BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Organization Introducing the Get Rid of 50 Things Challenge

Inspired by an article life coach Gail Blanke wrote in Real Simple a few years back (which she has since turned into a book called "Throw Out 50 Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life"), I'm hosting a Get Rid of 50 Things Challenge.

Intrigued? First, read my article, "The 2009 Get Rid of 50 Things Challenge."

Next, commit to clearing out the stuff that doesn't deserve space in your home, your office, or your life--and use this Forum to get the support you need while you do so.

Each week, I'll be posting an article with tips and ideas to support you through the challenge (on topics like making tough decisions and how to responsibly dispose of stuff you no longer want or need). I'll also be encouraging Challenge participants to visit the Organization Forum frequently to share issues, ideas, and words of encouragement.

I find the 50 Things Challenge to be a fun and motivating way to declutter, and I hope you'll join me in this adventure for the next five weeks.

Here's to a freer and more organized life!

-Emily

Emily, I'm signing on.

What a great idea! Many of the things that we don't need have emotions and feelings attached to them. That's where the challenge is for me. Thanks for your support.

I am getting ready to redo floors and I have already got rid of a bunch of junk. I have to get everything packed and off the floors and move furniture (which will be last to do) and I plan to do even more decluttering when I put everything back. We have a store that will trade your stuff for her stuff. I have already taken a load of stuff to her. I started in on the basement last weekend and there is still stuff down there from when we moved here almost 6 years ago. It was easy to part with a bunch of it by realizing if I haven't used it or even thought of it I really don't need it. Our basement is not a nice finished space, mainly home to canning equipment, off season clothes, christmas decorations, blankets and other misc junk. I used plastic see through bins so that you can see what is in there without opening the lid. Good luck to everyone! Connie

Emily, I listened to an excerpt to Throw Out Fifty Things
by Gail Blanke tonight. Very interesting.

I made a list of things I needed to do tonight and the reminder to find five more things to let go was on my list.

Connie, I have the see-through bins in my attic for Christmas and seasonal clothing. They do work well. That's probably where I need to begin my decluttering but I struggle with my piles downstairs. I told myself tonight that there are just some things I need to toss and not give it a second thought.

Emily, are we to post each week as we go through the challenge?

Be ruthless Angie...I think the easiest time I had decluttering was when moving!

I'm thrilled that you've all decided to take part in the Get Rid of 50 Things Challenge!

Angie (and everyone else), I'd love to hear about how things are going each week for you if you're inspired to post. Throughout the Challenge, I'll be writing a series of articles about the experience and will be posting about them to the Forum. You're welcome to post replies to those messages, or to start your own threads.

Thanks for taking part in the Challenge, and best of luck to everyone!

-Emily

I'm doing this - I have so much stuff in my apartment that it's overflowing. Great idea, thanks Emily.

I do have a few items in a bag ready to go to the nearest charity shop, and I'll sort out my clothes this week.

Last night I sorted through the medicines box and now have a bag to take along to the pharmacy of medications that are out of date and that I no longer use.

I went through some clothes getting ready for the clothing drive in June. I have more to do. Today at lunch time I walked into the garage and saw a small box and a tote bag that have been sitting there for quite a long while. So for about 40 minutes I went through it all. Some items went into a tool bag in my car (screw driver and tire gauge). Some of the books and plastic bags will go to the Friends of the Library sale. Some stuff went into the trash. I'll use the tote for groceries and the box went into the recycle container. So, it was productive today.

We need the best of luck - it's not easy. I worked in the garage this weekend. I sorted through old birdfeeders, boxes, a plastic bin with birdseed, planters, golf balls, paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags, a banner. My husband took out the recyclables and he had a huge load to take out tonight. He was actually surprised when I told him he could empty out the trash can too because it was full.

The corner actually looks good.

We got our floors finished and so I started unpacking boxes yesterday to put stuff back on the walls and in the china cabinets. I think as the day went on I tossed more...I kept thinking do I really need this & when was the last time I used this??? Today I am unpacking more boxes. You don't realize how much stuff you have! I still have sawdust everywhere. There is one room I have not cleaned yet. I think we will be cleaning up dust for quite some time. Too bad I didn't paint while I had all the furniture out and stuff off the walls. I was ready to get my house back together!

Gillian...good tip about the expired medicine. I always wonder how to dispose of it safely. Connie

Ok...I just thought of this...what are we all going to do when we rid our house of clutter?!

