We are in the final week of our 30 day minimalism challenge. Jaida and I had another busy week going through all of our belongings and considering the value of each thing.
Jaida spent most of her time still in her bedroom. She has emptied each drawer one at at time and carefully put all the things she would like to keep back in. The rest got sorted into garbage, recycling, donation, give back to original owner and sell piles. We posted some of her things on craigslist which really got her excited to find more things she doesn’t use and is willing to part with. Overall she seemed to have fun and some of her friends are now cleaning out their rooms too.
How do you feel about what you’ve removed from your room?
Jaida: Good. I went through my jewelry once at the beginning of the challenge and I purged just a little bit, and then I went through it again a week later and I purged some more things and I thought I was at the maximization of purging for my jewelry and then I went through my jewelry again and I realized I don’t even wear most of what was still in there so I donated an even bigger chunk. I’ve definitely purged over 1/2 my jewelry. Now I feel like it is easier for me to decide what jewelry to wear even though I always wear the same things. I have less options of things that I liked but didn’t fit me right or didn’t really suit me.
I also finished a painting this week that I started a long time ago. I had all of the paints and brushes and newspapers and canvas sitting under my dresser unfinished for 6 months. That felt great to clean up all of that and get it off my floor and onto my wall.
Do you think you will be able to complete this challenge?
Jaida: Yes.
I have had no problems finding more things that are not being used in my house. I thought I’d run out of places to look but it seems that the stuff is finding me. Here are some examples of things I have let go of this week.
Jewelry
I certainly don’t have very much in the way of jewelry but I did have some old gold rings, bracelets and a necklace from my childhood (back when gold was really in style). It seemed so valuable because gold is expensive so each time I cleaned out my stuff, I didn’t consider getting rid of these things. This week it occurred to me that the rings didn’t even fit me and I had not worn the necklace or any of the bracelets since the 90s. I decided it was time to do something about this. I found a gold shop very close to my house and the kids and I went to sell it. What a fun experience! The lady there tested each piece by rubbing it on a block and adding what looked like pool water tester chemicals to check the purity of each piece. Then she looked for markings on each, tested them with magnets and weighed them. She wrote me a cheque for a couple hundred dollars and the kids and I were thrilled!
Framed Degrees
I completed three university degrees, each time getting the degree framed. These framed degrees sat on the wall in my old bedroom at my parents house because I thought they made my parents proud and I didn’t have a public office to display them in. Then the time came when my parents passed away and we had to clear out their house. I brought these framed degrees on an airplane to my house where they sat in a closet for 2 years. I knew I wouldn’t ever put them up but somehow it was a rule in my head that I can’t throw them away. This week, I listened to an episode of The Minimalists Podcast about Jobs. Some guy called in to ask the minimalists what he should do with his university degrees that are not hanging on the wall and that he would never “need” to show anyone. Hearing that question made me laugh because I realized I have no reason to keep them. I felt such a relief pulling them apart, recycling the degree, donating the frames and clearing space in my closet.
Coins and little bits of money
For some reason we had little boxes and containers scattered around the house that have loose change. This week I collected them, sat down and rolled them. I even found several old Canadian one and two dollar bills. Somehow they seemed special because they don’t make them anymore so we saved them. I thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing some old dollar bills but they didn’t seem interested. Then I brought them all to the bank and the bank teller was hesitant about accepting these old bills. And guess what? They were worth the same amount as loonies and toonies.
House Paint
We painted the inside of our house almost 10 years ago. We saved all the little bits of left over paints (some still had quite a bit of paint in them). We’ve had many scratches and marks on the walls and we have not once got out those old paints to do any touch ups. A few of our rooms have been repainted with different colours (and those left over cans saved). Now we are ready to change the colours in our home and we will need to get new paint for that. I looked into what to do with old bits of paint and it turns out there are some places that will take this paint like Habitat for Humanity. So I’ve sorted through the 20+ cans of paint and have a pile of cans that need to be recycled because they are practically empty, some cans that are full enough to donate and just 3 that we will keep and use next month when we paint. After that I will immediately donate the good leftover paints.
Liquor Cabinet
I have no idea how we got all of this hard liquor but we had several bottles that were unopened and some that had only a missing ounce. These bottles must have been in my cabinet for 5+ years. I always have the thought that maybe someone will want to drink them at a party at my house some day. This week I took the time to think about this. My days of hard liquor parties are long gone – none of my friends drink much other than beer and wine. I probably want to remove this liquor before my kids become interested too! So I found a friend (a younger friend) who still enjoys drinking rum and fireball who happily took it off my hands. Done!
Furnace Room
There were things in my furnace room that were there when I moved into the house almost 10 years ago. Old windows, window screens, sheets of metal for ducting, bits of asphalt roof. Why did I keep them for so long?
I am so addicted to clearing stuff out and I have not regretted anything that I’ve gotten rid of. I am finding things daily still in the kitchen that I have multiples of or never use. Jaida is addicted as well. I also completed a painting and fixed multiple things that were sitting around waiting to be fixed. We have really been having fun with this. Thanks “The Minimalists“!