Erica. I hope what I'm about to suggest is helpful for you. Have you read the book, "Goodbye Things" ? If so, go back and re-read. My thought process is A LOT like yours is with all of the questioning. Fumio says that if you want to declutter something 5X's but never actually follow through, it is time to part with it. Save yourself all of that back and forth questioning and angst and just let it go. Donate Donate Donate. Bless the other parents in the CO-OP. We humans are not built (with our 5 thousand yr old brains) to deal with all of this stuff and the sheer amount of questioning that goes along with it. Free yourself!
The only item I've ever missed is a turkey baster! I'm in my 70's and don't want to leave a mess for my kids and grandkids to go through. My house is so easy to keep clean and I love the space. I wish I had known all this when my kids were little. Life would have been so much easier.
😂❤ this made me giggle. The turkey baster. I feel much the same. There are a couple of vintage outfits that I wish I had kept, but only for a moment when I go to look for them, and then I realize they probably wouldn’t fit me and they would frustrate me. In the end, I feel such relief for all the millions of other items being gone.
I so agree with this comment, I Swedish death cleaned at age 65 because knowing my daughter she would not be able to,part with anything of my husband and I… I didn’t want that for her. I never miss a thing I donate…. My decluttering muscle is so strong, it takes me 5 seconds to know whether it stays or goes.. my home is peaceful, calm, orderly, people always tell me when they come to my house they go home like they had a massage very calm….lol
Hi Erica, I'm several years into my decluttering and simplifying journey and generally feel like I have good systems to lean into to help me keep making progress. I watched this video last week and today the "this stuff is lying to me" mantra has helped me finally overcome a decluttering hurdle that had been haunting me for years. The end result is a full bag for the charity shop, a pile for the recycling centre and out of the contents of 2 large archive boxes, just a few items will remain in our home. These however will be put away properly, not left cluttering a surface annoying me every time I used that room. As an added bonus, the space I have created and the visible improvement I have made has made me want to continue making progress in that space. I just wanted to reach out and say thanks. It's always a joy to share part of my day with you, but I'm especially thankful for you and your lovely little corner of the internet today. Sending you lots of love from a very cold and wintery South Wales, UK xx
I love that you pass along to others! Yay! Do you ever get good finds from the swap? I would be interested in a "haul" sort of video. I loved seeing what you were decluttering. And I liked hearing your thoughts.
Sue Wolfe- I home schooled my oldest 2 sons and acquired a lot of educational material. It did take a couple of years to move on after they went to school for me to part with some items. Fast forward many, many years, and after listening to Dawn from the Minimal Mom, I adopted the 20/20 rule. If I can replace an item for $20 or less in 20 minutes, I can part with it. I don't get emotionally attached to things, but people. Also, once the money is spent, it's spent. Give yourself grace to part with things to let things go to Simplify Your Life!! 👍💪❤️
I used to keep things for my grandkids because I know quality goes down not up but tastes change and things I thought were neat my grand kids could care less about. They do like my old books though so we read and I draw and write silly poems or stories but the rest is mostly gone.
I am a homeschooler as well. The thing that helped me the most was going on a trip for 2 months with the only school supplies being notebook & pencils. Maybe a few chapter books. We went to museums & learned. The kids wrote narrations in their notebooks & learned. We hikedin the forest & learned through observation. We used our pencils & spirals to sketch. I did buy watercolors & watercolor paper along the way when a storm kept us inside for a few days. Unlimited possibilities. We told stories. Free. No supplies. The kids made up games. We played on stumps in Maine. You have a garden- free nature studies. A really helpful question I ask myself now is, “If I didn’t have this (math fraction manipulative or whatever, what COULD we use to learn this? Then sit in the discomfort of need for a minute. Think. You are creating. You will probably come up with 10 ways to teach fractions if you didn’t have that item. Apples, pizza, cutting paper, nature, Googling ideas, library, chalk, etc. See what solutions you could create if you didn’t have the “educational “ supplies. 😁 I think the more you get rid of the more creative your learning will be.
6:05 I know I've said it before, but thank you so much for being honest about how difficult it is to get rid of items!❤🤗🌻 It is so frustrating watching other UA-camrs say, "Just get rid of it all! No problems!" 😅 Love your videos and how real they are...it is much more helpful to see an ACTUAL decluttering process and all of the thoughts that go into it. 🎉⭐😃👍🌸
This is a great video... I too used to struggle with the price I paid for things when it came time to declutter... I had to change my mindset. Now I ask myself did I get the use out of it. If I paid $150 for an item, used it for 5 years for 3 kids, that would breakdown to $150/5y= $30 year/3 kids= $10 per kid per year... yeah, I would say I got my use out of it and I would donate it... thinking of it in that way has made it so easy for me to let things go.
I only discovered your channel recently and have to tell you how much your thought process while decluttering help me in my own decluttering. These thought processes sound so much like the inner monologs that I have while decluttering. This video resonated especially with me because I have that exact same 100 board and just can't get myself to declutter it (I started my decluttering journey a little over 2 years ago). It's beautiful, no question but just like you that price tag stuck with me. I wish I'd gotten a cheap one for under $ 20 and this wouldn't cause me so much back and forth. This video sincerely freed me - I feel such relief now getting rid of it.
I love watching you process your items. Probably because I have the same conversations with myself when I'm processing mine! And when you decide to get rid of them, I literally cheer out loud at my phone!!! Thank you for being so open with us, Erica. Decluttering is a hard process and definitely not for the weak!
