30 Day Minimalist Game

My dear friend, Heather (today is her 30th BIRTHDAY!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL) and I have been doing this minimalist game.  We tweaked the "rules" a bit to fit our lifestyles but it has been so much FUN and such a relief.

The basic gist of the "game" is to get rid of stuff...a lot of it, 465 items.  On day one you get rid of 1 item, day 2, 2 items... You get the idea. Well I knew once we got into the 10's 15's, etc. I wouldn't have time to find those items and actually get rid of them that same day.  I have a toddler that requires all of my attention until nap time and I also didn't want to be making trips to our church to donate items every day b/c that doesn't equate to minimal driving and saving money on gas, etc.

So, instead I just started going through my house purging AGAIN...round 3 people!!! I didn't count the items that I threw away (40 pair of socks, old tee shirts, etc.).  So far, over the course of about 5 days I am up to 452 items.  I loaded up my car this morning and took a full load to my church (we have an awesome ministry that is basically like a Goodwill store but our church operates it).  Here is a photo I took before leaving:

I come from a family of HOARDERS!!!! I have always known this and never wanted to be a hoarder and took the steps I felt were necessary to ensure I wasn't one.  Well, news flash: I'M A HOARDER!!! I just hoard nice/useful things and not junk like some people I'm related to.  See the picture below..

That's my spice collection.  I had just purged it about  a month or two ago and got rid of probably 10-12 spices that I had multiples of or were old.  Yesterday, I got rid of 10 more spices!!! Ya'll, I'm sick, help me!

What has this purge taught me? Well, I already knew I had too much stuff.  What I didn't realize is how unattached I truly am to my things.  I thought it would be really hard for me to get rid of 465 items, especially since I've taken 2 full carloads of stuff to be donated in the last month!  Guess what, it hasn't been hard AT ALL!! I realize I still have some more items to get rid of, but for the most part it's been super easy and the more I'm getting rid of, the more I want to get rid of.

I have decreased by clothing wardrobe by about 65-70%.  I got rid of over half my kitchen utensils...I seriously donated a whole kitchen's worth of serving ware, cooking pots, baking dishes, etc.  If someone was just getting started and needing EVERYTHING for a kitchen to cook a meal, I probably gave it away, times 2! And ya know what? I STILL HAVE EXCESS!!!!!!!!

I gave away 12 pillow cases!!! WTH (what the heck). And we still have 8, including the one's on our pillows.  The more I've been getting rid of, the more I realize how wrong it's been of me to keep all these things, not using them, when someone else may actually NEED or ENJOY them!