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2011 Resolution: How’d I do?

  December 31

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One of my big goals for this year was to get rid of 2,011 things, which I loudly proclaimed in this post of yore. 

In an effort to keep myself organized, I wrote down items as I got rid of them for most of the year, and then (if I’m being honest) played catch up for the last few months.

A few rules I set for myself in this challenge:

If I got rid of shoes, it counted as one item.

If I get rid of a ton of trash, it’s one bag of trash. This was an original rule until my husband pointed out the sheer volume of items I was throwing away, tons of empty bottles and containers and general crap I was keeping that could count toward my goal. This is not our every day food trash, but rather items that were clutter and couldn’t be donated.

Library books don’t count, since I have to return them anyway. 🙂

So here’s my list of everything I got rid of this year. I couldn’t be more excited at the number at the bottom!

4 glass jars (gifted)
1 packet of rub ons (gifted)
2 trash bags full of unnecessary paper – with approximately 20 items in each conservatively (40 items)
55 articles of clothing/accessories
Garage sale: 300 items
Craigslist: 8 chairs, 6 pieces of artwork, 2 patio tables, dining room table, sideboard, 2 bed frames, 2 headboards, 2 footboards, 2 mattresses, 2 boxsprings, cork table, metal table, microwave, mop, broom, 3 curtain rods, 2 storage milk crates, one plastic storage unit plus three drawers, one mirror, one antique gossip chair, one room divider, 2 dog crates, 1 couch, 1 tv
Given to friend: 6 pieces of artwork, 6 frames
Books: 75 sold or traded
24 books to Goodwill
21 dvd cases
4 more trips to goodwill: 71, 151, 30, 160
50 articles of clothing to women’s halfway house
42 trashbags full of unnecessary paper, junk, etc. – with approximately 15 items each in it very conservatively (630 items approximately)
6 park service uniforms donated back to NPS
9 bridal magazines
Cap, tassel, gown
Left behind cleaning supplies for the next tenant: 5 in laundry room, 6 in master bath, 1 in side bath, 30 screws, 7 other house hold painting supplies, 21 cleaning items in kitchen
6 bottles of liquor to our neighbor
2 pillows to our neighbor
Back home in Louisiana:
Cleaning spree in storage room: 10 textbooks, 6 bags of trash with approximately 15 items in each conservatively =  90 items, 27 miscellaneous
Garage Sale #2: 15 pairs of shoes, stereo system, 4 articles of clothing
Gave away to family members: 30 pieces of clothing, 2 perfume bottles, 15 bottles of nail polish, 17 pairs of shoes to my mom to wear this winter
Grenada: 3 pairs of flip flops, 1 dvd case, 1 bag, 2 books, 3 magazines, 2 packs of candy to a friend, 1 reusable shopping bag, 4 school books
6 empty pill bottles, 5 empty boxes, 3 expired medications & 4 medicine bags.
__________________________

= 2,013
 pieces of clutter gone from my life!

I have to say, this is one of the first times I’ve consciously made a resolution and stuck to it. I’m a little addicted to de-cluttering now, and highly recommend it as I feel so much lighter and freer without all of that stuff in my life!

9 responses to “2011 Resolution: How’d I do?

  1. That’s amazing!! And such a good feeling. I love love love LOVE de-cluttering. LOVE!

    Happy New Year to you!

  2. Oh, speaking of clutter…a friend of mine just shared a free Clutter and Organizing calendar which gives you one task to do daily (on Sunday they give you something to think about or something fun to do in stead of a chore). I’m gonna see if I can keep up with this. I’m not going to worry about the 7 days I missed at the beginning and just start on the 8th.

    http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm

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