I hope you do! I never cheer until YOU decide, it is your decision after all. But the relief I can see when you have made the final decision: priceless!
Good Job Erica !! Now, to find a spot to keep what you want to keep. You're so fun to listen to and I love when you question yourself and then the answer comes to you.
Wow Erica! You did fantastic. I think in the past you would have kept those binders and that expensive counting kit. Your smile at the end made me feel so happy for you, and for me, because I just took some of your energy and will go and get rid of some items I have been hanging onto just because I have room for them. Thank you Erica!!!!!
You did a great job! The money is spent and it is not worth your time and energy to try and recoup that money. Think how happy someone else will be to get those items. As for the sentimental books, why not store them in your bedroom?
Ahh, it’s so hard for me to get rid of homeschool stuff- the money 😢😮 or just the idea that we were gonna use something and didn’t…I just tell myself we will, we will, and we just don’t…
Only thing i’ve ever repurchased is baskets and bins but that turned out for the better because i could get exactly what i needed and only organize what i really was going to keep after decluttering.
As I was mentally saying "Donate the binders Erica", I was also justifying why I kept one I'm not using and have no forseeable use for. 😅😅😅 Thank you so much for sharing your process with us. That binder is out of here! ❤️
The full donation bin screams success to me as everytime you identified how the kid(s) DO and DON'T learn and whether or not that item was inline with such. What doesn't work is just as vaild of data! It's not a waste or unexpected! You found what DOES work and are providing for that instead of insisting on these other materials and you carry that data with you into future purchases 😉
I love the deciding what to keep concept. I feel like it makes the discard pile so much easier to live with. Whether its donate or throw away, i think we can all look at things and know we haven't used them, or they no longer fit in the season of life we are in. I have decluttered my kitchen many times. Many. But, I did it again over the hollidays because I realized i just had to many utensils for entertaining. Like alot. I actually found a top to a sippy cup and 2 plastic baby forks, the saftey type that are angled for a baby to use on their own. We haven't had a baby in the family for 14 years! 14 years guys! 😂 If a baby shows up unexpectedly I'll first be really surprised, then make do with what I have..😂😂 I donated them. Anyway, it never surprises me what I run across even tho I feel like I've purged almost everything I don't need or want. We used to have alot of parties and we just don't anymore. Next thing I'm going to go thru is serving dishes and party stuff. I have multiples of everything.
I remember when you did your first whole house declutter bc I did it with you. The past few months I'm feeling the same way I was back then. I have ADD so I legit either see the mess and only the mess, or I see right through it. And when I'm hyper focused on decluttering and organizing I overthink EVERYTHING!!! Anyway, thank you for sharing and being such an inspiration. ❤❤❤
Hello, Erica I am new to your channel, but I love how really and honest you are. I have been binge watching your videos. They are helpful- so thank you. Btw I too have my mothers Scrabble board and will not get rid of. So sorry about the loss of your mom.
You are doing a great job. I think you are to hard on yourself sometimes. I am trying to declutter too. I really got serious a few years ago watching you and other videos about decluttering. All your videos have helped me. It’s just my husband and I now but I don’t want to leave a lot of stuff for my kids to go through some day.
You did a great declutter on everything on your table. Yesterday I decluttered games and puzzles with my youngest daughter. I feel much better that its going out of my house and other families can play them. Today we will go through her books she has. Great video as always!
What if you put your mother’s scrabble dictionary in a memory box? Don’t keep everything. But a few items that will put a smile on your face when you see them. As for the large binders. I hope you decide to donate. You have so much to manage at this season of your life. You can always find some if you ever need them again.
Amazing video Erica, so helpful for me today. I have been watching for years, but always find it helpful to go through it again in my mind. I have been stuck on some items in my craft room and today is the day! I do find it very helpful when I see you working things out on video as I am a visual learner. May I ask you a question about the mapology puzzle? My son is 17 but has severe dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, adhd, and A.S.D. I think something tactile like this would work for him. It is frustrating that they do not make more adult items to help with learning for older students. Or at least I have not yet found them. Hope you are doing well. Jenn
Amazing job!! I really like thinking about the lies. Thank you for that. I am going through more decluttering and my home still isnt where i want it to be. Definitely going to use this! 💖
Good video! I do think it looks like too much inventory is being bought and then a lot has to get donated. Have you addressed the what’s being brought in problem?
I've watched the board and jars move around. I know it was hard for you to release it, but you did. The only thing i questioned were the binders. Only if the D ring size would be better if swapped out for the little ring binders that held the kids' art papers. Otherwise fantastic job!
I’m glad I waited until the end to chime in because you worked through everything so beautifully! Love your honesty! I always remind myself that if it’s less than $20 to replace it’s not worth keeping. If it’s not a definite yes, it’s a no in a lot of situations. I also like asking myself Dana K. White’s decluttering questions, one of which is, “if I needed this item, would it occur to me that I already had one?” Way to go Erica! 🎉
I'm glad you mentioned the 90/90 rule. All of those lies can be counted with it if I really consider how many years I've had something and not used it. Peeling away those layers. I am gathering my drawing supplies. I don't actually draw, just always wanted to learn. I even took half a college class. I actually sew, read, and color. So out the door go the books and pencils. If I want to draw I'm sure I can make do with regular household supplies. Binders! I had a stack and asked several friends and family if they wanted them. The thrift store didn't even want them. Nothing wrong with them but I threw them away. I applaud your donate pile and you pushing through 🌻🍄
Another confirmation re: the binders. Your potential future need for them involves if you move to another state that would require portfolios for the kids, would you really want to take the time, effort, and money to pack them in a interstate move?
