Thirty-one Day Decluttering Grand Total is...

I began my fall cleanup October first and started strong.  My goal was to declutter five items each day.  Mid month, illness delayed my efforts but I picked up the challenge again in November to complete my thirty-one days.

It was interesting how varied and random my items were.  Some things were mine, some were items left from my children, and some were from my teaching years.  Items came from every room in my house and although I'm glad to have it all out of here, it's hard to see a big impact because of that.  It amazes me how I can take bags of stuff, big black lawn bags of stuff, seven so far, out of this house but not see a huge impact.  Of course, I notice as I am more in tune to details but I doubt my husband has noticed.

As I decluttered and came across empty containers or emptied baskets, I gather them all together and now have three apple boxes full of containers.  I gave a couple away to a friend who stopped by and when asked, picked out four containers for items she was trying to organize.  When I am finished with my whole house declutter, any containers I do not need will be donated.

I found letting go so much easier at this point in my life.  I was hanging on to a lot of my teaching items in case I go back into that field but was able to let go of a lot of it.  I now have a bunch to donate to the local teaching center and to a local preschool.

I will continue to declutter as we head toward the end of 2018 but of course this time of year is busy so I will not have a daily item goal.  Today, I came across six rolls of wallpaper that will be the beginnings of a new donation pile.  This coming week will find me tackling the holiday decorating so that should generate some more things as I focus on the meaningful decorations and let go of the rest.

I think the process of focusing on meaningful things has really helped me make a mental shift which makes it easier make decisions about which things are important and which items  I still want tp be a part of my life.  I can glimpse a bit more the life I imagine and therefore can work toward.  I feel that simplifying my surroundings will open more room for creative space and time. Oh, and the grand total is two hundred and one items!

Seven Day Declutter Results: 73 Items Going Out

My goal is to get rid of five things each day in October.  Right now I am only counting items that go into the donation bags.  In the first seven days in October, I have been able to add 73 items to the donation area.  I have also put many things in the trash or recycle area but I'm not counting those.  

What strikes me is the randomness of some of these items.  Some things are left from my almost grown children and some things are left from my teaching career.  Some things, like Jello molds, are just things I won't use anymore as Jello is not plant-based. I actually used to often make my kids Jello cubes or Jigglers as they are now called.  The NASCAR ones are about 20 years old and may be collectible now.  Who knows, maybe it will make the DAV a few dollars.  

I feel good that I have been able to exceed the five item goal on most days.  It will be interesting to see the monthly total but as with most long-term projects, motivation in the beginning is easy.  It's the daily grind where momentum can slip so I will have to guard against it.  If you are working on having less stuff in your house and blog about it, put your link in the comments below and I'd like to check it out.

Oct. 2:  2 NASCAR Jello molds, Christmas Jello mold, Girl Scout book, fish key chain, purple headband with flower, red hero cape, 7 plastic leis, Scooby Doo Halloween bucket.





Oct.3:  21 books.





















Oct.4:  12 books, atlas, gag dice, dress up ring, wooden box.

Oct. 5: New Year's hat, bee tin, 2 cross stitch pattern magazines, one Wellness text book.














Oct. 6: My 'w' Book, paperback, penguin tub toy, character toy, Spanish Language Course.














Oct. 7: Water game, prickly ball, 4 western history paperbacks.

Five Things Everyday for My Fall Declutter

Spring Cleaning has never been my thing.  When those warm winds start blowing after a cold winter, the last thing I want to do is stay in and clean.  I want to be outside, soaking up the sun as I dig in the dirt and plan my gardens.

Fall cleaning makes more sense to me.  I'm getting ready to be stuck inside after closing the windows up for the winter.  I have to live with my dirt and clutter all winter.  That is motivation for doing a fall clean and declutter.  

I am ready to continue with decluttering.  It has actually been an ongoing mission for the last two and a half years although not consistent due to real life things such as special events, vacations, activities, illness; yeah real life.    I have gotten rid of bags of stuff including clothes, books, small appliances, dishes, odds and ends, etc.   I can tell a difference in most areas but to others, the change may not be as obvious.  We still have way too much stuff. Things are still far from my optimum goal of  quite minimal spaces with the exception of my craft supplies.  

To make a more structured and focused effort this month, I have decided on the number five.  There is no particular reason as I could have easily picked 3 or 7 or even 10, however, it's my number and I pick five.  I will git rid of a minimum of five things each day.  That will be one hundred and fifty-five things for the month of October.  I actually started the last three days of September but October is my focus month.  

There are also things I recycle or throw away but I don't always count those. My five things for today were found on a side table in the den.  Why were they there?  Leftover random things from years gone by.  I actually use to use the school house box which is made out of plastic canvas.  I kept my Post-It notes in it when I taught school.  There is a panda puzzle which I'm not sure has ever been used, a new beach ball, a stack of very large play money, and a package of waxed rope, in today's group.  

It is interesting how things accumulate and we just don't notice them anymore.  These things have been sitting there since 2015 and maybe longer. So many things we own but don't use or need.  I was listening to Minimal Mom on YouTube today and she talked about how we have to manage the inventory in our houses.  I had never thought of stuff in that regard but the statement is utter truth.  Managing inventory may sound like something you want on your resume', but it denotes something that requires attention and therefore energy.  

I'm at a point in my life that I don't have extra energy to manage inventory.  The answer of course is to have less inventory.  

What's also interesting is how our view of our things change.  I went through cookbooks recently and it was so easy to part with so many of them.  I donated two brown grocery sacks full.  I have went through those same books in the past and obviously those were put in the keep stack last time but easily landed in the donate pile this round.  The books haven't changed, so obviously I have.  

I'm sure I have looked over the above five items at some point in the recent past also and for some reason decided they were keepers.  Today, they didn't require even a second thought as to their future in this house.  

I don't foresee posting every day about this topic but I will take pictures of each day's items and post them at some point.  That's for accountability on my part.  If I miss a day I will double up on items the next.  There are no big plans for October but in real life, you never know what may come up.