is that I only use plastic when there is no non plastic alternative. Emilie on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33357 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:41:42 +0000 Emilie 33357@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ @Ella: I'm interested in your "no made in China" rule; my mom has been doing the same thing for about a year, since she found out about forced labor being used there. For me, after I read a section of a book about sweatshops last spring, it completely killed my urge to shop for stuff I don't need. Unfortunately, when I need something, it can be REALLY hard to find out what conditions things were made under. My mom couldn't find any lightbulbs that weren't made in China, for instance. Ella, if nothing else, your rule will definitely limit the amount of new objects coming into your life, which can't be bad :) My rules: No new stuffed animals under any circumstances. For clothes--one in, one out. If I don't have a place to put it at home, I don't buy it. No picking up "free" items unless I actually need them. No new pens, pencils, or notebooks until I use up all I have. ...I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them now... Claycat on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33252 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:12:10 +0000 Claycat 33252@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ Great thread! LOL! I guess I need some rules! EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33251 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:05:19 +0000 EraserGirl 33251@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ My rules for getting RID of things: For a long time when cleaning i was merely breaking down 'organized' areas and reorganizing it all in another spot. Each item that I decided was unneeded in my life was meant to go elsewhere "I will sell this someday when i have time", "I will donate this", "I will give this to so and so", "this is too good to throw I will find someone to give it to" All of these are valid reasons not to throw something out of the house but they do nothing to get stuff out of the house. Unless i live to be 100 i won't live long enough to do all the things needed to be done. Now when I am decluttering, i decide WHAT to do with the item on the spot and if it does not belong IN my life, it leaves. RIGHT then and there. That sounds like a big deal, but if you do it in increments it isn't. Instead of huge cleaning sessions, it's a box here or a few items there. • If the item is going to a friend, it goes on the porch or in the truck and if it doesn't get to them in a week, it goes to someone else. (sometimes i mail the item, even if it is local) • If the item is going to be donated, it goes in the truck and then i drop it off asap. it doesn't come BACK out of the truck. • If the item is being sold, I sit down and list it online, immediately. Then it goes into the basement with the other for sale items or in the barn if it is big. IF it doesn't sell in a reasonable amount of time, it becomes a FREE item. • If the item is a FREE item, it gets listed on Freecycle for my town, then it goes on the porch shelf to be picked up. If no one on my town's freecycle list wants it, then i try the neighboring towns lists. If after a week i can't give it away, it gets donated or thrown in the dumpster. The Dumpster is my friend. EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33250 Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:34:31 +0000 EraserGirl 33250@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ I watch Hoarders and Clean House as more of a preventative 'there but for the grace of god go i' sort of thing instead of schadenfreude. Sometimes I can actually SEE the wheels turning in their heads when they look at something and they can't figure out what to do with it. That scares me, because i have FELT that from time to time in my life. Save, throw, give? I hate that feeling, I LIKE having rules already set out. Today i put up a nice white 'landing zone' type of shelf in the kitchen above the new foldout table from Ikea and i wasn't sure what i was going to do with it until i brought in the mail and a new rule created itself: • Incoming mail that has to be responded to goes in one cubby. • Things that are going OUT: mail and deposits go in the other cubby. Usually I just put this stuff in my Moleskine and stuff it in my purse and if i am lucky I process it in the car before its too late. Most of the time personal bills and mail goes into my office with all my WORK materials and gets lost. So I definitely needed a place JUST for personal & house paperwork to get processed. So just creating that little rule, has eliminated a entire stress point in my life. Rules are good. pkilmain on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33060 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:44:53 +0000 pkilmain 33060@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ I've never tried to write these down, and I know I have more internalized: 1. No new stuffed animals 2. All new fiction should be electronic (otherwise use the library, or borrow from friends) 3. Dishes done after each meal (though DH is more OCD, does them in between as well) 4. Make the bed every day (we never did this when we were working, now an unmade bed bothers me) 5. No stockpiling (except toilet paper) 6. Fold and put away the laundry as soon as it's done. 7. Continue decluttering, and practice one in, one out where appropriate. Astreja on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33050 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:01:05 +0000 Astreja 33050@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ My current rules: 1. No stuffed toys or gift-shop ornaments allowed into the house. 2. Upon returning home from work, take the laundry basket downstairs and start a load. 3. Do the dishes after supper, before wandering off to do something else. juliapenguin on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33036 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:09:33 +0000 juliapenguin 33036@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ What an amazing thread - I was feeling a bit low and 'stalled' in my own decluttering and organising, but now am raring to go! EraserGirl on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33030 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:41:03 +0000 EraserGirl 33030@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ @Parsifal you speak wisely. Parsifal on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules/page/2#post-33018 Thu, 25 Aug 2011 07:07:38 +0000 Parsifal 33018@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ If I use something regularly or just enjoy it, it goes in a specific spot when I'm not actually using it. If not - I try to sell it if possible Or give it to a friend if not If no one I personally know can use it, it goes to a charity or thrift shop. If a charity won't take it because it is dangerous, worthless or somehow not appropriate, I throw it away and commit not to buy or accept that thing again. I would estimate that since I started following these rules, I've gotten rid of at least 1,000 lbs of stuff and have only wished for maybe 1 or 2 things back. arthelemis on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules#post-32997 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:20:49 +0000 arthelemis 32997@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ My rules applies to my personal space (a.k.a my bedroom) only. 1- No cardboard storage. I currently have one cardboard box left but it's holding my winter stuff (hats, scarves, gloves,etc) and the box will go to the recycle bin when I'll get these things out of storage. 2- No new storage box. I have an almost empty one that hold my stuff to sell. It will hold my winter stuff next spring 3- No piles. No box stacked one upon the others. DVD's and books are stored vertically, one layer only. 4- Nothing on the floor. Obvious, if you don't like your stuff coated with cats hair. 5- One in, two outs (for clothing). I am still in the process of purging my clothes, so I can replace something when I get rid of 2 of the same thing. Except boxers, for sleeping. I have reach the magic number and will replace them at the rate of one in, one out. 6- Duplicate items are permitted, only if they don't have the same function. (Example : winter gloves. One pair for everyday use that are not too bulky but still warm enough and one pair for snowboarding/snowmobiling/ice fishing, bulky and warm as hell.) snosie on "personal rules" http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/personal-rules#post-32976 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:15:44 +0000 snosie 32976@http://unclutterer.com/discuss/ susanintexas - GREAT rule, I mean occassionally I have brought someone home to a nightmare, not OK! So a great way to get into shape (it's like a 'maybe' treat) artgal - love the idea of no Junk in the house (and far game outside!!) If only I could get my family on board... Bandicoot - you are like me, and my grandpa (I just found out) - one less job if you bring in and fold as you go! It was strange when I asked my friend what was going out when she bought new shoes - she was puzzled why she'd get rid of anything? And only months prior she was telling me about cream shoes she never wears, but for one skirt, which she never wears - I mean... seems obvious to some! My parents always wash up after meals, and counters clear in the kitchen (over the years, toaster and stereo and fruit bowl have been 'permitted' to be on the counter, but that's IT, everything else gets rehomed! - btw, kettle is in the panty! It is awesome, right beside the teas, and the mugs are in a pull out drawer below - magic I tell ya!) When parents are away, I get slack, and it gets me down seeing the leftover clutter - so I'm sure when I have my own place again I'll embrace their way! Keep em coming!