14 days and 105 items down. 17 days and 391 more items to go. Can you do it??
In case you missed the original post, I’ve devoted the month of October to this great game inspired by The Minimalists!
I’ll admit, these first 14 days of purging were fairly easy. For a while now, I’ve been ignoring the growing list of items to be thrown out in the back of my mind (I do love to purge, but let’s face it, it usually requires a deadline for me to get it done), so giving in to the competitive nature of the challenge, I got a quick start on tossing and felt pretty confident about this game.
My desk area has surrendered Troy’s old cell phone, “just-in-case” duplicate plugs and cords, pens and papers. E’s room? Pacifiers, bottles and bibs that she no longer uses along with a pile of CDs. I had transferred all of the music to an old iPod for her early on but have still had the CDs sitting in her bookshelf, and as we no longer own a CD player, it was time to let them go! I’ve also taken a first pass at my closet – lonely socks, a couple of old belts and t-shirts. The easy stuff. Rounding out my sweep through the flat, I took a quick look at my utensil holder on the kitchen counter and opted to let go of two of my four whisks (really, when is the last time I needed four whisks in a day??) and a few odds and ends.
I feel “lighter” already! Now comes the hard part, however. 20-ish items per day for, well, a good number of days, is going to be a major challenge. It’s time to dig deep and get creative! Thankfully, the dark corners of closets, overflowing medicine cabinets, bottomless purses and diaper bags and catch-all craft bins always hold plenty of no-longer-needed treasures. I’m also sensing it’s only a matter of days before the rest of the family will finally be recruited to play this lovely game with us. And why not?
Interested in more purging ideas for the second half of the month? Feel free to leave a note with some of the items you’ve tossed, donated or sold, and maybe you’ll gain some tips from others’ comments!
You won’t believe it…I got rid of 132 items from our master bathroom closet!!!! Granted, almost 50 items were old Clinique samples and bags. Outdated meds, almost empty bottles of toiletries, old knee and wrist braces, odd hair items, and misc junk rounded out my collection.
Impressive! Bathrooms can be such a magnet for little things that have long overstayed their welcome. I’ve saved mine for later in the month, since I’m sure we have more than enough things to sort through as well!
Heavens! We have started this process as we update our home. New counters and sink in the kitchen. Lots of duplicate kitchen items.