No.336: What I Decluttered // December 2019 & January 2020

Months #3 and #4 for my 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!  Here are the ground rules:

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 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?

I took most of December off from blogging, so I’m combining both months in this post.  Truth be told, there wasn’t a whole lot of decluttering going on anyway, as I allowed myself the time off to just enjoy Advent and the Christmas season.  But I’m back and ready to get back to work!

WHAT I DECLUTTERED THE PAST TWO MONTHS

• 4 books.
• 2 men’s suit coats.  Mark’s warming up to the idea of decluttering his own closet!
• 7 Christmas books. As I prepared for Advent School, I separated out the books we never seem to read.  I posted them on Trash Nothing and got a response within a day.
• One nativity set. Sold on ebay.
• Four tea towels made by my late grandmother.  I found a set of tea towels in one of my Christmas boxes and decided that I should share a little bit of my grandmother with my siblings.
• 12 Young Living essential oils.  I used to be all about essential oils, but they’ve been in a kitchen drawer collecting dust for over a year.  I haven’t done anything with them because they were $$ and I kept trying to convince myself that I may use them in the future.  Obviously, that hasn’t happened.  I decided to give a bunch to family members.
• One pair of soccer cleats.  A surprising sale on ebay!  
• One pair of bathing suit trunks and the matching rashguard. Another surprising sale on Poshmark!
• 4 gift bags and 10 various rolls of ribbon.
• Two curtain panels. Sold on Poshmark.  I had these panels made for me for my old dining room.  I loved them so much!  Unfortunately, when we moved to the farmhouse, I didn’t have the right window to hang them and they stayed in a box.  This was a hard one to let go, but I’m happy to pass them on to someone else and get a little money back in return.  
• 3 magazines.  Into the recycling bin.
• 6 various pieces of clothing. Sent to Goodwill.  These are pieces in good condition, but don’t have much resale value and weren’t substantial enough to warrant a post on Trash Nothing.