I’ve purged through: clothes, jewelry, makeup and reserve beauty stuff.
I still need to purge: the white bin, the paper bin, the pink bin (perhaps bins in general), craft stuff and anything possibly lingering in my suitcase.
Bonus points for: books, kitchen stuff and green box files.
AND since my challenge ends tomorrow, I that means I pretty much have to do it today… 3 months ago
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in my larger resolution to simplify my life… and the easiest because it’s physical. I’m going to give myself a month to go through the rest of my stuff. 4 months ago
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How I did it: It was tough, but I really didnt have much of a choice. I was forced to move after my parents died and I had a time limit and pressure by my sister to have the house cleaned out before the house went on the market. Not only did i have to get rid of some of my stuff, but I also had to get rid of my parents stuff. It was very tough emotionally, but it felt good to do it myself. I could have hired someone to do it all for me, but by doing it myself I was able to let go of stuff and photograph and document the process.... In the end it was cathartic and made me realize how strong and capable I was under pressure.
1) First I figured out how much storage I could afford and only kept as much as would fit. (if you can't afford extra storage then you must get rid of more obviously) - standard storage (like Extra Space or Public Storage) are expensive and sometimes have security issues. Also consider container rentals. They can be cheaper and bigger options though not climate controlled. They can be rented or bought.
2) I am somewhat of a collector/hoarder and so tried to whittle my collecting down to 6 collections only! (don't know where i came up with that number but it seemed good at the time and forced me to limit what i could keep). I did get rid of stuff that later i regretted. Consider taking photos of things so you at least have that. Also if you have doubts it might be better to keep it initially...
3) I had an Estate Sale
4) Then I let my friends/family pick what they wanted from what was left
5) Then I donated the rest to charity - this required renting a uhaul
6) I also recycled as much paper, metals, plastics as possible. I got a lot of money for metal recycling!
7) For things that Goodwill wouldnt accept, I made a free stuff ad on craigslist with photos. I couldnt get rid of a couple couches so ended up throwing those in a dumpster, sadly.
8) I tried to avoid throwing things away, but If you have a lot of junk or like me were having to clear out an entire house, you can rent a dumpster.
Read how I did it… 4 months ago
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Getting ready to move, I had this thought with every thing I touched: “do I wanna bother lifting this or making my friends lift this?” In the end, many times the answer was “no.” I still have a few boxes of things to sell on Craigslist, and some magazines to work through but I’m down by quite a bit. 14 months ago
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