The depths of winter are always a good time to turn our thoughts inward and focus on "cleaning house."
No, I'm not talking about the dusting or vacuuming. I'm referring to the rejuvenating effect of decluttering one's living space. How many of us can think of closets, desk drawers, basements, attics or other stashes full of who-knows-what that's been accumulating, untouched, for years? You may disagree, but I'm of the mind that living with clutter tends to clutter the mind as well. I also believe that simplifying one's daily existence can often lift an enormous weight from one's shoulders.
Over the years, as I've read your blogs, many of you have expressed a desire to shed the burdens and responsibilities that so much excess "stuff" creates, whether it's a loss of time spent in maintaining that stuff, the loss of money spent in buying that stuff or the loss of space in storing that stuff.
And so, borrowing from an idea suggested by wowitsawonderfullife, I urge you to join me in the first month-long challenge of the New Year by committing to "purge" 30 items in your home during the month of January, whether it's unwanted books, old clothing, furniture, other household items or even old paperwork you've held onto for way too long.
The goal of this challenge is twofold: 1. Declutter your home, and 2. Make some money.
Ideally, you'll do both, but depending on the way you dispose of your unwanted items, you may only be able to accomplish one of these goals. No matter! Progress is progress!
Here's how you'll earn points:
3 Points: Sale of item on Craig's List, eBay or elsewhere.
Since we're all trying to save money, it makes sense to award the most points to those who can declutter their lives and recoup some money at the same time.
1.5 Points: Bartering the item.
Bartering for what you need rather than buying something new is easy on the wallet and easy on the Earth. However, while you're replacing an unused or unwanted item with an item you can use, you're not actually reducing your clutter, so for purposes of this Challenge, you'll only earn 1.5 points for a barter.
1.5 Points: Recycling the item.
More and more items can be recycled these days, from old sneakers to electronics.
1.5 Points: Donation.
If you can find a charitable group, family member, friend or coworker who can use your item, you'll earn 1.5 points.
1 Point: Trashing the item.
Your trash can should be a last resort, but I believe you're still making progress by decluttering, as long as you don't plan on replacing what you've thrown out.
A 3-point bonus will be awarded to those who hit the target of 30 items purged by January 31.
Now, 30 items may seem like a lot, but if, for example, you have a stack of books, count them individually and you could be halfway toward meeting the monthly challenge. If you have trouble finding items to purge and it's getting near month's end, pull out a drawer you've been meaning to clean out anyway and start there.
If I'm on my game, I'll post each week asking for progress reports and consolidate them all on January 31. All you need to do is keep a numbered list of how you've lightened your load in 30 ways.
Are you in?
Join the January Challenge: Declutter!
January 1st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
January 1st, 2010 at 11:09 pm 1262387348
January 1st, 2010 at 11:19 pm 1262387958
January 1st, 2010 at 11:19 pm 1262387998
January 2nd, 2010 at 03:34 am 1262403276
I have a coat sitting out to donate, and a hat and a couple of pairs of gloves given to me for christmas - ill-fitting and unnecessary. Charity comes to our door every couple of weeks... I also have one gift to return - tomorrow!
The kids are also trained extremely well - though my dh should certainly stand to get rid of 30 items. I should bug him about that!
January 2nd, 2010 at 06:26 am 1262413611
January 2nd, 2010 at 07:13 am 1262416429
January 2nd, 2010 at 07:22 am 1262416971
January 2nd, 2010 at 02:37 pm 1262443078
I donated everything. Actually I still have a small box sitting in my office to drop off. I can start with that!
January 2nd, 2010 at 03:44 pm 1262447048
January 2nd, 2010 at 07:38 pm 1262461094
January 2nd, 2010 at 07:57 pm 1262462253
January 2nd, 2010 at 08:13 pm 1262463236
January 3rd, 2010 at 03:11 am 1262488293
January 3rd, 2010 at 10:22 am 1262514126
I will get started tomorrow!
January 3rd, 2010 at 04:33 pm 1262536400
January 4th, 2010 at 01:55 am 1262570154
January 6th, 2010 at 05:46 pm 1262799962
To inspire the team, here's some of what happened in Dec:
1. Donate color TV to Boys & Girls club
2. Donate 3 vhs boxes with dozens of movies to B&G club
3. Freecycle another color TV
4. Give away 30 gallon aquarium, supplies, even fish!
5. Swapped 4 or 5 paperback books on Paperbackswap.com
6. Filled big shoebox with scrapbook supplies for foster child wish list
7. Filled big shoebox with bead and jewelry supplies for foster child wish list
8. Took 1 large extra blanket to Humane Society
I'll check in and add ideas if anyone needs, Nina
January 7th, 2010 at 04:53 pm 1262883239
I'm in and counting the three books I sold this week.
9 points there.
Can I count my husband's (gasp) 10-year-old spices he brought from the UK if I recycle the jars????
I'm starting with two so he won't notice! (3 more points!)
January 7th, 2010 at 05:43 pm 1262886236
January 8th, 2010 at 07:15 am 1262934923
It might be toxic waste! But it's a good idea, and probably do-able with some of them! Now if I could just find the compost pile under all this snow.
January 11th, 2010 at 02:57 am 1263178626