2015 in 2015

So, I realize it's already almost a full four months into the year, making me a little late to this party, but I have decided to jump on the challenge of ridding your life of 2015 things in 2015 (as found here). When a friend first mentioned it to me a few days ago, I thought it was insane! No way would I ever be able to part with that many things in a single calendar year, I like my stuff too much! But then last night, while staring at my new walk-in closet that is overflowing with clothes, I realized it wouldn't be such a terrible idea to at least attempt it.

Once I got over the initial shock of how big the number 2015 is, I started thinking about how many things have already been donated/trashed/given away/taken to consignment this year, and was pleasantly surprised, mainly because of moving. 

I want my total to be as accurate as possible at the end of the year, so here are my best estimates at the number thus far:

- I took an entire full-sized suitcase to the Dominican full of clothes which I gave to L's step-dad's sisters. I estimate 50 items of clothing there.

- I also took brand new makeup and new/slightly used nail polish to the Dominican, another 15 items.

- I tossed a bunch of old makeup that was well past it's expiration, another 20 items.

- L and I tossed at least 50 old magazines. Why did I think I needed to keep a copy of a MacLeans magazine from 2011?

- While preparing to move, we made it a priority to use up as many open things as possible - shampoo, conditioner, etc. Why we had so many half-full bottles was beyond me, but we were able to finish off ~20 items 

- I attended a clothing swap where I took 20 items. All of the items which were not claimed by anyone at the end went into one giant bag, which was donated. It's not something I'm going to track all the time, but I was very proud of myself leaving that party - I only brought home 4 new items (one of which is a pair of snowpants - something I did not own).

- Most of our furniture went to the eco-station when we moved - the couch, tables, chairs, a box spring, old CD racks etc. We bought new furniture for the new house, but it was needed. I'll say 30 items in total went to the eco-station during that time.

- My mom went through a stack of my clothes before I took them to consignment, and ended up taking 8 items.

- Two bags of clothes and shoes (mainly L's) were dropped off for donation - another 40 items

- A friend gets first dibs on the makeup from my subscription boxes I don't want, so she ended up with 5 items last time she went through it.

- We tossed a lot of things while packing - I'll estimate 150 things - old paystubs and paperwork no longer needed, broken items which had found a home under the beds/couches, etc. 

- While packing, the cats decided they didn't like the chaos, so they peed in a box - there goes that stuff into the garbage! Sorry old purses and set of curtains... (counted in the 150 above)

- I love consignment! Especially facebook consignment - the company has no overhead cost of renting a store space so they are able to keep the costs of the clothing lower - which means more of my things sell! Plus anyone with a facebook account can buy the items, so mommys can shop while their babies have their nap! I dropped off two large totes at consignment at the end of February filled with ~100 items of clothing. Some of these items will be coming back when I close out with them next week, but they will eventually be donated to Goodwill or taken along to the next clothing swap I attend.

- L and I went through our DVD collections and found all of the ones we had duplicates of. 24 DVD's went to consignment with my clothes in February.

So even though I am starting this challenge four full months late, I already have over 530 items checked off! I really like that you can interpret an "item" however you see fit, and trust me, I'll be counting everything.

Let me know in the comments if you've ever attempted anything like this before, and how you did with it! Or, feel free to join me now, and let me know you're on board! Let's keep each other honest and on track!

xoxo,
Fallon