Turns out, I have two red scarves. They're nearly identical, too. But this one is brighter and slightly warmer (in color) than the other. The one that's a little more dark and a little more blue is more my speed, so I will keep that one instead.
Stray soccer sock
I don't know how, but somehow I wound up with 1.5 pairs of these socks. What is it about dryers, anyway? Maybe a clothesline is the way to go. Regardless, I don't need to keep this extra sock.
Travel case 5
Like me, my husband also had a recent dentist appointment, and also forgot to refuse the travel pouch. I have not really gotten him that involved with decluttering this year; I would definitely like him to be more involved next year.
Cell phone case
This is my old cell phone case. I got a new one about a year ago (in my favorite color, of course), and haven't used this one since. Someone else could find it useful, so I don't need to keep it.
Gift bag
We have more gift-wrapping supplies than we actually need, so I am trying to thin out our stash. This is a pretty little bag—emphasis on "little." So it might not work that well for a gift. And I can't think of anything else that we'd need this for.
General history book
I think this book is the history equivalent of the movie book I convinced my husband to get rid of back in week 6. It's general to the point that it isn't actually useful. Just like the crossword puzzle dictionary from last week, my family had this book when I was a kid, and I'm not sure how I wound up with it. It can go.
Star Trek book
This is a book my husband decided he didn't need to keep. I've never read any of the Star Trek books, but that's okay. It's one of the things I'd rather watch than read. There aren't too many of those, but they do exist!
Lee Strobel book
I read this book in college. I found his arguments flawed, and got the impression that it's a book meant for people who already believe in Jesus and want a little extra convincing. (For the record, Strobel is a creationist. I didn't know that when I read this book, but I wasn't surprised by that fact when I learned it.) Personally, my favorite author on the subject of Christianity is Marcus Borg. His books I'll keep. Strobel's I won't.
Progress: 400 items out of 400 = 100% done.
Items broken down by category:
Clothes: 66
Magazines: 65
Miscellaneous: 45
Household Goods: 42
Books: 36
Accessories: 34
Craft/Office Supplies: 31
Health/Beauty: 26
Movies/TV Shows: 18
Toys/Games: 18
Holidays/Parties: 10
Car Stuff: 4
Shoes: 3
Pet Stuff: 2
Total: 400
I reached my goal, which feels great! But now it's time to look ahead. It's only November—though you'd be forgiven for thinking it's December, given all the Christmas stuff everywhere—and my original goal was to get rid of 400 items by the end of 2011. My new goal is to get rid of an additional 100 items by January 15, 2012 (exactly one year after I started this blog).
When I started this decluttering project, parting with 500 items in one year did not sound doable. Now it does! And not only is it doable, but I'm looking forward to it. It's rewarding to let things go and to enjoy the free space instead. Stuff is nice, but less stuff is better.
New goal progress: 400 items out of 500 = 80% done.
I love that you're going to keep going. I'd miss your posts if you stopped. This has been a very inspiring blog and a great reminder to get by with less stuff.
ReplyDeleteI echo what Debra says! How incredible that you already reached the 400 mark and it's not even the end of November yet. It just goes to show how much the average person has stashed away at home. Quite often things that they never even actively sought to possess. Even then, we feel guilty about ditching these things. My primary concern is the waste - some things are just so useless that nobody will want them - then I have to live with the fact that whatever it is will end up in landfill. Not the desired result.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading more!
Thanks so much, Debra and Judith—you've both been so supportive of this project, and I really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteI hate the waste aspect of this as well, but even if I held onto something useless all my life, it would end up in a landfill after my death. Having things wind up in the landfill is definitely not the desired result, but hanging on to the item doesn't do any good, either—at least, that's the way I see it. I just have to put more effort into not winding up with those sorts of things in the first place!