Yes! I already have a small bag that stores clothes I'm planning on selling on eBay, and a small pile of kitchen stuff to get rid of - and I identified a good place for the Outbox, and consolidated the items into them. So - done, and done! W00t! Can't wait to add to it!

This comes at a perfect moment. I just learned this morning that our town has a facebook site called Community Closet - where you can give things away to people who want them. It turns a cold-hearted discard into an act of generosity. Now my only regret is the many things I've gotten rid of already this year.

Excited to be digging in to the Cure. One request: any chance the daily posts could be sent first thing in the morning? When I woke up I was eager to read details about my "assignment," but it wasn't there. My day is well underway and planned by the time it pops into my inbox. Thanks for considering it!

I concur with laurelsg. I would love these to be sent earlier.

hmmm, the apartment is kinda like a perpetual outbox if you really think about it

Dulcibella, What an amazing idea your community has! I envy the fact they can get together to do this.

As for the Outbox, as it happens, I'd already set up such a site in my apartment, above the box of frames I have yet to hang, I've placed items I'm looking for a new home for. I tell my home aide she can take anything there for her family or to give as gifts to others and the rest I'll give to a charity shop. I'll have to tell my ex about this idea. Really, he's the one in desperate need of the January (lifelong) Cure.

Agree with laurelsg and leanner. Earlier, please?

My cat has taken up residence in my outbox :(

I think he's trying to tell me something and I'm pretty sure that something is "don't you dare get rid of this perfectly good box." He's never been a terribly helpful cat....

ooops -- now two days behind! but i promise to catch up by tomorrow. "things" came up all of a sudden, as they will. though in my brain-pan i was totally rarin' to go, i greatly appreciate the cure beginning gently. thank you ever so!

Ah...finally, the appropriate place for the food processor that has broken a key part. And the grad school text books that are too old to sell but still on my living room shelf--ugly, unread, unnecessary. Yay for the Outbox!

Yes, I'm with Karen C, laurelsg, and leanner. Would be great it if was delivered at 7am :)

Hello! I echo the request for the earlier therapy email!

I am doing this January Cure along side The Eight Step Home Cure, so the timing is perfect!

Making my list yesterday of projectes around my 322 square-foot home was a lot harder than getting the outbox going this morning!

My outbox is my favorite thing home accessory! The container changes shape as things pass through the door. Right now it is a pretty flowered box with some unopened personal care products inside, a bike lock with only one key, and a duplicate piece for the food processor!

My guests love going through what they call the "give away" pile by the door when they are on their way home, and almost always take something home with them!

Also agree about the earlier posting. These past two days, i woke up looking forward to my assignment. What does that say about me?

8 skirts, 2 dresses, 8 pairs of shoes, 32 clothes hangers, an old 'spare' duvet, a box of broken candles (I was going to melt them down into new ones, honest), 45 old magazines (!). Good new: found a fiver in an old bag (keeping in the outbox for now):
Bad news: about to TRY my hardest to reduce my photo collection from 16,000 (13,000 on computer, 3,000 on paper) by 50%. Pray for me.

Hi everyone -

I will try and get it sent out earlier tomorrow - thanks for the feedback...and for being so eager to work on the Cure!

My email arrived at 11 am US Eastern time--earlier would be better.

Yay! I'm excited for this. My husband will have a hard time with it, but I am having him do this process with me so it will be good for him.

Ha, already got that one in the works! This is easy! I was wondering what an outbox would turn out to be.

This is so awesome. I am plain and simply one of those people who can not seem to get rid of things. Especially, when I know that I need to.
Thank you.

I can't wait to set up a new outbox. That was one of my favorite things about the other Cure I did. I don't know why I don't have a permanent one!