I hate clutter, but being a homeschool mom(kids are all grown and out of college now), I understand homeschool clutter. I watch the Minimal Mom, who homeschools and see her tiny library of books and am amazed. We have a whole room dedicated to books--walls with floor to ceiling bookcases. My kids often come to the house for their book clubs and want to borrow a book. When guests are visiting, our conversations often result in us exploring our library to find out info about our discussions. I can never get rid of our books. (exception, school workbooks.) I even have our old Saxon math books--a friend just wanted to borrow an algebra book for his son. I love my books.
Home schooling takes on a life of its own. I help my granddaughter with math and just put everything in a slightly bigger bin.😂😂😂 I found my math manipulatives, from teaching math, for the unit she is working on. She is the youngest, so maybe I will donate it all after her.
Well done. I really need to go through my stuff and tell it stop lying to me and just get rid. When you fill the box so quickly I half expected you to say ‘job done, video over, that was easy’ 😂🤣 Thanks for always keeping it real and talking your decisions out loud. Have a great week. Mary, Joes wife 🙇♀️👏👍💪💐🙏
Way to go Erica! Great job. 👏 I think simplifying your home school routine and the amount of items you have to support your children’s learning objectives is a really good idea. I personally think remembering the adage “Less is More” is helpful when deciding what to keep for educational purposes. This is primarily because too many things in a school room is often bombarding for kids and visually overstimulating. Plus, expecting children to get through using so many items when trying to learn a particular subject, often doesn’t improve learning, but instead creates: 1. Excessive/overly high achievement expectation from those items and from parents wanting them to use them. 2. Time pressures for children trying to get through so many learning materials and manipulative at a time or in limited time- periods or numbers of sessions. 3. Anxiety and stress at having to remember how to uses learning materials i.e. rules, methods and structures. Also the stress of having to get the materials out and put them away or clear them up afterwards. So in a nutshell, I think your decision to simplify and/or get rid of items no longer being used or outgrown is the correct one, which I don’t think you’ll regret. I think one great idea or suggestion when considering getting new course materials or supportive materials is to borrow them first from a learning cop-op, play or book library or other parents in order to see if your children like and get on with using them first before you spend money and time buying them yourself.
Erica, this was so helpful watching you go through the mental process and asking yourself questions. When I tell myself I have the physical space to keep something I also ask if I have the mental space. The answer is almost always “no”. Great video!
This was a great video. Sometimes you just have to really think and confront the thoughts you have had about things! The progress you have made is a real inspiration to me!
It's been interesting to see your journey evolve over the years. I remember your excitement with starting a more zero-waste lifestyle. For me, when I'm weighing whether it's worth storing something or rebuying in the future, it's not just monetary but environmental considerations. If I had the space for binders, I would keep them, rather than buying new plastic or trying to find three quality ones secondhand. It is a slippery slope to justifying keeping everything, for sure, but it just depends on the item. Binders are so useful for so many things, eventually fall apart, etc., so they're a good keep item for me.
This has been so very helpful. I’ve been on a decluttering journey for several years, but I struggle with certain items for either sentimental or “just in case” reasons. Watching you process and reason through your difficult items, and seeing your decision to either release or keep them, is the motivation I need to keep going. You ask great questions of yourself! Thank you, thank you!
Great job! I'm so glad you decided to gift another homeschooling family the $150 math tool. I have a love for wooden items, so it may have been more difficult to part with it. There were some difficult decisions made. Be proud of yourself! Take care, Linda 🦋
😀 Awesome Erica... you CAN do hard things! This was so helpful, identifying the lies and talking through your decluttering decisions based on your truth.
I’ve watched a LOT of decluttering videos, but this one of yours specifically has a new spin and I love your style! It’s very helpful to hear somebody else process out loud. I have the same type of conversations in my head and knowing that others do too makes me feel less alone nice job letting things go, even though it was challenging at times.
Love these videos and how you talk out loud to make your decisions. I think your knowledge of different learning styles has generated the swath of learning resources you have. Commend yourself for working hard to find the best resources to aid learning for different learners. Also the amount of Apps now available is a game changer that wasn’t really an option when you bought many of these resources. Give yourself grace Erica.
It seems like you’ve been homeschooling for a long time now and you pretty much know what kind of learners your kids are so I would say to stop buying all the different newfangled little cards and decks and flippy things in order to save your self from having to Declutter them later when they don’t get used. I can totally see how you would want to do that though because if I was a homeschooling mom which I’m not - I am a grandma - I am the type of person who would do the same thing in collect all things and everything homeschool related. But watching you as an outsider it’s easy for me to say haha ❤
You’re amazing, I love your out loud thought processing, it’s what goes through my head when I’m sorting stuff, make me see why it’s exhausting 😮😢 I hope you get more shelves in your dining room or living area for the novels, family heirlooms and photo albums, and sentimental things, keep them seperate from the school stuff.
