The Big Declutter Challenge

I look at my house and know I NEED to declutter for my own sanity.  With 4 boys, we have a lot of stuff and not a lot of room to put it.  I plan to declutter so many times.  I sit down and make a list of all I want to accomplish.  The list is long.  I end up discouraged not knowing where to even begin.  So, I normally never even get started.

I have started reading Crystal's book, The Money Saving Mom's budget and am becoming encouraged.  She devotes a whole chapter to the need of decluttering for financial success.  At the end of Chapter 2 she instructs not to read any further until you declutter.  So, I am going to experiment with a different approach to decluttering.  We see how it goes. 

The first thing I want you to do, if you decide to join me on this decluttering journey is to get a piece of paper.  I want you to make a list of all the rooms in your home you wish/need to declutter.  Leave 5 spaces on your paper between each room.  Now walk through each room with your paper and jot down 5 areas in that room you need to work on.  Just 5- we are trying not to overwhelm ourselves, so we are going to start with just 5 areas per room. 

Crystal encourages her readers to start a timer for 30 minutes and start picking up and decluttering.  Unfortunately, I don't have a straight 30 minutes to devote to just decluttering.  So, I am going to attempt either (2) 15 minute decluttering sessions or (3) 10 minutes decluttering sessions.  It depends on how my day flows.  Do whatever works for you.  If working with a timer makes you nervous, then just pick up and declutter when you get a chance.  Just make sure you set aside a little time each day to get your 1 area done for that day.  Don't worry about real deep cleaning in your designated areas, we will do that later.  Right now, we are focusing on picking up and decluttering our homes.

Try to get rid of (throw away, give away, donate, sell) 5-10 items per day:)

Each day, I be sharing with you about the 1 area I chose and how it went for me.  I hope you join me in my decluttering journey and share your experiences and joys:)

Ready??