Day 14 - 5 things

Today is big.  Note:  Jay has not been exempt from this whole process of decreasing.  And you know what makes getting rid of something easier?  When someone pays you money for it.  I've been posting things he doesn't use on Craigslist and Amazon, and we've magically sold 3 things in the last 24 hours!!

First up, 20 pieces of Aurolex foamm (already picked up and paid for last night):

And secondly, 2 DIY sound diffusers (already picked up and paid for this afternoon):

And a piece of software we sold through Amazon (will ship off tomorrow):

That is technically 23 items, which is good enough for me.

Day 13 - 5 things

Today, I hit one of the junk drawers in the kitchen.  As soon as I find my five things, they immediately go in the trash, recycling, or Goodwill bag.  Slowly slowly all our drawers are becoming junk free!!

Day 11 and 12 - 5 things

I got 2 free days while we were in Little Rock (I decided that when I started), so we're back on...

Cleaned out under the bathroom sink:

And a bathroom cabinet.  Surely lotions have a limited shelf life...and surely I've passed it with these guys.  And I don't even know what came in all these little bags, I've had them in there that long.

Day 10 - 5 things

All these items are things I've thought about getting rid of...and then talked myself out of.  Well not tonight!!

The 2 random yellow things...yeah I don't even know what they are.  So I always just stick them back in their little drawer.  So you know what I did?  I asked Jay if he needed them.  He said no.  So they are gone.

The lip balm I found the other night and decided to start using it.  It's yucky (it probably went bad 2 years ago or something).  So it's gone.

The round things are glass thingies for a chandelier.  One is broken, and I just always liked the chandelier without them.  So I'm throwing them in the recycling.

And that long thing is this panel thingy from Ikea.  We have 5 of them in our dining room that make up a tree wall, and I love them.  They came in packs of 2, so this one has been sitting in a closet for 2-3 years.  Well you know, they really weren't that expensive, so when I come up with the perfect use for the last random tree panel in 5 years, I'll just go back and buy another.  (I almost did it again...I thought, "But what if we move and Ikea stops selling them and I want a tree wall in our next house."  Which is all a real possibility, but I can't keep closets full of things just in case we move at some point).

Day 9 - 5 things

Today is admittedly weak...but I've been in a bar drinking wine all night, which is way more fun.  Tonight I hit our TV console. Included are some treasures such as a bootleg copy of Eclipse (as in Twilight) and some random items associated with U-verse (we no longer have cable).  So out they go!

Day 8 - 5 things

Today actually started to get a bit more difficult, probably because a few of these items were gifts.  Getting rid of something that someone gave you is hard.  Like those little incense sticks in the picture below -- I've had them for probably 8 years!  One of my sisters gave them to me, and I've always liked the idea of them...and I have actually used several of them...but I figured it was probably time to let go. She was kind of in a hippie phase at the time, so she probably doesn't even remember giving them to me.

In addition to each day's five items, I throw stuff out (checks with old address) and start using things that are meant to be used (lotions, candles).  So I feel like my progress is bigger than just the five things going in the donation bag each day.

Also, I thought there might be better places to donate some of these things than just blindly giving it all to Goodwill.  Today I found a place in Houston that collects dresses, jewelry, purses, etc throughout the year to donate to girls for prom in the spring.  I'm going to keep a separate bag of things to ship off to them - and knowing that's where those types of items will go will encourage me to let go more easily and be more discerning about how much I am actually keeping for myself.

Day 6 and 7 - 5 things

I have more gloves than days I can actually wear them - got rid of 6 pairs in this batch.

One week down, 4 to go.

Day 5 - 5 things

I tried going for the "natural" deodorant..and pretty much smelled bad all the time. So this is me giving up on natural deodorants, as well as some random lotions that I don't really like the scents.  I've got lots of lotions.

Day 4 - 5 things

Obviously still working on the same drawer:

What gets me is how attached I feel to things I haven't worn in years.  I LOVED LOVED LOVED that middle necklace in high school and college.  I think I'd look like a hippie if I wore it now, but I still feel a little attached.

Day 3 - 5 things

I suspect that finding 5 things to get rid of will get harder.  But today, I found 4 things that I've never even used (they came with necklaces that I do actually wear), and it took all of about 30 seconds.

My mom made a comment a few nights ago about how much the idea of fashion has changed because places like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M sell fashionable things for very cheap - fashion is available to everyone, not just the wealthy.  She said growing up, she had 3 pairs of shoes.  Now, we just keep buying more and more.  In this case, it's cheap jewelry.  These earrings came in sets with necklaces and cost maybe $15 total.

Day 2 - 5 things

Today I technically got rid of more than 5 items, but it was all in the same drawer.

A lot of it just went in the trash, which is crazy because these things have been sitting in this drawer for years.  Key to parents' old house, ANOTHER set of Apple ear buds, Euros, 3-D glasses, YMCA cards (haven't been members for a year)... And a bunch of other stuff in the drawer found a more appropriate home.

Day1 - 5 things

The other day, Jay declared we needed more storage.  When there are only 2 of you in a 4 bedroom home, I'm pretty sure the problem isn't lack of storage - the problem is too much stuff!

Well this got me stressed, especially since Christmas is right around the corner, and you tend to stockpile even MORE during the holidays.

I decided that we should get rid of 5 things every day between now and Thanksgiving.  Excusing ourselves for a few days we will be out of town, that gives us about 35 days, which means we will get rid of 175 items that are sitting in our house that we no longer need.  I honestly don't think this is going to be too difficult...

So day 1 - five sports bras.  Because I honestly only wear my 2 favorites, though I did keep four because that's about the max I ever work out in a week.