View Full Version : Purge 2015 January Declutter or 100 Items
Are you ready to take on the challenge again? We've had some really inspiring posts in 2014 and lets try again for 2015. The goal is to bring less in and get rid of what you don't need or want. Don't feel like you have to get rid of 100 items, your goal may be something different every month like purging your file cabinet or cleaning out your garage. Whatever your goals please feel free to post here.
I will play along. I am pretty bare minimum right now but I can always try. :)
Simpler at Fifty
1-1-15, 1:28pm
I am in. We are having a rummage sale in May. I have a couple bags and boxes started. One of my goals is to get DH to pair down on the Tshirts. Some are getting holes under the arms but he wears them in the winter under his sweatshirts. He has about 45 I think. He can no longer wear pants without an elastic waist and has 10 pair of expensive jeans from the big and tall store to sell. I started pairing down the towels this week. I am doing a whole house cleaning over the next 16 weeks and will keep a running total as I go.
This week the living room and dining room are getting cleaned. We are having the carpets professionally cleaned tomorrow. Magazines will be donated and the Christmas village will be taken down.
I'm in, but way ahead. Hubby and I spent the morning purging. We went through the 3" notebook that holds owners' manuals for things we've purchased over the years and pulled out what is no longer in use. We put one small vacuum in the donation box, threw one out (kept the battery pack for recycling). No more rechargeable (cordless) vacuums! I went through the collection of notes-to-self I accumulate on my desk and they were processed or went into the recycling box along with Christmas cards/letters. Put together a large donation of food for the Food Bank. Put 15 other items in the donation box. Our resolve is strong to declutter and downsize. We WILL get rid of 10 things each day......
I have been having one big purgeathon the past two weeks so I have already tossed or recycled at least 100 things-mostly files, dead pens, and other office stuff. Since the weather is so cold and gloomy today on NY Day we are deep cleaning and cooking. Just now, I emptied out the pantry cabinet of oils and vinegars to cull old ones. DH is in the food business and brings home samples constantly which is fun but we rarely end up using much of the stuff as it is too exotic - strawberry balsamic vinegar, truffle infused olive oil, etc. I think I finally have the old man on board about retiring someday soon as he seems very motivated to clean and get rid of things.
1-40. Son #1 went through books (boxed to take to used book store what they don't take will go to thrift shop)
41-43. 3 ornaments we rec'd in exchange games and have no interest in keeping
44-46. Son #2 shirts
47. coloring kit (rec'd again in an exchange game)
48. playing cards (I don't need 3 sets)
Items 1-10- clothing items
11-15- shoes and jewelry
Going back in...
I'm in, too. There are books and paper files to be sorted, and some boxes of other stuff taking up space. I sorted some papers today, and was impressed by the amount we no longer needed. We don't own a paper shredder, so use the wood stove to dispose of papers with personal information, and the rest goes to the regular paper recycling bin.
I'm in!! Already today, via Freecycle, an upholstered chair and a shelf system have left my place!! Wooo-hooo! I put them on Freecycle yesterday, thinking hopefully someone would get them on the weekend, but they came Today! AND my friend who wants another shelf/cabinet just called- her husband was bored and already started clearing their garage, and now he's on his way over to get the big shelf (6x6ft) !! Wow, what an inspiration for me- 3 Large Things gone in just a couple of hours!!
3- large pieces of furniture
2- pairs of worn out shoes that were under the chair- trash
2- pairs of slippers that don't fit- started a bag for Goodwill
subtotal:7
I did about 50% of my annual file purge today. I've gathered a small pile of books to donate to the library. I brought 4 bags/boxes to SA a couple of weeks ago, and I have another box nearly filled.
Silvio was acting up recently and knocked over a couple of glass ornamental items and broke them, so he's on board and inspired me to get rid of a few more! Mike as well take advantage of the situation.
I'm definitely ready to let go of some books, and I plan to look at everything with a critical eye as I go through my weekly housework.
Oh - and I got rid of some socks last week!
I am in for sure Jan 01,2015.........I have been getting rid of stuff but, it has made me realize that there is a lot more that is weighing me down.
