Wednesday 15 April, 2015

Cutting the crap!

It is a rare occasion when I get to read a newspaper article properly these days as my little daughter keeps me on toes almost all the time. But well...last Sunday an article in the Sunday edition of ToI caught my attention as it talked about how clutter messes with our inner peace and how important it is to declutter your house and life of unwanted things every now and then.

This very article talked about a unique way to declutter your house...by taking the 30 day declutter challenge. Well this challenge entails this simple routine...
Donate/Sell/Trash one item on Day 1, two items on Day 2, three items on Day 3 and so on. And on 30th day...you would have decluttered a staggering number of 465 items of household clutter.

I have started with this challenge on Monday and I decided to keep a note of all the items that I am getting rid of, not in an intention to hold on to them emotionally but more as a written proof that I have succeeded in my purpose and would help me stick on to it rather than make some mental excuse of leaving the challenge midway.

Though it is for sure that I won't be able to finish it in 30 days flat...as there might be some days when I would take more than one day to accumulate the things that I want to chuck...but I still would stick to the consecutive numbers...and would make sure that I manage to reach the figure 30 somehow. (It is not as easy as it sounds...I am already mentally calculating what would I get rid of when more than 10 items are required to be given away/thrown/sold off)

Another good thing that would come out of this challenge is that not only would I empty my house of unwanted items that I have hoarded over the years but it would also ensure that I rearrange all my storage spaces (including cupboards, kitchen shelves, et al). This is something that I keep postponing every time I think about starting it.

So...let's begin the challenge...here's the list of items I have chucked/donated till now...(gonna update this list as the challenge progresses) :)

Day 1: an old blanket
Day 2: 2 old kurtis (which I have not used for years but since they were hardly worn and almost new...did not have the heart to give them away...well, until now)
Day 3: An old packet of Rava, an old body scrub and a pair of shoes
Day 4: 2 Plastic bottles, a rubber band, an old soap dish
Day 5: Orange juice pack, plastic bottle, empty cookie box, 2 plastic spoons
Day 6: 4 bottles of expired medicines/cough syrups, 1 old foot mat, 1 plastic bottle
Day 7: 4 bottles of expired medicines (yet again!), 1 oil bottle, 2 old magazines
Day 8: 5 baby socks (the pair of which is lost), 2 bottles of expired medicines (too many expired medicines in my medicine closet!!), 1 chocolate shake tetra pack
Day 9: 4 more bottles of expired medicines, 3 packs of expired tabs, 1 rubber band, 1 old diya
Day 10: 10 pieces of clothing!
Day 11: 6 pieces of clothing, 3 empty glass bottles, 2 expired medicine bottles
Day 12: 10 pairs of shoes!!, 2 Green Tea packs (expired and thus thrown!)
Day 13: 3 kitchen item packs, 10 pieces of clothing
Day 14: 2 plastic bottles, 5 pieces of clothing, 1 toy, 6 pieces of baby clothing
Day 15: 14 pieces of baby clothing, 1 old car seat
Day 16: 7 hangers, 1 expired medicine, 8 pieces of clothing

Getting into some serious decluttering now. Donated a lots of clothes & shoes and still feels like there is a long way to go!

Wish me luck! I hope I complete the challenge (and don't end up buying more things than I throw out) *fingers crossed*

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