We have been so busy around her de-cluttering and getting ready for company that will be visiting soon(in only a few short days now), that I have been remiss in reporting my Lighten the Load Challenge 2009 updates over here. I have been pretty consistent with posting progress on the Lighten the Load Facebook Group Discussion Board, but time has been in too short supply around here for posting any place else.

This past week:

350 Units Debt Reduction

65 Units of Junk out the door in one fashion or another

2 Units of personal weight loss

And one more celebration!!! I now have new bathroom flooring! My kitchen flooring still looks like something you would find in an abandoned house, but hopefully soon this too will be replaced. I am so tired of the boxes of flooring taking up room in the dining room. It was become such a fixture in the dining room that stuff is now sitting on top of the stack…NOT a good sign!

We are still looking for others to join in on our challenge, if even for a short while. The Facebook group is growing slowly. Come along…invite your friends…let’s make it a party!

Monday is now the “official” day for reporting progress, struggles, ideas, and suggestions with the Lighten the Load Challenge. Feel free to link your progress post on your own blog in the comments of this entry…OR…post it at the new Facebook Lighten the Load Challenge Group.

Today’s update includes all progress from January 1 to this point. Here goes:

Sold VW: 1500 Units (weight)

Debt: 250 Units

eBay: 8 Units

Unfortunately, there was no actual debt reduction with the sale of the VW. Tags, taxes, etc. were all due at the end of the year…so the mula went to that huge bill.

I figured the debt reduction on the amount the principal was actually lowered and not on what I paid, ‘cuz you KNOW I am payin’ some interest here.

The eBay reduction comes from the weight of the products actualy mailed. Because of my closed actions last night, I will be able to show more progress in this area next Monday. I have decided to only post a reduction AFTER it is physically shipped.

Taking small steps toward my challenge is what is going to help me be successful. Our family has been fairly sick, with little motivation to do much of anything., but I did conquer one very tiny area of our house. The MEDICINE CABINET. I am embarrassed to report that I had box after box, and bottle after bottle of different meds that had expired. I went through every package, every prescription bottle and cleared out everything that was expired. I even pealed the labels off of the prescription bottles, so that they could be recylcled.

Speaking of which, our recycling bins are filling quickly, which will show a fair amount of progress after the first Saturday in February. I can hardly wait.

So tell us your progress, your struggles, your concerns, and YOUR ideas for reduction of clutter, weight and debt.

Now I have gone and done it. Not only have I joined facebook, but I have actually formed my very own first group for the Lighten the Load Challenge. So if you are a facebook user, rush right over there and join the group. If you are not a facebook user, now is as good a time as any.

While I was at facebook today, I was able to add Jules Dervaes and Path to Freedom to my friends list. You know I can never get enough of them.Hope to see you there soon!

In my post, Lighten the Load Confessionals, I shared with you that I am challenging myself to rid myself of 11,500 units of household weight, personal weight and debt between now and the end of the year.

Example: Personally lose 3 lbs  + DH’s loss of 5lbs + $200 in debt reduce + 100 lbs of household items donated, sold, recycled, etc. =

a loss of 308 Units for one week!

With this kind of progress over 52 weeks that would result in a loss of 16,016 units.  Again this is just an example.

Understanding that reducing debt by $200 and reducing clutter by 100 lbs. each, and every, week are a lofty thoughts (I am avoiding the G— word here), I feel I have can reasonably assume that my chosen unit target is attainable.

I am challenging myself and announcing my 11,500 goal publicly so I can solicit your help in  motivating me to post my records for all the world to see.If you are interested in joining me in shedding unwanted, stress-causing, factors in your life….I welcome you with open arms. Set your own parameters to Lighten the Load in your life….everyone has their own concerns, stress buttons, etc. I just welcome having someone to share the challenges, exchange ideas and to celebrate the victories. If you would like, please feel free to grab the widget as small motivational reminder for yourself or as recognition for taking the first steps.  If we develop even a small group, I may just have to design some real badges of honor for completing different levels of the individual challenges. Did that make sense at all?

Stress has been ever present for me these past several months and has been building to a point of great frustration and anxiety. My house and my jeans are are bursting at the seems. I have struggled with weight my entire life, so that is nothing new…but this issue with my house has me to the point of nightmares.  I need help! I need help, but the house is so bad I could not let anyone step inside TO help. I would have to clean the house BEFORE the housekeeper came.

Everywhere I turn, there is more stuff. We really bit off more than we could handle when we purchased this 2 bedroom, one bath, 100 year old house. The bathroom is 6×6 with only a claw foot tub. We shower in a make-do stall in the middle of a partially finnished basement. I have only two very, VERY small closets….my daughter’s and the one where I store some Christmas items. I have an eBay room, that is overflowing with all of my teaching supplies (as is a storage area in the building behind the house), and odds and ends of this and that. I have another room that I would like to use as a large walk-in pantry, but it is full to the ceiling with boxes of stuff that we have not unpacked from partially moving in. Guess at this point I should point out that I actually have furniture in two separate houses…because I did not want all of my furniture here in the way while we were remodeling/restoring. For four years, I have lived out of Rubbermaid containers and used make-shift rods for hanging clothes. I don’t have a linen closet…well that is if you count the Rubbermaid container.

I feel as though this clutter/mess perpetuates itself with the stress and my total shut down of being able to function or to figure a way out of it. The mountain of clutter scattered throughout my house is so mind boggling that I absolutely do just shut down….and when I shut down…. nothing gets accomplished AND the clutter/mess gets worse…and so on and so on.  Sometimes I wonder if I am lazy and that is reason/excuse that I cannot seem to get motivated to get organized, but then I realize that my inability to cope is because the overall project is so overwhelming.

In addition to the craziness of my household, I have gained so much weight over these past two years. I am not confident enough to share exactly how much I weigh, but I will share that it is to the point that I am beginning to have medical problems. My family has a history of heart disease and my mother passed away before she turned 60…so turning 50 this past year has added even more to my stress levels.

Debt is another stressful issue at the moment. My two year hiatus is over in a couple of months…the funds have dwindled and unfortunately, we cannot live on one income. Hais’ college expenses are looming on the horizon. In my current mindset and physical condition, I cannot see myself going back to teaching. I either have to get 3/4 of my debt reduced within 6 months or find a way to make decent money working from home…or I will be back to teaching full time. (Just a bit of a disclaimer here…I LOVE teaching…I just do not like everything that goes with it.)

Around the world, people make their New Year’s goals– with weight loss and getting organized usually at or near the top of the list. The older I get, the more that making New Year’s Goals seems futile. I never seem to accomplish those goals, so why bother to set them?So, what am I going to do? Well, I have decided that I am NOT going to just throw my hands up in despair. I am going to take action…small steps toward a total goal of lessening my anxiety in the form of debt, weight and other crap in my life. (please excuse my language for a moment)

I wonder if there are others who struggle with these same issues…in part or whole. If so, I invite you to join me in my own challenge for this year…nope NOT a goal…but a challenge to “Lighten the Load in 2009″. To lighten my debt burden, lighten the weight causing excruciating pain on my back and knees….AND to lighten the weight of the crap (ooops that word again) in my house will be my challenge for these next 11 and one half months. I am challenging myself to Lighten the Load by 11,500 units. A unit is a pound or a dollar….and yes, I have some pretty heavy items in my household. In fact, I am going to knock 1500 off of the list almost immediately, because we just sold our little 1970 VW Beetle.

So here I am confessing my short-comings, fears, and general anxieties about life in hopes that it will motivate me to move forward in a positive, deliberate manner. Would you like to join me?