--2 Christmas ornaments to charity
--1 water filter to garbage
--1 dimmer switch to charity (works but, had Ds change it out when he was here I dislike dimmer switches a lot)
--2 stain and frayed tea towels to rag bag
Total 6...it's a start more tomorrow
I've worked through:
my clothes - several tops and a coat bagged up for charity shop, some to recycling.
my son's clothes - as above.
my makeup - unused nail varnish in a bag for my sister, unwanted items thrown away.
the kitchen - new dinner service and serving dishes purchased, old mismatched items bagged up for charity shop (much more room in cupboard!). Various duplicate items bagged up for charity.
my craft room - very much a work in progress. I've donated some items via Facebook free cycle sites. I've sold a big bag of felt and a box of fabric and removed two bags of "trash".
In the morning, my husband is taking three huge bags to the local charity shop and two to the recycling centre.
I'm really excited to simplify my craft space - my next project is to make three quilts using my sons' baby/toddler clothes. One for each of them and one for me - this will help clear them out of the attic.
--2 Christmas ornaments to charity
--1 water filter to garbage
--1 dimmer switch to charity (works but, had Ds change it out when he was here I dislike dimmer switches a lot)
--2 stain and frayed tea towels to rag bag
Total 6...it's a start more tomorrow
Jan02,2015
--2 magazines to recycle
--1 necklace to charity
--1 container of fudge to garbage...lol...before I ate it.
--1 large carry on bag to charity
--1 old shelf coverings
Total 12 todate
200 books and a few DVDs are sitting in boxes waiting to be collected by a charity. I still have lots of books and papers to get rid of and it's taking me ages.
still decluttering my clothes, I have a shopping bag full that I am taking to the local charity shop when it reopens next week.
49. found yet another set of playing cards (still only want 2 in my stash)
50.-53. sweaters unworn from son#1 to thrift-shop bag
54.-60. some good jewelry items to my antique/flea booth
61-62. 2 sets of silverplate to my booth
63. live tree stand - I finally found an artificial tree I liked this year
64-65. two christmas decor items to my booth
today has mostly been:
another bag of trash and half of one waiting to be filled
some old pillows and a couple of blankets (one of which I've held onto since my youngest (now 18) was a baby - these will go to the local Dogs' Trust for bedding
some card making items bagged up to be sold or gifted
I'm more than a little annoyed with the OH who was looking for something in our filing system today and complained about the amount of rubbish "we" keep. This was in the two sections that I've asked him several times to go through as it's all his banking/investment/pension paperwork ..... I've kept on top of the rest of it :-/
Teacher Terry
1-3-15, 3:13pm
WEnt into my closet yesterday & decided to get rid of everything that was too big for me. I bought a new pic for a bathroom so getting rid of the one that was up. All together filled about 3 bags. My side of our walk in closet is half empty which feels good. Trying to get to the place that I wear everything in there. I forbid my dh to use my half of the closet because he loves to keep things long past when he should:|(.
Another great day purging. I have no idea how many total items, but it was probably well over 200 (primarily due to recycling paper), but we took a car load of things to the Goodwill. Moved more of my bread-making things to the spare bed room for my brother, who is now into naturally-leavened breads and makes Artisan loaves. I used to teach classes on the subject and we're gluten-free, so bye-bye..... Every new empty space or shelf is such a relief!!!
4 necklaces
bag of makeup
photo frame
1 small bag of misc. toys
1 box of clothes- off to my sister
1 bag of misc. items from the bathroom- about 12 items
1 bag of clothing- 14 items
1 bag of Christmas lights- 5 strings of lights
1 bag of Christmas stuff- 8 misc. items
Recycled quite a bit and one big bag of trash out.
--2 Christmas ornaments to charity
--1 water filter to garbage
--1 dimmer switch to charity (works but, had Ds change it out when he was here I dislike dimmer switches a lot)
--2 stain and frayed tea towels to rag bag
Total 6...it's a start more tomorrow
Jan02,2015
--2 magazines to recycle
--1 necklace to charity
--1 container of fudge to garbage...lol...before I ate it.
--1 large carry on bag to charity
--1 old shelf coverings
Total 12 todate
Jan03--1 book....recycle
--1 container of fudge...garbage I made too much and it is better in the garbage then in me....lol
--1 winter to Dd
--1 bag of paper to recycling
Total 16
Previous subtotal: 7
2 - pillows to trash
26 - pieces of clothing some to Goodwill, some to trash
New subtotal: 35
(Found 2 brand new pillows and a great pair of slippers when I cleaned out my closet- going shopping in my own closet, but really, I'd rather know what I have than get surprises.)
