40 bags in 40 days decluttering challenge

jenna8984 · February 2015

We are going to list the house soon so I've already been decluttering for the last month. Not much left except the huge furniture/ broken grill/ old doors/ old oven that require 1-800-junk

@ashley8918 your closet is huge! You probably don't think it is, but I've never had a walk-in in my whole life.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

Mine definitely won't be a Hefty bag full from each area, just 40 areas each de-cluttered. Maybe it's a sandwich baggy worth, maybe a dumpster bag.

ashley8918 · February 2015

jenna8984 said:

We are going to list the house soon so I've already been decluttering for the last month. Not much left except the huge furniture/ broken grill/ old doors/ old oven that require 1-800-junk

@ashley8918 your closet is huge! You probably don't think it is, but I've never had a walk-in in my whole life.

Oh, it's fucking massive - which makes it really sad that it is so jam-packed. I have way too much shit. It's almost the size of my kids' bedroom... where there are 2 full-size beds and 2 dressers.

LadyMillil · February 2015

I decluttered and organized already this year because DH was working a lot and I was bored. I've got a couple bags left I need to actually drop off at the appropriate locations.

wrigleyville · February 2015

Good lord, Ashley. Your closet is bigger than our guest bedroom.

I'm so jealous!

#cityproblems

luckya23 · February 2015

lolo883 said:

Mine definitely won't be a Hefty bag full from each area, just 40 areas each de-cluttered. Maybe it's a sandwich baggy worth, maybe a dumpster bag.

I *think* the general idea is a grocery store bag worth.

behsco90 · February 2015

This is a good idea! I'll be listing my condo beginning of April so I think this would help a lot.

ashley8918 · February 2015

wrigleyville said:
Good lord, Ashley. Your closet is bigger than our guest bedroom. I'm so jealous!

#cityproblems

Hahaha, I'd be way more appreciative if the rest of my house wasn't teeny tiny.

chibiyui · February 2015

I'm giving up soda for Lent. I don't know if I can handle giving up soda AND cleaning 40 different areas of the house. Though H and I are planning to deep clean the kitchen on Saturday.

I also have more clothes to go to goodwill

Also not Catholic, grew up Methodist and we did it, so I try to every year do at least something. I don't always succeed though.

lauraukoctober2014 · February 2015

Could I play? there's a very big chance over the coming couple of months we are going to be moving I have a lot of stuff that I don't need. I don't think I own 40 bags of stuff I can part with and a husband whose a worse hoarder than me to persuade we don't need battered old plates and other junk but I'll certainly try! !

jenna8984 · February 2015

My last purge 2 weeks ago, I finally decided to part with my college comforter. We have 3 other newer ones in the guest closet and just don't need it taking up space. I almost shed a tear when H just threw it on the snowy ground next to the donation bin! It was sealed in one of those cases a new comforter comes in but still, it was so sad!!

lauraukoctober2014 · February 2015

strange how you grow an attachment. I'm awful with new pillows so mine are shameful

AprilH81 · February 2015

I can always purge more, but DH purged most of his stuff when he moved in to my old house before we got married. We purged a lot more stuff last spring after the wedding (making room for gifts) and staging the old house for sale. Then we purged MORE when we moved into the new house in May. Even though it was a bigger house some of our old stuff didn't fit anywhere so it got donated too.

I can get on board with some organization though. I like organizing!

charcoalandblush · February 2015

Can I join a day late? I need to do this SO badly.

I am definitely ashamed of this... there are two boxes at the bottom of my closet that I still haven't unpacked from when DF and I moved in together... in August.

I'm definitely going to make a list of the 40 spaces that need to be de-cluttered. I'm going to have to miss a few days, we're out of town for two weddings over Lent, but I'll just tack the days on to the end.

badbnagdway · February 2015

Hmm, I really like this idea. We've been in our house almost six months. We got most of the house but never got to the guest room so that is where boxes are living. Then FI finally cleaned out his condo a couple months ago and he put everything in the garage, which means our garage is half full of stuff as well. I think maybe a de-clutter commitment would be good for me... My sense is if I've done without something this long I probably don't need it anymore.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

charcoalandblush said:

Can I join a day late? I need to do this SO badly.

I am definitely ashamed of this... there are two boxes at the bottom of my closet that I still haven't unpacked from when DF and I moved in together... in August.

I'm definitely going to make a list of the 40 spaces that need to be de-cluttered. I'm going to have to miss a few days, we're out of town for two weddings over Lent, but I'll just tack the days on to the end.

