My decluttering goal for October is 10 items a day for a total of 310 items. Unfortunately, I am behind with my decluttering, but, I hope to get caught up and I'm telling myself that some progress is better than none!
Here's the link to October Decluttering Part 1 which covers Days 1-5.
Here's what I've decluttered more recently:
Day 6: 9 books, mostly gardening books. They have lovely photos of lush, flower filled gardens, and lots of good ideas, but, the majority of them have, at most, just one or two examples of drought tolerant gardens. Looking at the lush gardens only makes me feel envious. Time to let them go! The garden secateurs broke and came apart in my hand when I was trying to cut some flowers. I put the two halves together to take the picture; they have been tossed. The books will be donated (I offered them to M, but, he said no thank you).
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| Day 6: Books and Garden Secateurs |
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| Day 7: Books, Clothing, Old Remote Control (+1 mop not pictured) |
Day 8: 6 books about decorating (the book on the top of the stack dates back to 1970s), 4 decorative kitchen wall hooks (a gift from my sister, many years ago; I used to hang the pot holders from them)
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| Day 8: 6 Books, 4 Decorative kitchen wall hooks |
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| Day 9: Books and a Catalog |
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| Days 10 & 11: 20 Cookie Cutters |
I am making progress! If you are decluttering this month, how are you doing?
I understand how difficult it is letting go of things but if they are not going to be used by you again then let them go. For me it is the getting started that is the problem.
ReplyDeleteYes, often, getting started is the problem. Especially if there isn't an urgent need to get started, such as having to move or downsize. I am not anticipating having to move anytime soon, but, I saw how difficult it was when my neighbor T had to pare down her belongings when she had to move into assisted care living. I am feeling the need to prepare for such an eventuality, myself, and I think that, by getting started on the decluttering now, I will be making it easier for myself (and my daughter) when that time comes. That's what is motivating me to declutter, now. That and feeling I want more space in my house. :)
DeleteMaybe I should declutter my cookie cutters. I don't make all the fancy Xmas biscuits anymore. Now might be a good time to take them to a charity shop
ReplyDeleteYes, it might be a good time to donate those Christmas cookie cutters if you are not making the fancy cookies, Angela. I asked my daughter if she wanted any of the ones I was decluttering and she said she had her own collection of cookie cutters that she liked. :)
DeleteThe gardening books would be very hard to declutter, but especially it's good if you got rid of them, if they made you feel bad because you won't have gardens like you see in the pictures. Do you have any garden books that are just for your area and climate?
ReplyDeleteThe gardening books were hard to declutter! I actually don't have a book about xeriscaping/drought-tolerant gardening (although I've borrowed some from the library; I am currently reading one). Some of my gardening books were bought well before I even bought my house and the rest were bought when we didn't have as many water restrictions, when I had a lawn both in the front and the back, almost 100 rose bushes, and lots of other flowering plants. :) I am planting more succulents and California natives, now, and have no lawns.
DeleteYou are doing brilliantly. It isn't easy to part with books! You are certainly making progress. I can only mention 15 items, but I was away the first 9 days of the month of the month, and haven't had time to do any serious decluttering since. I'm hoping to catch up a little soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. Yes, I'm making progress! You are doing great considering the fact that you've been away from home for the first one third of the month and have been busy since you came back home. :)
DeleteI agree that getting rid of books is hard. I have started to be more brutal with mine - even got rid of a few new ones that I didn't enjoy. Maybe it's easier to do so when I have blogged a review and so have some record of it/justification for letting go. I wonder if the reason Dad parted with so many was because going through in detail and choosing which to keep would have been even harder. (Although now that has become my project - on a back burner for now.) He did keep the vast majority of his reference books.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to weed out the books you didn't enjoy reading and keep only those that you enjoyed and/or might read again. Going through each and every book can be quite taxing. I wish I could bring myself to say, "I'm not going to read these books again and they can all go" without looking through them one last time, but, I find that hard to do. So, I am going through them and saying a mental goodbye to them!
DeleteWell done!!! For me, I just want to get rid of things but want to ensure they will go somewhere useful and not to landfill and that's where I find it hard!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kezzie. I have had to dump several text books in the recycling bin, as they are out of date and the charities I donate to will not accept them. The library will not accept them, either. Hopefully, the items I put in the recycling bin will be recycled!
DeleteWell done on the decluttering! I am still going though I need to document more of what I am getting rid of. I'm stuck where to go next. I just need to pick a place and start.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. I find myself jumping from place to place, decluttering a little over here and a little over there. Getting started is often the hardest part, isn't it?
DeleteI am getting rid of things, but not as many as I should be. I am not sure if it is the lack of interest or the lack of drive. I am keeping a list and will post it at the end of the month.
ReplyDeleteIt is fine if you are not decluttering as much as you think you should, Anne. It's hard to declutter, so just do as much as you can right now and maybe you might find it easier to declutter more, later. :)
DeleteI don't know about you, Bless, but I found the decluttering process easier on some days than on others. Little and often is best. Xx
ReplyDeleteYes, Jules, it seems easier on some days and not as easy on others. Some days, I do more pondering than decluttering; other days, the decluttering goes faster because I've already done the pondering, earlier. :)
DeleteGood job on getting rid of all of those items. Especially the books.
ReplyDeleteI too had quite a few decorating and garden books. They were hard for me to pass on but I had to admit I no longer looked at them. I use the internet for all of my image inspiration so I did end up getting rid of them.
You had a nice collection of books and I'm sure you enjoyed them over the years.
I am up to 22 items for October. I dropped off 9 books to the library and this weekend I packed up the rest of the items I had collected and put the box in my car along with the 2 fans. I will take them next week closer to the end of the month. I'm waiting since I want to add more!
Thank you, Debra. Yes, the majority of the decorating, gardening, and even crafts books were bought before I had access to the internet, especially at home.
DeleteWell done with all your decluttering so far this month. Good job with dropping off the books at the library, too. I must ask my library if they want some of the decorating and crafts books - they usually have a cart of books near the check out desk, selling for 25cents each!