I'm in. 100 is hard. But I'm getting there....yesterday I think I was able to get rid of a dozen old towels, a purse, two pillows. I have a box of books to go out about 6 now. (but I keep getting new ones!) And a lot of stuff from a room clean into a trash bag.
2 piggy banks, a pair of shoes, a toy cash register. 3 other small miscellaneous toys, and an unopened yahtzee game. Keep me going! I'm going to say about 25. That's good. I need to keep checking in here. Tomorrow I need to hit the make up drawer.
Great job everyone!! We're only 4 days in. Love reading about all the items we don't need in our lives as we work through the layers to find out what is important to us.
Decluttering needs to happen in our house this year. For the whole year. One key area is books. We have thousands of books. I am a book junkie. And I just keep getting more. I got a half dozen books for Christmas and bought 2 others myself just before the holidays.
So, here's my plan: to declutter at least 100 items every month this year and of those 100 items, 30 of them will be books. That would be essentially a book a day for the entire year. And trust me, decluttering 365 books in this house probably won't even be noticeable. GAH!!!
I'm off and running. I gathered up 30 books this morning. Some went on paperbackswap.com (if people had them on their wish lists) and the others will go to the book sale that the Friends of the Library does. Not sure what I'm going to tackle when it comes to finding 70 items from other categories to purge, but I suspect clothes might be a good place to start...
I finished going through all my files yesterday. This is always one of my New Year projects, but it's been a long time since I finished so quickly!
I also reorganized/tidied up our wooden coat lockers by the back door. I got rid of one ornamental object and rearranged things to look tidier.
As I go through my weekly housework, I'm asking myself whether objects belong where they are or even whether they belong in my life.
Teacher Terry
1-5-15, 2:24pm
I now only have two shelf's on my bookcase with books. I used to have about 50 boxes. I gave them all away which felt good. If I bring any new ones in some others must go.
So far: - 2 lg. bags of clothes good enough to donate
- 7 pcs. old clothing for shop rags
- 28 books to donate
- 16 books to trade-in @ used book shop
- 1/2 pound paper burned (personal info on it)
- ~35 pounds paper to recycle
- ~5 pounds useless non-recyclable items to waste bin
A lot of the paper was old catalogues, and paint color samples from our renovation. It's been a while since I did a purge, as I found seed catalogues from five years ago. I put them in the recycle bin on the weekend, and Lol, I got three 2015 seed catalogues in the mail today. I can now use the online catalogues, so I should tell these places to take me off their mailing lists for paper copies.
--2 Christmas ornaments to charity
--1 water filter to garbage
--1 dimmer switch to charity (works but, had Ds change it out when he was here I dislike dimmer switches a lot)
--2 stain and frayed tea towels to rag bag
Total 6...it's a start more tomorrow
Jan02,2015
--2 magazines to recycle
--1 necklace to charity
--1 container of fudge to garbage...lol...before I ate it.
--1 large carry on bag to charity
--1 old shelf coverings
Total 12 todate
Jan03--1 book....recycle
--1 container of fudge...garbage I made too much and it is better in the garbage then in me....lol
--1 winter to Dd
--1 bag of paper to recycling
Total 16
Jan04 & 05
1 …blouse to garbage
3...very old cleaning products to hazardous waste collection
2..old toothbrushes that had been used for cleaning (of course I have more)
1...magazine to recycle
Total 23
I'm back at work this week so decluttering will be taking a bit of a back seat til the weekend. But I do have a pile of personal paperwork that the Mr sorted out and I'm hoping to burn in our firepit one evening. Yesterday I gifted some rubber stamps to my hairdresser, today some stickers and some fabric crayons.
I am doing 2015 things in 2015. I've missed one day so far but every day I have actually taken out at least 3 items. So I think I'm covered lol
Got a bag of things started for Goodwill but most things have gone into the trash. Today it was some exercise tapes I never liked.
That's an incredible goal Azure - I like it!!! Looking forward to your post when you've reached your goal!
66-67. 2 pair of rx glasses that we don't want to reuse the frames on, will take to the mission donation box where they'll be refitted and given out by our eye Dr on an Indian Reservation mission trip.