Hi Erica! Yay! Well done my friend. I so enjoy the way you talk through your decluttering. I get a lot of encouragement from your videos and lots of good advice! Thank you for sharing your decluttering life with us. In a dark world, you and your family are a ray of sunshine, full of hope and joy. May 2024 be a blessed year for all of you. ❤
Thank you so so so much for being so relatable ❤ For doing this in real time and bringing us along for the crazy, realistic and wonderful thought processes 🌺 I'm at just this point in my decluttering. Where all the trash is tossed and the self confrontation about all the broken things that you are "someday going to fix" is not worth the bad feelings it gives you, and the "duh donations" is gone. What now? The things that are left are all things I want, like and/or have spent money on. How to shift your brain to a new set of standards for the remaining things. Am I the only one struggling with those things? Having anxiety or just plain don't want to be wasteful? People seem to be tossing all kinds of stuff left and right without having any internal struggles. Seeing you having similar reactions to mine and how you deal with them out loud for us to take part is amazing and helpful. So thank you, thank you, thank you! 🥰
I definitely have had a fantasy self it comes to homeschooling . All these things I want to teach and do realistically I can’t get all the things after two years finally just had to face reality hard at first, but in the end it’s so much better for my mental health as well as my child school environment. I’m glad the clutter not there anymore causing me guilt that I haven’t covered on subject or another, or I didn’t play this game or that game😅
Good one Erica. My sis and I like watching you Talk it Out. Thought.. teachers back in the day of one room schoolhouses had minimal supplies and resources. According to Little House OTP kids still learned and thrived 😃
Yes, I certainly enjoy your thought process as u decide what to keep or let go. You could sell the wooden coin set safely by meeting @ a McDonalds or wherever, instead of your home.
I think that maybe you've finally gotten fed up with those useless items that demand to be kept. The 'what if' and the 'but I spent money on it' phrases have lost a lot of their power over your thinking and emotions. I sense that this is a big moment for you. Perhaps now that you've moved through some difficult times and healed enough to resume your 'minimal-ish' mindset, you've realized how little some of those items actually matter and how much harm they can actually cause. Good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back. You've earned it.
Thanks for sharing your process Erica as it is helpful. To add to yours, a question that came to mind, from watching your unpacking videos is, do I want to move this, pack it up and unpack it again? I wonder if you could keep all your homeschool items in the same area by creating the area you were in as the homeschool zone. I wonder this as you were saying to put some of what you were sorting in a closet upstairs. I find it helpful to have the same items or the same purpose of items together and not spread out to avoid being forgotten about and unused. You're so good at connecting learning styles with learning tools.
Because you don’t have enough time to declutter these item is exactly why decluttering helps. Once they are gone, the won’t demand any of your time or attention.
I use binders for my budget and church paperwork. For me having binders at the ready is better than going out shopping for them. They are very useful. Can you sell the coins to one of the co op parents for $40.00?
@@EricaLucasLoves it's finding the time, and trying to figure out where to start! Things were pretty cluttered and messy here before Christmas but then Christmas Eve a friend from church lost her 11 year old daughter in a crash and her oldest boys in the car were in critical condition for a week and they just got home from the hospital ( nurse fell asleep and crashed into them) so things are like way worse here at my home. I can't think with all the mess but I can't figure out where to start! And what a small world!! My husband used to work in havertown at the pep boys! then he worked at Firestone in wynwood about 8 years ago.
Let go of the $$$$ thought and think real estate, constant management of inventory, actual use ! Peace of mind is invaluable
Erica. I hope what I'm about to suggest is helpful for you. Have you read the book, "Goodbye Things" ? If so, go back and re-read. My thought process is A LOT like yours is with all of the questioning. Fumio says that if you want to declutter something 5X's but never actually follow through, it is time to part with it. Save yourself all of that back and forth questioning and angst and just let it go. Donate Donate Donate. Bless the other parents in the CO-OP. We humans are not built (with our 5 thousand yr old brains) to deal with all of this stuff and the sheer amount of questioning that goes along with it. Free yourself!
The only item I've ever missed is a turkey baster! I'm in my 70's and don't want to leave a mess for my kids and grandkids to go through. My house is so easy to keep clean and I love the space. I wish I had known all this when my kids were little. Life would have been so much easier.
😂❤ this made me giggle. The turkey baster. I feel much the same. There are a couple of vintage outfits that I wish I had kept, but only for a moment when I go to look for them, and then I realize they probably wouldn’t fit me and they would frustrate me. In the end, I feel such relief for all the millions of other items being gone.
I so agree with this comment, I Swedish death cleaned at age 65 because knowing my daughter she would not be able to,part with anything of my husband and I… I didn’t want that for her. I never miss a thing I donate…. My decluttering muscle is so strong, it takes me 5 seconds to know whether it stays or goes.. my home is peaceful, calm, orderly, people always tell me when they come to my house they go home like they had a massage very calm….lol
I love that!!
YAY!! This was vintage Erica from the old house basement declutter, talking out loud of why and where and accomplishing the difficult task
Vintage Erica 😂😂😂
Hi Erica, I'm several years into my decluttering and simplifying journey and generally feel like I have good systems to lean into to help me keep making progress. I watched this video last week and today the "this stuff is lying to me" mantra has helped me finally overcome a decluttering hurdle that had been haunting me for years. The end result is a full bag for the charity shop, a pile for the recycling centre and out of the contents of 2 large archive boxes, just a few items will remain in our home. These however will be put away properly, not left cluttering a surface annoying me every time I used that room. As an added bonus, the space I have created and the visible improvement I have made has made me want to continue making progress in that space. I just wanted to reach out and say thanks. It's always a joy to share part of my day with you, but I'm especially thankful for you and your lovely little corner of the internet today. Sending you lots of love from a very cold and wintery South Wales, UK xx
I love that you pass along to others! Yay!
