Third Day of 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp

Between The Windjammer Festival and health I haven't had much opportunity for decluttering

Day 2 - Music [not complete]
I went through the CD that were not burned versions today. I popped them one by one in my laptop, listened to clips of each song and ripped the ones I wanted to my computer. While I was waiting for them to rip I went through the "Comic-Zits" folder in my email to get rid of some digital clutter. Stats: Went through 23 CDs today, 6 went back to mom and dad, got rid of 11, keeping 6 for the moment.

Second Day of 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp

Well my health hasn't been 100% lately and migraines have been kicking my butt, so a few days went by.

Day 11 - Books [not complete]
Got rid of 7 books today (5 Craft books, 2 others). I decided that some of my craft books I will likely never use. I had John Grisham's book "The Street Lawyer" for many years. I read half of it when I was much younger, but never finished. Now that I am older I would need to start from the beginning. Well, I have a kindle fire now, so if I was going to read this again I would probably get it in an ebook format anyways, so away it goes.

Day 13 - Movies [done]
I went through my dvd collection today. I had 60 DVDs (not including TV series). I got rid of 8 and I am now left with 52. My Disk Gear dvd box holds 100, so I am doing pretty good. I mean they take up the same amount of room whether I have 100 or 2, so getting rid of those 8 were just to make things simpler since I don't watch them much.

Day 20 - Collections [not complete]

• Beanie Babies [done] - Went through the rest of my beanie babies. Updated Stats: I had 65 beanie babies, I got rid of 51, I am keeping 14 at the moment (12 Reg, 1 Jingle, 1 Buddy).
• Disney Items [not complete] - Got rid of a 2000 WDW Snowglobe.
• Misc. - Got rid of 2 beanie baby like toys

First Day of 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp

6/21/12 Marked my first day of the bootcamp. I worked on my rooms for 13 hours with a break for dinner. I just couldn't stop! Because of this I worked on multiple days of the bootcamp all in that day. I didn't complete all of them 100% but I made a dent.

Day 1 - Masterplan [done]

• Why do you want to declutter? Noted throughout my blog
• Are you tripping over stuff? Yes
• Are you disorganized and losing things all the time? Yes. For instance, I have no idea what happened to my charging tip to the charger that I use for my cellphone and kindle. I took it off and put a tip on to charge me gps one day and now I lost the other one. Also I can not find my 504 documents. I need them at the moment and they are not in my fireproof box where I thought they were. Probably not a huge problem in the end because I am sure the state has a copy. My new camera charger has been missing since I got it (though I am convinced my mom has it since she has the same camera). My hamster is missing. Okay, Samantha isn't actually missing, but she has escaped from her cage before when I accidentally left the door open.
• Always late because you can’t find your car keys? Actually not really. Sometimes I "lose" them but they are really in my bag where I left them and somehow I didn't see them.
• Tired of so much “visual chaos”? Yes. I hate it if I drop something tiny like an earring backing or something. It's like trying to find an unfertilized egg in Michelle Dugger. Kidding aside, I actually like the Duggers.
• Getting ready for a move? No, but I would like to prepare for a "someday" move
• Feeling stuck and needing a change? Yes
• Feeling like your “things” are weighing you down? Yes...Anyone starting to feel this is like the depression med commercials?
• Because your spouse is always griping at you about the mess? Not married.
• What are your biggest reasons for wanting to declutter? Noted in my blog
• Problem Areas: Bedroom (Floor), Add. Bedroom (Bed), Craftroom (Floor)
• Problem Items: Toiletries, Clothes, Hobbies, Collectibles, Tiny odds and ends with no place, items I know I do not need/want but still hold on.
• Visioning: Already made it possible, just need clutter gone
• How much time do you have each day? 1 hour minimum.
• How much stuff do you want to reduce? 75%+
• How long do you want your decluttering process to take? 2 months or less. Unrealistic? Maybe, but I need to set a goal.
• What do you want to tackle first? Next? Next? Last? Clothing, Photos, Music, Collections, Toiletries, Books Last: Hobbies

Day 2 - Music [not completed]

