33 Days of Decluttering - November/December 2014

[miss lawson]

Hello everyone!

I've decided to embark on MinimalistBeauty's 33 Days of Decluttering and here's the basic gist - For 33 days you choose 3 items that you want to either sell, donate, or toss in the trash so that at the end of everything, you've purged 100 items from your home. On the first day, you say goodbye to 4 items.

I'm going into this challenge with makeup and beauty products in mind, but you can approach this any way you see fit, so if you want to mix makeup, clothing, things in your kitchen, decorative items, any other bits of junk you have lying around, go for it! This is a place where we can not only share the items that we're saying goodbye to, but maybe pass along advice and encouragement to others as well.

I'm going to go ahead and kick this off today, but if you happen to stumble across this thread at a later date, feel free to join in anyway and catch up at your own pace. Good luck everyone! Happy decluttering!

 

[miss lawson]

Okay, to kick this thing off, here are my 4 items for day 1:

1. Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm - This is really old. I found it when I was digging through my stash and I put some on and it's not nearly as moisturizing as I remember it being. I have better balms now, so there's no need to hold onto this one. (Trash)
2. NYX Lipstick in Ceto - I got this in an Ipsy bag ages ago. It's not a bad color, but it is quite frosty and I don't really like frosty lipsticks so much. (Give Away)
3. Benefit Ultra Shine Lip Gloss in Foxy Lady - This is kind of embarrassing that I STILL have this in my stash. It's clearly ancient, since I can't remember when I purchased it AND their Ultra Shine Glosses have been discontinued for a while now. (Trash)
4. MAC Lipstick in Riot House - Impulse buys from limited edition collections are something that will probably show up a lot in these lists. The color isn't absolutely horrible on me, but it's also not all that flattering. This lipstick also takes a lot of work to ensure that it doesn't look horrible - I have to exfoliate, make sure my lips are hydrated, put on liner, and even then, it still likes to slip around and show lip lines. Uh, no. Get a grip, Lawson. Pass on the unflattering and annoying lipstick. (Give Away)

 

[EggyBread]

I would like to join! I'm passing along 2 neutral lip liners and a green eye liner to my sister, so that will be my 3 today.  I mostly give the makeup that's still good but not right for me to my sister because she's not in a great place right now and likes getting makeup packages. I hope that still counts as donating for this. 

 

[miss lawson]

I would like to join! I'm passing along 2 neutral lip liners and a green eye liner to my sister, so that will be my 3 today.  I mostly give the makeup that's still good but not right for me to my sister because she's not in a great place right now and likes getting makeup packages. I hope that still counts as donating for this. 

That definitely counts! I'm passing all of my gently used makeup items along to a friend who doesn't have a lot of money to spend on makeup and is in a very stressful and tight place financially. I'm not sending her the half-used things that have been sitting in the bottom of a drawer for three years, though. That's a little bit gross, haha.

 

[SassyPeach]

I'm joining in too!  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> I'm going to be doing this challenge with make up, beauty products, odds and ends around the house and clothes (I've already started a bag to donate before this challenge started)

1) Pair of running shoes - They are really old and wearing out pretty badly. I can't remember the last time I wore them and have no idea why I still have them. (Trash)

2) Lip Balm - Expired. (Trash)

3) Shirt - I haven't worn it in almost 2 years I think. (Donate) 

4) Sweater - I also haven't worn this in a really long time and have others I like more. (Donate)

Since I was already in the process of de-cluttering my closet, I will only be listing one clothing item per day going forward as I would like to de-clutter other items as well. 

 

[acostakk]

We moved recently, so I'm pretty up-to-date on decluttering my own stuff. Instead I'm making my kiddo declutter her toys! We're going through one bin or cupboard a day preparing for Christmas. She wants this HUGE toy stable, I've told her it'll be under the tree IF she makes enough space for it. I won't bore you all with how many Polly Pockets and baby toys hit the donate bag, but I will follow along because I'm with you in spirit!

