Monday, August 16, 2010

The Big Purge of Oh Ten


The other afternoon, Mike and I were lying on our bed discussing our life. We have a really great life, but we have too much stuff, and it is weighing us down. So right then and there we filled four trash bags with things we don't need/like/want from our little closet. That felt so good that we went through the rest of the house. We were ruthless.

What doesn't sell on craigslist or ebay will be put in a garage sale. What doesn't sell there will be sent to Goodwill. Good riddance. I'm so ready to let it all go.

Oh, it feels so good! We are lighter. And less stressed. And determined to just keep the things we love.

Who wants to have a garage sale with us?

28 comments:

  1. i love it! i do it a few times a year myself but probably once a year with the husband. i am in full swing right now (prob pregnancy induced) and i can't get rid of enough. organizing closets. i just took out two bags of sheets. i couldn't believe i wash holding on to that crap. just taking up space. feels so good.

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  2. I love when my neighbors throw garage sales cause I dump my Goodwill pile into their stuff. You'll be no exception.

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  3. good call. we need to make room for food storage in our house, which means out goes most of the linen closet. good luck at your sale, you guys are so thrifty; I'm always impressed. do you guys miss the ipad yet? :)

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  4. This is really random...but where did you buy that rug that your cute little guy is laying on? I've been keeping my eyes out for an area rug in those exact colors and haven't had much luck. Sorry again for the randomness...love your blog though! :) (tiffanyanna@gmail.com)

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  5. Wish I was close! We are getting ready to move and I need to PURGE in the biggest way =) I refuse to move into our 'new' home with all of this junk!

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  6. I would but I'm in Boston. I'm always trying to lighten my load. Except I bought another cake plate for my collection on Saturday. Hmmm...

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  7. We've been doing a good bit of this ourselves this year. I hate "stuff". Plus, we need room for the new little person coming to our house. :-D
    I usually skip the craigslist step though, and just take stuff to Goodwill. I'm lazy! :-)

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  8. I'm with Ginger and never try to sell it because inevitably it just sits in a different spot, waiting for me to get it done. I send it all to Goodwill. I do it all the time, though, I hate clutter, it drives me batty, even though it's all usually mine!!

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  9. P.S. LOVE that picture. :)

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  10. We have to much stuff too. I so love getting rid of it. A garage sale is perfect, some stuff just isn't worth the trouble of selling on craigslist.

    Elliot is cute:).

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  11. I'm aware that this is not at all what you wrote about. And I'm totally with you on the purging clutter thing.

    But WHERE did you get that rug???!!!

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  13. Doesn't it feel great? I purge about once a year, but I don't bother selling anything. Too much work! I just donate it all.

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  14. some things:

    isn't that a great rug?

    we bought it from someone on craigslist, but it's originally from pottery barn.

    mike is the best at selling stuff on craigslist. (when we were in new hampshire a few weeks ago, we were staying at a place that didn't have a/c and it was really hot. so mike found a window a/c unit on craigslist, purchased it, used it all week, and then sold it on craigslist before we left town. and he made money on the deal!)

    a lot of the stuff we're getting rid of is too good to just donate. we're trying to raise some cash for christmas. but a lot of it is just junk, too. :)

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  15. I need to do this. I started the process, made piles in the basement of things to put in a garage sale. Listed one thing on craigslist so far. Now I've lost the drive and need to get it back. Doing a garage sale seems daunting but really needs to be done.

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  16. i see this picture and i just think of miles saying "oooo baby elleekins!" in his adorable voice. oh man. SO CUTE STEPH!

    and if you have a lot of stuff, what does that say about the rest of us?! your house always felt so clean and ordered before. it must be empty now! ha!

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  17. You know this is my favorite thing to do! And it does make me feel so good to be in a light, airy, uncluttered house with only things I love and use.
    I've got a garbage bag cleanout planned for when the kids go back to school next week.
    (PS And I love your last twitter...that recipe for the fussy baby always works for me...exercise ball, white noise, swaddle...brings back memories.)

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  18. we moved into a gigantic house and I told Nate not to let me fill it up because chances are we won't be buying a house this big. BUT.. people have given me a lot of furniture. Maes loves having a garage sale. When we move I'm sure we will be having one. It always feels good. For now, I just think about how I have a huge empty attic that I can put some of my clutter in. I have totes and toes of clothes to pass down to the kids. OH... and baby stuff, the swing that you NEED for about 4 months takes up so much space! My sister in law told me to only keep the stuff I love- so when i put the stuff away for the next baby I try to only save the stuff I love. Hard though.

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  19. We just did that last month. There's still a lot I would love to get rid of, but it's not MY stuff. So my goal now is to get a house someday where the Mr. can have his own office with all of HIS stuff in it. Then the rest of the house can have order.

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  20. I'm in the middle of the same process--garage sale is next Saturday, but in New Jersey so I guess we can't team up. By the way, I love, love this enlightening article from the NYTimes on the topic of getting rid of stuff: "But Will It Make You Happy?"

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/business/08consume.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1

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  21. Yea will u tell us when your garage sale will be? PLEASE!!!!!!!!

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  22. That's one of the main reasons I can't wait for school to start! Purging/Organizing!

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  23. I also LOVE decluttering my life, and giving away or donating stuff. It's amazing how much we accumulate. You do seem so organized. The constant inflow of paperwork really overwhelms me. Any suggestions on that matter?

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  24. i read the same article that lizzyp referenced. love it! and yes - that rug! love it too. i definitely need to do some lightening up around here. "just keep the things we love" i'll be remembering that... :)

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  25. I totally need to have "BIG PURGE of oh ten"! Thanks for being my inspiration!

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  26. I love purging! I did a garage sale a couple weeks ago and it was a glorious feeling to make a little money on stuff I don't need anyway:)

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  27. I know a few good charities other than Goodwill if you have gently used clothes that dont sell. One of my jobs is affiliated with a "thrift store" where only foster kids shop. They get to go 4 times a year and pick out 5 outfits for FREE. The place is amazing... looks like a boutique instead of a thrift store. Anyway- it's a good cause. So let me know if you have stuff to send there.

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  28. Loving your blog and I love getting rid of stuff that I feel like is cluttering up my life.
    This past year we sold a ton of stuff to help us bring our daughter home from Ethiopia...and I've never missed a single thing. I keep looking around my house for more to let go of-it is so freeing, isn't it?

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