Skip to main content

How did my challenge go?

During October I set myself a challenge. To make some progress in decluttering / minimising some possessions.

I made a list of 31 items / categories that most households could probably reduce. Then each day I tried to address the category of that day.

That meant either listing something for sale, recycling it or safely disposing of it (eg. old batteries).

So did I do something every day?

No, not quite. Maybe most days. But that wasn't the point of the challenge. It was about reducing the overwhelm and making progress. So how much progress did I make?

Found a buyer for this unused cookbook :)

I reckon we put 47 items online through the challenge. Our current list is bigger by 20 (compared to pre-challenge) and another 27 have sold. (12 of those came from two people who bought six things each)

We had way too many tools

In addition I've taken a bunch of photos of items I'm still to list.

Record achievement?

I don't keep month-by-month records but that's definitely the most active month in a long time.

I definitely achieved my aim of overcoming overwhelm and getting on with the task.

You can do it any month

While I designed this challenge for me to do in October (partially to get some items listed before Christmas) you can do it at any time. Here's the list of 31 areas.

Get my free book

I've got a little ebook of my tips from selling items. You can get it for free.

One of my favourite tips helps people find more items they like - hence people buying six items. (Yeah!)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Big motivator for small living

It's been a while between posts here - mainly because we've been moving house. It's been a real motivator for downsizing. Packing each and every item we owned, really makes me wish there were fewer of them. Moving everything from the old apartment to the new one made me envious of those people who live in a "tiny house on wheels". For them moving house simply means towing it to a new location. No packing required. The whole process has reaffirmed our commitment to owning less stuff. So we're going to be intentional about downsizing. It will be an ongoing activity. My environmental heart couldn't stomach a spontaneous dumping of things into the garbage, but it's also more fun this way. Selling things online brings in some handy pocket money. Giving items away is also a great community activity, whether it is to friends and family, to charity or to people in the neighbourhood. I'm looking forward to it as a lifestyle rather than a task to do....

Top 5 articles of 2019

As we wrap up 2019, here are the most-read posts here on But Wait There's Less . 5. Books. Do we need them anymore? Why do we keep books? To read them again? How many do we ever read a second time? I worked it out .For me not many. This lead to a second post on my technique for streamlining my book collection . 4. Living in a converted barn. This was something my wife and I tried on a trip away this year. Check out the pictures . I still reckon it could be possible long-term. We really don't need as much space as we have. 3. What's your retirement age? It's not 67. At least it doesn't have to be. If we spend less, compulsory work can become optional at a very early age . It could even be in your 30s. 2. The automatic guest room On the same trip as number 4, we stayed with a friend who (with some clever furniture ) converts her living room into another bedroom. It's a clever way to be able to have guests, but without paying a heap of money for a bigge...

Colour me happy

One of the great things about reducing possessions is thing called 'helper's high' . It's that fuzzy feeling you get from helping someone else out. I got one recently by helping an old man lift heavy groceries into his car boot when he was struggling. But this is not about that. I was about to put some watercolour paints online for anyone who wanted them. Then I remembered a local community group where people do art therapy. I gave the paints to a contact who passed them on to the group. The next day my contact called me to say how much they were appreciated. One of the participants wanted to do some watercolour painting, but couldn't afford the paints. When my contact walked in with free paints the participant was overjoyed to be able to do her art. As far as 'helper's highs' go, this was a slightly removed one - I never met the actual person I helped. But still it was a buzz.