What I Decluttered This Month - 30 Bags In 30 Days

I was so excited about this project that I actually started it much sooner than I had originally planned.  I started on Christmas Day!  I was planning to begin on New Years, but when I got busy cleaning up from opening gifts on Christmas morning it just took off from there.

My inspiration to get started!

Day one I filled up a 32 gallon trash bag with paper trash we collected from opening gifts.  I reorganized the gift wrap tote and added worn out and smashed bows, tissue wrap and some bedraggled gift bags to the trash bag.  Then I made my way through the entire house and emptied trash cans and other odds and ends I found until that bag was completely stuffed.  I gave each girl a grocery bag and they filled them up with trash from their own rooms so our first day was very successful.  Three bags just like that!

The next day I tackled my bedroom closet and filled a large Vanity Fair shopping bag with pillow shams I hadn't used in years, clothing I no longer loved and some miscellaneous items I no longer needed.  Funny thing, three days later I ended up going through my closet once again for a second pass and pulled out four more items to get rid of.

I got rid of all the extra boxes from gifts and purchased items.  I had saved several in case we needed them to wrap gifts with and it turned out we really didn't need any of them.  Into the recycle bin they went.

My youngest was completely overwhelmed with the condition of her bedroom.  We devoted an entire day to clearing everything out, giving it a good clean and then putting back only the items she still loves and uses.  Everything else was donated which included another 32 gallon trash bag of clothing to donate as well as a bag of trash.  We put a lot of packaging, paper and cardboard into the recycle bin.

Lots of stuff leaving the house

While we worked on her bedroom my oldest got busy in her own room and added to the trash bag we had started as well as filling up another 32 gallon bag with clothing and items to donate.  I was proud of both of them for giving up so much stuff and clearing out their rooms.  My youngest is so much happier with her room now and is finding that she is sleeping better too.

Even our pantry got overhauled - 3 times!

I decluttered and reorganized our pantry along with all of the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen.  By combining items and using up stuff I filled up half of our blue recycle bin.  It gave me a lot to think about with regard to how I purchase our groceries and the massive amounts of packaging we have to deal with.  I want to definitely make some changes in that area.  On day 10 I found myself making another pass through the pantry and ended up gifting a huge tub of protein powder to a co-worker.

So much better!

I went through my home office and cleared out a box of Christmas cards I no longer need or want and added that to one of our donation bags.  I also gathered up a few items to add to our shred pile I keep in the hall closet.  I ended up taking that shred pile out to the fire pot and lighting a match to it.

My shred pile.  Gone!

I filled up a grocery bag with notebooks and legal pads I did not want or need and took them into work to be used there.  I also filled up another bag of food items we did not need or want, mostly cookies and candy, and taking that into work as well.

I gathered up all of the glass from three different bins in our garage and put it into a big box.  I took it to the big recycle bin at the grocery store and dumped it.  I then broke down the box and put it into our blue recycle bin when I got home.  My plan moving forward is to make more frequent trips to drop off the glass recycling and not allow it to pile up in the garage anymore.

I spent some time out in the garage tidying up and going through some things.  I was able to let go of quite a few items I'd put out there in case we needed them.  Turns out we didn't so I added them to the trash, recycle bin or a bag for donations.  That felt good too.  At the end of the month I dropped off all of the bags of donations we had gathered at a nearby thrift store.  It feels really good to have all of that stuff out of our house.

Final count on the bags came in at 27.  Not quite the 30 I had intended, but after several passes through our home that was all I could come up with.  I'm pretty happy about it too.  I don't consider 27 bags a failure by any stretch.  The fact that I didn't get to 30 just means I've done a really good job up to now at keeping clutter out of our home.  Moving forward I plan to do a bag a month to keep things maintained.

How did you do with your 30 Bags In 30 Days Challenge?  Did you make it?  How does it feel?