No.459: What I Decluttered // November 2020

1. Only spend 10 minutes at one time and only in one specific area.  
2. Monday through Wednesday, seek out items that we no longer need and make a pile.  Then Thursday through Saturday, make a plan for how to deal with them.  (This has worked so well and avoided that dreaded box of “what should I do with these?” items.)
3. Possible places to find new homes for items: Ebay/Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Trash Nothing website or the local Buy Nothing Facebook group and as a last resort, Goodwill

I feel a responsibility for the things I have and want to be intentional with how I dispose of them.  Questions I asked myself: If it’s here, what purpose does it serve?  Can I use it up?  Can I enjoy it vs. keeping it tucked away in drawers and boxes?  And if not, can I let it go to someone who may need it more?

WHAT I DECLUTTERED THIS MONTH

• 3 books.
• One tile sample.
• 9 pieces of Sophie’s outgrown clothing from last year.
• 20 pieces of my clothing.  With the changing of the seasons, I went through my closet and dresser again and weeded out the unnecessary/unworn/worn-to-shreds items.  I sold most things on Poshmark/eBay, threw out a handful of really old and stained t-shirts, and sent the rest to Goodwill.
• One open bag of Pull-Ups.  We only used a few of these when P was potty-training and I felt bad throwing 20+ of them away.  I posted them on my local Buy Nothing Project Facebook group and had someone interested in minutes!  
• 9 empty egg cartons.  Brought these to the farm where my son works so they could reuse them.
• 4 empty paper jewelry boxes.  You know the box that holds the nicer box that holds the piece of jewelry?  Why do I still have those?  Into the recycling bin.  
• 1 decorative bowl.
• 16 baby girl clothes, 2 swaddle blankets, two hair accessories, a rattle, a lovey and a baby comb.  A woman from my local Buy Nothing Project group made me aware of a young pregnant mother, due in January and in need of baby supplies.  I’ve already given most of Sophie’s baby clothes away, but I did find a few more things in the bin to pass along.  Mamas have to stick together!
• One teacher guide. Sold on ebay.
• 3 Halloween treat bags.  These were Star Wars themed bags that my biggest boys used years ago.  I surprisingly found a buyer for them on ebay!
• One Halloween cat headband.
• 2 broken disc drives.  Why we still have these in a drawer is beyond me…
• One pillow insert.
• 2 tea towels.  We used these to literal shreds!
• 10 magazines.  My dad passes on magazines to us after he’s done with them and I finally browsed through the stack.  Into the recycling bin.
• 2 DVDs. Sold on ebay.
• One guitar tuner.
• One broken phone charger.
• A baby stroller and car seat.  Since we haven’t had any new babies in our house for years (which is a little sad…), it felt silly to keep these in the garage when someone could use them right now.  We gave the stroller to someone on Trash Nothing and while the car seat still has a little time before “expiring,” the new owners could also bring it to Target for a trade-in deal on a brand new one.
• One pair of toddler snow pants, a fleece jacket, and a button-down shirt.
• 11 dry markers.
• One DVD case.