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Monday, January 11, 2010

Clutter Challenge!

So, my own personal New Year's Resolution is to live simply.

That means, I have GOT to get a handle on my CLUTTER!

I know that, for me, a cluttered environment equals a cluttered mind.
I feel frazzled and stressed.

Unfortunately, my "frugal" side (save it, we can use it again/later) conflicts with my need for a well organized environment. Add to the fact that in our truly "blank slate" house we have next to "nil" built-in/ready-made storage (you know, things many people take for granted, like an entire set of kitchen cabinets instead of just two, or a linen closet instead of... well... nothing- that kind of thing!), and it all adds up to a recipe for disaster! A cluttered, messy house.

(Sigh....)

Okay, my moment of self pity is over (for now- wink, wink!)- the question is, what am I going to do about it?

Well, one of my favorite magazines, Mothering, issued a clutter challenge for the new year that I'm hopping on the bandwagon with! The "Five a Day for Thirty Days" challenge is a great idea- get rid of five pieces of clutter a day for a month and, if a new item is brought into the home, five extra things have to go. Even I can accomplish five little pieces a day! I'm hoping to continue this for well past a month though- my goal is to keep it going until I truly have a place for everything, and everything in it's place.

Wish me luck! So far, several things have made their exit from our home, including daycare toys that were never played with, two cooking pots and a skillet, and lots of junk mail (hey, I figure junk mail can at least count as one item!).

Wanna join me in the challenge?

Here's to a year of much less STUFF!

:)

4 comments:

Erica said...

I heard once that if you take everything that is sitting out in a room and toss it in boxes then only allow your self to remove things that you really need out as you need them for 1 week anything left in the boxes getts tossed. It seems like a good plan.

Mulberry Mama said...

Have you heard of FlyLady? She's got some great tips for decluttering and getting into routines to have a clean, peaceful home. Check out flylady.com!

Jennifer said...

Good tips, ladies! Thanks! :D

Anonymous said...

Recycling more is my project this year..along with de-cluttering.
*Your Dad's old work manuals were used for kindling in the wood burner.
*The now empty 3" binders have become new homes for page protectors full of either "must try" recipes, or ideas/articles cut out of the piles of magazines we kept over the years.
*The magazine "left-overs" and out of date encyclopedias were hauled off to the recycling center.
It's a start!