Life After the 30-Day Purge Challenge

Image: Unsplash

You have taken the 30-Day Purge Challenge and now what?  (For those of you unfamiliar with the Challenge, see the post here.)  Often people, myself included, get rid of things only to fall back into old habits and buy more stuff to fill up the space.

Here are some tips to get you started on keeping your home lighter and more comfortable.

1. To keep down the volume of your wardrobe, for every purchased item, donate/sell/giveaway an item you already own.

2. Using velvet, space saving hangers will allow you to hang up more items and the velvet will prevent your clothes from slipping off the hangers.

3. Throw away or use as cleaning rags clothes with holes and rips that can't be fixed.  Items with bodily stains or odors that can no longer be washed out should be tossed.

4. Sort your garments by color and by type.  This will allow you to see how many of each item you have in the same color.

5. If you need another round of purging your home, take the 30-Day Purge Challenge again until you reach your desired results.

6. Buy only the items you plan to use and need right away and not some time in the future, because let's face it, chances are they will only collect dust!

7. Invest in quality not quantity.  Quality items will last a long time, yes they cost a bit more, but imagine having to buy the same item over and over because it keeps breaking or gets damaged easily.  This also means less items going to the landfill.

8. Realize that things of this world, in this case material things, only bring temporary happiness.  Do you notice the constant need for more stuff, the latest gadgets?  It just never stops, and the commercials are everywhere, including on billboards, television, websites, apps and magazines.  It's time to focus on memories, turning off the TV and spending time with loved ones, and also to be more of service to others as it's much more fulfilling.


With love,

30-Day Purge Challenge

Normally I don't follow trends, but with the recent downsizing trend, I am totally on board!  Suddenly instead of getting a bigger place and keeping all the accumulated stuff or buying more to fill the space, it made more sense to get rid of things that no longer serve any purpose.

So I have decided to adopt the minimalist approach and what I like to call being "move ready", having just the items you actually use and/or need.  Wouldn't it be easier to pack up and move?  Of course it would!

I am sure many of you have done this, I tried getting rid of things more times than I can remember and ended up feeling so overwhelmed that I put back most of them!  To deal with this I decided to do the 30-Day Purge Challenge.

How the 30-Day Purge Challenge works: 

Throw out/sell/donate/give away one item on Day 1, two items on Day 2, three items on Day 3 and so on until you reach thirty items on Day 30.

Some ideas of things to get rid of:

Extra/mismatched cups and mugs, old Tupperware, long expired vitamins, stained clothing, clothing that's too small/large, vases (How many do we really need?), old spices that have lost their aroma, check back of cabinets and drawers, magazines, newspapers, knickknacks, extra furniture, toys, books itd.

As I write this blog post, I am on Day 4 of my Purge Challenge and so far it has been easy.  Looking forward to Day 10 and up, I can see this becoming a big challenge.  To keep track of Days, I started a simple log with the Days and number of items eliminated.  A couple of months ago, I went on a random house purge and managed to get rid of a solid number of things, and I am thinking that this will make the Challenge harder.  However the bag I filled with clothes to donate, I still have in the house!  Doesn't that happen to you?  You decide to get rid of things, but you don't actually take it out of the house?

So come on and take the Challenge with me!  Share your experience, was it hard or easy for you?  Have you done this Challenge before?  Can't wait to hear from you!

With love,