MetaChat - Do you want to participate in this very important challenge?

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16 October 2008

Do you want to participate in this very important challenge? →[More:]It might change your life.

Grab a bag, bin, or box and fill it with at least 10 items you will donate to Good Will. If you donate more than 10 items you are very good indeed and will receive virtual extra credit.

Next, throw out (or recycle) 20 items that you no longer need and are taking up precious space. T-shirts with stains that nobody wants, chipped coffee mugs, near-empty toiletries, that unflattering shade of whatever that you've been hanging onto for who knows why.

Be ruthless!

Place your donation bin next to your entry way or trunk of car.

Take a picture, or describe in detail, the contents of your donation bin and what you chucked in the trash.

This very important challenge ends at midnight. It should not take long. You will run into trouble if you think too much. So, don't think. I will report back with my accomplishments momentarily.

Go! Purge! Simplify!

post by: LoriFLA at: 18:27 | 11 comments

:(

MuddDude and I just did this. It's called "moving" :)

We do have a basket of stuff to take to goodwill. Maybe I'll take a picture of it.

posted by muddgirl 16 October | 18:33

I love to purge things from my house. I love it so much that I've probably run out of things to purge :-( Ok, that's not true, I'm a little backed up on magazines to pass along at the moment, but I think I'm Goodwilled out for awhile, anyway.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 16 October | 18:35

I did this at some point because of a Suzie Orman book. IT was an exercise that was supposed to teach you about abundance...you had to walk through your house RIGHT NOW and find ten things you didn't mind getting rid of. Of course it was easy. From this I was supposed to develop greater confidence in abundance.

Getting rid of stuff totally is awesome. I do it regularly - there's always a little pile of stuff by my door that's on the way to the Freebie Barn or set aside for FreeCycle.

But of course I keep bringing stuff in, too. So I can't say as it reduces any clutter. What it does do is provide constant novelty, and keeps the secondhand stuff economy flowing well.

posted by Miko 16 October | 18:43

How about if I just photograph my bookshelves, and everyone here gets to choose what I throw out?

But this is a great idea. I really need to de-junk my house. I have a hard time letting go sometimes.

To go: a Pentium-90 win95 machine with 19" CRT? Webcam included.
A Pentium II 450 Win98 with another 19" CRT?
Old modems, mice, a broken router, an old CD player (does not play CD-Rs).
A reel-to-reel tape recorder.
Old old Life and Look magazines.
A 35mm darkroom setup.
I think about trying to sell some of this, but I never get up the gumption.

Next time there's a free electronics recycle day, I'm going with a carload.
And don't talk to me about those 60's comic books. They're mine.

posted by DarkForest 16 October | 19:01

Sounds like a version of Flylady's 27 fling boogie. Which is a good thing. But I am too pooped to get up and do it right this minute...

posted by bunnyfire 16 October | 19:02

Well, right now I have three bags of clothes in the back of my van, and one huge bag in the living room of clothes my son has outgrown - all for donations. In a few more days, I'll go through my seasonal closet change, and probably find more stuff to get rid of.

I read somewhere that when you start a season with clothes, you should hang the hangers facing backward. As you wear the items, turn the hangers around as you rehang them after washing. By the end of the season, if there are any hangers still facing backwards, you should donate those items since you never wore them anyway. I'm planning on trying that, this year.

posted by redvixen 16 October | 19:05

I'm due for something like this. I'm fairly ruthless about getting rid of stuff- we usually give everything to the Kidney Foundation. We had a weekend over the summer where we both went crazy emptying out closets and ditching crap, but I still have a closet shelf with the density of a small star that I need to clear out.

posted by BoringPostcards 16 October | 19:34

That is a good idea. I have a really hard time letting go of clothes that I like, but never wear.

posted by Miko 16 October | 19:42

I'm not allowed to currently throw things out (because I think mom has realized that THE BIG PURGE OF SHIT comes right before the OH HAI PLANE TICKET TO GTFO) but it'll happen as soon as my mother finishes remodeling her closet (and therefore gets her shit out of my brother's old bedroom).

I have too much crap.

posted by sperose 16 October | 20:14

Hi all! I thought my post didn't post.

I just went into my closet. I have a lot of stuff I never wear. Too much casual crapola. I need more chic in my life. More chic, I say!

Notice these two horizontal striped tees. I had dreams of looking like a fashionable Left Bank beauty. Wrong. Gamine I am not. I cannot wear horizontal stripes. The tags are still on. Garbage bin is on the left.

It's a good start.

Good luck with your clear-outs!

Off-topic: John McCain is actually very funny at this Al Smith dinner.

posted by LoriFLA 16 October | 20:18

Huh. I just gave a box to Goodwill this afternoon. Just 25 more boxes-full to go.

heh, it's called divorcing

posted by lysdexic 16 October | 21:36

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