68. adding machine (I don't need it anymore - will donate to my church office to replace one that is messing up)
69. framed sketch - to my booth
70. adult floral coloring book - to my booth
I finished going through all my files yesterday. This is always one of my New Year projects, but it's been a long time since I finished so quickly!
Isn't that a great feeling to know you've reached the "manageable" state in file keeping? I'm down to one small two drawer unit but it could use some more purging and organizing. I have boxes of files in attic storage still and need to shred one or two boxes of old business files this year.
Very excited to report that I mailed 9 books to new homes today (I had posted them on paperbackswap.com) and dropped off 2 dozen books at the library for their book sale. I've accomplished my book decluttering goal for January and will get up to 100 items with the stuff that can go to the thrift store. So far there I've gathered up about a dozen miscellaneous items plus a bunch of linens that we don't need. Woo-hoo!!!
-2 Christmas ornaments to charity
--1 water filter to garbage
--1 dimmer switch to charity (works but, had Ds change it out when he was here I dislike dimmer switches a lot)
--2 stain and frayed tea towels to rag bag
Total 6...it's a start more tomorrow
Jan02,2015
--2 magazines to recycle
--1 necklace to charity
--1 container of fudge to garbage...lol...before I ate it.
--1 large carry on bag to charity
--1 old shelf coverings
Total 12 todate
Jan03--1 book....recycle
--1 container of fudge...garbage I made too much and it is better in the garbage then in me....lol
--1 winter to Dd
--1 bag of paper to recycling
Total 16
Jan04 & 05
1 …blouse to garbage
3...very old cleaning products to hazardous waste collection
2..old toothbrushes that had been used for cleaning (of course I have more)
1...magazine to recycle
Total 23
Jan 7/15
2..tubes of very old lipstick…garbage
1...magazine …..recycled
1...large bag of paper from files…to recycle
Total to date 27
Yesterday I put 2 books I never finiished in the Goodwill bag and 1 old Korean travel booklet in the trash.
The clothes I am decluttering can't actually leave the house yet because I am saving them for our church's free clothing give-away later this year. I've got a bag started in the linen closet.
I weeded out the cookbook collection and found 14 to give away; will offer them to friends before donating elsewhere. They are beautiful books I bought secondhand or received as gifts, and used frequently. I have the most useful recipes on note cards, which take up less space. I still cook from scratch, but over the years I've found less need to consult cookbooks, except for ideas on what to make.
I weeded out the cookbook collection and found 14 to give away
I weeded out all my cookbooks last year and honestly have not regretted it at all. I can find any recipe on-line and it's made me be a little more adventurous than I was.
71.-74. Quarterly purge of the make-up basket.
2015 in 2015 sounds like a lot but since it's just 1 thing a day, it's just slow and steady going. So far I have actually missed a couple of days, but almost every day that I do declutter, I toss at least 3 things. I am going to write the # of items in the boxes instead of just checking them off and we'll see where I end up.
Today it was 3 lip balms that I don't like gone into the trash.
Jan.10
1. 4 pair of old 100% cotton kitchen curtains make into 16 tea towels kept 8 and gave Dd 8
2. 1 very large vintage 100% cotton tablecloth made into 28 cloth napkins gave Dd 12
3. 1 set of queen size flannel sheets made into a Duvet cover and 2 shams given to Dgs.
4. 3 sets of 4 polyester napkins new ; but we really don’t like the polyester ones
Total to date 36
2015 in 2015 sounds like a lot but since it's just 1 thing a day,
are you doing 365 or 2015? Its more like 5.5 things a day if doing 2015, right?
Found another dozen books to give away yesterday. And recycled 4 plastic items. Added three more home decor items to the bag for the thrift store.
Total of 64 so far!
lessisbest
1-11-15, 10:11am
We spent an intense hour in the basement yesterday. We made a great deal of headway on my "office" things. Things leftover from when I owned my own business. Hubby took several large boxes of items to work with him to use there. We now just have one shelf of useful items instead of 4 shelves of "stuff". Bagged up 20 items of clothing. The next thing on the agenda - arts and crafts stuff.
are you doing 365 or 2015? Its more like 5.5 things a day if doing 2015, right?
Heck, no! I am going slow lol I'm taking the whole year! Though if I continue with 3 things per day I will certainly make goal much earlier.
