Every week day in May, I’m challenging my readers to try to find at least 7 things to get rid of. These can be big or small things, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you actually throw them out, sell them, donate them, recycle them, or find someone else who can use them. Think you’re up for the challenge?
Here were the things I rid of today — yes, I found some more junk! 🙂
- 4 articles of clothing
- 5 books
- 1 marker that doesn’t work
- 2 misc. lids
- 3 used batteries
- 1 charger that doesn’t work
How did your clutter-busting go today? Link up your blog post and/or Instagram pictures below. Or, leave a comment telling us how many things you got rid of. Let’s clear our homes of clutter so we can be more productive and efficient!
kat says
doing more of a round-up at the end of the week of all the clutter we got rid of–got rid of 24 items in the first 3 days!
FMR says
broken necklace, not worth enough to be repaired
broken bracelet, cute, but has been repaired twice and not worth any more effort
map
out of date course catalogue
purse calendar
trip itinerary for trip already taken
decorative mat board from my trip to Alaska in 2005. If I haven’t used it yet, it’s time to go! Plus it is bent in weird places
2 plastic lids I used for mixing paints
David's Mommy says
Are we doing this on the weekends?
Crystal says
I’m not posting on the weekends, but you’re welcome to keep working at it then if you’d like!
Linda says
Day 5- not much today. I threw away 3 bottles of old nail polish, and then decluttered my email inbox. If I count that, I got rid of hundreds of items! 🙂
Toya says
5/1 – 5/5: 74 items! Loving this challenge!
Crystal says
Woohoo! Go you!
Holly @redberrydeals.com says
I’m so excited about this challenge. I’m catching up with the cleaning from last month and it was definitely a success my house looks so much cleaner then last month! Even though it can feel like while cleaning with kids, brushing my teeth with oreos! 🙂 I’m going to keep up with it each month at least to have a plan each day or week.
I just mentioned this challenge to my husband and he laughed because we can easily throw away or get rid of more than 7 items each day in this house! One of the challenges of mine is the office and it has so much stuff that I need to go through just that room alone for a month maybe two? hahaha!
Julie says
Day 5 I got rid of:
minnow bucket
2 large empty cardboard boxes
shower rod
scrapbooking papers/stickers
2 comm quarter holders
quilting ruler
Really noticing a big difference in the basement!
Cindy says
I’m loving this challenge! Today, I went through my socks and underwear drawers. I got rid of 25 items (or pairs of items in the case of socks) and still have enough socks that I could go a month without washing them and still have clean socks. Okay, maybe not a month, but close to it.
Tomorrow, I’m tackling my half of the closet. Anything I haven’t worn in the last year is toast (or a Goodwill donation).
Seven is such a great number to shoot for. It makes me feel great to accomplish it and spectacular when I exceed it!
Julie says
So, after reading all these posts, it seems I am among the minority that needs to get rid of MANY things. Thank you for motivating me, Crystal. I told my husband a few weeks ago that after our youngest gets married in December, I want to to a major declutter. Thankfully you gave me the motivation to get going now.
This is what I got rid of on 5/3 and 5/4:
5/3: (35 items)
1 skirt
3 shirts
Many Christmas present boxes
5 rolls of ribbon
7 dreamsicles
2 crystal candleholders
2 Christmas candles
sugar bowl
broken stained glass bird
crock pot warmer
pottery vase
table cloth
sterling silver bowl
pfaltzgraf bottle
Nintendo DS charger
Broken teddy bear
Horse frame
Telephone
2 skirts
Bissell steam cleaner
5/4: (36 items)
Wooden blanket rack
6 curtain rods
twin comforter
6 pair lined curtains
sweater
ice skates
girls boots
wooden calendar holder
2 pair long johns
electric chair massager
cosmetics luggage carry on
girls purse
girls snow pants and jacket
8 dreamsicle figurines
2 skirts
2 pair shorts
I still have a long way to go. We have a large house that we have been living in for over 20 years….. When this is over I want a clutter-free home. Made a huge trip to Goodwill yesterday!
Julie Stoner says
Can’t believe all the junk Im finding!
Linda says
Day 4- cleaned out a lazy susan cupboard in the kitchen that holds mostly junk.
12 water bottles collected over the years, only 2 could be recycled
a plastic lid
a plastic jar and lid
a broken Tupperware bowl
a broken ice pop maker
Question: If you have a lazy susan corner cupboard, what do you keep in it? I have never really felt like I used mine to its potential, but I can’t figure out what to put in it.