Genius idea. And I know exactly what I'm going to put in it as the first item, too. A new guy brought a bottle of mead to my condo on our second date. The mead was in a bright blue bottle with a stopper top. I washed out the bottle to keep, because it's really neat. But it reminds me of him, which annoys me (he disappeared off the face of the earth for no apparent reason after the second date). Every day I look at that blue bottle and try to decide what to do with it and whether I should just throw it away and be done with it. It has been traveling around my kitchen for the past two months, sitting in different spots. I actually threw it away in the kitchen trash can earlier this week but took it back out the next morning. This morning it was sitting in front of the iron, and I needed to use the iron, so I again had to ask myself whether I should throw it away or not, and I had to move it to yet another location. Amazing how much mental energy I'm expending thinking about that stupid bottle. And I will soon be free!

I agree with earlier (7am eastcoast) if not the night before My only time during the week to do chores is in the morning before work. I wish I knew what an outbox was because I was gungho this morning too! lol.

Oh, and not box can fit my outbox (I know it said we don't need a box, good!). I think I am just going to need to tape off a part of my livingroom...yeah, it's that bad.

I am participating in the Cure from many time zones away and got the email at midnight 0000h 4 January - I am already 12 hours behind everyone else in NYC! I stayed up to check my mail and just do what I can for the day. The PDF calendar is a great heads up so excuse me if I start strategising on how to catch up with everyone in my sleep! Good nite Cure buddies!

alahoop - oh but you *will* have a perm one!

we use trader joe's bags but any bag will do. I like them because I grab them on the way to homeless shelter on saturday and we're off. The shelter's stire reuses them at checkout and then (hopefully) the shopper does too.

My outbox IS my Cure problem. I set it up, I filled it up, and then it sat ... and sat. I even moved with it. I'm always intending to actually get the stuff out of my house, but since it's so neatly boxed up, I tend to think, "Why not later? I'll just dust around it for now." I need help giving the contents the old heave-ho!

I am behind too! Just did my list, and now doing the outbox:)

i'm like cremedela... in one of my closets is a bag of old clothes that needs to be donated - but it's been sitting there for years - yes, years. last summer i put another bunch of stuff into it - still there. one teensy problem i face is that i don't drive - so taking things to the donation centre is always a major chore for me.

Why would someone outbox a perfectly decent bicycle? >..<

((ouch, quit hittin'))

So I already have several places in my apartment where stuff is that I know I either need to get rid of or store. But putting it all in one place. That's an idea. I guess my fear was always if I put stuff in the closet it's out of sight, out of mind. But if I am consciously making this my outbox, well I think I could do that.
oK DONE, that was cathartic!

Already set up, and thanks. Because I'm a regular reader, we now do this monthly. Not that you could really notice, as we seem to have heaps of old stuff, but the movement is in the right direction.

Setting up my outbox inspired me to clean up one of my dreaded kitchen corners. First item in--some old lotteria candles. Hope they make the next owner as happy as they did my 17 y/o self.

That was easy! We have a pile of stuff to donate already in our office. Everything so far there is clearly marked "Goodwill" and has been there a week, so we just need to donate it -- in fact, that was part of my list yesterday! Now I'll just continue to use that space for stuff I'm undecided about, too. ;)

This is such a good idea! I have so many old clothes that I never wear that are just taking up space in my small apartment bedroom. Finally going to do something about that!

My entire desk can be the outbox, right? Because it already is....oh wait. It's also a project as well...DOH.

I'm covered on this one. I keep a bag in the bottom of the closet. Anything that doesn't look "right" goes in the bag. The full bag is taken down to the recycle area of our building - building staff disposes of it.

Other than clothes - I put anything to be disposed of with my other recycle bottles/boxes/cans and take it down a couple of times a week.

i literally have no room for one. my outbox is going to be my car trunk. is that wrong? lol.

My outbox has old towels & some old, outgrown kid coats, all for donation. I don't need to wait & think about those items at all, so the outbox will soon be empty! And I know I'll need to fill it up several more times.

BTW, are we supposed to be getting email alerts? I haven't been receiving any emails (I did get Janel's confirmation email that I signed up though.)

Just threw a bunch of never worn clothes into the outbox, as well as random tchotchkes acquired over the years. Off to a good start already.

