I’ve read a few blogs on minimalism that sparked my enthusiasm for getting rid of stuff. One is Miss Minimalist and other is ZenHabits. Both of these blogs are very inspiring and have many practical suggestions for how to declutter and simplify your life. I suggest checking them out!

Donation Box
One of my favorite suggestions was to keep a constant donation box in the house. Put the box in a set place, and keep adding to it. Once it is full, put that sucker in the car, head to your favorite donation location, and kiss some clutter goodbye! I decided to keep my donation boxes (one isn’t enough at this early stage in my decluttering process) in my closet. Here’s a picture:

I also read a blog post that suggested adding one item a day to the box; thus decreasing your clutter by 365 items each year. I think this is a great suggestion; however, I currently have so much stuff that one item a day would like an obese person trying to slim down by eating one celery stick a day. I need to shed some excess weight quickly. Once I’ve reached my decluttering plateau, I will just add items here and there.

My first clutter purge took place in my kitchen, where I eliminated 6 boxes of stuff! This surprised me, because I considered my kitchen one of the least cluttered rooms of my house. But when I started analyzing, for example, how many wooden spoons I needed, I was taken aback. Logically, the maximum number of wooden spoons I could use at one time is two. (And unless I manage to grow that third arm that all triplet moms should be entitled to, I don’t see this changing any time soon.) So why did I have seven? I have no idea. I cut down to four (two sweet and two savory), but I foresee a further cut on my next trip through my cupboards.

From the Closet to the Car
And what does one do with all that stuff once it is neatly boxed up? One thing and one thing only: PUT IT IN THE CAR. If I don’t do that immediately, it just becomes more household clutter. Once the boxes are in my car, there is clear motivation to drop them off at the Goodwill or homeless shelter, because I need my car space! Here’s a pic of one of four carloads I donated over break:

All my donating has had another positive effect – I’m actually keeping my donation receipts. When I used to donate sporadically, I never kept the receipts. Now I’m looking forward to saving some dough on my taxes!