Julie says
I love mine. I use the top shelf for all of my baking needs. Different kinds of flowers, chocolate chips, baking soda, powder, cocoa, etc. Right in the front I keep all of my oils for cooking since I use them often. The bottom shelf is for bigger cooking things, such as molasses, honey bottle, etc. I love that all my baking stuff is in one place.
Diane says
I am loving this challenge! I thought we had very little clutter but we’re making a Goodwill drop off tomorrow already!
Karen says
2 pairs of shoes, 1 shirt, 1 binder with paper, 1 bottle lotion, 3 magnet rollers
FMR says
natural calming/anti stress drink, that made my son MORE hyper
2 broken snow shovels
2 pairs of outgrown, mud and paint covered sneakers
once living Christmas wreathe
college info my daughter requested when she was in high school. She is now finishing her second year in college.
old,old fabric to a friend whose church collects textiles all year long and then sells them by the pound
Carla says
My items:
1. Business card for lawn service – recycle bin
2.Empty coffee bag. I poured the coffee into a container which means less grounds on the counter.- recycle bin
3. Empty bandage box. I organized all tape and bandages into one bag.- recycle bin
4.Expired cat medicine- trash
5. Expired cat eye wash. – trash
6. Magnet- Donation bag
7. Basket- Donating to church
8. Christmas mints- putting in basket to donate to church .
9. Old gift card tops- recycle bin
10. 3 milk containers- taking water in them to church
11.Trash bag from deck- had Ben there for 3 weeks.- garbage
12. Red Spatula – Donation bag.
13.Cell phone chargers- Donation bag
14.Bag clip- Donation bag
15. Kitchen item- not sure what to call it. – Donation bag
16. Olive Picker- Donarion bag
As you can see, all of these things are small items, but it is wonderful to declutter even these!
A fan says
I loved your idea of paying the kids to round up unwanted items. I will use this in the future. Right now I am using that in math. I told them I would pay them for every math fact they memorize this summer.
Barbie says
I will officially start the challenge on Monday, as I am away from the house for 3 days. Hopefully I will get rid of at least 30 things on Monday!
Allison says
I got rid of some expired instant coffee, finally recycled two ink cartridges that have been sitting on my desk for about a year and also recycled some papers we don’t need anymore.
Slides 'n Sandboxes says
I’m very late posting this, but here is what I got rid of yesterday:
– an extra battery to a phone we don’t even own anymore
– broken board books
– envelope of receipts
– old cards
– a mystery item
– filter
– metal container shaped like a soda bottle (why would we even own such a thing??)
Julie H says
Just joined in yesterday and threw away 50 items! My plan was to start decluttering in 2 weeks (after we finish school and company is gone) but it’s fun to get a headstart. 🙂
K says
It’s funny that we should offered this challenge, as I’ve recently made arrangements to give away several items to a charity. I love giving away useable items to people who will get some use out of them – things we no longer have use for, course. 🙂
I’m also surprised how much junk I can purge whenever I organize our office and/or filing cabinet.
Amy-Marie says
I put several things in the donation box. Four snowman plates, a snowman bowl, a snowman wall hanging, a red doily table runner, electric candles, a liquid potpourri pot and a set of bear coasters. My husband saw the bear coasters and tried to steal them out of the box. I asked him when the last time he used them was and he had to admit that it had been several years ago. I had to laugh as he grudgingly gave up the coasters and I gave him a good long kiss for his sacrifice. He will do anything for a sweet, romantic kiss! Hmmmm……….I wonder how many kisses I have to give him in order for him to let me go through his desk, I know there is a ton of clutter there!
Jennifer says
I just got rid of 3 things today. Progress 🙂
Linda says
I worked today and then had the grandkids over for pizza and play with their cousins. I sat at the kitchen table where I could watch them in the backyard and cleaned out all my expired coupons and organized the coupon file. I was going to call that good for today, but after they went home, I got on and started reading the posts and got the idea to go through the marker bin. I threw away 25 that were dried up or missing lids, etc. Thanks for the idea!!
Ashley W. says
10 more things gone!
Andrea @the Distracted Housewife.com says
Yet again, I am so surprised that I am even able to find anything in our recently extremely decluttered house. Thank you so much for hosting this challenge!
Em says
I got rid of a stack of paperwork…way more than 7 pieces!
Barb says
I’ve been too busy at my day job to do anything the first three days of the challenge, but I’m planning to make up for lost time Saturday and Sunday. My neighborhood cleanup is scheduled for June 1, so if I bag up everything I can take it all down to the collection site and have it recycled or dumped by the city for free. This challenge means I can work it all of May and June 1 will be dump day. Usually I just end up bringing a couple big items on clean-up day because I hadn’t planned well. Look out neighborhood clean-up, I’m coming!
