Throw Out 50 Things

I recently read a book called "Throw out 50 things" by Gail Blanke.  I liked this book because she told you how to do the purge.  She purges with you and gives you a list of what she depleted from her collection and leaves a space for you to write in what you got out of your home. 

 I have been trying to do this for some time, ever since we had to clean out 40 years of junk from my mother-in-law's house.  I have failed since I had no guide and no one to be competitive with......it just wasn't working for me.  After reading this book, I had a plan to "make it so" (borrowing a line from a great Starfleet Captain).  I started when we got home from vacation.  I proceeded to tackle the project while putting away the items from the trip.  I have been working for 2 days now and I feel I have accomplished a bunch.

I have gotten rid of (either by donating, trashing, gifting to someone in need or recycling):

1. Broken tape dispenser I was never going to fix
2. Broken hole punch
3. Out of date cd roms
4. Magazines
5. Quilts (tiny quilts we have worn out and I won't ever fix)
6. Bath mats (no longer the colors we use)
7. Gooey hair gel
8. Partially used coloring books
9. Toddler sized hats/gloves
10. Unused scarves
11. Picture frames
12. Too young for our kid's games
13. A swivel chair
14. Yucky make-up
15. Broken shells
16. Seen better days Christmas decor
17. Too small or worn clothes
18. See better days toys
19. Out of date coupons
20. Ink cartridges
21. Wire Hangers (this house follows Joan Crawford wire hanger policy)
22. Gently used craft items
23. Cleaned out drawers in the kitchen (I never had a junk drawer but I had junk in each drawer)
24. Books
25. Ink pens
26. Paper pads
27. Some of the 10 rulers I have collected (I kept 2)
28. Address labels featuring my father-in-law's name (for the shred pile)
29. Cross stitch fabric too small to use (why would I keep that???)
30. Mostly burned candles
31. Cardboard boxes that for some reason I feel I need
32. Old papers no longer needed (meant for the shred bin)
33. Broken suitcase that will NOT be good for anything no matter how much I think it will
34. Craft projects attempted but the product is a failure
35. Resumes from John's college days (why have I kept this?) 
36. Old chipped along the edges plates/bowls

That is where I am as of today.  I hope to achieve this 50 things goal by Spring Break 2014 (first week in April) and have added the goal to not bring back the junk.  I still have lots of stuff to go through from my mothers-in-law home and I hope that will be what puts me over the top. I also have a rainbow vacuum in my attic that it is time to get rid of...I have held onto it thinking I could fix it.  I can't!  Never will I just have to face facts?  My other new goal is if you can't fix it right now, you pay someone to do it or get rid of it, RIGHT NOW!!!  Don't bring your junk in my house.