Belgium and a buffista AND organizing?!? My bank account is the only thing stopping me from packing a bag.

I know, sj. We're hoping to avoid some of the cash-sucking pitfalls of years past. I'm so excited to finally see your home!

Yes, my pitfall tends to be not so much the organizing itself but the detritus--getting things to the appropriate places, be that trash, donation, or figuring out where they should be recycled (that's a big one, when I know I"m not supposed to throw it out but don't know where it goes, and then I either forget to look it up, or do look it up and forget where or when it's allowed...)

Belgium and a buffista AND organizing?!? My bank account is the only thing stopping me from packing a bag.

What a coincidence, my bank account is the only thing stopping me from hiring an organizer!

Although, actually, I have made some great strides lately. In the last couple of months I have managed to transform our living room It no longer looks like a daycare center. Grown up people live here, too! And best of all, they toys are all still here, they are just hidden behind the doors of beautiful wood furniture that I have scored for super cheap at thrift stores (because Belgians have an aversion to used, and therefore don't snap up all the good stuff before I can get out of bed).

Poor Tim Gunn pretty much flat out said I'm asexual

I did not know that. I thought he wa still identifying as gay. Clearly, I'm not paying enough attention to Mr. Gunn's life.

speculoos

I love them. I don't find them too sweet. That's another treat my sister used to bring back from her many trips to Germany that we loved before they become popular in the States. (Hipster douche foodie: "It's an obscure cookie, you wouldn't have heard of it.") Nutella is another one. I never heard of cookie butter before, though.

Although I still prefer european Nutella, it's not as sweet.

Which is why I don't eat Nutella here, even though I love European Nutella.

I could probably declutter my house relatively quickly if I had an army of minions and a ten-yard dumpster in front of the house. I could start in one corner of the room, point to things and say "Keep/Trash/Recycle", and someone else would be responsible for physically transporting the thing to its new destination.

Me too. The real block to me getting this done is all the stuff that has to go Someplace Else besides the trash ends up in piles and bags, which then never get out the door. It's all stuff that needs to go to the recycling center or the Goodwill/SPCA or to be sold locally or on eBay. I despise dealing with eBay. The answer is Just Do It, but I haven't been Just Doing It for quite some time now.

We're hoping to avoid some of the cash-sucking pitfalls of years past.

This is my year to get my finances straightened out, and cut out the little things that drain away cash every month. Like the newspaper subscription. It's a small amount of money, and I feel like I'm supporting print journalism, but really, I never read it. I realized today that I'm paying $100 a year for something I never ever use.

Does Nicole = Micole, or have I forgotten a name (totally possible)?

Not the same person.

I cleared out what seemed like a lot of stuff a few years ago, but it was all stuff that I could donate or toss. I have, however, tons of stuff that is actually worth something. What I don't have is energy. This last year, it's been all I could do to get to the constant doctor appointments and have clean clothes and food. It's quite amazing how much stuff (and dog hair) can pile up in a year.

I start a stack of stuff to donate at the beginning of the year, then the last week of December I pack it all in the trunk of my car and take it to Goodwill. Come tax time, I claim it all and profit. Takes up space on my bedroom floor between January and December, but I tell myself it's for a worthy cause--me--and walk around it for the entire year.

My neighborhood does an event called Up For Grabs Day every January (it's next weekend, actually), in the gym of a church. It's like a swap meet, I guess, where they have tables set up for every category you can think of, like housewares, toys, books, sports equipment, and clothes by gender/age (adult and kids). There's also a bulletin board set up so people can post pictures of large items like furniture. As long as you bring 3 things, there's no admission fee, and you can take home as much as you can carry. At the end of the event, everything left over goes to Goodwill.

It's smart to have it soon after Christmas, because people have stuff that they might have upgraded (DVD players, stereos), or got new clothes so they cleaned out their closets to make room, etc.

We've gotten rid of a functional-but-too-large stereo system, among other things, and have come home with a perfectly functional LCD monitor and other stuff (I wanted a couple of highball glasses for my occasional glasses of bourbon).

Oooh! I really like that idea. I wonder if I can set one up at our church?