Erica Lynn @ Optimal Health Consultant says
I’m so glad I am still finding things to throw away. It is amazing how much stuff we have. I just did a major house cleaning in January. How is it we still have more items I can get rid of? Found 7 things today. Shoes and clothes that do not fit right.
Marie says
I did not have time to do any de-cluttering today as I was out with my little one all day. However, I feel great because last week I started and I went through so many areas like the kids crafts, toys, books, dvd’s, coloring books, papers etc. I plan to do a lot this weekend as I’m preparing for a major garage sale. I’m also starting to part with my kids clothes so I have totes from newborn to size 4T.
I can not wait til the end of the month!!! (to see how much is eliminated)
Marie says
I’m so excited because after getting the kids to bed I was relaxing on my bed when I thought, “I could go through my jewelry box.” So glad I did. I found 32 items of earrings, bracelets and necklaces, 7 empty jewelry boxes, and 5 pieces of Pampered Chef jewelry I’ve never worn. and one broken necklace. It didn’t take much time at all.
Laura says
DH and I spent FOUR HOURS sorting through all sorts of stuff in our home office. It was beyond overdue and I couldn’t even estimate how many things we threw out! Included were:
CD’s for electronics we no longer own
Owners Manuals for things that we no longer own or no longer use
MORE cords
Paper, paper, paper
It is so great to be able to share these accomplishments with all of you; I don’t know a lot of people who share my enjoyment of cleaning out closets!
Lisa says
I linked above, but forgot to add my used battery too. It is amazing what we don’t need or throw out without thinking!
Jessica says
Last night, my friend contacted me and told me about a family at the school where she volunteers. The family has 5 kids and was burned out of their apartment. They failed to carry renter’s insurance and all they left with was the clothes on their backs. While I didn’t have any clothes in the sizes they needed, I did provide this, which my friend picked up and took along with some items she had…
here’s what I provided:
2 laundry baskets
pack of construction paper, coloring books and 5 boxes of crayons
assorted hygiene items including shampoo, soap, lotion, tp
household items including tissues, paper towels, baggies, foil
cleaning items
3 new games
sparkly pencils
toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste
lots and lots of food
and… chocolate! 🙂
I also did the weekend’s items, which included the following items that I donated and had picked up today by the kidney foundation:
stroller
child sized wooden rocking chair
step 2 easel
yarn
a pile of crochet patterns and recipes I no longer need
2 books
and more, and more………!
Crystal says
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing — and way to go on getting rid of all of that!
Kathy says
I went through my closet last week (it was in April but I can count it in May!! LOL) and found some clothing that I’m going to give away. Since I have a small apartment I try to keep it clear of clutter BUT I’ve found out that I have “organized clutter”. One of the things I decided to do was to discard junk mail right away and not sit it on my table to linger.
Juli says
There are 2 moderators for the Freecycle group I belong to. One got the Spring Cleaning Bug and the other had a brainstorm for a Moderator’s Challenge. For every offer posted, the moderators will match it with an offer of their own. Between you and them-I’m getting REALLY motivated : ) Even if I don’t get everything posted as an offer, at least it’s all together in one spot and the next move is out the door. Thanks for the continued encouragement.
Organize365 says
Today I delivered Goodwill bags, dropped off dry cleaning and sold clothes to Snooty Fox.
Maia says
Worked on my basement today. I didn’t keep count but it was more than 7 things I managed to get rid of. So exciting, I hope I can keep this up!
crystal williams says
I know we have this box full of pens and pencils so I went thru it and got rid of all the pencils that were too small to sharpen anymore and the mechanical ones with no lead and the pens with no ink 🙂
Shelly says
Today I spotted a big pile of sales ads that had escaped the recycling bin for at least two weeks. I am glad to have them out in the recycling now. 🙂 I didn’t count them but there was quite a few.
Christine says
I have been decluttering since the first of the year and recently just hit over 600 items ! Yay me!
Crystal says
Go you!
Melissa says
11 things this morning:
8 more greeting cards – recycle bin
1 skirt that never fit right – Goodwill box
2 fridge magnets that are an eyesoreto me really – Goodwill box
Dana says
Looked into my bathroom cabinet today.
2 make-up kits I’ve never used – donate
Expired medication – trash
Empty plastic box – recycle
Feminine products I no longer use – donate
Old chapstick – trash
Perfume sample – donate
Kathleen says
See if you can bring the medicine to a pharmacy. If it goes in the trash, it winds up in our water stream.
Michelle E. says
I’m really enjoying this challenge!
Carrie O. says
Just started the challenge today and got rid of about 27 items!