Day 2: Estefania's List
Set up an Outbox, a paper bag inside my closet, and an old t-shirt was the first item to go. I made sure the baby was asleep, drank a big glass of water, took a deep breath, played a song that inspired me to move fast and took the table out the living room, I emptied and dusted the shelves, 8 total, and put everything back. Another song, water and I lost focus which last me less than 20 minutes, how inspirational. I don't want to wake up the baby while I work, I decided to stop and made brownies with Dulce de Leche for my kids instead. I did what Apartment Therapy want me to and because was simple enough it further motivated me to do something else, and even if that was not too much either, is something that at the end of the month will make the difference. Baby is up, brownies are ready and we will be busy for the rest of today.

tallsarah,

Yes, I've been sending emails - you should have gotten one yesterday and today. Email me @ janel@apartmenttherapy.com with your email details and I'll try and get it sorted out.

My outbox will have to remain smaller than I would like. I live with two roommates, one of whom seems to be a magnet for junk that reminds him of college. The boys let me decorate out apartment but weird stuff keeps creeping in. Last time I left a large plastic penguin appeared in our living room fireplace. Any ideas on how I can control his hoard?

Love the Outbox! However, once I decide to get rid of something, another whole stage of inertia sets in. I dread finding a box or bag to put things in, wrapping up breakables, loading the car, and driving to various charities to drop off items. My "Outbox" tends to fill my entry porch to the point of making it impassable! I wish the Outbox would just magically empty itself weekly.

I already have an "outbox" in a closet. It still has all the rejects from my last closet cleaning, which I think I did in July... oops.

Is anyone else getting a bit overwhelmed by their list from yesterday? So. Many. Projects. And some of my projects make more sense to do the whole house at once rather than room by room.

Cleaning my ceilings is giving me trouble. It requires ladders and big, long brushes that are stored under the porch -- I don't want to get those tools out and put them back multiple times. On the other hand, I can only work on the ceilings for about 90 minutes before my arms give out. I need a cleaning consultant!

Just what I need! I can't wait to get started on this!!!

Parnassus - why not designate a week to ceiling cleaning? Just count on having the ceiling cleaning ladders/brushes etc out for that week. Work for as long as you can and then take a break and start again when your arms aren't killing you. Then you'll only get the stuff out once, and you'll only be living with it for a week.

I'm not participating in the cure, was just looking at this but seems I am ahead of the game.... my outbox is an actual box that gets put by the side of the road when the big sisters announce that they are stopping by. So easy.
I never go through the stuff though - my reasoning is that if I remember and miss something I put in there, I will take it out of the box and keep using it but I will not make myself remember by looking at the stuff once it is in the box.

My box has clothes for Goodwill, going tomorrow when the car gets its oil changed.

BTW, the link above to "10 Things We Should Have Gotten Rid of a Long Time Ago" does not take you there, but to the "What's in Your Outbox" post. Hope you can fix it - I'd love to know what I should have gotten rid of!

My "outbox" is a bedroom. We're supposedly turning it into an office but it's been three years and things just seem to accumulate there. I'm afraid that it things make there way to that room they will just sit...forever.

Also, my idea of things that belong in the outbox differ from my husbands. It's going to be an interesting month.

jmhill926 - thanks and sorry - link is fixed!

I always have bags of clothes on the go (why can't they walk themselves to Goodwill?) but sorting anything, even laundry, in a 350 sq/ft apartment is such a pain. I will have to plan to not have any visitors apart from my very patient SO until it's all carted away.

PS for Canadians the Canadian Diabetes Assoc will pick up your used clothes and household items for you - you can book online and just put your labeled bags outside for them. http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/supporting-us/clothesline/how-to-donate/

First things in my outbox will be old clothes, an overly-crazed mixing bowl, a couple of computer accessories from computers long ago, some "overstock" in my crafting area, linens or towels that have run their course, and more of the continually-reducing trohv of family photos. I have so many of our family photos from childhood that it's taking up Rubbermaid boxes. Not cool and definitely not memory invoking. Can't wait to outbox tonight!

Have my calendar printed and the first two days crossed off. Off to a good start!

