How are you doing in the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge? It's the 266th day of the year today so if you started in January, your target is to have purged 266 items by now. But don't worry if you've just started. Just jump in! And now is a great time to declutter now that the days are getting cooler and your family is spending more time indoors.
Today I'll be sharing what I've been decluttering since my last update. By doing these monthly updates I hope to give you ideas of things you can purge from your home.
Once again this update will show my decluttering was really random. I worked a lot in August helping clients decluter their homes, and the fall has gotten off to a busy start with sick kiddos, new organizing clients, and getting settled in to our fall routines. So I haven't taken on any major decluttering projects around my home. I know that's how it is for a lot of you though, so I hope you see that decluttering is possible, even with busy lives. And that every little bit adds up and makes a difference!
Here's what left our home in August and September.
- My kids purged 9 games one day while we were cleaning up after a marathon Star Wars Monopoly game this summer. I was so happy because they usually don't want to give games away (even though they don't play with some of the ones they have). Maybe they were in a good mood because they beat me! Most of these are either games they've outgrown or games that we have other versions of (for example, they received an R2D2 Trouble game as a gift so they agreed to give away the traditional Trouble game).
- My kids also purged their school work from last year. We left it pretty late because it was such a busy summer, but now our school file bins are ready for a new year of work to be added. They each sorted through all their artwork, loose papers, binders, duotangs, and notebooks from last year and purged about a 3" pile of paperwork each (I didn't count the pages). We took pictures of a few things they wanted to remember but not keep as well as some awkward shaped or large sized artwork or projects. And they filed what they wanted to keep (samples of writing from the beginning, middle, and end of the year, special projects, certificates, report cards, etc.). Here they are with their recycling piles.
- I still have to go through more of my kids' clothes to switch out spring/summer clothes with fall/winter clothes, and to move them up to the next sizes of nearly everything. They've both had a growth spurt over the last few months, which is not as noticeable in the summer when they're wearing shorts and skirts a lot, but is very evident when all their pants are too short this fall! So I know there will be a lot more clothing being purged in the next week or two, but my daughter had accumulated 1 large bag of boots, shoes, and clothing in her "too small" basket in her closet over the summer and early fall.
- About 6 months ago I set aside some of my kids' fridge magnets, old placemats, and assorted "junky" toys. It was sort of an experiment to see if they'd notice they were gone. They didn't. In the last several years I haven't purged any of their things without their permission or at least their knowledge, because I want them to be part of the decluttering process and learn how to assign value to items that are special and when to let go of things that are not. But last week I threw away all the stuff that I had been hiding. They won't know the difference at this point. And none of it was particularly special. I'm not going to show you the pictures because sometimes they see me scrolling past something on a blog post and I don't want them to see what I threw out :) But I counted and there were 26 items including 2 faded foam fingers, several rubber bracelets, a few bead necklaces, 2 sets of fridge magnets with a ton of little pieces, 5 placemats from when they were younger (all in rough shape), etc.
- We threw away my hubby's cooler that he's used for work for at least 15 years. It was all beat up and cracked on the top and he hasn't been using it for awhile because he has a soft cooler he likes instead. This one served him well :)
- Just a few days ago I Freecycled a folding table. I've only had it for a few months (got it from my parents when they were downsizing). But it's not going to work for what I'd intended it for, so I found someone who would be able to use it.
- We also swapped out a few things in the last few months (I'm not counting these in the challenge since the net balance of items in our home was the same in the end). Our old BBQ wasn't working consistently so we took my parents' BBQ when they moved and had 2 for awhile until we could figure out if ours could be fixed or not. We finally figured out last week that we can't fix it, so it went out for the garbage. Someone actually picked it up from the driveway and we're guessing they will probably get a few dollars for scrap metal out of it. Besides the BBQ we also upgraded our TV last month, which meant getting a new entertainment unit. The old TV went to the Salvation Army Thrift Store, where they have an electronics recycling program. And the old entertainment unit went out for the garbage. I tried to Freecycle it but the TV opening is not wide enough for most wide screen TV's (that's why we could no longer use it) so no one was interested. I also tried to donate it to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, but they weren't interested either. Neither was Furniture Bank. I tried. We got it free from Freecycle so I figure I delayed it going to the landfill for a few years anyway. It served us well :)
All totaled, that makes 43 items decluttered in the last 2 months! Which brings my challenge total to 745 items so far. It wasn't as great as earlier in the year, but I'm happy with what we purged. While I've already passed my goal of 365 items in 365 days, I'm planning to keep decluttering! There are still areas of my home that I feel are cluttered and I want to keep working on them. It is so great to be doing this challenge with all of you and sharing our progress together!
I hope my random decluttering has inspired you to look around your home with fresh eyes! It just goes to show that you don't have to take on a big decluttering project to find items you can purge.
In our Facebook group, I noticed that some members are really making decluttering part of their everyday lives. That's the best way to do it! It's not overwhelming then. And that's exactly why I created this challenge! All you need to do is purge 1 item each day. Just look around you whenever you see something you no longer need, use, or love, purge it! Every little bit helps and it all adds up :)
So, that's my decluttering journey this month! I'm so glad you're part of the 365 Items in 365 Days Declutter Challenge and I hope this post gives you some ideas of what you can purge next! If you haven't joined yet... jump in!
Are you ready to declutter?!
Remember to tell others about this challenge. They'll thank you for helping them declutter. And don't forget, I'll be basing the the prize at the end on how many people participated :) With over 500 participants already it's going to be good!
Feel free to grab this button to spread the news if you're a blogger or have a website.
If you need any decluttering ideas to get you started or keep you going, check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.
Plus my 31 Days of Easy Decluttering series is always in a tab at the top of the page here on the blog.
What did you declutter this month? Do you declutter on a daily basis? Do you have a donation box? Have you joined the 365 in 365 Challenge yet?
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Here are all the posts in the 365 Items in 365 Days series:
