“The Basket”

This basket is our catch-all area that holds all the papers we are scared to throw away…just in case we might need them. I’ve got school pictures, bills, contracts, coupons…I’m not even sure what all is in that basket. I don’t think I’ve gone through it in a year or two. It is right inside the door we use most so it’s a convenient spot to throw things, but it is also visible to anyone who comes in our house. This will be my first project because one thing I’ve learned from Decluttering at the Speed of Life is that it is best to start with things that are visible so you are motivated to keep going. I’m going to trash a lot of this stuff and thinking about coming up with some sort of way to organize what is in there…maybe labeled manila folders??

THE BASKET IS DONE!

I don’t have a picture yet to post. I am still trying to decide how to organize it. I mainly threw away tons of old papers that we no longer need. I found about a dollars worth of change, old report cards, expired auto insurance policies, and bills that were paid years ago in some cases. I have menus I want to keep, old pictures, documents we need to keep and various other things. The other thing that has me confused are all the KEYS. Tons of keys and I don’t have a clue what they go to! Obviously I will try them in the obvious places and I guess those that don’t seem to go anywhere, I will throw away. It scares me a little to throw them away because what if they are needed at some point. Then again, they have been there for years and we’ve never needed them….

The finished basket is pictured below now…