My pitch list, Part 1

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I'm on a tear to de-junk our house. Part of that motivation has come from my second-favorite book, Throw Out Fifty Things. Excited to get started, I had set aside several hours this afternoon to go through our bedroom, drawer-by-drawer and hanger-by-hanger. (If you want to join in the de-cluttering, download the official worksheets and rules either as a pdf that you can print out or a Word document that you can use to keep track on the computer.)

Before getting started, I had to keep in mind the four "Rules of Disengagement":

#1. If it—the thing, the belief or conviction, the memory, the job, even the person—weighs you down, clogs you up, or just plain makes you feel bad about yourself, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on.

#2. If it (see above!) just sits there, taking up room and contributing nothing positive to your life, throw it out, give it away, sell it, let it go, move on. If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. Throwing out what’s negative helps you rediscover what’s positive.

#3. Don’t make the decision—whether to toss or keep it—a hard one. If you have to weigh the pros and cons for too long or agonize about the right thing to do, throw it out.

#4. Don’t be afraid. This is your life we’re talking about. The only one you’ve got for sure. You don’t have the time, energy or room for physical or psychic waste.

Now, here's the drawback: each item does not count as one "thing" to throw away. Instead, each category counts as one thing (ie: I only get to count socks as one thing even though I purged 8 pairs).

By the end of the afternoon, here was my list: 6 sweatshirts, 9 dress shirts, 4 skirts, 1 pair of pants, 1 suit, 1 pair of overalls (why, oh why, did I still have those?!?), 10 t-shirts, 2 pairs of gym shorts, 8 pairs of socks, 7 pairs of shoes, a pair of pjs and 2 necklaces. Total: 12 things.

(Side note: You should see my closet. It's amaaaazing!)

Chad also went through his stuff. What went into the pile: 3 pairs of jeans, 2 sweatshirts, 2 sweaters, 5 dress shirts, 2 suits, 6 ties, 2 pairs of pants, 9 t-shirts, 3 pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of socks and 6 pairs of boxers.

TOTALS - Bedroom
Ellen: 12
Chad: 11

The extra bonus? I just plugged all the stuff we donated into ItsDeductible, which tracks our charitable contributions, and our "junk" is worth an $1,100 tax write-off! As Chad said, "That's free money." And not too bad for stuff that was literally just taking up space.

Next week: Bathrooms.