Do you ever get good finds from the swap? I would be interested in a "haul" sort of video.
I loved seeing what you were decluttering. And I liked hearing your thoughts.
Sue Wolfe- I home schooled my oldest 2 sons and acquired a lot of educational material. It did take a couple of years to move on after they went to school for me to part with some items. Fast forward many, many years, and after listening to Dawn from the Minimal Mom, I adopted the 20/20 rule. If I can replace an item for $20 or less in 20 minutes, I can part with it. I don't get emotionally attached to things, but people. Also, once the money is spent, it's spent. Give yourself grace to part with things to let things go to Simplify Your Life!! 👍💪❤️
I used to keep things for my grandkids because I know quality goes down not up but tastes change and things I thought were neat my grand kids could care less about. They do like my old books though so we read and I draw and write silly poems or stories but the rest is mostly gone.
I am a homeschooler as well. The thing that helped me the most was going on a trip for 2 months with the only school supplies being notebook & pencils. Maybe a few chapter books.
We went to museums & learned.
The kids wrote narrations in their notebooks & learned.
We hikedin the forest & learned through observation.
We used our pencils & spirals to sketch.
I did buy watercolors & watercolor paper along the way when a storm kept us inside for a few days. Unlimited possibilities.
We told stories. Free. No supplies.
The kids made up games.
We played on stumps in Maine.
You have a garden- free nature studies.
A really helpful question I ask myself now is, “If I didn’t have this (math fraction manipulative or whatever, what COULD we use to learn this?
Then sit in the discomfort of need for a minute.
Think.
You are creating. You will probably come up with 10 ways to teach fractions if you didn’t have that item. Apples, pizza, cutting paper, nature, Googling ideas, library, chalk, etc.
See what solutions you could create if you didn’t have the “educational “ supplies. 😁
I think the more you get rid of the more creative your learning will be.
6:05 I know I've said it before, but thank you so much for being honest about how difficult it is to get rid of items!❤🤗🌻 It is so frustrating watching other UA-camrs say, "Just get rid of it all! No problems!" 😅 Love your videos and how real they are...it is much more helpful to see an ACTUAL decluttering process and all of the thoughts that go into it. 🎉⭐😃👍🌸
I’m so glad you were here today!
You did a great job! You pushed through!💕
I love how you process in front of the camera! I was saying “DONATE THE BINDERS Erica!!” You made some very good decisions. Love you.
This is a great video... I too used to struggle with the price I paid for things when it came time to declutter... I had to change my mindset. Now I ask myself did I get the use out of it. If I paid $150 for an item, used it for 5 years for 3 kids, that would breakdown to $150/5y= $30 year/3 kids= $10 per kid per year... yeah, I would say I got my use out of it and I would donate it... thinking of it in that way has made it so easy for me to let things go.
You did it!! You took a deep breath, and did it! I enjoy how you talk yourself (and us) through your decisions! It's very helpful. Well, well done!
Someone will LOVE getting that stuff at your co-op.
I only discovered your channel recently and have to tell you how much your thought process while decluttering help me in my own decluttering. These thought processes sound so much like the inner monologs that I have while decluttering.
This video resonated especially with me because I have that exact same 100 board and just can't get myself to declutter it (I started my decluttering journey a little over 2 years ago). It's beautiful, no question but just like you that price tag stuck with me. I wish I'd gotten a cheap one for under $ 20 and this wouldn't cause me so much back and forth. This video sincerely freed me - I feel such relief now getting rid of it.
I love watching you process your items. Probably because I have the same conversations with myself when I'm processing mine! And when you decide to get rid of them, I literally cheer out loud at my phone!!! Thank you for being so open with us, Erica. Decluttering is a hard process and definitely not for the weak!
I also cheer out loud 🎉😂❤
That’s so cool! I will remember that when I film next and picture you cheering!
@@EmilyHercamp17aw thanks!! Love this 😊
I hope you do! I never cheer until YOU decide, it is your decision after all. But the relief I can see when you have made the final decision: priceless!
Let it go! Erica not worth the worry! You are rubbing off on me! I am learning and absorbing what you say and do!
Good Job Erica !! Now, to find a spot to keep what you want to keep. You're so fun to listen to and I love when you question yourself and then the answer comes to you.
The binders fall into the 20/20 rule… if it can be replaced in 20 minutes for $20 or less it can go.. :)
Especially at thrift stores for even less. And allowing the space gained to represent that freedom from that previous umbrellas requirements.
Decluttering feels so good, but the trick is not buying so much
Wow Erica! You did fantastic. I think in the past you would have kept those binders and that expensive counting kit. Your smile at the end made me feel so happy for you, and for me, because I just took some of your energy and will go and get rid of some items I have been hanging onto just because I have room for them. Thank you Erica!!!!!
My grandson gets overwhelmed with too many things.
You did a great job! The money is spent and it is not worth your time and energy to try and recoup that money. Think how happy someone else will be to get those items. As for the sentimental books, why not store them in your bedroom?
Now that’s the Erica that we love to see! You got this !!!❤❤❤
I’m a homeschooler too. Loved watching you declutter and your thought process!
I always love your videos. I homeschool my four kiddos and this was so helpful! I feel better about letting some things go!
