Day 3 of Minimalist Living: Donating with Purpose

Day 2 was quite unproductive, but today seems to be more productive in nature. Day 3, I have been setting up places that will take specific items as donations. I do not want to just take a large amount of stuff to a thrift store because you do not know if they will sell them and who they will go to eventually. I figure that a lot of the items that I own could go directly to non-profit organizations for their use. The first place that I contacted was Susquehanna Service Dogs. I will be donating office supplies, newspapers, and old towels to them. I also have old magazines and books to donate to some other locations. I was thinking about different elderly communities and shelters for my magazines, books, and/or board games.

I realize that some of these items might have a little bit of value, but I would rather donate them to a cause I believe in than a thrift store that I do not know where/who the profits benefit. (FYI, I am not a fan of Goodwill, but I strongly suggest the Salvation Army. My sister worked at one of their camps and I can say from experience that I have seen where there money is going.)

That being said, there are a lot of other items that need to be sorted through. I have a lot of unsealed makeup that I want to offer to the women's shelter. I had a bit of a couponing hoarding problem so I am going to donate these products and hopefully someone will benefit from them.

I feel like this type of purging/donating is cleansing in a deeper way than the trendy "just drop it off at a thrift store." I feel like I am serving a purpose and that I am in control of my life. I hope to continue this after "the life purge" through couponing and volunteer work. I know that I can help in some way or another.

After work, I plan to go through my clothing that is clean and put them away while sorting them between donation/trash/keep. Hopefully, I will be able to weed a lot of clothing out of my collection. I would like a very streamline wardrobe.

Minimalism: Day One

A concept that has captured my interest lately has been minimalism. This is an emerging lifestyle that has not gone mainstream, but has slowly gained momentum. There are many forms of minimalist lifestyles from extreme cases to adjusting the lifestyle to fit each person's lifestyle.

There have been a lot of people involved in this movement, but most recently, Joshua Becker, Francine Jay, and Marie Kondo. These people have different views of how to start living the minimalist lifestyle.

In recent months, Marie Kondo's book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing," has gained popularity in the United States. In addition to being on the New York Times Best Sellers list, many bloggers and "vloggers" have been raving about the concept that she discusses in her book. The book has been discussed on talk shows and newspapers. Plus, my best friend loved it so I obviously had to pick up a copy. I just started reading it at the end of my first day of discarding/donating/organizing. So far, I love the concept of the book. It discusses the importance of discarding unneeded items and why it is important to do your purge in a short period of time.

Back to my purging, I took trash bags and went through everything in my apartment. I divided everything by type. At the same time, I have been laundering all my clothing. The first "real purge" I did yesterday was my shoes. I ended up getting rid of at least 80% of my shoes. Next, I am going through my clothing to prep for my friend and I's visit to a store to sell our gently-used clothing. Hopefully, we can sell a few of our clothing pieces. I also have a bin for donations (which I will be using for tax deductible purposes.)

So far, I can feel quite the difference and  I have not made it past my bedroom! I am excited to see what I can do with the rest of my apartment. I am a little worried about my bookshelf though... that is going to be difficult. And I am going to actually use my fabric instead of getting rid of it and donate it somewhere. Hopefully, I will figure everything out, but I can feel the myself changing the way I think even after day one.