Clutter Busting Challenge July 2016 Part 1

I'm purging 373 items. I counted each DVD since they were individual purchases at one time. We gave our oldest daughter a 3rd case of movies a couple years ago to borrow. She never did give them back but I'm not going to count them. Goodbye movie collection. We are almost completely digital except a few exercise DVD's. Those will probably be gone once my husband hooks up the equipment in my exercise room. No more movie DVD's, music CD’s, console game CD's, or computer game CD's in this house. I'm also purging garden stuff, candy making stuff, and a few odd's-n-ends.

My Purge Pile:

KonMari Week 1: Preparation Week

Week 1: PREPARATION WEEK

 















1. I’m a 43 yrs. housewife previously at-home-mom/homeschool mom. Our children are grown (20, 23, 24, and 27), although 3 of our 4 still live at home. We have a 4 yrs. granddaughter and 2 yrs. grandson. I’ve printed a list, planned out my weeks, and put it in my Homemaking Notebook. ‪

2. I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo in June 2015 and Spark Joy by Marie Kondo in May 2016. I have been downsizing/becoming minimalist for 5 ½ yrs. I plan to use the KonMari system to refine my home. My stuff is already stored in categories and pretty minimal, it will be a good challenge.


3. My vision is to be a light and love as Christ loves me. My husband and I to enjoy our empty nest years with many adventures. To be a blessing to our children and grandchildren while sharing many family times. Have a peaceful relaxing home that supports our life together. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 ‪

4. We plan to downsize into a ranch style 2 bedrooms in the next 5 yrs. We have enjoyed raising our family in our home but 5 bedrooms will be too much space for 2 people. We’ve already turned the first floor bedroom into an exercise room. We have been clearing out the house of excess possessions for 5 ½ years along with redoing the house. We’ve been painting, refinishing woodwork, and redecorating. We will continue working on the house to make it easier for when we are ready to sell. We enjoy our home and love to welcome our family and friends.

The fact that I have been working on my house for so long, I’m not sure I’ll have much to purge while doing each category. I’m sure I’ll have some to let go of but it just may not be a big volume. I’m more looking to refine anything leftover that doesn’t bring joy. I’m pretty organized but there are a few areas that I’ll do a bit more. As I go along in the challenge I plan to deep clean my house. It’s really not that hard to do since it’s pretty minimal. My husband is working on his own categories and possessions. He is a great help and doing well in his journey. Our grown kids use the family room for their computers and each has their own room. I won’t be doing Konmari in those spaces but will clean the family room. I don’t own anything beside wall décor, table/chairs, and a couch in the family room.

5. I don’t collect donation receipts.


6. My donation system has been to put things directly into my car. I do have a laundry hamper in my basement but I’ve had too much to donate over the last 5 ½ yrs. that I’ve not used that system. I don’t sell my discards. I donate to a local Clothes Closet charity that gives donated items away for free to those in need.


7. I plan to use the space my stuff is stored as my staging area since it’s already stored in categories. I don’t have anything that I’ll need to gather from multiple locations.


8. I’ve already dealt with my digital clutter and I reset to zero as needed.


9. I have made great progress on sentimental over the past year. My digital photos are organized and I have discarded almost all my albums/scrapbooks. I’m using photo boxes for printed photos and Shutterfly books for digital photos. I hope to finish by June 2017 to celebrate our Silver Jubilee. ‪

Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 4

I'm counting the paper as 20 items because I've had it for close to 15 years. It's from our homeschooling years and teaching preschool co-op.  That’s 25 items for this load and a total of 353 items for the month.