Ahh, it’s so hard for me to get rid of homeschool stuff- the money 😢😮 or just the idea that we were gonna use something and didn’t…I just tell myself we will, we will, and we just don’t…
Only thing i’ve ever repurchased is baskets and bins but that turned out for the better because i could get exactly what i needed and only organize what i really was going to keep after decluttering.
As I was mentally saying "Donate the binders Erica", I was also justifying why I kept one I'm not using and have no forseeable use for. 😅😅😅 Thank you so much for sharing your process with us. That binder is out of here! ❤️
And if you need 1, 10, 50 of them in the future, ask some buy-nothing group. Binders can be found in seconds if you just ask. 😁
I love the question "is my stuff lying to me", I'm going to be using that question. Thank you for your honesty of feeling over whelmed.
Just heard the phrase "..mistake people make is decorating against their habits" 💥 👏
The full donation bin screams success to me as everytime you identified how the kid(s) DO and DON'T learn and whether or not that item was inline with such. What doesn't work is just as vaild of data! It's not a waste or unexpected! You found what DOES work and are providing for that instead of insisting on these other materials and you carry that data with you into future purchases 😉
Miss you! I keep checking on UA-cam to see if you’ve posted! I hope you and your family are having a wonderful week!
I love the deciding what to keep concept. I feel like it makes the discard pile so much easier to live with. Whether its donate or throw away, i think we can all look at things and know we haven't used them, or they no longer fit in the season of life we are in. I have decluttered my kitchen many times. Many. But, I did it again over the hollidays because I realized i just had to many utensils for entertaining. Like alot. I actually found a top to a sippy cup and 2 plastic baby forks, the saftey type that are angled for a baby to use on their own. We haven't had a baby in the family for 14 years! 14 years guys! 😂 If a baby shows up unexpectedly I'll first be really surprised, then make do with what I have..😂😂 I donated them. Anyway, it never surprises me what I run across even tho I feel like I've purged almost everything I don't need or want. We used to have alot of parties and we just don't anymore. Next thing I'm going to go thru is serving dishes and party stuff. I have multiples of everything.
I remember when you did your first whole house declutter bc I did it with you. The past few months I'm feeling the same way I was back then. I have ADD so I legit either see the mess and only the mess, or I see right through it. And when I'm hyper focused on decluttering and organizing I overthink EVERYTHING!!! Anyway, thank you for sharing and being such an inspiration. ❤❤❤
I have stored binders for the last 10 years. You walking through that was helpful! I have decided to move on from them
my youngest got 12 new christmas toys and we donated 12 old toys. not keeping all this stuff anymore.
Thank you for talking things out, because I’m just like this. I wondering if I should keep it or not. You make it easy to Declutter.
I like watching how you process getting rid of hard items. Thank you for talking about the lies that hold us back.
Hello, Erica I am new to your channel, but I love how really and honest you are. I have been binge watching your videos. They are helpful- so thank you. Btw I too have my mothers Scrabble board and will not get rid of. So sorry about the loss of your mom.
You are doing a great job. I think you are to hard on yourself sometimes. I am trying to declutter too. I really got serious a few years ago watching you and other videos about decluttering. All your videos have helped me. It’s just my husband and I now but I don’t want to leave a lot of stuff for my kids to go through some day.
It helped so much to share in the emotions and thought processes you went through. You are an Amazon of decluttering. Yay!!!
I hope you and your family are doing well, Erica. Kind regards.
Very helpful as I've been dealing with some of these exact thoughts! Thankyou ❤
You did a great declutter on everything on your table. Yesterday I decluttered games and puzzles with my youngest daughter. I feel much better that its going out of my house and other families can play them. Today we will go through her books she has. Great video as always!
What if you put your mother’s scrabble dictionary in a memory box? Don’t keep everything. But a few items that will put a smile on your face when you see them. As for the large binders. I hope you decide to donate. You have so much to manage at this season of your life. You can always find some if you ever need them again.
I understand the stress of portfolios. I currently teach Pre-K and I have to do a portfolio on 18 kids
I love watching you declutter, it makes me not feel so alone in my decluttering journey. Thanks!❤
Amazing video Erica, so helpful for me today. I have been watching for years, but always find it helpful to go through it again in my mind. I have been stuck on some items in my craft room and today is the day! I do find it very helpful when I see you working things out on video as I am a visual learner. May I ask you a question about the mapology puzzle? My son is 17 but has severe dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, adhd, and A.S.D. I think something tactile like this would work for him. It is frustrating that they do not make more adult items to help with learning for older students. Or at least I have not yet found them. Hope you are doing well. Jenn
You’ve come so incredibly far from the beginning! Love watching your content. ❤️
Amazing job!! I really like thinking about the lies. Thank you for that. I am going through more decluttering and my home still isnt where i want it to be. Definitely going to use this! 💖
Good video! I do think it looks like too much inventory is being bought and then a lot has to get donated. Have you addressed the what’s being brought in problem?
I've watched the board and jars move around. I know it was hard for you to release it, but you did. The only thing i questioned were the binders. Only if the D ring size would be better if swapped out for the little ring binders that held the kids' art papers. Otherwise fantastic job!
It felt like a big release to let that board go!!
