Computer Junk

Now, it's amazing how much junk with computers we accumulate, isn't it? I mean, the amount of keyboards we go through, the amount of modems which we use and burn through, and the phones - don't get me started on mobile phones! 

There's things which we just can't send off to the landfill because it becomes toxic and isn't good for our environment, right? 

Well, I found out about a place here in Brisbane called Substation 33 - and it's where you can take your computer junk and they pull it apart and recycle it. What a place. And you don't have to pay for it either! It's in Logan City and my Dad took his old computer junk there (a whole lot of broken computers and keyboards and other computer items which weren't going to work) and he just handed it all over. 

I'm so glad there's a place like this around.

There's also a service for our mobile phones here in Australia where you can go to your post office and ask for a bag to send off your really old mobile to be recycled... isn't that great?

Also, there's a Fix-it style group which gathers at my local community centre up the road from my folks' house. They gather once a month and they fix everything from toasters to televisions... all for free and to show kids today that not everything is fated for landfill.

So, what recycling centres are around your cities for electronics? Or aren't there in any in place? If not, why not start asking around to see if they are beginning in your area?

One Bag Down!

Well, as I promised, I have begun cleaning out the Home Office. And I've done out one bag of crap...yep, it was all crap/junk in this bag. I looked at dates on the bank statements and medical items and made sure they were from 2014 and before and ripped them up into tiny pieces and then? Well, they went into a rubbish bag. 

The bag all of this came from began to fall apart and so that went into the rubbish bag too!

I came across bank statements and medical statements (which had been paid) and old Christmas cards (which I cut up and turned into Christmas tags for this Christmas by cutting off the front of them and cutting the main picture of the into little designs and then punching a hole into the top of them for the ribbon). I found a lot of things I had been looking for and have put them to one side - and the whole pile I sorted through came to about a fifth of the whole bag! A fifth! Woah! That's huge! 

The rubbish bag ended up in the bin outside and I now have another bag in the living room to go through tomorrow before I bring down two more bags to go through before the end of next week. This will be a great thing for me - to get this all done before the end of next week, mainly because then I can start planning out what will be going on in the home office. 

I have been looking on the Facebook Marketplace for desks and bookcases, but it's all too expensive - and it's too far to drive to pick them up too. But then, I have a few months to find the right ones, right?

How's your place going? 

Big Office Project

I've been looking at my Home Office and thinking that it's about time I did something about making it a place I enjoy working in.

Like I did with my kitchen and my bedroom, I have to make my home office a place I want to spend time in. 

So, over the next 3 months, I'll be cleaning out this entire office from top to bottom and throwing out everything I do not need any longer. I've already collected together a few boxes which I can put things into and know of a place - it's called Station 33 - to take my electronic do-dads I no longer need. 

And I'll be carting unwanted things to either the dump or the charity store, or better still into the wheelie bin outside my side door each week. The Home Office will be tidier than it's ever been by November. 

While I'm doing this, I'll be putting away money to save up for an op-shopped desk. This will be a desk which is solid and has drawers and, if I find the one I want, I'll get it paid and delivered to my folks' house so it's ready to use. I'll also be looking for another bookcase - a tall one - to replace the saggy brown one I have in my home office.

The whole office will be turned about and switched around. The corner desk will be tossed out (as it's falling apart) and the saggy bookcase will be tossed out too. The artworks I have up on the wall currently will be moved from the bathroom wall to the far car port wall. The books in all the cases will be boxed up and shifted into my bedroom (this will take a few hours to do as I'll need to label the boxes). Then, all the furnishings will be removed from the room, it will be cleaned, vacuumed and dusted completely before I get in and put in the new desk and attach the book cases to the wall (if needs be). 

I'm hoping to have more space in the room, less crap and it'll give me more light as well, seeing I'll be able to pull the curtains all the way back - and not just halfway - during the day. 

I've been planning this for around 6 months, and my folks and friends know I want to get in and really do this. I told my Dad that if I do find a good desk I'll get it delivered to their place just to store it while I'm cleaning out my place - and he said it was okay. I may have to fix it up a little too before it comes home to me; and their place is the perfect place to do that seeing they have the space and I can make a lot noise there. 

So... do you have any big cleaning-up projects you're planning around the house? Mine is the Home Office. It's going to take a few month, and will cost a little bit of money and time, but it's going to be well worth it. Do leave your ideas in the comments. I'm going to hopefully have a lovely home office by the time Christmas comes around. 

Cleaning Out A Little At A Time

I haven't been here for a few weeks, I know. And I must apologise for this. I have been working on the house, looking through things bit by bit and tossing out things in the bin, and putting things in my Donation Box by the door. 

The place is looking better by the week - I've just forgotten to tell you all about it.

Yesterday, I collected two large boxes from Bunnings and today I'm cleaning out the Home Library. Now, being a big reader, normally, I'd say don't touch it, but my collection is getting that way where I really need to look at what I'm going to read, what I have just look good, and what I'm definitely not going to read at all - and I have to be brutal about this too.