Put into 3 piles 1.) Dad's CDs that I need to give back 2.) My CDs 3.) Random CDs I burned (Need to go through and rip some to my laptop

Day 4 - Personal Care [done]

I reduced by quite a bit! I don't know why it was way easier this time. I hand a big box and then some full of random toiletries and such, but had a hard time reducing it. Like, why in the world would I keep my old retainer? I only wore it like 3 short times. I got it my freshman year of high school...I'm 23 now...9 years ago. Does not fit obviously and I never really wore it in the first place. Maybe the guilt of not wearing it while I should of after my parents paid thousands on these pearls? Yeah, that could be it. Well I let go. I have come to realize that even though my teeth did shift, I still get compliments on how nice they are, so I think the only person who sees the imperfections is me.

Day 7 - Clothing [not complete]

Put into bags 1. Donate 2. Sell Online 3. Consignment 4. Keep 5. Need to try on.

Day 11 - Books[not completed]

Got rid of 3 Children's swahili books and Bent Objects book. Have not tackled craft books. I recently got rid of 5 books that I always thought would be in my permanant collection and sent them off in caches with tracking numbers to see where they have been. I realized that I only read e-books now and having the physical books just add to my clutter. I find more joy in seeing someone else enjoy my favorites. (In case you are interested, it was The Giver trilogy, 1984, and Brave New World)

Day 13 Movies and Games[done]

Tackled today: VHS, PS2 games, a GameCube game, Computer Games, a board game - got rid of quite a bit of VHSs, DVDs do not need to be tackled since I already did that. I got rid of a few games that are not compatible with my operating system. I guess I was hoping that they would just suddenly work? I don't know...Maybe someday they will create a compatible Zoombinis: Logical Journey *sigh*

Day 20 - Collections [not completed]

I tackled Beanie Babies today. I can't tell you how many times I have tried going through these and backed out of my decisions. Once we had a yard sale and the first sign that someone was interested I immediately said that they were not for sale (I wasn't being mean, it was someone I knew. I explained my attachment). I have this issue with stuffed animals in general. I have this wierd thing where I have a gut feeling that they have souls and I feel like I am abandoning them...I have a problem. Kept 11regular + 1 mini + 1 large (need to find the other bag of beanie babies and continue). I will probably reduce this more, but for the moment it is a miracle I even got down to this number.

Day 21 -Photos [not complete]

Reduced some physical photos, though this was mostly done since I did this recently. When you live on the coast and vacation along the coast, do you know how identical the ocean can look pretty much no matter where you are? I have hundreds of pictures of the ocean and I can't even tell you where most of them were taken. Or how about basically the same picture taken at a slightly different angle? Do I really need to go through 30 pictures that look almost identical? Mental clutter, physical clutter.  I also got rid of thousands of digital photos also. That was nice. I then, for the first time organized them by year starting with the year 2000 (when we got our first digital camera). I also added some scans from when I was younger to a folder. This was quite a task but so worth it. Especially since my dog, Lexis, is now gone I can look back on photos and tell how old she was in them. Also, since I got to Florida every year, my photos no longer blend together as "one year".

Day 23 Electronics [not completed]

Got rid of GameCube, GameBoy Advance, Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, Creative Labs Zen Micro, Sony Portable CD Player. I love playing Animal Crossing, but now that I have Animal Crossing: City Folk and a Wii, I just don't seem to play it. I already sold Sonic Heros and Super Mario Sunshine, so there is no reason to keep a console around for one game. I only bought the GameBoy Advance because I hook it up to the Game Cube for "extra gaming features" in Animal Crossing. I have a Gameboy Color that I am still happy with. Bought the keyboard and mouse and never use them. I have 2 iPods, so no need to keep the Zen Micro. And who walks around with a portable CD player anymore? Not I.

Day 26 - Jewelry [not completed]

Got rid of some, put the rest into individual baggies to organize and keep untangled/pairs together. I really need to purge more. At least they are less overwhelming now in baggies. Another day.

And that is it for 6/21/12!

30 Day Clutter Bootcamp

I have started the 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp.

