Stop the clutter!

Let me just start by saying every muscle in my body hurts and I am going to work very hard to keep my eyes open today. Okay now that that's said.... Matt and I helped move his stepbrother Peter out of his current home and into his new house this past weekend. He has to be out by TODAY and was not very prepared to do so. Now I love Peter to death, he's the sweetest most optimistic man you'll ever meet but the dude has some major clutter issues. Over the past 8 years that he and his family (wife and 2 kids) have lived in this house they have held on to anything and everything they've ever used..... baby clothes, toys, papers, stereos, speakers (like 20 huge speakers, no joke), couches, armoires, home project equipment, tools, t.v's, and the list goes on and on. So we not only had just a few days (literally) to move all of the this stuff but we only had a few individuals besides ourselves to help out with packing, loading, moving all of this stuff. Anyway I'm just rambling.... it was a frustrating weekend with lots of work and absolute crap to deal with. My point is why do we need all of this STUFF?! We don't need 5 TV's, or 6 couches, and why keep all of those clothes you wore in the 80's because they might come back into style??? We don't. Moving this weekend just reiterated that for me even more. I was just looking online for some stats and here are some things I found....

1. About 80% of the clutter in your home or office is a result of disorganization, not lack of space.
2. It costs an average of $10/square foot to store items in your home.
3. Americans waste more than nine million hours each day looking for lost and misplaced articles.
4. 80 percent of papers that are filed are never referenced again.

I also found this article I thought was quite funny.... you should definitely check it out. It doesn't necessarily help but it adds humor to the subject. :)

So after all of this I'm definitely going to "de-clutter" my house.

My list of things to get rid of:

1. The ten million books I own and have already read and will probably never read again. (I'll donate those or something....anyone want some good books? Go to Goodreads and see what I have and you can have it!!!!! or borrow if I decide I can't part with it. haha.)
2. The pew bows I kept from our wedding that are hiding underneath the shelves in the basement... their probably turning yellow as we speak.
3. The old prom/bridesmaid dresses that I'll NEVER wear again.
4. The hundreds and hundreds of CD's that we own but don't listen to anymore because we've copied them onto our computer and listen to them that way.
5. My old school books from college and papers I've written.
6. Put photos in photo book or scrap book!
7. Paint cans - by doing some touch up painting around the house to use that last little bit up.
8. Bed Sheets - my taste has changed... out with the old (I already have the new! :) )
9. I really need to tidy up our kitchen. We seriously have NO room to even put food in our cupboards and I know we don't use half of the dishes or even some of the food that's already in it..... it's getting pitched or purged somehow!
10. and finally..... Clean up the unfinished side of the basement! SO MUCH CLUTTER.....

ahhhh..... well it feels good to make a list of all of the things I want to do and I firmly believe I will do it. I'll keep you updated to make sure I stay on track. Anyone want to join in on the fun with me? What are TEN things you can get rid of or you can do in general to declutter your life??? I want to know! :)