55 Things You Don't Need After All: A five-day challenge to jump-start spring cleaning

post still current?

I feel very strange - I have nothing to shed on the 1st day. I only have 12 or so outfits, and I worn each one several times in the last 3 months. I only have couple dozens of my favorite books and some reference books which I use all the time. I take things for charity every month, and do not keep cloths I do not wear or books I have read. Neverless my life seems stagnant and full of things. Any advice?

To trxiegirl71: at my experience, the best way to get rid of old underware is to take them with you when you go out of town and use them as disposables. I wrap them as used pads, so they are not obvious to the hotel housekeepers. Double bonus - you do not have to lag your dirty underware back home and expose them to the airport security in case they want to check your bag.

Well I am not a book person but recently cleaned my closet and got rid of about 1/3 to 1/2 of the clothes in there. I am a nurse and found lots of old uniform tops I have not worn in about 6 years and can now wear again since losing about 30-35 lbs!!! Great for me because uniforms are expensive. I did get rid of my larger clothes and hope to keep losing!!!

Thank you for sharing. Great post.

I donate toys to the Bay area Rehab center here near me.

Have a great day. Happy spring cleaning.

I can't get rid of my boots.

I love books too! I have dozens! My DH wishes I would get rid of all of them! He doesn't appreciate great literature! Like ten books on How to Knit! LOL!! I will get rid of 10 clothing items and 9 books or mags! Wish me luck!

Susan- Nice job on your closet! And congrats on the weight loss--glad you were able to restore access to valuable uniforms...and toss the stuff that's now too big--you go girl!

Books aren't a problem holding onto for me, as I don't like to read a book twice, so I quickly pass it on. Magazines, I do have old ones laying around, as I never got around to reading, and I feel I must, so they have piled up. I will get rid of some.

Clothing, I have kept some old outfits that are like brand new, at the time fit great on me, and I just love the style, very unique, and think one day maybe I'll fit into that again, just one size less, but I am happy with my current size so reality, am I really going to ever fit into them again, more a nostalgic thing. I want to see the next person appreciate this outfit(s), hoping or knowing it has a home that appreciates the style. And then there is my business suits/dresses, spent pretty penny on them and they are so classy, again.... who will appreciate, LOL.

I should just let go and donate.......... will attempt.

A month has almost passed, but I am getting started today, Julie!

I have kept the first three years of O Magazine on my bookshelf. I think I wanted to keep such positive life-changing reading material around my office in hopes that I could re-inspire myself at any given moment. Have I in all these years? No. I inspire myself in many different ways and am now recycling them, all except the premiere issue. Such room it will create!

The most difficult article of clothing to pass on are the two pairs of suit pants that I purchased using the help of a Nordstrom's Personal Shopper for the first time almost 12 years ago. I loved that whole helpful shopping experience, loved the pants back then, and just kept them for that reason. They are outdated, still fit, but really just taking up much needed space.

Deep Cleansing Sigh...feels good. Thanks Julie!

Julie, I am taking you up on the challenge a few days late. I have an entire shelf with magazines. I have read them all. I kept them because of recipes and articles in them that I wanted or thought would be helpful. Now I just have a STACK. Cant find the right magizine and find I waste more time looking for the articles or recipes.

At this point, do I toss them, or spend the time going through them pulling out the info I wanted?

Going forward, I will use my scanner, and then donate them (while they are current) to some of the local retirement homes in my area.
Thanks Emma Mae

Being a designer / clothing engineer I have not only a job but an emotional attachment to clothes, books, fabric and trims, patterns, magazines dvd's music art supplies, work equiptment..sewing machines ect. I can go on and on. I have even asked other designers how they stay organized and for us it seems there is organization in clutter.
Stuff that is thrown out becomes back in style again. Old movies , magazines, music, books,old clothes become inspiration for new designs. The only problem is I have so much stuff!! I am going to try this unclutter plan and see if I can streamline myself.

Emma-
the truth is, even if there are good recipes and articles in those magazines (and I'm sure there are)....you ought to just toss all those magazines...because more good recipes and articles are coming in future issues. You want to ask yourslef--what recipe or article is worth 3-4 hours of your time to find? You can be sure, none....the same topics and recipes are recycled and updated every month, with very few modifications...not worth the search.

And going forward, love the scan...then donate plan. Give yourself a deadline...that each publication should be compbed through and scanned before the next issue arrives.

Well a friend gave me a box of condoms.... lolz im a virgin and dont plan on having sex with my boyfriend, untill we get married, if that is what happens.. so I am throwing them out, I just hid them in my room and always forgot that I had them, and yeah lolz.

It is hard for me to get rid of books, but I am going to try to do so. I just, think 'I might read it eventually, it looks very interesting but there are so many other books, but I will read it one day.' Sometimes books mean nothing to me, but i just think i will read it. and other books I might have been given from family or friends, so I feel if I get rid of it, it would be rude.
Most peculiar wardrobe? Uhm, I have this shirt, that is like a chinese style, it looks so cool, and I am in modeling so I have always thought I might use it for a picture for like one of my pictures in a portfolio, but I dont think I will. It just looks so different, and I love things that are different from what others have...And I have this wrap around skirt, I got it from saturday market, but I never wear it either. lol it looks very cute, but I just I dont know, do not wear it.

I have 5 pairs of sparkly purple socks each in various shades of purple that I received from my sister way back when Donny and Marie Osmond had their show on TV(had a crush on Donny). Will I part with them? Nah... they're a relic now!

It took me 5 days to do this assignment. The most difficult part was deciding whether I would start or not. The emotional attachments are strong. But when I thought of how bad I feel when I see the books and clothes I promised myself to read or to use but never got around to doing so. I finally accepted I had to do it. Also, when I am gone, I pity my children who would have piles of my things to clear.

I'm going to need more than an hour to clear through everything! At least I have recycling resources once I do.

My Mom passed away 19 months ago. This last weekend my brother and I started going through her life. It is difficult because I want to save everything, but I have found a solution. I am taking pictures. There will still be a lot of pictures to save, but in a photo album and not larger items taking up space in the closet or around the house.

We did this challenge as well. My husband and I were married recently and have found out a new thing or two about eachother from this challenge alone. As we went through clothes, I was able to get rid of 10 items easily, but my husband only managed 5. I asked him about several items and he said he couldn't part with them because of sentimental reasons. When I questioned the reasons, he said that someone in his family (still alive) gave them to him when they cleaned out their closet. So it turns out that I am not the sentimental one in the marriage as everyone expected.

I am hyperventilating just to think that I have to get rid of books! Yikes ask me for anything else but books....those are my life albums. With each book I know where I have been,where I have read it (I date my books and jot down where I read it)...However, two weeks ago,I got rid of many "diet" magazines, some from 2007! And i just got rid of 20 magazines from 2008! Hooray for me! Now for the clothes....MMM much harder!