For those who liked the "Community Chest" idea, there is always Freecycle.
http://www.freecycle.org

Hi, enjoying company and projects.. But like tallsarah, although signed up, no email alerts??
Think I could really benefit, so please let me know if there is something else I need to do.
Thanks
Boh

This is great! I use the freedom filer for our paper files, and it rotates the files for 2 years. I file everything now (bills, receipts, ...), and in January 2015, I'll sort/shred/recycle these papers. Much easier to shred a utility bill that is two years old than one I just paid.

Great idea. You know it's a winner as we're already seeing the verbification of the word "outbox!" (See looseleaf's post, above.)

Pondering my first item as I type.

So excited. I'm designating an entire bedroom for the outbox. I'm in a house not an apartment, so this will be a monumental task. First item, a bread maker that has not been used in 10 years.

My outbox seems to have already designated itself, at the bottom of the stairs by the front door. That way, if it grows too big (and I'll know because I won't be able to get to the kitchen) then it's time for a donation trip!

SophieTO - THANK YOU from London! :-)

My outbox is a taped off area of floor - in the hope that once the heap starts spilling over I shall drag it to a charity shop.

This PDF gives a broad overview of the January 2013 Cure. It doesn't solve the late email issue but it's helpful as a sneak preview for upcoming tasks.

We donate twice a month to Goodwill or St. Vincent's--a habit I picked up from a previous Cure. Our problem is that we're not consistent about the location of our "box."

Thank you for this.

Okay I bit the big bullet - pulling out ALL clothes I have not worn in a year, yes all of them. They have found a new home and my small closet looks amazing - only my favorite clothes I can actually fit into! I feel so free and relieved. I have no idea why that is so hard. Now I'm ready for the next step.

Another who would like earlier emails. I'm in Australia and not getting them until 3am the next day. Otherwise I'm really enjoying this approach to getting the house in order.

I'm in New Zealand, so I'm a day ahead ! Day:1 The list, it was excellent to be more realistic and not try to do everything in one go. Day:2 The Outbox is brilliant and once that stuff is in there it soooo loses it "hold" over you. Time to start on the list ! Happy Cure to you all xxx

I am new to Apartment Therapy and happy to have found it (no I haven't been hiding under a rock, lol). I gladly jumped on the January Cure bandwagon, because I am desperate! Thanks for this great idea!

I have just moved and despite getting rid of what I thought at the time, was half my belongings before moving, I find myself currently encased in STUFF! My biggest problem by far are clothes and shoes. I am an admitted, card-carrying shoe addict. I have already given away 6 large boxes of shoes and have about 6 more storage boxes full of them.

My new abode is a little stone cottage built by my grandfather in 1939, (which I have sworn will be my home for many years to come), around 1000 square foot in size and it has a sum total of 2 tiny closets, one in each bedroom. I am seriously considering turning the second bedroom into a walk-in closet/dressing room (once I get everything semi-organized).

If anyone can point me to a great read on this site about that very thing, it would be greatly appreciated!

I have a basket in a corner that is a permanent outbox. But now that I know it's supposed to be tied to cute bike handles, I'll get right on it! And why are you outboxing those flowers?!!

Count another tally in the "earlier e-mails" box!

I suppose we could just do the day's assignment a day later, but that would make the calendar a day off, and that's just too horrible a thought to ponder!

So, we really have two kinds of out boxes: the recycle bin where all that paper you never thought you could part with goes (one of my big projects is to go through all the papers we saved from my son's early grades and weed out the best and release the rest); and, an area in our basement where all of the items we donate go (this has been an ongoing process for years). I feel a bit ahead here, but I really had to work on my project list yesterday.

@SophieTO - thanks!!! I used to have my mom call me when CDA called her to schedule, but now I can never get organized in time...I had no idea I could just book it online. awesome.

My outbox will also be a room - the office, currently in use as a storage room... in the corner are boxes of school papers to be gone through and/or purged, an old laptop (do I just chuck it???), and a broken vacuum to take to the vacuum place for recycling.

Did my list last night after dinner and ran through it with the hubby, he and I were both silent for a while, haha! I'll go post it on Day 1. I'm excited and ready!!!