 

[jesemiaud]

I'm in! I love the idea of decluttering a few things a day. Totally doable! My four for today are all books:

1. Book - Reading between the Lines by Rick Hamlin. Don't know where this came from, but not really interested in reading it.
2. AP US History Study Guide - My kids have all taken the test...don't need it anymore
3. Lord of the Flies - annotated by my daughter, lol. 
4. Fidget to Focus Roland Rotz

I put these in a box to donate (except for Lord of the Flies. Since it's annotated, I tossed it).

 

[EggyBread]

I also got rid of two perfume samples, so those can be my #4 for today.

 

[miss lawson]

I'd forgotten to mention this in one of my previous posts, but the whole thing that really got me on this decluttering kick (besides the fact that I am overwhelmed by my makeup stash)  is the fact that my spouse and I have been living in a one bedroom apartment for nearly a year now. We used to live in a two bedroom apartment, so we have tons and tons of boxes that are sitting around, taking up space, but haven't been unpacked or touched in that time. Our closet is unusable.  It's shown me that I use such a small percentage of my things and I manage to get by just fine and I have no reason to own so many things.

 

[SassyPeach]

I'd forgotten to mention this in one of my previous posts, but the whole thing that really got me on this decluttering kick (besides the fact that I am overwhelmed by my makeup stash)  is the fact that my spouse and I have been living in a one bedroom apartment for nearly a year now. We used to live in a two bedroom apartment, so we have tons and tons of boxes that are sitting around, taking up space, but haven't been unpacked or touched in that time. Our closet is unusable.  It's shown me that I use such a small percentage of my things and I manage to get by just fine and I have no reason to own so many things.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has unpacked boxes. My husband and I have been living in our condo for 3 years now and we have a spare room that has a whole bunch of boxes that we have barley touched and some boxes we haven't even touched at all. I know we have to take care of it but it's so overwhelming and every time I walk into the room I just don't want to deal with it. We just had a talk Friday night and decided that we would start to de-clutter the room for a few hours every week in hopes to have it all done before Christmas. I want to start off 2015 with a de-cluttered home and have a place for everything and everything in its place.

 

[miss lawson]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has unpacked boxes. My husband and I have been living in our condo for 3 years now and we have a spare room that has a whole bunch of boxes that we have barley touched and some boxes we haven't even touched at all. I know we have to take care of it but it's so overwhelming and every time I walk into the room I just don't want to deal with it. We just had a talk Friday night and decided that we would start to de-clutter the room for a few hours every week in hopes to have it all done before Christmas. I want to start off 2015 with a de-cluttered home and have a place for everything and everything in its place.

The boxes really are overwhelming, aren't they? We had a ton at our old place, too. The guest bedroom was pretty much a catch-all for all of the junk that we didn't know what we should do with. So, we always wound up just shoving it under the bed or into the closet there and tried not to think about it.

I talked about it with my spouse and told him that I was going to be going through all of my clothing - I don't want to pressure him into giving up something unless he absolutely wants to, though, so I made it clear that this is my project. I'm so tempted to just tear everything out and go to town on it immediately, but I'm trying to show some restraint. It took years to build up all of the clutter, so it'll take some time to clear through it. I might choose more than 3 items to get rid of from time to time, though.

 

[Allison H]

I love this idea! I recently moved, so I decluttered a few months ago (it's amazing how much stuff gets accumulated in 7 years!), so I won't be participating. I will follow this thread and see how you ladies are doing! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[normajean2008]

I'll join in!  I've actually already been on a big de-clutter kick the last couple weeks, so this thread will help keep me going (I hope, lol).  

Today I cleaned out the kitchen cabinets (all 4 I have), and got rid of: 

1. Half a trash bag of old food (half used boxes of dry stuff, old expired beans I forgot I had, stuff I have no idea how I ended up with) etc.. 

2. Half a trash can full of old dishes that were past prime, broken, or have no more room for anymore.

3. Rolling pin, food processor, cast iron grill plate, and an electric crepe/grill/mini pancake maker thing.

All went in the trash except items in #3, which are being given to various family members who would love to have them.  

We downgraded from a HUGE kitchen in our last house, down to a loft apartment with like 2 feet of kitchen counter space and only a couple cabinets.. I realized this past couple weeks that I've been holding on to and storing crap in the kitchen I don't have room to use, don't like, etc.. Have been working around all this crap for 5 years now.  Plus I used to be really into mis-matched pieces for dishes etc, and have now become more into matching sets..So I bought some new cups and a few other pieces that now match.  Cleaning out the cabinets now gives me a place to put them.  