Girl. I have boxes that I've moved to two homes now without unpacking them. I moved in with H in September of 2013, and had lived in my condo for 3 years before that.

photokitty · February 2015

I have a storage bin of clothes with tags, that have never fit. BC one day I will fit in them...right. Ten years later I probably should give it up, but it's just so damn hard.

I'm afraid I'll be 90, finally skinny enough and looking like a fool walking around in low rise Guess leather pants. At least people will probably just be nice and assume I have dementia.

You can join the purge party at any time! Today, tomorrow, day 39!

I cleaned the living room side table - the dreaded mail table. I put a bag of magazines in the recycling and tonight when I take the recycling bin to the curb, I hope to make myself recycle the stack of Shutterbugs I have never cracked open. So many trees, no much clutter!

GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!

cupcait927 · February 2015

I need to jump on this bandwagon. I cleaned out my closet in the beginning of January and it felt SO good. I got rid of so many old clothes and shoes that I couldn't believe I was still hanging on to. I also tried a trick I've heard on organization blogs before - turned all of my hangers in my closet backwards. You flip them around as you wear items. Anything that's still on a backwards hanger in 6 months (I'm choosing 6 months - some people do a year) gets tossed or donated because you're likely never going to wear it again. It's been a month and a half and I can already tell I'm going to have a ton of clothes to donate.

I'm going to go through our guest bedroom this weekend and pretty much throw out or donate everything. I've got all of my leftover wedding stuff in there and other crap that doesn't have a place in our house. It's become a catchall room. If I can get that accomplished, I will finally be able to paint in there!

anjemon · February 2015

I'd like to join too. A day late, but I'm sure I can make it up. I also probably won't have 40 bags because I did a big purge after Christmas (when I was off of work) and I have been working on only having things I actually use. I will focus on 40 areas that need to be organized. There are some places in FI's place I've been meaning to clean/organize for awhile.

But I also need to pack my apartment for when I officially move into FI's place at the end of April. Which means I will be making a lot of decisions about whether I really need stuff. Some of this stuff I haven't seen since I basically moved into FI's place in December - which means we probably don't need it.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

cupcait927 said:

I need to jump on this bandwagon. I cleaned out my closet in the beginning of January and it felt SO good. I got rid of so many old clothes and shoes that I couldn't believe I was still hanging on to. I also tried a trick I've heard on organization blogs before - turned all of my hangers in my closet backwards. You flip them around as you wear items. Anything that's still on a backwards hanger in 6 months (I'm choosing 6 months - some people do a year) gets tossed or donated because you're likely never going to wear it again. It's been a month and a half and I can already tell I'm going to have a ton of clothes to donate.

I'm going to go through our guest bedroom this weekend and pretty much throw out or donate everything. I've got all of my leftover wedding stuff in there and other crap that doesn't have a place in our house. It's become a catchall room. If I can get that accomplished, I will finally be able to paint in there!

This would drive type-A me absolutely crazy.

I prefer my solution - never put clean laundry away. If it's still hanging in the closet in 6 months and not in a laundry basket, get rid of it.

ShesSoCold · February 2015

I LOVE this sort of thing. I HATE clutter and unnecessary shit and I love to throw shit away. I love to move because then I get to go through all our old forgotten crap and throw it away. I wish we could move annually. I usually purge and reorganize at least one part of my house once a month.

southernbelle0915 · February 2015

I'm in at about 50%. I can't commit to one bag each day since we'll be out of town quite a bit and it's just not very realistic for me in general. But we have so much junk in our basement it's embarrassing. And just...everywhere really. It'll probably average out to a bag a day in the end.

I'm giving up alcohol for lent.

Really though, I'm trying to give up swearing for lent. Not here, obviously, but IRL. I swear with pretty reckless abandon and I'm trying to junk the habit before the little one is born.

holyguacamole79 · February 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

I'm in at about 50%. I can't commit to one bag each day since we'll be out of town quite a bit and it's just not very realistic for me in general. But we have so much junk in our basement it's embarrassing. And just...everywhere really. It'll probably average out to a bag a day in the end.

I'm giving up alcohol for lent.

Really though, I'm trying to give up swearing for lent. Not here, obviously, but IRL. I swear with pretty reckless abandon and I'm trying to junk the habit before the little one is born.

This made me giggle.

luckya23 · February 2015

lolo883 said:

charcoalandblush said:

Can I join a day late? I need to do this SO badly.

I am definitely ashamed of this... there are two boxes at the bottom of my closet that I still haven't unpacked from when DF and I moved in together... in August.

