Five A Day - Reducing the Clutter in My Home and Life

Penelope Samuel in Longview, Washington is doing a yearlong project she calls Five A Day – Reducing the Clutter in My Home and Life. She explains, "Every day for 365 days, I will find 5 items in my house and/or garage that I no longer need or want. I will either donate the item to my local thrift store or some I know can use it, or I will throw it away. At the end of the year I will have purged 1,825 items from my home."

Why did you decide to do this project? I have a lot of stuff, too much stuff, stuff I don’t use, stuff that is collecting dust. Recently, I joined a group on Facebook, The Non-Consumer Advocate, that encourages and supports consuming less material goods. I felt that if I made a commitment to downsizing my material possessions, two positive outcomes would occur: 1) I would be forced to deal with how much stuff I already have which would most likely make me want to buy less, and 2) by donating my stuff to the local thrift shop or someone who needs it, I am helping the local economy, the non-profit organization the thrift store helps support, and people in need.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? I’ve only been doing Five A Day since January 1st, but already my awareness of just how much stuff I own had increased dramatically. An example of this is that I have been, for the most part, focused on purging items from my bedroom. In 14 days, I have purged 70 items, most of which have come from my bedroom, and I am not finished in my room! I feel liberated, grateful, astonished, and determined! I also shared my blog on The Non-Consumer Advocate page, and have gained a tremendous group of followers, some of who have been inspired to do some purging themselves. I was asked by a reader if I would be willing to send her some of the crochet hooks I was purging. She wanted them as a gift for her granddaughter and she offered to pay shipping. I told her I would ship them for free, and then decided I would make that offer for everything I purge. I’ve had several ladies take me up on the offer, and it is a good feeling to share my bounty! I cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings.



Follow Penelope's progress HERE. 

It's Time To Go: Letting Go of Stuff

Bobbi Fisher in Sudbury, Massachusetts is spending a year on her project It’s time to go: Letting go of stuff. She explains, "The project is about simplifying our life by getting rid of all the stuff we have accumulated over almost 50 years of marriage. It’s about getting rid of small things, and big things. It’s about reminiscing and letting go. It’s about passing on things to kids, relatives, friends, charities, and sometimes even, the dump."

Why did you decide to do this project? 
The idea of doing something within a single theme every day for an entire year intrigued me the moment I perused Noah's book at the book store last winter. The commitment and the discipline was what drew me in. But, I’m not an artist, so the idea of creating some kind of skeleton, or bird, or flower every day—well, I just wasn’t going to do it. I had been blogging faithfully for over a year, so I knew the satisfaction of blogging, but I wanted something concrete to blog about for a year.
My husband came up with letting go of something every day. Perfect. Motivation is high. We’ve lived in our present home for over thirty-five years. Need I say more? This is a natural.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life?
 Oh my goodness, yes, letting go of stuff has affected our lives. The relief that we feel on a daily basis as we let go of stuff is amazing/ Whew!! Out, out, out!! After all, we have lived here for thirty five years and have accumulated plenty of stuff. Two kids alone is enough to do it. But I was a teacher for twenty-five years, and , elementary teachers are the accumulation queens of the world. Next I went to divinity school where I collected books, books, books. Then there was my sewing days, and you just can’t have enough fabric or equipment.

My husband went through several hobbies, collecting typewriters, clocks, cash registers, golf memorabilia, bottles. You name it. Then there was his woodworking and gardening.

When we get ready to move out of this home of ours, hopefully we will be able to pack up with ease. Letting go of a little each day, without a deadline, gives us time to reminisce over some of the treasures, memorabilia, scrapbooks and photo albums that we have accumulated, and to make careful decisions about where it all should go. And we can even change our minds before any of it ends up with our kids or at the dump, or somewhere in between. 

The project is going along quite well. The only glitch is that even while letting go of stuff, we occasionally accumulate new stuff. Sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back. For the most part, the culprit is my husband who loves to bring things home from the put-and-take at our local dump. But how can I complain. He finds great stuff and we haven’t bought a present for anyone in years.

 

See everything Bobbi has gotten rid of HERE.