Crystal says
Woohoo!
Sakura says
I love this challenge. We missed yesterday so we are doing double today. My son found 16 items in his room and I’m shooting for 30!
Lana says
I finished cleaning out the freezer and found about 25 ice packs that came in shipments of vitamins. Pitched those. Also found many bits and ends of food that needed to be tossed. Got it out to the curb before the garbage truck got here. Also am passing on 3 ice cream churns to 3 of our adult children.
Ginger says
I’ve been doing this each day and posting up pictures on FB.
The big thing today was I was finally ready to let go of a custom made belly dance skirt from back in the day. It hasn’t fit in 7 years and, anyway, after my accident and now 43, any dance aspirations are over. I knew I should let this skirt go, but just couldn’t until now.
I also decluttered my stuffed and piggy middle console of my car. Six pens, really? I also tossed a clump of receipts that I had piled up on the floor on the other side of the couch that company can’t see. 🙂 Plus other small things and a 6-year-old cell phone.
FMR says
opened container of hummus, weeks over the ” use in 7 days” suggestion
half melted plastic spoon
2 rocks in a drawer
in same drawer, a decorative wall hanging that had mold on it
bag of socks, given to a friend who will use them to clean wax off jars in her home based soy candle business
printed itineraries from a trip we took in July 2011
18 magazines and book reviews from the NY Times Sunday edition
cheranne says
Well I cleaned my car today and got rid of a bunch of general trash items and also found an air freshener that i did not know I had…I put that to good use!
I also cleaned out 3 junk drawers today…the haul included miscellaneous expired coupons, sales flyers, catalogs, and the general bits of rubble that collect in the bottom of most any junk drawer. ( how does that happen?) I found 2 empty bottles of purse sized hand sanitizer and a dried up bottle of glue. All in the trash. I threw away broken crayons, a halloween pez dispenser, and a bunch of tangled ribbon. I also came across a mason jar of bird seed/sunflower seed mixture on one of my shelves that I forgot I had and promptly fed the birds and recycled the jar. I think tomorrow I will tackle a larger project….
Kara says
This challenge really is very fun! I feel super nerdy for saying I am having fun decluttering, but I do love organization and this helps keep things more organized 🙂 Anyway, today I dumped season one of game of thrones–someone must have left it at our house?? We’ve never watched it ever so that was pretty weird haha I guess we can sell that at a garage sale for a good price or something. Also, got rid of an old dance costume from my college dance team, old seeds from an herb garden, some old receipts, drumsticks from blue man group a million years ago, and old calendar, and old recipe cards that I was going to give as gifts. On a happy note, today at a thrift store they had these very nice boxes that I have been looking for to store giveaway items and gifting items! So, now I have a place to put all this stuff instead of awkward piles in the basement! Plus, my bedroom closet is far more organized now! yeay!
Linda says
I love Game of Thrones! It’s not suitable for kids, though…
Crystal says
So excited for your success! Way to go!
Kara says
thanks for the inspiration 🙂 and motivation to get it done!
Carrie says
Today during my lunch break, I went through my coupon envelopes, my bills file, my PTO notes. I threw away a bunch of papers. Also, does seven pounds of dirt each night count? Because I’m guessing that is what is going down the drain every night when my boys come inside! lol
Katy @ Purposely Frugal says
Here’s my 7 things:
http://purposelyfrugal.com/2013/05/03/decluttering-day-3/#.UYQXGfHEv9Q
Sheri says
I love this challenge. I can’t believe how much lighter I am starting to feel and its only day 3. I even have my husband and daughter working on 7 things a day.
Kelly says
I hit the jackpot in my baking cabinet. Several expired ingredients including an 8-yr old bottle of peach flavoring that I finally decided I could part with. : ) Plus I dusted the shelves and reorganized my pantry items – looks really good!
I found a 5-lb bag of flour that I had forgotten about – Gold Medal White Wheat Flour. It’s unopened and has been kept at room temp the whole time. It says “Best Used by 2/5/13” – any opinions on whether I should keep or toss?
Amy says
I would use it for homemade playdough.
JAM says
I think it’s still totally fine. If you open it and bugs fly out, then, clearly not, but if not, I think it will be fine. Just use that one up next, before you use any later ones.
Meredith says
I think it’s fine but since it has wheat flour, I wouldn’t let it set too much longer. I’d plan on using it up pretty soon as best you can. Bake some bread and make some playdough!
Anna says
So enjoying this challenge! Thanks again Crystal. Just enough motivation to get going. Today I got rid of 30 things.
Karen says
I am so glad you are doing this challenge this month. I can’t wait to see how much stuff we can get rid of.