I'm going to try to sell some of the books on gumtree - seeing I look after them so well - and any Bookcrossing books I have are going to be given away in a Big Book Giveaway. Yep, this is going to be fun! 

This will mean I'll be making a right mess in the library and moving things around, and moving things out of here. I'm also going to look at replacing the large brown bookcase with a new one, which can hold all the books - as it's really saggy, and has been like that for a long time (and everyone notices it!). 

Well, how has your place been going? All good, please do comment below and tell us all what you're up to in your cleaning out. 

A Little and A Lot

In the past two weeks, I've been working on a lot of things in the townhouse. And this is why I haven't been here for a while.

But there's been parts of the kitchen worked on, and parts of the bedroom as well. In the kitchen I've packed up some cups and saucers which I inherited from my late-Uncle and given back to my Mum. I really needed the space in my cupboard and wanted to use my own cups and saucers which I've scored from op-shops instead of being scared of breaking the delicate ones I inherited.
So, once they were out the door and at my parents' house safely, I cleaned up the cupboard and moved all my Keep-Cups into the space in cupboard, and made more room on the counter! Woah, that was really cool to see that, and now I have more counter space I can  get more done around the kitchen instead of feeling as though I'm being squashed into the corner of my sink.

The bedroom has been changed around a bit. I've refurbished the use of my shoe box; cleaning it up and making it into a book case for my night time reading instead of tossing it out. You see, it's not your ordinary style of shoe box... and it doubled well as a book case too. It looks great! 

Then I found two large lampshades and tried to upgrade my old ones... which didn't work out. So, I asked my Dad to help me. My lamps I bought last year from K-Mart were super-glued within an inch of their lives - something I didn't expect from K-Mart, but it's happened. So, Dad worked something out and made them fit. And the old shades? Well, they're on their bedside lamps - and both my parents have said they've never had so much light in their room ever! 

I've taken another bag of goodies to the charity store and enjoyed finding those lamp shades while I was there. But that was about two weeks ago... I haven't been op-shopping for something in a little while. I'm still decluttering in a major way.

This next week, I'm hoping to pull out all my VHS tapes and look into getting them converted to DVD to enjoy them like I used to... as my 21st Birthday is on them, so is a few movies we taped and some documentaries we can't find on DVD. So, it's something we want to look into. After they get converted to DVD, it'll be a matter of tossing out the old VHS tapes to the recycling bin. 

Otherwise, the everything is going well. I've bought a plant for the bathroom and I'm no longer using any plastic bags. I tossed out my last lot of recycling of plastic bags yesterday - how good is that? I'm using all reusable bags in all things in my life from shopping bags to grocery bags. 

So, how is your decluttering going? 

Little Things

I've been out at op-shops and doing good things for myself lately. 

Over the past week, I've bought only small things for the house, and yet I've donated more than two bags of goods I no longer need to my local charity store. 

On Monday, I bought a lovely hat for next Summer, and then on Wednesday, I bought two lamp shades which I thought would go well for my bedside lamps - I wanted to change them over from the plain white ones I bought from K-Mart. 
Now, when I got them to my folks' house and proposed this to my Dad (as I'd need his help), we had a good look at the lamps and we found that everything had been super-glued to death. 

Yes, this is the ultimate example of the throw-away society we're being forced into. All I wanted to do was the little thing of changing my lamp shades to prettier ones, and yet the way they were designed (and rather cheaply too!) made it so I couldn't. 

This is disgusting to say the least. 

Anyway, Dad understood where I was coming from and Mum wanted my old shades once we figured out how to get the new ones on. Both my folks are pleased to see I am thinking outside the box with this instead of buying new lamps - and lamp shades cost me under $20 for the two, as I bought them from an op-shop. 

And my budget this week for op-shopping was around $15.00 of a book and two lamp shades. Whereas my charity giveaway this week was a magazine holder and a bag of goodies which work but I don't need anymore. 

So, how are you doing with your decluttering this week? All good? I'm going so well! Right now, I'm getting through my wardrobe - anything I can't fit into is going straight into the donation box. How good is that? 

The Signs of Progress!

At the beginning of the year, I put up a little table on the sidebar of the amount of rubbish bags, the donation bags filled and the donation runs I have done - and I've kept it up-to-date.

Now, look at the numbers! Aren't they fantastic? I thought to leave it up there for 5 months and see how I do. It's coming up to the end of May and I'm very pleased to see how many Donation Runs and Donation Bags Filled are up there. But Rubbish Bags are past 20! Woah! 

So, if you're keeping track of these three things in your decluttering, how many have you done? I'm curious... and we could challenge each other with it too if you'd like - see how many we get done by the end of the year to see if we could beat each other. 

Nah... it's not how many we can get done, it's a matter of how tidy our houses become. I'm just pleased to donate as much as I am donating. My house is looking better and I'm so pleased with my progress this year. 

Well, how are you doing with your progress?