I suppose I should come right out and say it. This decluttering update is no where near as saucy as last month. That’s right: I’ve decluttered a bunch, but I haven’t sold any undies or tossed any hemorrhoid cream this month.
What I have noticed though, besides the fact that I have next to no shame as a blogger anymore, is a dramatic difference in our lives. Decluttering hasn’t made me rich, and it hasn’t made me famous. (Unless you count my appearance on Tiny Bites, which totally counts!)
But I am finally starting to notice the breathing room that we have in our lives. Mornings run smoother, and there’s less to take care of each evening. That means more time for my family and more time for sleep procrastinating on my blog.
I know that decluttering will likely be a lifelong process. Still, being able to savor this feeling makes all of the hard work worth it. And it’s been motivating as all get out, which meant we had a really productive August
What I Decluttered in August
- 8 pieces of toddler clothes – I’m still packing away most of HP’s clothes, but I am trying to get rid of duplicates. These made a nice donation to a local foundation that was looking for items.
- 18 pieces of men’s clothing – In the strangest twists of faith, my husband created what amount to a PE teacher capsule closet for himself. He has enough items to mix and match throughout the week (plus an outfit change on sweaty days – yet another reason why I won’t teach PE). And that’s it. If nothing else, it forces us to really stay on top of laundry.
- 21 pieces of women’s clothing – I basically whittled down my entire summer wardrobe and got rid of most of it. I wouldn’t go so far as saying that I have a capsule wardrobe, too. But I am giving myself major back pats.
- 2 pairs of shoes – One pair went to DSW’s shoe recycling program, and I sold another pair on Poshmark.
- 4 belts – I used to really adore fashion bloggers. In fact, I’m still pretty obsessed with Kendi. I bought a bunch of really cute and completely impractical belts, and I’m finally at peace with the fact that they’re too much work.
- Shoe cabinet – When you go from more than 200 pairs of shoes to about 20, you end up with a lot space. So I ditched another storage cabinet. I tried to pawn it off on my husband, but his sneakers and basketball shoes take up way too much space. I listed it for free and out it went!
- 122 classroom library books – I haven’t been putting classroom clutter in any of my totals, but this seemed worth mentioning. When I switched rooms, I had to downsize an entire bookshelf. So I combed through all of my books and removed duplicate triplicate copies and less popular items. I offered them up to students first and then brought 6(!) boxes to my library for them to sell for a few cents each. Perhaps because I’m enjoyed so many of the benefits of a decluttered home, I’m trying to also extend that to my work. It’s working!
Items decluttered: 54 (This doesn’t include any of my classroom items).
Money made: $12
RELATED POST: Do You Live in a Home or a Storage Unit?
How I Know I’m Not Done Decluttering
While I’m tempted to puff out my chest and pat myself on the back, I know our decluttering journey isn’t over. In fact, with a now two-year-old, I know it’s really only just beginning. Here’s what I caught myself saying last month:
- “How many times can you lose your keys in a day?” My husband was running late last month because he couldn’t find his keys. Then, he came home much later than he intended because he lost his keys at work.
- “That’s a lot of notebooks.” My mom found my stash of notebooks, and she’s not wrong. Amazingly, I attended a money and media industry conference, and I resisted all the stationery swag! I’m so proud of me. Now to use up what I have…
- “I need my computer. No, my other computer.” I finally broke down and bought a new Chromebook. My previous laptop had broken keys and next to no memory left. In all honesty, I should have replaced it at least a year prior. But since it’s not totally dead, I haven’t decided what to do with it. HP is interested. That means I might just let him play around on it until our community does electronics recycling again.
RELATED POST: 5 Things I Wish I Knew About Decluttering When I First Started
So Tell Me…Did you do any decluttering? Are you donating or selling? A little of both? Any tips or tricks that I can steal?
I didn’t do any decluttering this month, but I’m pretty proud of the pre-cluttering (tried to make a mashup of declutter and preventative) I did by avoiding all of the FinCon swag except for tshirts. You’re welcome for me pre-cluttering you a sweet mug ?
Hahaha, pre-cluttering! I love it.
I did not do any decluttering this month or, in fact, any of the past months of 2019. And it’s quite obvious when you look around the house.
With a smaller house it was critical that I decluttered when I moved in but somehow it all came creeping back.
I think it’s time to jump back on the decluttering bandwagon and hopefully your monthly updates can help be that push I need.
I did a little decluttering in my linen cupboard last weekend and found 4 empty spray bottles, 1 empty squirt bottle and 2 empty pump bottles. To be fair I didn’t get rid of all of these and moved most of them to my basement pantry storage but they’re no longer upstairs taking up space and one pump bottle will come to work with me tomorrow to replace a broken one in the shared kitchen.
I’m trying to get my spouse to donate his snow boarding gear since he hasn’t gone snow boarding in over 17 years – it’s almost vintage at this point. He’s not ready to let it go.
I did put an inkjet printer cartridge that I found in the donate box since we haven’t had an inkjet printer in over 5 years…
I did a lot of decluttering this summer. And as a mom of four, I just want to say that yes, you are right on track with the idea that it’s a continual process.
Children are always growing out of things, and if you don’t pass them on, you can end up with a LOT of stuff that you don’t need.
I like to try to pass things on as soon as possible, especially clothes, because if you wait with those, they can go out of style.
It’s so hard because we waffle if we want another kiddo or not. But there are so many ifs there that it’s really just an excuse. Hoping now that the seasons are changing, it will inspire me to be more aggressive with getting rid of his stuff!
I am working through TT’s room. He’s agreed to part with the clothes that are too small but told me that the bookshelf is off-limits! A child after my own heart 🙂
Oooh, books are so hard. That’s why I make it a habit not to buy them. I’d never part with them! (My classroom is case and point.)
My aim this week is to put a bag on the door handle in each room in the house.. and fill it up with items throughout the week that need to be donated/thrown/sold.
Let’s see which room get’s filled first!
I love this idea. I wish I had more doors LOL