I highly recommend this e-book for anyone who wants to minimalize their belongings. Don't worry, you don't need an e-reader to get this book. It is in PDF format, so you can view it on your computer if you like. This bootcamp focuses on one category of clutter per day. It gives you step by step instructions and emotional support helping you to really get rid of items. It also reasons with you making you realize that certain items you are holding onto are actually bringing you down without you realizing it.

I have read many ebooks and blogs on decluttering, organizing, and minimalism. None have really got me down to productive action like this book has. I know concepts, skills, and such, but this book really took my knowledge and turned it into action. What I like about it is it literally tells you "Okay, now today you are going to work on clothing" "Step 1....Step2....Step3...". I like being told, "do this, then do this, then this" instead of vagueness such as "look around and get rid of everything that you see that you haven't used in a year".

As you know I am on a mission to change my label from hoarder to minimalist. It has been overwhelming,exhausting, mentally exhausting, and many other things that I can't form into words. I have gone through quite a bit of items, though you could never tell, but once I bought this book I could actually see results on the first day. I didn't jump around the room decluttering a little from every category. I actually tackled real items looking at my belongings in that category as a whole.

I am going to blog about this experience because I want to hold myself accountable. I want to hold myself to this program and see results. I don't want my clutter to define me. I don't want it holding me down. I don't want to spend all my free time on decluttering a little bit at a time. I want to get this over with and have a more simplified life where I can focus my interests and not the stresses in my life.

Hold. Me. Accountable. Please.

From Stacks to Slim

Guess what I pre-ordered the other day...

Photo borrowed from Amazon.com

Yup, the new Kindle Fire! Now you may think "isn't this the opposite of minimalism?". Well, for me it fits right into what I want for my minimalism life, so if it fits my standards then it is okay. My reasoning is that this new Kindle will keep those stacks of books off my shelves. No books, no books to dust around, lug around, look at taunting me to read... I originally wanted just the Kindle 3. I was, and still would be, very happy with that one. I waited very long to get this (at least 1.5 years) and had been holding out for something in color. Reason being is because my reading goes beyond novels but to childrens books as well. The bonus is I will be able to see mags and pdf's in color as well. And while even though the Kindle Fire is out I still lust for the basic Kindle 3. But in the end I can't get the body of the Kindle 3 with color so I have to outweigh my priorities.

Either way, I am getting a Kindle Fire! Woo!

Changing Habits

I realized it is not just a state of mind I need to reach minimalism, but also a change of habit. I can read blog after blog, website after website, and get the state of mind down to a science, but I really need to change the habits along with my mind to be successful at this. So here is my list so far of what I need to change.

* Stop regularly shopping at Goodwill - This is a bad habit of mine. It may seem like I am frugal when I shop there, but really I am buying a bunch of things I don't need that clutters up my space. I get, when it comes down to it, the most useless stuff. For instance, I realized while getting rid of stuff that I am getting rid of a lot of other peoples souvenirs. I am in love with FL and I tend to collect anything from WDW including even those souvenir popcorn containers or mugs or porcelain figurines or...you get the idea. I also have a habit of grabbing items that could be upcycled or even just look too good to be sitting at Goodwill.

* Stop holding onto the "just in case" items

* Stop holding onto items just because people gave them to me or made them for me

* Stop holding onto items I intend to use but never do

* Stop holding onto clothes I don't wear just because I might "need" them someday

* Stop shopping just because I have money in the bank

Items Sold to Help Reach Minimalism

Sold as of 8 July 2012

1) The Sims 2 for PC - $9.78

2) Spongebob Squarepants: Legend of the Lost Spatula for Game Boy Color - $3.48

3) Sim Theme Park for PC - $4.14

4) Urban Outfitter Rug - $25.29

5) Doug's Big Game for Gameboy Color - $3.48

6) Assorted VHSs(18) and DVDs(5) - $3.16

7) Super Mario Sunshine for GameCube - $16

8) PSone w/ Screen Combo + 3 Bonus Games - $50

9) 4 Fitted iPod Shuffle Gen2 Cases + Wriststrap/Armstrap - $6

10) Assorted VHSs and DVDs (Round 2) - $3.94

Total Profits: $125.27