MY ONE THING // For the month of August I decided to give my second attempt at the Minimalist Challenge, which I called My [Failed] Minimalist Challenge. In this blog I’m going to share some of the lessons I learned.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK // In a perfect world, I would’ve stayed current with the Minimalist Challenge daily – I did not. Day 1 was easy, just getting rid of 1 item, but when I got to 10+ and 20+ items each day it’s just wasn’t practical to set aside enough time each day to get rid of that exact amount. I usually fell behind and sometimes I did set time out some nights to go through a room or boxes and didn’t find enough that night to reach my “quota” for the day. It’s also not totally helpful when you’ve reached the end and now you have this huge pile of stuff to get rid of. I’ll share some tips to getting rid of your stuff soon.
WHAT WORKED // Even though I didn’t keep up day-to-day, I did accomplish what I set out to do. I got rid of 586 items in the month of August. My wife joined in, getting rid of 136 items. All that combined with my original failed Minimalist Challenge of 14 items in July, we got rid of 736 items!! Besides reaching my goal, it was pretty cool that Amy (my wife) joined in just because she wanted to. I actually couldn’t have done it without her. On August 31 we went through the shed and garage together to get rid of over 300 items. She let me take credit for all of it. 🙂
It can feel tedious as you go from room to room looking for things you don’t want, don’t need, and don’t use, but other times it’s really easy! Once you get on a roll it can even be difficult to quit. The area of the house that found the most improvement was probably the garage. We finally faced the reality the we’ve only golfed once in the 10 years we’ve been married. We don’t need 2 sets of golf clubs. We don’t even need 1 set, so we got rid of them all, and the golf balls, and the tees. That’s when getting rid of items can snowball pretty quick!
GETTING TO MY NUMBER // You may be wondering how did I ever get rid of so many items? Do I really have that much extra in my house?! In short – YES! And I still have more I’m sure we can get rid of. If you want a guide on going through your entire home, read the book The Minimalist Home. That book will guide you room by room and ask questions that you probably need to think about. I didn’t do that this time. I started in my bedroom the day after laundry day and and touched every single piece of clothing I owned, and I tried to be real about it. What do I actually wear? What do I keep for a “special” day, if that day ever comes? Do I have something else that is multi-use that I could wear instead or that I already wear regularly? One example was a bright neon running jacket that I never wear and I already have a reflective jacket that is much more useful.
From my bedroom I went through every room, every closet, every shelf, every drawer, every storage tote, every nook and cranny of the house that had items that belonged to me in it. I didn’t go through my wife’s stuff – I wouldn’t recommend that to anyone. I also didn’t go through baby clothes or my children’s toys because my wife is a lot wiser in that department. I went through books, clothes, movies, video games, expired products (like toothpaste samples), board games, electronics, chords for old electronics, childhood toys, my childhood tote, outdoor games, golf equipment, pool equipment, beach toys, broken toys, screws, bolts, and a bunch of random stuff in drawers. You can see pictures of a lot of the stuff on my Facebook page.
WHAT TO DO YOU WITH YOUR “TREASURES” // Remember that your junk is someone else’s treasure. Don’t discount everything you’re ready to get rid of, but also be real with yourself! Some stuff just needs to go to Goodwill and some stuff just needs to go in the garbage. My opinion is if the item is worth less than $5, give it away, unless you can sell it bundled with other items, such as baby clothes. I sell a lot of stuff on Facebook Market because it’s easy and there haven’t been any fees or taxes, though I heard that might be changing. For safety, I recommend always meeting people you sell to in public areas, like a gas station, instead of your home. You can also sell stuff on eBay, Craigslist (is that still a thing?), garage sales, etc. Another option that many people don’t think of is your local library. Our library is pretty small and they are always accepting donations for books, movies, video games, board games, and even cake pans. That great thing about this option is that you can still borrow your stuff anytime, but you don’t have to store it anymore!
FROM NOW ON // My goal is to continue to have less and less in our house. It helps when you’re married to the self-proclaimed The Minimalish Mom, but I have also seen the benefits of having less to manage, and feeling less stressed by having less clutter. My goal is that anytime I bring another item into our home that I get rid of at least 1 item that we currently have, but hopefully more.
GETTING STARTED // This depends on where you are in your journey. If you haven’t started The Minimalist Challenge, go ahead and start on day 1, getting rid of 1 item and getting rid of 30 on day 30. If you’ve already done that, start working on getting rid of your pile. What can be thrown away? Take what you can to the library. Box up everything for Goodwill. Start selling what you can. My small goal is to sell at least 1 item every week. If you’ve already done all of it – Way to go! I’d love it if you would leave a comment on what worked for you that I didn’t mention in this blog.
TO MY BOYS // “I’m so proud of you. I’m thankful every day that I get to be your dad! You are the very best parts of me. You are dearly loved by your mom and me. Now go out there and do your best.” – Dad
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