Too bad this challenged isn't retro-active. About 5 or so years ago someone came into my house for the first time and made this comment "MAN!! You've got so much STUFF!!". I looked around and for the first time I saw my house and all it contained in a different light. Then I replied "Yes, yes I do." Right at that moment I made a concious decision to start downsizing. I'd say in the time since then I have decrease my "Stuff" by at least a third. Going to the Misson or Goodwill to drop stuff off seemed kind of stupid since so many people right in my building could possibly USE much of it. So, I set up a "Free Table" in the laundryroom. I stencilled the word "FREE" on the white painted cement wall right over the table and left my first shipment. It was gone within a week. So much of what I was getting rid of was still useful and usable stuff. Clothes, household gadgets and appliances, shoes, BOOKS, oh so many books. I think I got rid of about half of what I had already. My big bookcase looks great now. Once I had out all the books on the floor I gave the bookcase a VERY needed scrubdown, inside and out. Moved it, hasn't been moved in 10 years, cleaned the carpet under and behind it and repainted as I had it away from the wall. I keep a big Tupperware box in my backhall now and whenever I come across MORE stuff I don't want I put it in that box. Once it's full it's contents go down to the Free table and usually is gone within a few days.

Navigaar, that is a great way to declutter and not feel bad for throwing things away!

Thank you. Yes, it makes me feel good too, I hate wasting perfectly good stuff by throwing it in the trash. We have enough in the landfills. Recycling anything is good. I won't even, most of the time throw food away. Most leftover foods can be fed to wildlife, ie: squirrels, birds, a neighbor's pet. Birds love leftover eggs. I never toss bread, the squirrels, MY squirrels anyway, come to my windows daily looking for what I call "FREATS", Free Eats. Hahahahahahaaa. They actually congregate on the window ledge, look IN and start pounding on the window. It's so cute.

Love it, FREATS...we do that too. We feed leftover bread and stale cereals and popcorn to the squirrels and birds. We also compost so no scraps go into our trash, cardboard and newspaper either as hubby is also into worm farming now. We have a large garden and he uses the worm castings for his tomato plants. We can and freeze vegetables and make jelly and our big thing is if you want more pickles, jelly, salsa or canned tomatoes you must return the jars. I also love to garage sale and pick up jars that way. So it always makes me feel good to get those jars ready every summer.

We have to put our trash out on the curb here and so we have gotten rid of stuff just by leaving it out by the curb for someone to pick up. Last thing we curbside recycled was tv trays and some plant stands. I have been known to curbside shop too, I picked up 2 really nice area rugs that way. One of them took a good cleaning but a can of cleaner was way cheaper than buying a new one! My son works at Walmart and the rug I cleaned came through his line and was $80. So of course I had to brag to my hubby who was mortified that I curb sided it! Connie

So I am assumming NOW the word "Freats" will be a regular in your vocabulary?? Hahaahahahahahaaa. I LOVE homemade pickles. You are so lucky to be able to make them. I made a green tomato relish once that was to die for. When I was a kid, a mom used to make Pickled Watermelon Rind and her son would bring some to school to share with the class. That stuff WAS amazing. I have bought some commercially made but it is never as good as I remember that was. I heard that during a city workers stike once in New York, this person couldn't get their trash picked up so he regularly "Gift Wrapped" it and left it on the seat of his car with the window down. It was gone in a matter of minutes. Hahahahaha. I am suppossing, he watched from his window in case they tried to take his car too.

Yep, freats will have to be a regular word now! I make lime pickles (very sweet!), bread and butter, dill slices and whole ones. Oh and dilled okra if my hubby plants enough of it. The trick is to catch it while it is still small!

LOL about the trash present. My luck would be someone would bring me back a present when they found out the present wasn't something good! Connie

That's a funny story about gift wrapping your trash and leaving it in the car. Recently at work, the guy in my office walked by a car with an open window and a purse on the seat. He went to find an officer so that it could be protected. Later after the officer's reaction he realized it was a sting operation. Had he taken it out of the car and handed it to the officer he probably would have been arrested.

I often throw the left over bread out or put the fruit trimmings, etc. in the garden. My biggest problem is paper. I save articles and more articles and after awhile I'm overrun. I don't like to let stuff go either.

It wasn't me, it was something someone told me about. I actually did do it though and yes, it too was gone within a few hours.

Let's see. Today I went through my medicine cabinet and got rid of, meaning put it The BOX:

Some new toothbrushes I never used because they were too hard, 4 or 5.

More clothes that are too big.

Some plant pots.

A couple new back braces I never wore after a car accident. I felt like I was being strangled in them.

Some throw rugs.

Some tablecloths.

Curtains.

I'm heading to clean out my towel closet next so I'm sure some of them will go soon too.

A space heater with a broken plug.

