As well as taking part in SecondhandFirst Week I’ve also – sort of – signed up to the Minimalism Game, or rather 30 Days of De-cluttering. To recap, The Minimalism Game encourages participants to get rid of items every day, starting with one thing on Day One, two things on Day Two etc. By my calculations that should be 465 items by the end of the month!
Today is Day 19 and I’ve lost track of what I have got rid of. I haven’t been very systematic but instead done the de-cluttering in fits and starts.
In many ways the clearing out has been the easiest bit as there are many things I have been itching to get rid of. The harder part has been getting the items out of my house, rather than just being stored in bags and boxes in our porch.
So far I have found the following ways to get rid of unwanted items:
– Recycling boxes, and also the dustbin for broken items
– Clothing has principally gone to the Charity Recycling Bin at school:
– Ditto with shoes.
– I have given various bags of household items, toys and books to local charity shops.
– I am also saving a couple of bags of Christmas decorations, toys, games and unwanted picture frames for the Church Christmas Bazaar
– Good as new or unopened craft and toys are being saved for the village football team’s raffle.
– I have avoided Freecycle completely and donated larger items for free via the local ‘Free, Sell or Swap’ facebook site. I’ve found that through this site people have collected when they said they would, or I’ve been able to drop it at their homes. Having spent ten days waiting for a bike not to be collected via Freecycle I have found the facebook site to be far more efficient.
– I have also sold a few good quality items through this facebook site and another ‘Prebaby’ site on facebook.
It has been very therapeutic removing things no longer needed from our home. I love to see the clearer space in cupboards and less stuff has made cleaning so much easier.
Alongside the Minimalism Game I am still trying to de-clutter for Christmas while also thinking about what tactics I can use to ensure I’m not going through this whole exercise again after the festive season….
Way to go!! I love your choices of ways to get rid of things. 🙂
This is great! I am doing this too, although slightly differently. I am going to try and get my possessions down to 150 items. I hope it goes well 🙂
Yes I saw your post and was in awe of your mission to reduce all your possessions. Are you including clothing in that as well? Good luck x
Great news! I desperately need to do the same but my daughter is such a hoarder…. Trying to persuade her to do the same is very much an uphill struggle😞.
And with Christmas coming it’s even more of a challenge for us as I know whatever I get rid of will be replaced with more stuff..