The Minimalist Game – Week Three
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Passing the half-way mark is a big deal! The last two weeks of this challenge are up-hill, but they are SO worth it, and the gradually increasing work in the first two weeks has prepared us to succeed. On to the Minimalist Game Week Three!
While I spent some time aimlessly looking around, wondering what on earth I could part with (isn’t that ironic), once I dug into certain spaces–the items came easily. I tackled multiple sentimental boxes, my toddler’s clothes drawers, bookshelves, my closet and more!
This month, February 2018, I am de-cluttering the amount of items for the date of the month (ex. 1 on Feb 1, 2 on Feb 2, etc.), meaning a total of 406 items will be gone from my house by the end of the month!
What I Decluttered in Week Three:
- Day 15 – CDs, tape, old planner, empty/expired oil samples, plastic pouch, booster seat (15)
- Day 16 – pencils, tiles, hair gel, empty bottle, fabric (16)
- Day 17 – greeting cards, beanie baby tag, lacing toys, glass jars (17)
- Day 18 – books, purse, jeans, pants, skirt, old lip balm, pen, keychain (18)
- Day 19 – glass jars from wedding programs (19)
- Day 20 – glass jars, books, kids’ hair elastics (20)
- Day 21 – outgrown toddler clothes (21)
Total Items Removed
• This Week: 126
• This Month: 231
Keep Climbing–We’re Almost There!
1. Clothes
We all have clothes that don’t fit us right anymore or that have spots, holes, etc. For kids this is especially true! They go through multiple clothing sizes a year!
I’ve done quite a bit of closet pruning for myself in the past years, but even I found a stack of stretched out postpartum clothes and various too small pieces as well. Moved on from a life stage? You probably have clothes hanging around from it–move them along!
For young children, I prune through the clothes by size. I don’t like her clothes to get too tight or uncomfortable, so I move her up in size when I see those high water pants and sleeves hiking up. My daughter recently outgrew 2T clothes, so her entire wardrobe in that size got to go.
2. Closets
If your closets are your catch-all, you’ll need to take it bit by bit. Start by pulling out bags or boxes that you can shift through pretty quickly. Identify what the items are and whether you use/need/want them. Not sure? Set it aside and move on.
We often throw things we aren’t sure about in the closet so as to not deal with it–this is the perfect time to deal with it, but don’t let it derail your progress. If you feel stuck, either make a decision, put it in a “think about it” zone or skip it for now.
3. Books
Bookshelves are difficult for book lovers because they are sentimental items. We know where we got that book and why and what we thought of it. That’s great…but the question still remains–are you going to read it again? Is it a reference book you use?
Is it valuable and something you want to pass down to your kids? If it’s not any of those things…chances are you won’t ever touch it again and it’s simply collecting dust. Be brutally honest with yourself.
If it’s a book that is available at your local library, or that you could easily snag a copy on Amazon if you really needed it, let it go. Your brain will feel lighter already!
In Week Four we are going for gold and wrapping this challenge up! It’s the hardest week, but we’re going to figure out a way to do it!
Read More in the Minimalist Game Series:
Week One
Week Two
Week Four