A burned out military heating pad with a GOOD plug. I could have just put the good plug on the heater, I just don't know how.

Some socks.

Good for you.

I recently went through my linen closet and donated a lot of my towels. I left six for my husband and me to use and if have company.

Ok ladies...I did very well yesterday. It was the townwide garage sale and I only purchased a few things for me. I did buy our older grandaughter (just turned 5) some stuff for her room. A couple of pictures to hang, a shelf for her 'llections and a few doodads to put on her shelf. She was worried that her friends that came over might break something so we found a shelf for cheap. Also a few outfits for summer for both grandaughters. Now me, I purchased a beautiful old quilt for $35, 3 lawn chairs for $4 each...they really need some tlc and a martin house for $10...hubby grumped that there was no pole. Oh, and a old photo frame for $5. It was really grungy and I got to work with the stripper last night and got it all striped. Just have to do a little tweaking. I have a photo of our house that is black and white I am going to blow up for the picture frame. Here is a link for photos of the quilt and lawn chairs: quilt and lawn chairs

Opps, jumped the gun and submitted the post before I was finished! If you scroll down a little you can see what I got at the estate sale and I did way better at the garage sale! The estate sale was everything you could cram in a sack for $5. I did get a trunk though...I am planning to use it in my grandaughter's room to put toys in it once I get it cleaned up.

Next weekend is the city wide garage sale for the next town over but I will be gone to a craft show. My hubby said I should have checked, but they didn't have the date for the city wide garage sale decided. I really need to sell some jewelry anyway, and my sister is coming too so it will be nice to see her!

I went to a store today and before I purchased anything, I asked myself, do I really need this? As a result I picked up a box of Betty Crocker Sweet Potato mix either for a potato dish or sweet potato pie.

I cleaned off the top shelf in my kitchen cabinet and washed all the glasses and mugs that I had stored. I put several in the donate box, called my daughter and asked her if she wanted two of the mugs (collectibles for her), one or two I said I should use, and the rest need to go somewhere, anywhere, and off my counter.

I was doing well until yesterday. I had bought an old trunk and decided I was going to put my stuff about my house (I have collected newspaper clipping, photos, letters & ect from a grandaughter of the people that built my house) that I plan to put in a scrapbook one day and then realized I have so many photos & geneaology stuff that it would all fit in there nicely. So I need help! How do you declutter photos? I have 16 albums and then many photos that need to be put in albums. I would like to cut down the number of albums. No one ever looks in them. Also I have nice studio photos from years and years. What do you do with those???

I have tried to organize photos. It's difficult. I have no answer but would be interested in any ideas also.

I went through all my cups and glasses cabinet and got rid of some I never use. A set of Coca Cola glasses. I found an old glass measuring cup I could be using. Why it was with glasses, I don't know. I have some vintage glass measuring cups, without the red writing on them I think they are cool.

Ok...now we are both looking for someone to help us out! Maybe that is one of the tough things and people just put it off for another day....Connie

When all else fails, do a Search: How to Organize your photos in 10 days without losing your mind

I haven't read this yet but I will.............

Uh Oh, looks like it's just an adfor their products.

O.K. then, I'll give this a shot.

To Organize photos.

I'd first go through them all and toss the ones I don't want or duplicates or give them to someone who might want them. That should take a good bit of time, I suspect.

Next, I'd organize them by the people IN the photo. Then organize those chronologicly.

Then I'd need to decide where to put them. In scrapbooks? In desk cubes or frames. Keep out the ones you have a special feeling for. I found one of my Mum when she was little. Do you have any empty frames? Drag THEM out.

That's as far as I have got in this one serious think process. Seems doable.

LOL...sounds like lots of work and something better done in the winter months! I spent all morning outside. The baby & I went for a walk with the dog and it was nice & cool and overcast and so I just worked outside till noon. My son is off today and so by 10 Mary Jayne was ready to come in and she watched Elmo.

Connie

Organizing photos can indeed be a serious challenge. I think of photos like I think of memorabilia and many papers: they're often so tough to deal with because the decision-making around them is much more involved than it might be with, say, expired medications, broken kitchen gadgets, or clothes that no longer fit.

Here are a few quick recommendations:

Start by creating a few guidelines for yourself. At the end of your weeding process, how many albums/photos do you want to have (10 albums/3 boxes of photos/what have you)? What are some basic rules of thumb you can use to decide which photos get tossed?

For me, photos of people, places, and things I don't recognize; duplicate shots; fuzzy, poorly framed, under- or over-exposed, and out-of-focus shots all go.

