the executive desk

This is where the Hubs would take meetings with clients. :)
Actually it housed all the millions of electronics (most of those are gone too)
We sold it today!! Wanna guess how much this bad boy weighed?

100 lbs?

No.

150?

No.

200?

Close....

218 lbs!?

Yes! How did you know?

don't even know what it's called

The Hubs got rid of this thing from his studio.

I don't even know what it was, but it weighed 26.4 lbs.

goodbye wedding

Almost 4 years ago, I made the linens and table runners for our wedding. And then after the wedding, I folded them up and put them into a box.
Where they sat for almost three years.
For my birthday party I took three of the linens and table runners and used them.
I don't like getting rid of wedding stuff, because I remember how much hard work went into the planning and preparation. But I can still remember these things without actually having them in my life, right?
It's time. 10.8 lbs of fabric going to goodwill.
Plus, I need that box!

on magazines

Everyday I'm purging more and more magazines. Removed another 15 today. You don't realize how much magazines can add to your overall weight. Going through them now, I wonder, why did I keep these? 5 years down the line, these fashion / interior / craft trends are no longer valid. They aren't topical forever.

I have such a love / hate relationship with purging. I am enjoying the visualization of clean shelves and streamlined interiors in my future. But there are some things that I have a hard time letting go of. Especially if I am not sure if the thing I'm trying to get rid of is going to come back to haunt me.

We have people looking at our couches, so those will be gone soon. We got rid of another computer (Another one!?! Yes, another one)

33.2 lbs today

500 lbs!

Hubs cleaned out of his studio the following:

Guitar cases - 6 lbs
stage monitor - 44 lbs
speakers - 16.8
electronic junk - 10 lbs
eq & mixer - 10.2 lbs

Total - 87 lbs

I'll miss my Sponge Bob Square Pants tapes

Got rid of an additional 17.8 lbs of VHS tapes. We'll be getting rid of the VCR as well. Ah

It must seem like we have a lot of crap. Well, yes, we do. But we've lived in the same (very large) apartment for 8 years now. Something I do not recommend doing. Move every two or three years, that is the key to keeping the load very light. Filling up a three bedroom apartment is very easy.

Getting rid of the stuff. Now that's the tricky part.

480 lbs

I didn't know I had so many magazines

Isn't it amazing how much stuff weighs? I just got rid of 16 lbs of magazines at this very moment. At one point in my life I felt they were worth keeping, but it only took about 5 minutes to get rid of them.

Not to mention the additional 35 lbs that was another computer monitor we got rid of. 35 lbs! That's almost a third of my weight.

The apartment has been found. We will be moving in at the beginning of the month. Commence complete removal of crap! Now, I need to figure out how to weigh our couch.

who knew we had so many telephones?

The purging / cleaning came to a screeching halt while finishing up my last semester.

Our new goal of moving to a new apartment has given us the impetus we need to carry on.

In the mean time, I got rid of:

a tacklebox
a telephone
more clothes, books and scrapbooking items
and an air mattress we discovered had a hole in it

400lbs.

Giving it the old heave ho

The Hubs is cleaning out his studio. Selling items on craigslist, which is nice. To date, he's gotten rid of:

• an old keyboard
• a broken reel to reel
• a broken drum machine
  
• a reverb machine

Can you believe people will pay good money for things they have to fix?

300!

I broke 300 lbs. today!

I tossed 9 lbs of computer parts, an 18 lb down pillowtop, and 2 phones

You'll be seeing more computer stuff in the future. The Husband is a computer/electronics/ I can fix anything that's broken kind of guy.
The only trouble is, even though he can fix things, he doesn't and ends up with a collection of broken items.

Maybe, if you 've been looking at my list on the left, you've noticed a lot of "glass jars" and "mason jars"? And, maybe, you have thought that's a little weird. This girl eats a lot of pickles and mayo. No, I'm not just finishing my condiments and including them in my list.

I'm a crafter. I knit, scrapbook, paint, sew, and whatever else in my free time. I have (what used to be the dining room) a studio devoted to all things craft. And I liked, PAST TENSE, to keep everything in clear jars. Separate. For example, I had one jar for black buttons, one for blue, one for green. Very serial killer-like.

Along with the purging of a lot of this, I'm combining everything and getting rid of the hundreds of jars. Giving me a nice, clean look in my studio which makes me very happy.

Today's lot was more clothes, a few cds and dvds, and 46, yes, 46 magazines.

Today's total: 29.4 lbs.

the first wave

Another 23 lbs please! Cleaned my closet of all the outdated clothing, numerous work out apparel, and shoes that don't fit! That was the first wave. I will continue to pare down the closet (and the husband's) Next up: the linen closet

slow and steady

Managed to get into husband's office and clean off one bookshelf. I got rid of 30 computer games and their subsequent manuals. 8.6 lbs!

Husband not really into the "getting rid of things". He understands why, but he doesn't like it. I have to prepare myself for a debate each time I start. Must tread gently. I think the major kitchen overhaul was too much for him. So I have to do one piece (ie. one bookshelf instead of a whole room) at a time. Maybe if I dressed more like my pinup girl, I wouldn't get too many refusals, no?

Fruits of my labors

This is the result of my first day of Spring Break. We cleaned out the entire kitchen.

(cat not included)

Getting rid of your stuff is a difficult process. I am the queen of unfinished projects, so please imagine how many "to do" piles I have. I want to believe I will tailor that jacket/skirt/dress and a puzzle is always fun for about 4 days. Then it just sits there for a year or three.
As hard as it may be to get rid of what could have been, it feels really good to say goodbye and leave room for the things that are important.
Knowing that I got rid of 37 lbs of unused and unwanted stuff today is quite liberating.

motivation

Next week is Spring Break. I will be able to get more cleaning and removing-of-things-that-don't-belong-in-my-life-anymore done. I leave you with these images of clean, beautiful homes that have been motivating me for a while.

fine little day


Lillian Day


Geninne


Yellow Canoe

all the more reason

Tonight this story was on the news. I'm glad no one was hurt, but this line called my attention.

reported seeing "heavy smoke showing and pack rat conditions in the home"


shudder

the first of many

I spent the better half of January selling things on ebay for next to nothing in my first attempt to get rid of things. Shoes, clothes, and scrapbooking stuff. Today I am taking to Goodwill the following stuffed into an old laundry basket:

10 books
11 items of clothing
1 purse
1 pair of shoes
1 cat toy

With that I am also sending a box full of jars, a huge dry erase board, two crystal vases and a laptop.

hello

I'm Leslie. I don't consider myself a minimalist by any stretch, but there are certain ideals that I'm beginning to strive for in my life. One of the main principles I've been trying to adopt is the elimination of unnecessary possessions. Since the beginning of the year I've been in a frenzy of decluttering my home and frantically trying to live up to the motto "A place for everything and everything in its place".

So welcome to 2,240 lbs. This site will document my journey as I clear my life of ONE TON of crap. This will be no simple task: between my many crafting ambitions, a husband with pack rat tendencies, and two cats with more toys than most children I know, this will be a great adventure.

Oh, wait! I'm giving myself until the end of June to accomplish this. What good would this blog be without an artificial deadline to heighten the drama?

And one more thing! I'm also going to account for all the things I acquire in order to correctly offset the weight.

Wish me luck!