If its a lot of trouble for you do get rid of the stuff, why not post an ad on freecycle or Craig's List and have someone come and take the stuff away. People will take most anything that's free.

One of the great things about posting your unwanted stuff on freecycle (freecycle.org) is that you don't have to take your donation stuff anywhere: people will come to you to get it. The other great thing is that it's so much easier for me to get rid of things if I know they are going to someone who can use them. One man's junk is truly another's treasure.

uhh ... Turns out i've had an outbox for 3 months now. It's our guest room/office. It's full of stuff that just hasn't found a home AND furniture that doesn't quite go anywhere else. I haven't tackled our closets or dressers yet, but that was on my project list from yesterday. I did turn all my hangers around so that I'll be able to keep track of what I actually wear. I feel like that's a pretty good first step. I'm not going to lie. I'm terrified of the day we're supposed to clean out our outboxes!

I would second the recommendations for using freecycle - I just unloaded my old toaster oven and vacuum over the weekend to people who were happy to have them. It felt great to give them to someone who really wanted them rather than dump them with Goodwill (like I usually do).

I have a shopping bag from Nordstrom under the chair in my bedroom for use as my give away pile/outbox. It is very rare that I reclaim anything from there.

katyrwl,
Thank You! You've provided the answer for my biggest projects at home and business!
Cheers and Happy New Year!

Some places will pick up if you have a large donation - might be worth a few phone calls if all you have to do is move it to the front door...

I think I have outboxes all over my house! Project 1: Combine outboxes! :)

Tried to email a picture or my outbox but the email doesn't work. Anyway I have several outboxes in front of the door and in two of my closets. Somehow these boxes don't get emptied very often because I never have the time recycle or to drop off
at the right place so the stuff just stay there. Hoping to be able to do that during the cure!

Like many others, I already have a permanent Outbox. I did add to it tonight, though!

I'm blogging my way through The January Cure on my blog: http://www.pinkplusorange.blogspot.com/

#rouquinne: I also have a habit of building up a pile and agree it used to be a nightmare to get to the donation centre without a car, I build up too much stuff and then it weighs too much, takes too many bags, yadayayaya! My solution is to pile the bags, into my large suitcase. Much easier to drag to the charity shop with the wheels and who cares if you look a bit odd along a street where no tourist/traveller would ever venture when your apartment looks sparkly and free!!

I've had on outbox for years but have recently been thinking I need to make a change. You've inspired me to think about moving it to a closet.

Hello all! My outbox is in the garage! I have a fairly large home and started this evening in my kitchen. Nearly all my cabinets are cleaned out, lined with pretty paper, dishes washed, put back and completely organized. What a sense of accomplishment. I placed items that I'm going to donate in my outbox, but my son has already grabbed a few things he needed. I also started tagging and boxing for our August community garage sale. Labeled the boxes, "garage sale" and placed them high on a shelf in the garage.
Thank you! This is such a great idea and I'm having a true cleansing moment!

Curses! Sent a too short sweater and a candle holder to the charity shop last week. Should have waited.

I am going to make my outbox is a bubka cart (rolling shopping cart). When it is full I can wheel it to the local thrift store to donate all of the stuff.

Loving. This. Put my outbox together in the garage. It's HUGE, already full and decidedly not cute. BUT! It sure does feel good. Can't wait for what's on the agenda for tomorrow!

outbox = my bicycle basket (sorry, it's not bike weather for me, too wimpy.) Very convenient that it was already sitting on the floor of my closet collecting crap I planned to toss anyway.

Same problem. If the out mountain gets big enough, I may just book a taxi....

Is it cheating if I decided that everything in my outbox is trash pretty much before it even hits the floor of the box? There's currently three pairs of shoes in varying degrees of broken-ness and a book. I have no motivation to fix the shoes and no place to bring used books :(

Wow! I have used this concept for a number of years but never named it! I am currently using the shower of my second bathroom (yes, blessed to have 2) as my outbox. I have a bag for clothes and a box for smaller items. I usually let things percolate about a month in there. The larger space also accommodates smaller pieces of furniture.

