Making Space Mondays, Linky Party #6

Hi Friends and welcome to Making Space Mondays linky party!! I'm very grateful to the ladies that visit me here at Debt Free Mommy. You are such a blessing!

[I am gradually making changes to and sort of RE setting up my blog. I hope you'll be patient. I've been thinking quite a bit since starting Making Space Mondays how I could make this go smoother. You see, I'm a nursing mom and really have very limited time with TWO hands on the computer and though I can read for a little longer than I can write, this has become quite a challenge in blogland. So, starting today, I'm making one really huge change. Making Space Mondays will, generally speaking, be mostly the same post from week to week. I am writing 5 template posts, each one for one of the acronyms, and then I can continue to post with just a little blurb or photo or whatever added each week. So, it will be more in line with how I actually declutter, but it won't give you a completely fresh new read every week. Although, don't stop reading, cause I might throw in a few photos or a little blurb the weeks I feel moved to do so. So without further ado...]

It's the second Monday of this month, and that means it's E.T.'s CUP challenge time. For those of you new to Making Space Mondays, E.T.'s CUP stands for Easy Trash and Clean Up Place. And, for those of you who keep coming back weekly--Thank YOU!! I really do appreciate it!

Easy Trash and Clean Up Place

For most of us out there, it's not hard to get rid of actual trash--candy wrappers, old milk cartons, diaper boxes, toilet paper rolls...and on it goes. But beyond unhealthy, scum ridden filth, the reality is that one man's trash can really be another's useful item. The teacher who saves toilet paper rolls for crafts in class because they use them every week, the mom who saves old pickle jars to clean up and keep bugs out of her rice (shyly raising my hand), or the dad who collects scraps of wood for the fort he's about to build for his children.

So...then what do I mean by Easy Trash?
I mean simply, getting rid of anything that is super-de-duper easy for YOU. If you can throw the item in the garbage without batting the proverbial eye, then it's easy trash. If you have to think about it, read it to find out, or otherwise takes you any time at all, then it's not.

My husband, Josh, takes out the trash two times a week with few exceptions. Every once in a while I step in and do the job if he's running behind to get off to work. But once a month or so, I go on a trash-cavation!! I challenge myself to see how many trashbags full I can get out to the curb before the trashman comes.

Are you ready to do your monthly Trash-cavation?

Let's get started. First let's grab the bags that are ready for the curb and get them there.

This isn't the time to worry about that box that needs to be put in the garage or the chair that is out of place. Just grab, bag and get it to the curb. We've got possums and raccoons, so for us it can be quite the mess and requires gloves.

Next on our Trash-cavation is the fridge. Since it's a race for the curb, I want to make for sure I get all the yuckiness out of the fridge. I dump my Use It or Loose It bin and restock it with items I need to use next or they'll go bad. Then I just grab and trash everything questionable. This takes me about 5 minutes! I'm not wiping down shelves, smelling foods, or looking through anything. I might sneak a peek in a lid or two, but mostly if I don't know when I put it in, it goes in the trash.

Don't stop to organize...only scan and grab.

Now it's time to grab a couple of big trash bags and start at the back of your home and work your way to the door. My starting point for the trash-cavation through the other rooms in my home is in my room. If I'm in a huge hurry, I grab just the big stuff and if I'm not I go a little more detailed. These are some of the road stops on this morning's trash-cavation. I don't know about you, but I'm always surprised at how much is found! We're not slobs, and yet...

Considering that we take out trash twice a week, HOW does this Happen!!!!???? But this is truth people. This is a home with kids and love and food...

...and oh the mess when food is involved.

So, how many bags did I trash-cavate this time around?

And, what's so great about that??

Well...unlike making a bed or cleaning a toilet or washing clothes...you NEVER have to throw THOSE items away ever again! I know it's a little silly, but that's how I think of it. I'm not picking up toys that will find their way right back into the living room. I'm not gathering the same dark clothes to be washed week after week. When I throw those buckets full of junk away, those newspapers I'll never read and those boxes that are not in my future plans to use, I will never have to throw that item away again. It is out of my life forever I am free of THAT mess forever.

So, how many bags did you get rid of on your Trash-cavation?

Linking Up at these wonderful blogs:
A Bowl Full of Lemons
You're Talking Too Much