Today I removed 9 things. Into the trash: 3 face care products, a plastic divider of some kind and something else...? To Goodwill: 2 halloween pumpkin scrapers, a snowman candy jar and a mini flat iron.
Today I worked through my tiny laundry room, and threw away a leaky bottle of cleaning fluid, an almost empty laundry powder tub (put the remainder of powder in the new one) and somehow managed yuk galf fill a bin bag with other rubbish. Put an old dog feed bowl, utensil holder, t shirt, dress and four calligraphy books in the charity bag.
I'm taking the whole year! Though if I continue with 3 things per day I will certainly make goal much earlier.
365 days in a year x 3 things a day = 1095 :)
mschrisgo2
1-11-15, 9:30pm
running subtotal: 35
today:
2 - pairs of curtains DD finally said she really doesn't want (Goodwill bag)
2- throw rugs (I'm just sick of looking at the and we have others, trash)
10 - whole big bag of pens, pencils, hole puncher, etc that I'm taking to my classroom (way more than 10 but that represents the different kinds of items)
14 - misc glass, plastic , containers to recycling bin
2 - more pieces of clothing to the Goodwill bag
New total for the month: 65
365 days in a year x 3 things a day = 1095 :)
Memo to self: Never post until AFTER your brain starts working lol Oopsy!
Well, my dh took the recycling out and came home saying that they are no longer taking glass. So today I pitched 9 glass jars. And a pkg. of name cards from Ty's 2012 graduation. They were never going to be used lol
To Goodwill: Generic graduation party invitations. Someone will love to get them.
mschrisgo2
1-13-15, 2:42am
Previous subtotal: 65
Today: 2 of the 4 dinette chairs gone (thank you Freecycle, never used them all at once, and they just got in the way)
1 - 40in glass table top traded for a 36in- I'm SO much happier with my dining area! Wish I'd done this sooner.
New subtotal: 67
75. added another book to the thrift shop box
76. purse
77. wallet
78. toaster oven - sold
79. sheet set (queen size)
80. ring - sold
81. necklace - sold
So, today .... A dog coat, metal food bowl, lead and harness ready to be taken to the local dog rescue centre. Plus about 15 random things from my kitchens drawers (patches from an air bed we no longer have, a broken mobile phone, etc)
Eleven more items today. Most into the trash. But 2 vhs tapes :0! , 1 dvd, and a nightgown went to Goodwill. Love the color of the nightgown but realistically I am probably never going to fix the straps so it fits. So buh bye.
I hadn't really planned on joining this challenge, but something got into me today and I decided to clean out my "attic", a closet tucked into the eaves. My primary goal was to put just the Christmas things I really use into a new clear tote. I downsized a number of years ago from a normal sized to a table top tree, but I still had the ornaments, various other decorations I no longer put up, and apparently I have this fetish for Christmas cocktail napkins because I found 5 or so unopened packages of them. I now have 4 Xerox boxes full of stuff to donate-- and the good news was that I found a string of old non-LED lights. I thought I had gotten rid of all of them when I switched to fewer strands of LED lights (for the smaller tree), but then was reading how the lights that give off a little heat are good in a cold frame to keep things from freezing. Of course, now you can't get the old style lights (not the big bulb ones, these were small and clear, just not LED's). So I'm happy I have one string left.
Since I was half way cleaned out, I tidied up the rest of the "attic" and tossed out the boxes for appliances/computers that are no longer within the warranty period. I even found a boot that has been missing for 2 years. In the pile to get rid of, are 4 old pillows. I can't seem to throw these out even when I get new ones.
And since I was on a roll, I cleaned out the cabinet above my microwave and got rid of a couple of tea pots I never use- thought they'd be a good idea at the time but don't like the shape of either one.
We have a "take it or leave it" shed at our dump/recycling center. The older ladies seem to really swoop in on the stuff I donate. Hope all this stuff will make someone happy.
Feeling accomplished.
Teacher Terry
1-14-15, 1:59pm
Dropped off 3 bags yesterday at the thrift store.
Way to go Herbgeek!
Today I tossed out 13 of the bottles of stuff that DH brought home from a hospital stay at least 5 years ago.
18 magazines and travel brochures are out!
Oh! And I pair of really annoying socks that kept sliding down into my shoes. So that makes 19 lol
7 little things from the junk drawer.
