End of an era...........

I sold our push lawn mower this week; got $50 for it.  We have had it years, and honestly haven't used it in  a few years.  Daughter and son-in-law used it also for a few years at their house.  So it has paid for itself, time and time again.

We got it from Lee Valley Tools.  I see they have upgraded it now, when I looked at it here.

So another thing out of the shed.  I am on a cleaning out kick at the moment.  We need to get rid of stuff; especially stuff we don't use!!

I managed to get this lot sorted to go to the charity shop:

I also decided to go through the bill drawer and the filing cabinet to do some shredding:

We had tax returns from 2010.  I checked online here to see how many years you had to keep here in Canada.  It said 6 years, so I kept 8 years just to be on the safe side.  We had info from prior properties we sold, medical receipts from the early 2010's, all stuff we don't need.  Took a while as the shredder kept over heating despite me oiling the blades and only putting a couple sheets of paper through at a time.  

When was the last time you had a session of shredding things?

It was a shredding type of day........

When you have trouble getting into the paid bill file, it's time to do some shredding!

 The pile wasn't too bad........

and I only had three of these waste paper bins full.  Had this waste paper bin for years; got it from Ikea. 

I should be good now for another few months

And talking about paper, do you remember this song:

Answering a couple of questions......

Why don't I just burn the paper I am shredding?

Well it clogs up the fire I find.  As per the waste people I can put the shredded paper in our organics bin:

So it may take a few weeks to get rid of all the bags but it's as good a place to get rid of it I think?

Got a lot more shredded on Saturday and got a couple of drawers cleaned out as well.

Have we been house hunting?

Yes and no.  We know what subdivision (estate) we want to live in.  We have been to many open houses so we have figured out what model home we like.  However until we have a firm offer on our house we won't go house hunting in earnest.  Now as this subdivision is for "Active Adults," I can safely say that there is always some houses up for sale due to people dying, going into retirement homes, just moving because, moving down south to the warmth or moving up north to their cottages.  

At the moment there are a couple of houses on the market that we like, so we know we will find something.  Within the next month the housing market will pick up, so we are expecting more houses to come on the market.

How does the decluttering challenge work?

All I am doing is trying to remove 25 things per week from the house.  So that at the end of the year you will have 1300 less things in the house, whether it be clothing, books, Christmas Decorations and just stuff you don't use anymore.

I need to be more consistent in removing things that I don't use and one of my big things is magazines I have a habit of hoarding.  Need to find a home for over 100 Prima Magazines; any ideas?

As it's freezing cold still it was a good day for a stew on Saturday.  So I made Lentil Stew with garlic bread for supper.  Click on this link for the recipe. Both Vegetarian and Vegan friendly.

I also managed to visit a few blogs on Saturday, hoping to visit many more today!!

Shredding, shredding and more shredding.....

I have two big garbage bags (we have to use clear bags in Dufferin County) so far of shredded paper.  I have gone through the personal tax files, that more or less accounts for the bag in the front.  

We have bought two new homes in the past directly from builders.  I had forgotten how much paperwork that accumulates.  Found it interesting the faxes that were sent back and forth concerning problems.  Then of course the paid bill drawer, got six months worth of paid bills shredded. 

The four big files on the coffee table have to do with insurance and mutual funds.  I am going to get dh to sort those out, as I am lost with them.  Plus if it were up to me I would shred most of them!!!  We had a plastic filing box similar to this one:

We used it for receipts and warranties.  It wasn't very full and when I cleaned it out, it had only a few things in it, so gave it to ds and I will put the receipts and warranties from there into our filing cabinet.  I can safely say I have gotten rid of 25 things from the house this week!!

It is also my brother Nicks birthday today.  He has a blog here if you want to pop by and wish him Happy Birthday.  While you're there tell him to pull his finger out and start posting a bit more on his blog!!!  I'll let him tell you how old he is; but here's a hint it's closer to 50 than 40!!! 

Happy Birthday Nick and sorry about not mailing you a card!!!!  I am putting it down to my age and getting more senile!!!