Living With Less Update
Boop. As promised, I’m back a month* later with an update on my effort to live with less and my month of intentionally getting rid of material things. For thirty days I posted photos of items I either gave away, donated to charities, stored in the basement to see if I miss them, or tossed in the trash.
Confession time: I barely made a dent in my belongings and have not missed one single solitary item thus far.
Here are the posts from those 30 days. Enjoy!
Black & red pairs of American Eagle flats that served me well for YEARS and are pretty raggedy • Beige & white pairs of Champion shoes that I never wear • Beige Dexflex open toe wedges that I actually hate • White & black pairs of Crocs & Nocs (knock off Crocs) that I love but can’t walk in because no arch support.
3 scarves I never wear or think are ugly • 2 pairs of hubby’s shoes because he saw me & got inspired to lighten up • 2 house sweaters that have served me well but their time has come • my old Birkenstock house shoes that are literally crumbling & hubby replaced with a pair of blue Papillios that I L💙VE.
A bunch of hair items including clips I never wear, elastic bands that are sticky, crumbling or colors I’d never wear, 2 rolls of black ribbon?? and banana clips though? 😕😂
8 skirts & 1 top. Some well worn, others mildly worn, one brand new Kenneth Cole denim mini. Their time as part of my wardrobe has ended. Thanks for the memories.
7 dresses. One that has served me well but doesn’t get worn anymore, three I liked when I bought them but now meh, two hand me downs that are either meh or too difficult to wear & one I absolutely LOVE but doesn’t fit (barely fit when I bought it pre-kid and now will not fit no matter what magic or weight loss I employ).
8 tops, some I’ve worn to pieces, others just a few times. Don’t find myself reaching for them much & need to lighten my load.
Same top, 3 different colors. Wore them to death & loved every minute of it. Their time has come.
2 frumpy tops & 2 frumpy shrugs because frump. • 1 practically brand new dress from Old Navy because I thought I would love it but I don’t. • 2 shirts remnants from corporate life that depress me because … corporate life.
Talbots suit I never wear & brand new dress purchased from Long Tall Sally tag still attached.
3 winter dresses & 2 wrap dress that used to be core but no more.
5 dresses. One brand new with tag but fit issues, 2 maxis I never touch & 2 that have served me well for years but have run their course.
Surprisingly items under my bathroom sink are predominantly keepable but getting rid of these 3 gladware containers, a pack of applicators, broken pedicure file, sample of gel-les’c by Curls & 7 deodorants so far from natural ingredients that they have to go.
3 dresses that almost made the cut but, after trying each on, one is great for Easter & Easter only, the other was a fav but now accentuates my flab & the last fits like perfection on the bottom, not so much on the top.
Few hangers I don’t use & Lady Comp that is no longer necessary.
Thread earrings because … thread earrings 😕, I used to KILL beaded bracelets but now not so much, 2 pairs of earrings I no longer care for & a watch that broke shortly after I bought it yet I’ve kept it for EIGHT years. 😮😐
6 necklaces I never wear and some ear cuff thingamabobs I never could get to work. 😕
4 more necklaces I never wear.
5 more necklaces I never wear.
2 pairs of earrings (1 which I love but is turning), 4 rings I never wear & three sarong/scarf securer thingamabobits that I never used (and honestly never liked but were a gift 😕).
3 pairs of my favorite shoes by the brand Sofft that I haven’t worn in 5+ years. Because of knee/ankle general leg issues I can no longer comfortably walk in either pair but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them. Now I can. Goodbye my friends, you served me well. 😟
Do you keep your shoe boxes? I do because they are a neater way to stack & store shoes. Well I either got rid of these ahoes or no longer own them but the boxes are just sitting there. 😕 Not anymore.
9 pairs of earrings (7 vintage) and a pendant I never wear.
All manner of ramdom bags & containers I never use. A few applicators & some nail glue?? 😕
Two headbands never or rarely worn. Just not a headband girl lately. 😕 … and several items for never-done craft projects, both of which I still had receipts for so I returned them to the store. 💵
I bought these cups. I hate these cups. You ever buy something cause it’s cheap even though it’s not at all what you want, then you live for years with it as a reminder of how you devalued your actual wants? Well these cups aren’t that at all 😂. Ok but seriously, I bought them in a rush, didn’t like them but used them for years. Probably drank more BPA than liquid 😦 & haven’t used them for years but they’re still sitting in my cabinet. Not anymore. Oh & the mini spoon is leftover from a soy candle, that’s gone bye bye too.
🍳🍳🍳 Three skillets that are no longer non-stick (hubby is hard on pans) & we rarely use.
💄💋💅Mucho makeup. A palette with zero color payoff, random applicators galore, glosses, lip colors, mascara, and more.
Random pantry things & supplements I’ll never take. Trust, I can go through that pantry and get rid of more but later lol.
Sooooo hubby has a ✌”medication purchasing problem”✌ 😂😂 no seriously 😕. I cleared out the medication shelf, mostly stuff we don’t use & expired. Good riddance.
Went in the basement & shredded several bags full of documents. They were either suuuper old or I scanned them. Re-purposed the file box to store Flickerbug’s ever-growing medical documents.
• • • • •
I loved doing this, I felt lighter every day, so much so that I plan to continue getting rid of items indefinitely. You can keep up with my progress on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ (basically everywhere) under the hashtag #glamazinilivingwithless.
Could you live with less? Have you ever intentionally lightened your load? Let me know in the comments below.
* It has been more than a month but I have had 2 trips back-to-back and just got this post published. Y’all understand right? 🙂
4 Comments
Sarah Brewer
I love this! The feeling I get when throwing away junk and living a less cluttered life is amazing. We all have so much stuff we never use.
The people I bought my house from had the garage packed floor to ceiling with junk. No way, I’ve gotta park my car in there!
Storing items in the basement… hopefully just a temporary stop on the way to charity, Craiglist, yard sale or trash?
Good luck on hubby’s “medication purchasing problem,” lol.
glamazini
Hi Sarah! We need to do lunch. In other news, I think he’s a legal druggie, I’m just saying :/ LOL! Yeah, I’m looking at things with different eyes and really paring down my possessions and it’s the best feeling ever.
BigTickles
Girl, I am using this WHOLE summer to get rid of “stuff”. I am so sick of toys being all over the floor and multiple colors of the same item. I also need to give my shredder a work out. Why oh why did I pick the hottest months for this? Most of my clutter is in the garage…sigh…
glamazini
Our garage is surprisingly clean. I haven’t even gotten to toys yet but I will. I just love doing this. Love.