Busy Day, Squeezed In Decluttering

Tuesday was busy! Or at least felt busy with my girls going 2 hours late to school due to weather. I made it to the gym and had a phone call with my mother. I did spend some time online, too...which really can't be considered 'busy'. It was lesson day for my flute playing daughters. I did use the time for productive purposes, and planned meals through the end of January. Then the lessons went long. I skipped the days dinner plan for a more simple dinner of waffles (from scratch). I managed to get two loads of laundry done.

I did get some decluttering in though! More paper. My goal for the month in case you are a new reader. We had a show we wanted to watch on television, so I brought about 10-12 old files with tax returns older than seven years old up to my couch.

Do you know what was lurking in some of those files? More cancelled checks!! Didn't I just say we no longer have any in our home a few days ago. Clearly, I had no idea.

I pulled everything except the first two pages of our Federal return, which eventually I will scan. I'm getting rid of tax years 1989 through 2003. I was about to toss/shred our W2's but then I read on the IRS website this can be useful in claiming social security if in the event they don't have wages on record. Although, really what are the odds? But for now, I'm keeping them anyway.

I had a pile I could put directly into the recycle bin. That is complete.

I have a pile that needs to be shredded. I'm going to be tossing shredded papers for weeks. I was only able to put half the last batch of shredding in the trash can earlier this week. I will shred today, since my girls are home from school due to very low temperatures.

And finally, I now have a pile to file again. I'm going to try to put most of it in one or two files, or with other files that already exist. I hope that part goes fast...since I kind of made a mess! I don't like big messes that I can see, so with it on my couch and coffee table I will have motivation to get it all put away later today as well.

I did finish reading/browsing a recently obtained magazine. I pulled one recipe, but the magazine is also now in the recycle bin. I also marked another magazine with recipes I want to try this month (they are on my dinner plan). Once we try them, I will know which ones to write up or scan on my computer and recycle the magazine.

That's my decluttering for the day. I had to do it late in the evening which isn't my preference, but I did get much more done than I expected? Did you get some more decluttering done this week? If not, is there something easy you can see to let go of? Just one item counts!