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.