Marjorieb - cheating? the goal is to recycle there's no cheating aspect to it as long as you move the stuff on.

HolleyD - Be SURE to reduce your stuff as much as possible before you turn a whole room (even a small one) into a closet. I did that and regretted it when I reduced my stuff further - I ended up with dressers (okay, IKEA, but still) and clothing racks ($$$$$) to get rid of.

My outbox is a storage room filled with odd pieces of furniture, household goods and an embarrassingly large number of clothes-filled trash bags. Goodwill is coming to get the whole kaboodle next week. I think I will feel like a free woman when all of that stuff is gone. Hadn't realized how accumulated "stuff" can weigh on a person.

My outbox is currently four full trash bags mostly full of clothes. One funn way my friends and I motivate to get rid of clothes is to have a Naked Lady party. People bring their unwanted items (and a bottle of wine) to the party. Some people may bring one item while others bring 20. Everything gets put into one big pile. Then we all start trying things on,taking what we like putting other things back. It is fun, silly, and everyone goes home with something new to them. The left overs are sent to a community thrift store.

Is there an assisted living facility or nursing home nearby that would take the book?

Done and done! I have a box of books I have been needing to donate for ages - I will get those out of the outbox so I can refill with lovely JanCure assignments!

Good evening. I know I'm a day behind. My issues are with paper. I am not sure what I should keep for long term and what can be shreaded/thrown away right away. (Ex. bills, taxes, etc.)

Virginia Grayson - ok, it'll definitely move on!

biolabchick - sadly not. I've been looking around since I got here (south of spain, relatively small town), but there's no place to donate books in my mothertongue (german).

@kfpaige: google "what papers to keep" for helpful info on what to keep where and for how long. that was my problem, too. I like this one for a quick reference: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning-organizing/important-papers-to-keep. It's not a bad idea to consult with your accountant, investment counselor and insurnce agent regarding how long to hold on to paperwork.

I love the outbox. I use a laundry basket to tote items I've committed to get rid of (books, craft leavings, clothes, housewares, knick knacks and what nots) to committee meetings and other groups where it can be rummaged through and cast-offs adopted. The "end of meeting swap" is becoming ritual.

I am using my spare room as an outbox. Pretty much everything in that room is probably outbox material anyway (been in there for over a year).

Thanks...that site really helped. Time to pick up my flowers while grocery shopping.

What a delight to have found your site through a Rona email. I've had an outbag for a while now. Thanks for the reminder to use it more regularly. I take books to book donation boxes, clothes to clothes donation boxes, and drop off household items to the Good Will. Now back to browsing your site.

My outbox already has about 40 items in it ! Yeah! Really getting the hang of it. Just hope I'll follow through and get rid of all the stuff !

I love the idea of an Outbox. I usually have a Goodwill bag/box but I don't think I've ever thought out it as a place in my home. It's only usually in the entry for 2 weeks because I keep forgetting to donate it. ... My new years resolution is to procrastinate less :)

Currently in the Outbox:
- Old school supplies: book covers, binders, notebooks
- T shirts I'm tired of looking at
- "New Years Eve" and Pirate of the Caribbean Blue Ray DVD
- Novels from childhood. My mom recently gave me a box of books from my old room and some of them don't fit on my bookshelf.
- Old jeans

Yay for purging! I love it. Feels good to get rid of stuff that no longer makes you happy :)

@marjorieb Rats! That's no bueno.

aargh. My Outbox is my entryway which is where I can put bags of stuff and take it to my car, or the dumpster, or just next to the dumpster which seems to be a sort of freebie area for my apt complex.

mostly, though, I'm just throwing out the boxes and packing material

ahead of the game here...i have a guest room that sadly has been acting as a giant outbox for quite some time now...but i went in there and organized the outgoing, as i know where things are going already - clothing consignment store, Reservation donations, thrift store, etc. so...the outgoing is primed to go out...and ready for more company to go with it (:

Great. I don't have an "outbox," I have a rule: something comes in? Something goes out... Forced by living in a small place and challenged by living with a hoarder for years I am adamant about this rule.