With COVID restrictions, fewer daylight hours and colder weather, I’m finding myself spending a whole LOT of time inside my house. And to be quite honest, I’m not loving what I’m seeing. The uncertainty of the world seems to have manifested itself in my house with overflowing closets and unorganized cabinets. Is it just me? Or are you living in a circus too? It’s absolutely, unequivocally time to fix it! I embarked on a minimalism challenge during the last month to help clear out some of the excess in a systematic way.
Let’s get into it, shall we?
Here’s why I embarked on this month-long minimalism challenge.
I’m fairly recently married and we both brought stuff into our household. I knew we had duplicates in several instances, and it was time to finally confront the overlap. #RealTalk No one needs 2 can openers. Sorry in advance if you’re a multi-can-opener household.
On top of that nagging bit of excess, I recently stumbled onto The Fioneers’ post about their minimalism challenge. They made me feel like a minimalism challenge was both possible AND important, and I was intrigued!
The final straw was a new Netflix show – The Home Edit. During each episode, the team takes on cluttered, overwhelmed rooms. Within 30 minutes (or less!) they create beautiful, visual feasts of labeled, color-coded, organized spaces. It’s both aspirational and motivational, and made me want to give it a try. Turns out decluttering and organizing takes a little longer than a tight 30 minute episode.
The Challenge
It had to be simple. So I referred to The Minimalists for an easy 30-day challenge framework. This minimalism challenge required me to get rid of one item the first day, two items the second day, three items the third day and so on. Let me tell you – it’s all fun and games until you hit day 25 and have to scrounge up TWENTY FIVE items to get rid of.
The grand sum of items to get rid of? 465. FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE. I didn’t even know I had that many items in my entire house!
“Get rid of” encompassed multiple methods. I could give it away, donate it, trash it, etc. No matter what, the house had to be 465 items lighter at the end of the month. That was the only thing that mattered. (Quite a crazy diet!)
As you can imagine, I learned a few things during the month.
What I learned:
Tangible, visible change is motivating.
Logistically and mentally, it was easiest when I grouped days together during the minimalism challenge. Especially when we were in the single-digit days, getting rid of 2 or 3 things at a time didn’t feel like an accomplishment. I wanted results! So, in the beginning (probably days 1-15) I found myself grouping days together.
Seeing a whole pile of giveaway items was so much more motivating than pulling one single item out of a drawer.
The first step is the trickiest. (And most important!)
I promise I didn’t have the time or energy to even think about the challenge every single day. Ain’t nobody got time for that. An entire week passed without throwing out one thing! I worried at the time I wouldn’t be able to muster up the energy to finish the challenge.
But I learned that sometimes forcing myself to take even one step – opening the drawer or the closet – was all it took to drive the next action. Momentum was the real key factor. Once I started, I began to see results and kept going.
The longer-term vision creates meaning.
Rather than gradually cleaning out one cabinet or one drawer, I wanted to dive in and finish an entire zone at one time. When I could visualize the result, I didn’t just get rid of things, I reorganized the entire area!
Working toward a bigger goal (my why!) – like a well-organized kitchen – felt more meaningful and significant than “let’s get rid of 13 things today”.
Prior preparation and planning (the 3 P’s) are key.
Up to the end of Day 10, I had chosen 55 items to get rid of in total. 55 things! And I had no idea what to do with them. I should have made a plan in the beginning – at the very least, a storage spot for the gift, donate and trash piles. Doh!
I also should have proactively researched non-profits that were accepting the types of items I was getting rid of – coats or shoes or kitchen items. Eventually I did this, but not after living with various piles for a week or more.
Quality wins over quantity.
Yeah, yeah, I know we hear this phrase all the time. But it played out during my month. I found myself prioritizing closet space for those more expensive, quality items over the free race t-shirts and the Forever 21 purchases.
Not only were the higher quality items in better shape, I felt more attached to them. Likely, the higher price tag at the time of purchase forced me to be more thoughtful, and in turn, resulted in the piece having more utility or lifespan.
