Monday, February 15, 2016

My February Purge: Half-point Check-in

Greetings and happy Tuesday! As of today I am half-way through my February purge in terms of days. I've gotten rid of a total of 120 things as of yesterday. Of those 120 items, 65 were thrown away, 38 were put in a goodwill donation box, and 17 will go to thredUp at the end of the month.

I've done plenty of purging in the past, especially leading up to the moves I've made, but this purge is different than others as I've been more critical of what I own and why I own it. For example, I've packed and moved my collection of coffee mugs numerous times without giving thought to whether I needed all 16 of them. When the February purge rolled around, though, I thought about whether I truly needed 16 coffee mugs when I am the only coffee-drinker in the house (Phil doesn't and will never drink coffee). The answer was no. So I kept the 8 mugs that match my dishes plus 2 gifted coffee mugs that I love, and brought 1 other gifted mug to work to replace the worn out mug I've been using for the last several years.

Aside from mugs, I've gotten rid of a range of things such as expired spices, saute pans that I no longer use, clothes, jewelry, and shoes. I've tried to go through my house room by room and I usually choose the items I want to get rid of and put those items in a pile versus deciding which items to get rid of each day. Right now I am working on my bedroom closet. I feel like I will be in there for many days as I have a big stack of clothes to get rid of as well as a box of jewelry and shoes.

While I still have 315 items to get rid of over the next 14 days, I'm feeling confident that I'll be able to make it through to the end of the month because I know that there are many books I am going to be getting rid of. While I got rid of a lot of books last January, the truth of the matter is that my bookcases don't really reflect my current reading interests, so many of them will be donated so someone else can read them. At the end of the challenge, I will own far fewer books, but they will be books that I truly love.

I haven't been good about taking before and after photos, but I did take one of the area where I hang my necklaces.


It feels good to see multiple spaces in my house look like my necklace rack - less cluttered and reflective of what I use and need!

15 comments:

Caroline said...

I bet it feels so good to be getting rid of that much stuff! This winter I've been slowly trying to get rid of things, not in any organized manner like this challenge, but I've just been keeping in mind that I'll be moving in ~6 months and that is enough motivation for me to get rid of things I don't need haha

Charbelle said...

I debated posting the picture of my room that I took yesterday. You couldn't see the floor or the bed. I have been going non stop since I got home from CA (so much for my New Years resolution!) and my room reflected it. I need to go through stuff, again...

I think it's awesome that you are doing this! I'm going to be going through my storage unit and getting rid of a bunch of furniture so I can downsize units since the storage place ups the price ever.single.year, ugh!

way to go you are doing awesome!!!

Nora said...

I am LOVING this challenge. So far I've ditched books, headbands I don't wear, rings & Bracelets that were collecting dust, old lotions/face masks, pj t-shirts that I don't wear and some other random things. I still have several areas of the house to look at and hit with the purge so I think I can get rid of enough things, at least I hope so :) Thanks for encouraging me to join!

suki said...

I've not been so successful with my February goals. :P Great job getting rid of so many items thus far! Are you counting each individual little item as one? Has that helped with the count?

Linda said...

You're inspiring me to tackle my closet again this weekend. It's a mess!

Marlys said...

Wow, you have done a great job of purging! I really need to do that in my kitchen and clothes closet! Now I just need the motivation!

Stephany said...

Nice job on the purging! I actually just drafted a post about this purge that I'll be publishing tomorrow. I actually ran out of stuff to donate/toss on Thursday! Which is a wonderful feeling. :)

Jeanie said...

You are amazing! I did a good job last year then have fallen by the wayside! I saw a Lenten challenge -- one thing a day during Lent and you have 40 things gone. So far I've missed a few (like all) of the days but will catch up! I'm committed!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Getting rid of stuff always makes me feel good. If only I didn't leave with a hoarder!!! I have to be discreet on my throwing out or I find items in other places. Oh lordy, it is crazy! I haven't been into going through things recently but I think it's about time to go through my clothes again. I did it in August but I am thinking I need to clear out my drawers more.

Anonymous said...

Good for you. I can't imagine being able to find 120 things to purge since I get rid of things all the time. Purging is one of my favorite things to do!

San said...

Wow, great job on the purging! I am intrigued by this challenge.
Even though we did a huge purge last summer (and got rid off a few things before we moved), I know that we could get rid off some more things (esp.me, J is a minimalist by nature).
Maybe I'll schedule a month of purging later this year! I definitely have too many mugs, too :)

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

We're doing well on the challenge too :-) We aren't doing it day by day, but instead just spent one afternoon purging 100 things. I'll purge more this week, since I'm off, and by the end of the month we're hoping to get to the 435 things.

Amber said...

You're doing such a great job with the purging. I bet it feels so amazing! I am planning on doing some purging this weekend. I am the same as you - WHY do we have SOOO many coffee mugs? And wine glasses? Not necessary, so I will definitely be getting rid of some of those and I'm also going to pull out any clothing I haven't worn in the last 6 months.

Cherry Blossoms said...

Your jewelry holder is so cute! Where did you find that at? PS: Did you get rid of the chunky pearl necklace? If so, I want it!
I have been busy going thru Elle's closet and it feels so good to sell/ donate as I can't stand things piling up. Even old nail polish I was like why do we have this?! Funny, how things just accurate with you realizing.

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Nice job so far! I know it feels SO GOOD to purge, even if you go through 100 things and only get rid of one. I like knowing what I have, even if I do not throw away / give away as much as I wanted to. I have been working on my purge as well and I found a whole box of pens that once I started checking to see if they worked, were all dead! So I threw away maybe 50 pens... I probably will not count that as 50 things, but it feels GREAT to get rid of useless stuff like that. I kept thinking I would go through them to see what worked, but really I was just putting off the inevitable.

The other thing I am doing is making a list of "things NOT to buy". For instance, body wash. I have about 20 bars of soap that I have been given over the years, but since I generally use body wash in the shower, they are all just sitting in a box. My goal is to stop using the body wash and to use the soaps first! I may save one or two in the end because they do smell good in my underwear drawer, but there is no way I need 20 of them, plus I have a three pack of body wash from Costco to boot!!

I need to post my list, but will probably just do it once at the end of the month, since I am not doing so well on the blog post front these days!!