Also think about why you're keeping photos in the first place. For most of us, they're a record of parts of our life experience. If you come across photos that represent unpleasant parts of that experience (such as shots of an ex), seriously consider whether they're worth keeping. Would you give any other reminder of bad memories a place in your home? Probably not.

I always try to remember that the more I have of any type of thing, the less special each thing is. Dozens and dozens of postcards from my grandmother aren't particularly special, for example, but a handful of postcards with especially funny, moving, or heartfelt messages are. The same goes for photos: stacks of unremarkable shots from someone's wedding (other than your own) will probably mean less in the end than 10 or 20 that you save because they're the best, most beautiful, and most meaningful of the bunch.

If you find it truly impossible to part with photos, you might consider getting them scanned. Services like Scan Digital (www.scandigital.com) can do this fairly quickly and easily.

I hope this helps--and keep up the great work with moving unwanted, unneeded stuff out of your life!

Best,
Emily

Thanks Emily! Lots of good tips. I think I will stick with decluttering and get to work on the photos when winter comes around. That is a better time for me. Summer is so busy with yard work and house improvement projects!

Good point Emily: " Also think about why you're keeping photos in the first place. For most of us, they're a record of parts of our life experience. If you come across photos that represent unpleasant parts of that experience (such as shots of an ex), seriously consider whether they're worth keeping. Would you give any other reminder of bad memories a place in your home? Probably not."

LOL...those ex photos were the first thing to go when they went. I don't have any of those hanging around!

Photos are tough. I have a gazillion also. My mom went through her pictures and pruned her collection. As she went through the pictures she kept the ones that told the story of her life. She put them in albums chronologically.

I am thinking this is going to take quite some time! I still think it is a better project for winter time. My craft room is a disaster. I have been working on jewlery and am going to a craft show tommorow and so I am looking forward to putting all that stuff away. I have a quilt top to finish up for my grandaughter and then I could devote that area to my picture taming. Connie

Found a book on tape that I will donate to the library sale.

So is everyone all organized?

Leaner maybe. Organized, no.

LOL Angie

I donated 15 things Monday (some brand new and still in the original wrap or box) to the church for a yard sale. They had been in the attic from one year to many years. I was in the mood and just did it and did it fast so I couldn't think about it.

I couldn't find a document the other day and told myself I have to clean up.

I need to get back into the declutter mode!

I gave a small bag to Amvets on Wednesday. Little by little I am at least looking at some of my stuff so that I can make a decision.

Okay, this is a forum I need. I have 3 copies of an unpublished manuscript under my desk. It's been there for years. Tomorrow, I'm going to transfer the document from Microsoft Word to Google Docs and I'm going to recycle two of the manuscripts. That's the first of my 50 things.

I just ebayed 92 old video games we'd reviewed years ago - does that count as 1 thing or 92 things? I also have about 60 CDs we're about to ebay. Maybe that is "group #2". I am pushing hard to get clutter out of the house.

The biggest problem here is books because publishers keep sending them to the house unasked because of my high Amazon ranking. They figure I might read it and write it up if they send it. So then I do forum giveaways or such with them after reading them, to get them out of the house again.

I tried bringing them to my local library and they said they're full!!

I got rid two items of clothing today, putting them in a bag for charity. A small start, but a start nevertheless.

Good for you - keep up the good work. One or two things here and there can make a big difference.

I'm going through papers - reading, tossing, reading, tossing, and filing. I took books off the shelf so that I could put my research books where I can find them. I have a lot more to do.

Yesterday I helped my daughter clean and we got rid of a few things and this morning I cleaned a section of my desk and got rid of quite a few papers that were no longer relevant. So I'm up to 3 things. 47 more to go!

Yesterday I worked on the kitchen. My husband is done making pickles so I cleaned up his mess and then went through the cabinets getting rid of outdated food and throwing stuff out that I hadn't used in forever. The kitchen feels more organized now.

I'm on vacation. I've thought of continuing the 50 day challenge by getting rid of email, but what I'm going to do is to start the challenge over again September 1, when I'm back home. And what I'll do is get rid of at least one thing over 50 days. It's too hard for me to keep track of each thing I get rid of, will be easier to mark the days instead.

Oh and I'm going to mark my progress on a new website I found called goalforit.com.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Giving stuff away for free is nice, but so is the tax deduction (or is it a write-off?) when you give to Goodwill. ;-) ~Kelly H.

Yes definitely not only is your house cleaner, and other people benefiting, but you get money as well! Talk about triple-perfect!

The Libraries are full??? Holy jeez. I thought they always needed donations. How has our society come to this? Such a surplus of STUFF during a terrible economy.

I keep thinking a barter economy will be one of the best ways to deal with all the things in our lives, going forward.