I look forward to posting more and reading all the success of others!  

 

[azalea97]

Love this idea! I'm joining in too. Today I just tossed some beauty products.

1. Carmex lip balm

2. Unknown brand lipgloss on a squeeze tube.

Not a fan of the squeeze tubes.

3. Eucerin lotion I've had too long & never use.

Too greasy.

4. Lg. jar of ponds face moisturizer. I use

Others & never touch it

 

[Kristine Walker]

 Love this!

Today I tossed:

1. My ten year old favorite pair of tennis shoes. I'm just fooling myself that had any life left in the poor things, I wore them plum to death.

2. Stack of old fashion mags

3. Plastic bowls with no lids, a year has past since the lids went AWOL, so I chucked that $%^ bowls out.

 

[EggyBread]

Day 2!

1. Giving away a perfume I'm just never going to use

2. Trashing a dress that's old and stained

3. Trashing shoes that I could not break in and still make my feet bleed

 

[miss lawson]

Today's list of things!

5. Gap Skirt (Black): I've gained a fair bit of weight over the past few years and this skirt just does not fit me anymore. It barely covers my big ol' bubble butt and every time I wear it, I'm constantly tugging it down in the back. It had a good run of about 7 years, and it's still in good condition, so I think it's time to let someone else fall in love with it.

6. Gap Skirt (Orange): This is actually a pretty cute skirt and it does fit, but I have such a hard time making it work for me because of the funky, and let's be honest, unflattering color. Time to say goodbye.

7. Micheal Kors Flats: I'm trying not to think about these because they're this adorable hot pink and they were so expensive, but they need to be gone. They're horribly uncomfortable. I wore them to a party a few weeks ago and they killed my feet the entire evening. It didn't just stop there - they were so painful that it took my feet the rest of the weekend to recover. I do not need to have shoes like that.

Just so people know, nobody has to say why they're getting rid of something! I'm just doing it because it helps me to reaffirm and really cement why I need to let something go, especially these more expensive or limited edition items. 

Anyway, all of that is going into the donation bag! I'll be taking everything to a women's shelter once it's full. 

 

[emilylithium]

I want to join in! I am currently living in a two room apartment with a roommate, there is not a lot of space. I will also be moving next year. I can't do the full 33 days of decluttering since I will be away thanksgiving and christmas, so it will either continue into 2015 or I will get rid of more things everyday. I want to declutter, spend less on products and focus more on experience type of stuff (also joining the 100 day no buy next year). I want to spend more money on other people and save up for traveling, learning, that type of stuff.

Will begin to update when I get back from work today.

Mission for the day, find a place to recycle. My apartment doesn't have recycling, which is making me really mad, and holding on to a lot of papers than necessary. I feel bad for trashing papers. 

 

[SassyPeach]

Day 2:

[SIZE=10.5pt]1) Cell Phones - I cleaned out a “junk” drawer and found 2 old cell phones! Why would I still have these? Ugh. Anyway, I will be dropping them off at Best Buy to be recycled. (Trash)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]2) Miscellaneous Papers - Also found in same “junk” drawer. (Trash)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]3) Dress Pants - They are a few years old and don’t quite fit right. (Donate)[/SIZE]

 

[ZeeOmega]

Day 2:

[SIZE=10.5pt]1) Cell Phones - I cleaned out a “junk” drawer and found 2 old cell phones! Why would I still have these? Ugh. Anyway, I will be dropping them off at Best Buy to be recycled. (Trash)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]2) Miscellaneous Papers - Also found in same “junk” drawer. (Trash)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]3) Dress Pants - They are a few years old and don’t quite fit right. (Donate)[/SIZE]

For your old cellphones, please consider calling your local domestic violence agency. Even without a data plan all cellphones are still able to make 911 calls. DV agencies hand these phones out to their clients, including child clients, who may not be able to afford a phone but need one for safety planning reasons. Even if the agency has more phones than they can hand out, they are able to send them in to a non-profit that does the recycling and send the agency a check for the phones sent in.