I've been following The Year Of Less blog with interest as this family chooses one small thing to do to simplify their lives almost every day for a year. I've enjoyed reading Kelly's other blog for some time now and this new one is good too! I learn a lot from her.
I really don't have a need to sweep through and do a major decluttering right now. But as I consider carefully the purchases we're making and what's coming into our home and the time and money taken to buy and maintain these items, I am inspired to consistently evaluate what we have. Setting aside those items that are not adding value to our lives in some way and resisting the urge to replace things once we get rid of them!
So when Kelly posted about her personal challenge to give away 100 items in 100 days, I was inspired to do my own challenge! When I'm purposely getting rid of items on a consistent basis, I'm more objective about what's coming in to my home. So that was my main reason for doing this challenge--to be intentional about not only my purchases but also what I accept from other people.
I will admit, sometimes it's easier to accept other people's hand me downs and get rid of them later than to just decline them right away. But at the same time, many of these offered items are useful so being wise about what is offered and only accepting those things that will be truly useful to us is important here. Because in the long run, constantly moving and getting rid of things that are given to us is tiring too and takes energy I would rather put towards other things that have lasting value.
Kelly is giving away her items to friends. I've been giving away some of what I've accumulated(when I know specifically that a friend can use it). A new bottle of contact solution and a box of plastic bags are two things I offered to friends because I was pretty sure they could use them and I was right! Otherwise, I'm throwing these things in a box to either donate or yard sale later.
Note: Real life friends are welcome to sift through this box and help themselves to anything they would like!
I started the challenge on August 1st and will end on November 8th. So far I've discarded 25 items. So I'm a few days ahead. :-) I'm keeping a list so I know exactly where I'm at in the challenge and I've already figured out that 100 things is a lot more decluttering than it looks! But doing around one item per day is doable and keeps me going.
Some items included in my decluttering box are shorts that I hated wearing, freebies I got while drugstore shopping and never used, a few toys and children's books that didn't get much use or constantly came apart when being played with (you know the ones!), a few random household items and 3 bottles of Worcestershire Sauce. Yes, three... I had 4 and considering that this is an ingredient used rather sparingly, keeping 4 as backup in the pantry seemed rather excessive so I kept 1 and am giving away the others.
I will update on this challenge as we continue...
Are you interested in joining in?
1 comment:
I'll have to go and take a look at her blogs.
Nice to know someone else on a budget that eats grass fed beef! I always feel weird about mentioning it as it's way more expensive than conventional beef but like you we don't eat much of it.
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