I so need to do my attic and garage but I'm waiting for warmer weather. I have plans to scan all my boys' drawings that I've kept for ever and make quilts from their baby clothes ..... But for now, yesterday a bag of fabric, two t-shirts and four books to charity. I've got a dog bowl, collar, coat and harness ready for the next time we are passing the Dogs Trust. I also recycled a sweet tree into a new one for a sixteenth birthday.
Tomorrow I am going through all our videos and DVDs and getting rid of the ones that we never watch.
chrissieq
1-19-15, 11:00pm
DH cleaned off his work bench and asked for help with a box of plastic coffee containers . He likes to hang onto them for painting projects. We recycled 6 large ones, 4 small ones and at least 10 metal nut cans that did not have lids. Also recycled at least 12 cardboard holders for 6 packs of beer - really you play poker 4 times a year and bring a collection of beer and soda with you, we do not need this giant stack!! He seems to think it was no big deal. I am thrilled!!
While downstairs cleaned off the pantry shelf and put at least 3 cleaning supplies in the garage sale/free box that we haven't used in over a year.
Bit by bit right?
Previous total 27
3. magazines to recycle
2. bath mat to the garbage…they were the worse mats I had ever bought…dark purple shag that couldn’t
Be dried in the dryer because of the lint that came off them. They looked matted and dirty a couple of
Hours after being washed. Garbage because it would be mean to inflict them on someone else…lol
1. Several broken pens
1. Small bag of threads and empty spools from my thread supply
1. Large quantity of paper culled from files
1. Blouse to garbage
2. Really old makeup to garbage
Total 38...been slower then I thought but, I have been noticing the extra stuff is getting down and I am making a big effort to use up things and
shop at home instead of going to the stores. Using up and not bring stuff in is really start to show in my house it is getting much lighter....lol
Bit by bit right?
Absolutely!!
Great job everyone! I took the last few days off of looking for something to purge but I think I'll be in the mood this afternoon. It's time to dust and do floors and that always puts me in the mood to get rid of things.
Into the trash:
1. shirt with holes
2. old outdated textbook
3-5. three torn books - too damaged to give away
6. old pin got with some motto from a non-profit
Then I also took 54 items to the thrift store (old clothes of mine and my daughter's, old books, old toys), so my total so far is 60.
82.-83. Two poorly designed lunch bags (to the thrift)
84. A squeaky reusable water bottle (to the thrift)
85. pottery bowl - to antique/flea
86. madonna and child sculpture - to antique/flea
85. handful of freebie pens (to thrift)
86. set of deer antlers (to antique/flea)
87. handful of socks (to the thrift)
88.- 89. two water carafes (to the antique/flea)
90. wood bench (to antique/flea)
91. wood side table (to antique/flea)
I took a big bag of books to the used bookstore near me, but they only bought 5. Still - better than nothing!
New total for month/year: 65.
Got rid of one more outdated textbook today: new total is 66.
Today 12 assorted little things from my bathroom drawer, barrettes, 2 dried out makeup sponges, etc.; a gallon baggie full of Halloween candy that I am taking to work (we ate all the good stuff lol); and something else I can't remember.
92. small exercise balls and instruction book for foot/ankle
93.-94. purged a few items from the make-up basket again
95. disk notebook system
Simpler at Fifty
1-23-15, 4:21pm
1 towel tossed
20 items tossed from the bathroom cleaning
12 towels to rummage sale bag
2 ace bandages tossed
2 broken candle sticks tossed
37
31 today. I was on a roll lol
Six audio tapes. We don't have any tape players to play them so.... Though I still could not bring myself to toss a few John Denver cassettes. Another dvd. Necklace, bracelet, pin to Goodwill. Assorted pencils, pens, crayons that were all in pitiful condition. And some paper all in the trash.
10 pairs of shoes, 2 tops and around 20 books all taken to the charity shop. My husbands hates getting rid of books but he managed to release some never used cookery books :-)
I have an old pair of glasses to take to the eyeglass collection box. As soon as I can remember where I saw it :|(
Not sure how to count these. Put about 12 sheets of scrapbook paper, a box of die cuts & a box of assorted stickers into the Goodwill box. Also tossed a few other scrapping items.