I’m glad I waited until the end to chime in because you worked through everything so beautifully! Love your honesty! I always remind myself that if it’s less than $20 to replace it’s not worth keeping. If it’s not a definite yes, it’s a no in a lot of situations. I also like asking myself Dana K. White’s decluttering questions, one of which is, “if I needed this item, would it occur to me that I already had one?” Way to go Erica! 🎉
I'm glad you mentioned the 90/90 rule. All of those lies can be counted with it if I really consider how many years I've had something and not used it. Peeling away those layers. I am gathering my drawing supplies. I don't actually draw, just always wanted to learn. I even took half a college class. I actually sew, read, and color. So out the door go the books and pencils. If I want to draw I'm sure I can make do with regular household supplies. Binders! I had a stack and asked several friends and family if they wanted them. The thrift store didn't even want them. Nothing wrong with them but I threw them away. I applaud your donate pile and you pushing through 🌻🍄
Another confirmation re: the binders. Your potential future need for them involves if you move to another state that would require portfolios for the kids, would you really want to take the time, effort, and money to pack them in a interstate move?
Well done Erica.
Good for you Erica !
I hate clutter, but being a homeschool mom(kids are all grown and out of college now), I understand homeschool clutter. I watch the Minimal Mom, who homeschools and see her tiny library of books and am amazed. We have a whole room dedicated to books--walls with floor to ceiling bookcases. My kids often come to the house for their book clubs and want to borrow a book. When guests are visiting, our conversations often result in us exploring our library to find out info about our discussions. I can never get rid of our books. (exception, school workbooks.) I even have our old Saxon math books--a friend just wanted to borrow an algebra book for his son. I love my books.
Home schooling takes on a life of its own. I help my granddaughter with math and just put everything in a slightly bigger bin.😂😂😂 I found my math manipulatives, from teaching math, for the unit she is working on. She is the youngest, so maybe I will donate it all after her.
Your videos are SO helpful - watching you process these items - wow - I am so grateful ❤
Well done. I really need to go through my stuff and tell it stop lying to me and just get rid. When you fill the box so quickly I half expected you to say ‘job done, video over, that was easy’ 😂🤣 Thanks for always keeping it real and talking your decisions out loud. Have a great week. Mary, Joes wife 🙇♀️👏👍💪💐🙏
Way to go Erica! Great job. 👏 I think simplifying your home school routine and the amount of items you have to support your children’s learning objectives is a really good idea. I personally think remembering the adage “Less is More” is helpful when deciding what to keep for educational purposes. This is primarily because too many things in a school room is often bombarding for kids and visually overstimulating. Plus, expecting children to get through using so many items when trying to learn a particular subject, often doesn’t improve learning, but instead creates:
1. Excessive/overly high achievement expectation from those items and from parents wanting them to use them.
2. Time pressures for children trying to get through so many learning materials and manipulative at a time or in limited time- periods or numbers of sessions.
3. Anxiety and stress at having to remember how to uses learning materials i.e. rules, methods and structures. Also the stress of having to get the materials out and put them away or clear them up afterwards.
So in a nutshell, I think your decision to simplify and/or get rid of items no longer being used or outgrown is the correct one, which I don’t think you’ll regret. I think one great idea or suggestion when considering getting new course materials or supportive materials is to borrow them first from a learning cop-op, play or book library or other parents in order to see if your children like and get on with using them first before you spend money and time buying them yourself.
I have to tackle Christmas bins...this month...and declutter big time. I hope I can do it as sensibly as you just did with your items. Well done!
❤erica Lucas! 🎉❤inspiring!❤❤❤❤ I love you girl🎉❤
I enjoy hearing your thought processes. Great declutter!
Erica, this was so helpful watching you go through the mental process and asking yourself questions. When I tell myself I have the physical space to keep something I also ask if I have the mental space. The answer is almost always “no”. Great video!
This was a great video. Sometimes you just have to really think and confront the thoughts you have had about things! The progress you have made is a real inspiration to me!
I am so proud of you!!! 🤓❤
I need to declutter and clean my craft room so starting today. I will go through some of the same emotions and exhaustion as I do. You did great 😊
Erica, so proud of you. The struggle is real and knowing I'm not alone in the struggle is so helpful..
thanks for sharing your vulnerable process, Erica. It is not always pretty, but it is what it is.
When I think back to your earliest videos, I see how far you've come! And, I am so impressed!!! Congratulations on the Growth of YOU!!!!
It's been interesting to see your journey evolve over the years. I remember your excitement with starting a more zero-waste lifestyle. For me, when I'm weighing whether it's worth storing something or rebuying in the future, it's not just monetary but environmental considerations. If I had the space for binders, I would keep them, rather than buying new plastic or trying to find three quality ones secondhand. It is a slippery slope to justifying keeping everything, for sure, but it just depends on the item. Binders are so useful for so many things, eventually fall apart, etc., so they're a good keep item for me.
This has been so very helpful. I’ve been on a decluttering journey for several years, but I struggle with certain items for either sentimental or “just in case” reasons. Watching you process and reason through your difficult items, and seeing your decision to either release or keep them, is the motivation I need to keep going. You ask great questions of yourself! Thank you, thank you!
Great job! I'm so glad you decided to gift another homeschooling family the $150 math tool. I have a love for wooden items, so it may have been more difficult to part with it. There were some difficult decisions made. Be proud of yourself! Take care, Linda 🦋
😀 Awesome Erica... you CAN do hard things!
This was so helpful, identifying the lies and talking through your decluttering decisions based on your truth.
One thing at a time!
