Okay, those of you who have been with me a while know that, while I’m not a pack-rat or hoarder, I do have a tendency to allow clutter to accumulate. Why do I do that? I mean, I could use the I’m tired when I get home from work excuse. Or the I’ve been sick off and on for over a year now excuse. Or the I live every day in pain excuse. And those are all somewhat valid excuses. But the thing is, I know I feel better about myself when my house is clean and uncluttered.
I’ve spent the past year questioning myself before I make a purchase. Do I really need this? Will I really use it? Or will it end up collecting dust in a few weeks until I either donate it or sell it? Asking myself these questions before I buy something has really helped curb my impulse purchases…well, except at Christmas and where Clara is concerned. I did buy more than I needed to (or should have) at Christmas and I do still tend to buy little things (and some not so little things) that I think Clara might like. I’m going to get that under control with my no-spend January (but that’s for another post).
Right now, for the month of January, I’m going to focus on eliminating clutter in my house. The challenge is to get rid of one item on January 1. Then, on the 2nd, get rid of two more items. Three items on the 3rd, and so on through the 31st. I haven’t done the math and I’m too lazy to stop and do it right now (why duplicate work that I’m sure someone else has already done???), but that would be a serious amount of clutter gone from my home in one month’s time.
I think the first week will be fairly easy, but along about week three, I’m thinking things might get a little more intense. Not that I won’t be able to find things to get rid of. Oh no, just that actually going through the process of packing 14 items up, taking them out to the car, and getting rid of them (just putting them in the car doesn’t count…have to actually hand them over…throw them out, give them away, sell them, whatever I choose to do with them has to be done each day) will likely become time-consuming and labor intensive as 14 turns into 15 into 16 and so on.
Knowing myself well enough to know I might just give up on the whole thing after a couple of weeks, I decided I needed a little accountability to keep me on the straight and narrow. So, yep, you guessed it…you lucky folks will get to read daily updates and see daily pictures. I know, I know…you all need to calm down now…it’ll be very exciting for all of you. You’ll get a peek into my “why in the world did I ever save that?” stash. And hey, if you see something you want, let me know quickly. This is one of those you snooze, you lose deals. Don’t act fast enough and it’ll be too late.
So, without further ado, day 1…
Yes, there are two magazines, but they’re both family magazines (free subscriptions that I somehow get…can’t even remember how, you know, since I don’t have kids and the cats don’t really like to do a lot of kid crafting…but I do get some ideas about stuff to do with Clara.), so I’m counting this as one item. Time to pass them on. So Greg, if you’re reading this, these will be waiting for you at work when you get there later today. Enjoy.
Since I already had these set aside for Greg, this wasn’t a huge challenge for me. Ooh…but what will tomorrow bring as I search for two things to release from my home (no, it won’t be the cats…how dare you even suggest that?). Check in tomorrow as Patti’s decluttering saga continues…
Related articles
- 10-Day-Declutter … how it went (susanmckone.wordpress.com)
- Free 2014 Printable Declutter Calendar (thehappyhousewife.com)
- Clutter (energy-guidance-complete.com)
- Simplifying Life (jenlynn401.wordpress.com)
Filed under: decluttering | Tagged: clutter, decluttering, decluttering challenge, donations, hoarding | 8 Comments »