Found an old Mexican pot and decided to use it to hold things on top of my dresser. Neater dresser - BONUS
mschrisgo2
1-24-15, 10:57pm
Re: the eyeglasses can be donated in WalMart in their optical dept, or if you have a LensCrafters nearby, they have a bin too. Or if you know someone who belings to the Lions Club, they collect them too.
Re: scrapbooking items, I count those kinds of things by the category, i.e. stickers=1, paper=1, etc.
Yay, Everybody! Very inspiring to see all the posts here!
Two pair of shoes, some clothes, a sheet and pillow case, some random items like a salt and pepper shaker set, a skateboard helmet, a jacket. I have about 15 books in a box to go. I have too many books. I wish I could be stronger about somethings. Gifts are hard even if they are not being used or appreciated.
lessisbest
1-25-15, 6:00am
I have kept on pace for eliminating 10-items each day and this was the list put together yesterday for distribution.
Goodwill-
-20 pieces of clothing
-43 books/cookbooks
-2 pair of shoes
-21 miscellaneous household and office items
Given to a friend-
40 canning jars and rings
Re: the eyeglasses can be donated in WalMart in their optical dept, or if you have a LensCrafters nearby, they have a bin too. Or if you know someone who belings to the Lions Club, they collect them too.
Re: scrapbooking items, I count those kinds of things by the category, i.e. stickers=1, paper=1, etc.
THANK YOU! I was thinking I'd seen it at Walmart but wasn't sure.
On Friday, mailed back a book I bought online that turned out to be damaged: total is now 67.
68. This little broom we had that we had no use for - into trash
69. a child's lip gloss I shouldn't have bought my daughter - she's forgotten about it, so I snuck it also into the trash
70. Returned a magazine that belonged to a friend's son
96. a chapstick I didn't like to the trash
97. wore a jacket yesterday to double check if I wanted to keep or give, it's going to thriftshop
98-100 3 paperweights to antique/flea market
101. clock to antique/flea
Woo! Hoo! one month done.
Congratulations, Float On!
71. Into the trash: a sweater that got 3 holes in it from the GENTLE cycle of the washing machine :(
72. Into the trash: my old bedside table which had one broken drawer. I initially put it out on the curb, but there were no takers, so now it's in the trash.
73. Returned a sweater I bought that I didn't love enough to keep.
74. Passed on a DVD to a friend
75 -98. Dropped off 24 items (old toys, old clothes, old books) to Good will.
Almost there!
It's the end of January already. I'm enjoying the extra space created by this purge challenge.
Amount of stuff gone:
- 35 pounds of paper recycled
- 46 books given away or sent to used-book shop
- 19 pcs. clothing
- 12 pcs. useless non-recyclable items to waste bin.
Total of 112 things... I didn't count the individual sheets of paper. :~)
Good job Wren! Space is great, I agree.
(Looking forward to February's lists)
ApatheticNoMore
1-31-15, 9:00pm
Ok net total is 12 less things this month (I'm keeping a running total for the year).
28 things gone, but amazingly enough 16 things acquired (I included individually some folders I bought individually to hold tax info. And yes a new salad spinner was among the things included - and the old melted salad spinner not yet subtracted as I think I can maybe take it for recycling). Yes, I always do pessimistic (in I.T. terms) or conservative (in accounting terms) accounting, it's a pretty strong habit of mine (ie the count which is least favorable to me - that is counting some stupid folders even :) ). Of course I don't count perishables (I'm not counting food or laundry detergent or aspirin or something). But I'm not trying for an set amount or anything anyway.
Oh I've thought of limiting things I buy for the house, to 1 a month at most (I had a brief blanket and towel obsession for a few months so that's kind of getting carried away is what I'm trying to limit). No limit on books (I have my vices) nor clothes (this isn't even a vice, it's more that I tend to procrastinate buying clothes till the point I'm wearing rags - I'm already too extreme in the other direction, I don't need to perfect the homeless bag lady look anymore than I already do!) I may include shoes in that household category, I do have enough of those.
So there were another 34 articles of clothing to be donated. My total for January was 206.
To finish recording for January-
previous subtotal: 67
2 - wicker baskets to my daughter
1- plastic bin with lid to my daughter
26 - my collection of alphabet books, to the kindergarten teachers at my school
2 - phone books to recycling bin
3 - books to the library at church
Total: 101: One hundred, plus one, for the first month of the year.
On to begin February this afternoon, goal is 102!
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