I’ve watched a LOT of decluttering videos, but this one of yours specifically has a new spin and I love your style! It’s very helpful to hear somebody else process out loud. I have the same type of conversations in my head and knowing that others do too makes me feel less alone nice job letting things go, even though it was challenging at times.
Love these videos and how you talk out loud to make your decisions. I think your knowledge of different learning styles has generated the swath of learning resources you have. Commend yourself for working hard to find the best resources to aid learning for different learners. Also the amount of Apps now available is a game changer that wasn’t really an option when you bought many of these resources. Give yourself grace Erica.
It seems like you’ve been homeschooling for a long time now and you pretty much know what kind of learners your kids are so I would say to stop buying all the different newfangled little cards and decks and flippy things in order to save your self from having to Declutter them later when they don’t get used. I can totally see how you would want to do that though because if I was a homeschooling mom which I’m not - I am a grandma - I am the type of person who would do the same thing in collect all things and everything homeschool related. But watching you as an outsider it’s easy for me to say haha ❤
Yay! You did it!❤🎉 It is so hard when you spend money on things, but look at it like you are retiring it after it did its job.
You’re amazing, I love your out loud thought processing, it’s what goes through my head when I’m sorting stuff, make me see why it’s exhausting 😮😢 I hope you get more shelves in your dining room or living area for the novels, family heirlooms and photo albums, and sentimental things, keep them seperate from the school stuff.
Loved how you processed decluttering out the math counters!
Good advice!
Hi Erica! Yay! Well done my friend. I so enjoy the way you talk through your decluttering. I get a lot of encouragement from your videos and lots of good advice! Thank you for sharing your decluttering life with us. In a dark world, you and your family are a ray of sunshine, full of hope and joy. May 2024 be a blessed year for all of you. ❤
Thank you so so so much for being so relatable ❤ For doing this in real time and bringing us along for the crazy, realistic and wonderful thought processes 🌺
I'm at just this point in my decluttering. Where all the trash is tossed and the self confrontation about all the broken things that you are "someday going to fix" is not worth the bad feelings it gives you, and the "duh donations" is gone. What now? The things that are left are all things I want, like and/or have spent money on. How to shift your brain to a new set of standards for the remaining things. Am I the only one struggling with those things? Having anxiety or just plain don't want to be wasteful? People seem to be tossing all kinds of stuff left and right without having any internal struggles.
Seeing you having similar reactions to mine and how you deal with them out loud for us to take part is amazing and helpful. So thank you, thank you, thank you! 🥰
Great job!
I definitely have had a fantasy self it comes to homeschooling . All these things I want to teach and do realistically I can’t get all the things after two years finally just had to face reality hard at first, but in the end it’s so much better for my mental health as well as my child school environment. I’m glad the clutter not there anymore causing me guilt that I haven’t covered on subject or another, or I didn’t play this game or that game😅
Good one Erica. My sis and I like watching you Talk it Out. Thought.. teachers back in the day of one room schoolhouses had minimal supplies and resources. According to Little House OTP kids still learned and thrived 😃
Decluttering homeschool things, especially for multiple kids, is a whole different level of simple living and thought processes 😅
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
😊😊😊
Yes, I certainly enjoy your thought process as u decide what to keep or let go. You could sell the wooden coin set safely by meeting @ a McDonalds or wherever, instead of your home.
I think that maybe you've finally gotten fed up with those useless items that demand to be kept. The 'what if' and the 'but I spent money on it' phrases have lost a lot of their power over your thinking and emotions. I sense that this is a big moment for you. Perhaps now that you've moved through some difficult times and healed enough to resume your 'minimal-ish' mindset, you've realized how little some of those items actually matter and how much harm they can actually cause. Good for you. Give yourself a pat on the back. You've earned it.
Thanks for sharing your process Erica as it is helpful. To add to yours, a question that came to mind, from watching your unpacking videos is, do I want to move this, pack it up and unpack it again? I wonder if you could keep all your homeschool items in the same area by creating the area you were in as the homeschool zone. I wonder this as you were saying to put some of what you were sorting in a closet upstairs. I find it helpful to have the same items or the same purpose of items together and not spread out to avoid being forgotten about and unused. You're so good at connecting learning styles with learning tools.
Because you don’t have enough time to declutter these item is exactly why decluttering helps. Once they are gone, the won’t demand any of your time or attention.
I use binders for my budget and church paperwork. For me having binders at the ready is better than going out shopping for them. They are very useful. Can you sell the coins to one of the co op parents for $40.00?
Hey Erica, feel like traveling to Lancaster Pa to help me?! I'm so stuck!!! And every time I start to make a little progress.....kids 😜
And by the way, did you use to live in broomal? I used to live in that area too! Media was our library, and we had a weekly CO op on Brookhaven!
It’s so hard to declutter with kids! What have been some challenges? Time? They don’t want to donate toys?
I did! We had the Marple library and a co-op in Havertown!
@@EricaLucasLoves it's finding the time, and trying to figure out where to start! Things were pretty cluttered and messy here before Christmas but then Christmas Eve a friend from church lost her 11 year old daughter in a crash and her oldest boys in the car were in critical condition for a week and they just got home from the hospital ( nurse fell asleep and crashed into them) so things are like way worse here at my home. I can't think with all the mess but I can't figure out where to start!
And what a small world!! My husband used to work in havertown at the pep boys! then he worked at Firestone in wynwood about 8 years ago.