My Purge Pile:

You may be interested in:
Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 1
Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 2

Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 3

June 2016 Reading List

The Brides of Chance Collection (Romancing America Series)
One Chance in a Million by Cathy Marie Hake
Second Chance by Tracey Bateman
Taking a Chance by Kelly Eileen Hake
Last Chance by Cathy Marie Hake
Chance Adventure by Kelly Eileen Hake
Chance of a Lifetime by Kelly Eileen Hake

Florida Weddings (Heartsong Novella Collection)
Cords of Love by Lynn A. Coleman
The Heart of the Matter by Kristy Dykes
Merely Players by Kathleen E. Kovach

Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 3

This load is mostly my husband's clothing and misc. stuff. My husband has been purging so much that I’ve teased, that he is becoming more minimalist than me. He’s fine with that. LOL Although after 5 ½ years of serious purging he still complains about some thing’s I purge and rescues them. This journey is really helping us to refine what we want in our lives and what we want in our next home. I'm purging a pair of jeans and 3 bags of bags, kitchen, and office items. I don’t like low waist jeans, you can’t bend over or your crack shows. I save the bags to drop off at my local charity Clothes Closet where they us them. That’s 64 items for this load and a total of 328 items for the month.
 
My Purge Pile:

You may be interested in:
Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 1
Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 2

Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 2

We purged 188 items. That makes 264 items purged so far for June.

My husband and I purged the shed include a got amount of trash/recyclables. He used up some of his stuff like oils, windshield washer fluid on the cars too. I'm very proud of him for letting so much go the last couple years. I told him he has gotten rid of so much stuff in the shed that it'll never get messy in the winter again. Our kids weren't sure about us purging more. Our oldest boy (24 yrs.) said it was already looking empty out there. LOL

I worked on hobby stuff, personal items, and toys too.

My Purge Pile:

  

You may be interested in:
Clutter Busting Challenge June 2016 Part 1

Buying or Not Buying Products

 

Let’s talk about buy products or not buying products. We get into habits of buying certain things and don’t stop to think if we need it. In most cases we ended up buying way more than we need or can use within a reasonable time. That creates unused products, cramped storage, and wasted money. 

I stopped buying things that I don’t use often, or things I thought I could do without about 6 years ago. I don’t just automatically add things once used up to my shopping list. I wait to see if I really miss the items or find that I need it for whatever reason. Most often I never buy the product again. It seems weird but I had so much extra of everything that it’s taking years to use everything up. I’ve donated or trashed things that I knew I’d never use but a lot of products I knew that I would use up eventually so I’ve keep them. My supply is dwindling and it feels nice to not have so much products. It has reduced decision fatigue also since I have a shorter list of things that I buy and mostly buy the same brands over and over. 

 I buy the same brand and package size of Health and Beauty Aids such as toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, dish soap, dishwasher soap, storage bags, and trash bags every month. It makes it easier to not have to think about it since they are needed items. This category didn’t take long to use up and I was able to automate what I use regularly. 

The Personal Care category has been a bit harder. I don’t use a lot of product but I had a good amount of product. I didn’t have nearly as much as some people since I don’t use a lot but I had more than I needed. Makeup products, I limited myself to 1 blush, eyeliner, and 2 eye shadows. I limit my perfume, nail polish, and hairspray things too. I do have a few more of certain things than I ultimately want but since I use the product, I’ll use what I have until it’s gone. I’ll buy 1 of something when I need to purchase again. This category I'm doing pretty good with although like I said I still have a few things like body spray that i need to use up.

One area I am still working on using up is cleaning products. I haven't needed to buy more but I did still buy Comet for the bathroom. I stopped doing that about a year ago.  I was almost out of products when my daughter came home and brought her cleaning product for me to have. That was almost 2 years ago and it may be another 2 years before I use all hers.  She had big gallons of concentrated products that take awhile to use. I have my favorites but to me a cleaner is a cleaner if it does the job. I don’t use cleaners that much and that is one reason they are lasting so long. I like basic soap, water, a little bleach and comet for the bathroom. I’d probably buy an all-purpose cleaner than will work on the floor too. I’ll be saving my money until I use up what I have. 

In the case of food items I stopped buying things I don’t want to eat due to wanting to eat better, 6 years ago. I slowly used up the undesirable food items to save money, things like rice mix packets, hamburger helper, and frozen food items. Once the items were gone I’d not buy them again and buy healthier stuff. I buy basic staples like rice, pasta, beans, canned goods, flour, and sugar along with fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat. I don’t buy much packaged processed stuff; I buy one treat per week like ice cream, chips, or candy. We have 3 of our 4 adult children at home so I do have more of things due to them purchasing items for themselves that I need. 

What have you tried going without? What did you find? What worked? What didn't work?