I'm definitely going to make a list of the 40 spaces that need to be de-cluttered. I'm going to have to miss a few days, we're out of town for two weddings over Lent, but I'll just tack the days on to the end.

Girl. I have boxes that I've moved to two homes now without unpacking them. I moved in with H in September of 2013, and had lived in my condo for 3 years before that.

I was going to say almost the exact same thing - except "guuuuuurl" and I moved here March 2013. lol

lmcooper86 · February 2015

I didn't see this yesterday, but actually uncluttered/organized my kitchen counter last night...maintenance guys are coming in today and I couldn't deal with how messy it looked. I live in a very small apartment, so my kitchen counter is my entry table/meal prep space/eating space/etc.

I'm very in for this challenge. I'm moving at the end of April so this will be a great way to get rid of stuff I'll have to throw out or pack up in a few months anyways. I'm not Catholic, but grew up Presbyterian and was encouraged to give up something for Lent every year. I hate being told that I have to do something, so it never lasted; the last few years I've tried to do some sort of self-improvement during Lent.

I think tonight I will clean off the top of my fridge, the wasteland of recipe cards and...some stuff in some boxes that I don't even remember.

AprilH81 · February 2015

I just created a two-week cleaning rotation with a daily chore chart and a monthly big project item. I'm bad about being lazy when I get home during the work week and then leaving everything until the weekend.

ashley8918 · February 2015

luckya23 said:

lolo883 said:

charcoalandblush said:

Can I join a day late? I need to do this SO badly.

I am definitely ashamed of this... there are two boxes at the bottom of my closet that I still haven't unpacked from when DF and I moved in together... in August.

I'm definitely going to make a list of the 40 spaces that need to be de-cluttered. I'm going to have to miss a few days, we're out of town for two weddings over Lent, but I'll just tack the days on to the end.

Girl. I have boxes that I've moved to two homes now without unpacking them. I moved in with H in September of 2013, and had lived in my condo for 3 years before that.

I was going to say almost the exact same thing - except "guuuuuurl" and I moved here March 2013. lol

Ahem, I move in with H in 2011. I still have 10 huge boxes that the packing tape hasn't even come off of... No clue what's in them.

ashley8918 · February 2015

Alright, folks. I have my list. Posting for accountability - if I told the internet about it, I can't NOT do it.

Bathroom: Closet floor

Bathroom: Closet shelves

Bathroom: Floor

Bathroom: Under sink/vanity

Bedroom: Behind TV dresser

Bedroom: Closet Whoooooooo! DONE!

Bedroom: Dan's dresser

Bedroom: Floor

Bedroom: My dresser

Bedroom: Nightstands

Bedroom: TV dresser

Bedroom: Under my bed

Berdroom: Scentsty shelves

Dining Room: Art supplies dresser

Dining Room: Dan's exercise shit

Dining Room: Floor

Kid's Room: Closet

Kid's Room: Floor

Kid's Room: Toy box

Kid's Room: Under/behind Ry's bed

Kitchen: "Pantry" cabinets

Kitchen: Above stove cabinets

Kitchen: Bottom kitchen cabinets

Kitchen: Breakfast bar cabinets

Kitchen: Countertops

Kitchen: Dishes top cabinets

Kitchen: Floor

Kitchen: Fridge & freezer

Kitchen: Top of fridge & above fridge cabinets

Laundry Room: Shelves

Living Room: Chrismas tree corner

Living Room: Coat closet

Living Room: Computer desk

Living Room: Left bookshelf

Living Room: Loveseat

Living Room: My "crap corner"

Living Room: Right bookshelf

Living Room: TV stand area

Living Room: Under/behind couch

dolewhipper · February 2015

I need to do this. Fi realized I have a hoarding problem. We went through all the mugs/travel cups we have and got rid of 27.There's only 2 of us.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

southernbelle0915 said:

I'm in at about 50%. I can't commit to one bag each day since we'll be out of town quite a bit and it's just not very realistic for me in general. But we have so much junk in our basement it's embarrassing. And just...everywhere really. It'll probably average out to a bag a day in the end.

I'm giving up alcohol for lent.

Really though, I'm trying to give up swearing for lent. Not here, obviously, but IRL. I swear with pretty reckless abandon and I'm trying to junk the habit before the little one is born.

LOL I told H the same thing last night. He asked what I was giving up and I said "Hmmm... alcohol. Prepared deli salads. Lunch meats that have not been heated to steaming. Unpasteurized cheeses. Undercooked eggs, meat and seafood. Aspirin. Sudafed. I think that's enough."

40 bags in 40 days decluttering challenge

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