Last year I posted about my yearly tradition of getting a bag out of the house each day for a month. The kids participate, and we reward ourselves with some groovy destination in the family fun department at the end. To get super inspired–and to see just how easy it is to fill a “bag” check out last year’s link here.
The beauty in this is, you get started and you really see the results FAST. It can take ten minutes to meet the day’s goal. You can do three days at a time, by filling three bags. (Or one old bike out of the garage to the neighbor=1 bag= those five trays of old plastic gardening trays in the recycle container=1 bag+a bag of books donated to the preschool book swap you may or may not have organized =your third bag and you’re done for three days.) In 30 days, you will have reclaimed what amounts to an entire room of your house in most cases. You are a now a Simplicity Master. You are the Buddha. You feel lighter. You can buy new junk, or relish in the space.
So if you start when you read this post you can get right on into it and have July be the month you de-cluttered, and reclaimed your space! Or start tomorrow, and go to the 3rd of August! See how accommodating we are at the Bag-a-day Center for Encouraging Practices!?!
Here’s my first three bags, and where they are headed.
Bag# 1 is a bag of books I am giving to students at the reading program I am working at this summer. I’ll ask them to pick one for a younger sibling or neighbor. If they read it out loud to them, it is a win-win-win!
Bag #2 clothes to give to the school nurse–kids clothes.
Bag #3 clothes and household items for the refugee resettlement program.
If you decide to do this–let us know. The success stories and the momentum are always encouraging to others.
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Off to swim lessons, baseball games and the three empty pots waiting for their charges in the urban garden. Happy July to you! And thanks to several new followers on the blog, twitter, and Instagram!
ooohhh…. what a great idea!
Like your summer list it keeps me focused. There is a storage room of doom in the basement.
Hi Catherine,
Last year you inspired me, and I started strong but finished short of my target. This summer I’m aiming even higher, because we want to move this year, without having to pack all of our stuff and take it all wirth us: my goal is 75 bags over the summer. School ended for the kids on Thursday and it’s 5 bags down and 70 to go. The reward for the kids for helping is a special day out – their choice of destination (in the city).
Lesia
Inspired! So excited for you. Is it a near or far move?
I love this idea of charity and having the kids participate!
I might jump on this. My house is getting to me.
Sister it really is transformative… Just saying.
Love that idea!!! We have way too much stuff.
This is a great idea. We usually give Mea’s old clothes to the women’s shelter, but I have so much stuff in my house, I don’t know what to do. This is great. Totally putting it to use!
It’s almost the end of the summer and I haven’t reached my goal – I lost momentum and have gotten rid of (only) 22 bags of stuff so far. But your post and idea has stuck in my mind, and because the kids don’t start school here until after Labour Day, there’s still time to get back to decluttering. Thanks for inspiring me in this and so many other ways!
That’s an awesome dent! 22?!? I think we fizzled around 18. But like you said it keeps going and going.. Once you get the bug, it really becomes a shift in many ways (I buy less, I pass up on opportunities to take others “treasures” when offered etc.).