Your immediate environment affects your attitude.
Let’s be honest. The last year or so has been a dumpster fire. I think we’ve collectively become quite acquainted with anxiety and uncertainty. And we’re all learning ways to combat them. I may have just stumbled onto one that had an impact for me.
This minimalism challenge made me feel like I could control one tiny piece of my life – one tiny piece of my daily environment – and at a time when so much feels like it’s spinning out of control, that was a welcome surprise. Organizing may have to go on my (free) self care list!
Even in small spaces, stuff adds up.
By American standards, we live in a small home. We don’t have that much space to store things. At the beginning of the month, I had the NERVE to be worried I’d run out of things to get rid of halfway through the challenge. Let me tell you – that was never on the table!
I truly believe we expand to fit our space – just like our tasks or our activities expand to fit our time. Doing this challenge has made me think twice before I buy anything. Do we really need it? Where will this item live? If anything, it’s slowed down any predilection I have toward spending money to accumulate more stuff.
How does this minimalism challenge relate to personal finance?
In our financial lives, we’re driven to accumulate. The goal is to get ahead by accumulating money, things and accomplishments – things we can tangibly point to as indicators of our success. A big house, a car, a plaque or two and some money in the bank is the American definition of success.
What if that’s not it? What if, instead, we worked toward accumulating only the things that added value to our lives? Maybe we should step out of the materialistic arms race going on around us instead.
For example, if your passion is travel, throwing money into a functional suitcase and travel clothes is GREAT. If you’re focused on your next trip, maybe you don’t have to invest in the fancy kitchen appliances, and instead, save the cash for your airplane ticket.
In the last month, I reversed course to some extent. Rather than accumulating things, I got rid of things. And I’m finishing the exercise feeling more content than ever, because I’m only surrounded by the things I need and the things that hold significant value for me.
This exercise isn’t about focusing on spending less – it’s about spending on things that bring value. Making decisions all month about what gets to stay in my home and what has to go has helped me clarify my own values, and put in place a set of criteria I can review every time I’m considering spending money to bring something else into my life.
In Conclusion
If you’re considering a major reorganization project, I highly recommend a minimalism challenge to go along with it. Purge all of those unnecessary items. It feels like such an accomplishment!
With all of my newfound insight, I’ll work to continue being mindful of the things I bring into the home. And the bonus? I get to enjoy the hard-earned joy of opening a nicely organized (not full!) drawer and immediately finding what I’m looking for. It felt great during the month to be able to donate items to organizations that needed them, and (clearly) I learned a lot along the way.
Tell me in the comments if you’d ever consider doing a minimalism challenge like this!
Love this article! I am also newly married and my husband absolutely hates stuff so I did a massive purge (hundreds of items) when we moved in together. At the time it was painful and extremely emotional for me but when I look back I can’t remember a single item I threw away or donated. This tells me now that what I think I absolutely need in my life may not be the case. Thanks so much for sharing!
This is such a great challenge to try. I also loved watching the Home Edit and I liked
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo which has been out for a while now. I definitely prioritise having a regular clear out of my closet and donating to charity shops.
Amazing post to learn some practical daily stuff as that deals with the peace of mind.
Instead of giving away we can learn how not to collecto too many stuff.
I love that you learnt so much through this challenge. Ive been trying to be more minimalist for the last couple of years but its definitely a long process.
It’s such a refreshing feeling to get rid of things that are no longer a good fit in your life! I declutter regularly, but I’ve never done the 30 day challenge or kept track of how many items I’ve gotten rid of. Might have to try it.
I feel guilty reading this. My husband has been after me to get rid of some things. Usually, I prefer fairly often, but since starting a business and then the pandemic, I have been thrown off. Thank you for reminding me why minimalism and getting rid of things is important to my family’s wellbeing.
So obviously I’m biased, but I LOVED this! Great job on your challenge and you’re exactly right that minimalism can relate to the bigger picture (in this case, saving money or being more intentional with where that money goes). So happy for you!