40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS - week one progress and link party!

Hey everyone! Today is day 3 out of 40, how are things going for you? So far, I’ve followed my game plan and am still excited! The novelty hasn’t worn off yet. 😉 But I really notice a big difference between this year and last year: I have two walking kids who like to get into stuff instead of one! Eeek!

It’s been a struggle taking the time to clean my daily spot, but still keep on top of the normal chores around here. I usually use nap time to eat lunch, blog, catch up on emails, clean... Oh whatever, I’ll admit it, screw around on facebook and watch Downton Abbey. Oops! Not a good time to discover a new favorite show!

Along with this challenge, I need to take a good hard look at how I budget my time, make things work, and cut out the things that are a big waste of time.

Enough with the blah blah blah, here’s what I’ve done so far this week:

Day 1 was my closet and Day 2 was my dresser. I’ll be honest, my closet has been something I’ve already been working on. I cleaned my closet out once about a month ago and got 2 bags for Goodwill then.

Last Saturday, my sister-in-law, Elisa, had a clothing exchange party so I cleaned out my closet, emptied a bin, got rid of some shoes, and took some stuff from my drawers. Here’s the stuff from just my closet:

After this point, I said to myself (yes, I talk to myself) YOU KNOW WHAT?! I have so much stuff, garage sale season is coming up, I need to edit more. I went through my closet again – third time! I didn’t get much, but there were two shirts and a pair of maternity pants that had hidden the last time.

Before you look at these, freak out, and think that I got rid of everything, just know that I’ve gotten behind on laundry and have about 4 loads to fold, and 3 loads to wash. Yes, I stink. That being said, here it is!

Look at all those empty hangers – that was all stuff I had gotten rid of on Saturday!

 

The top bin was bigger clothes that I was saving just in case and the bottom was summer clothes. I don’t want to be the size I was, so why am I hanging onto jeans that are three sizes too big? I completely cleared out that bin and cleaned out half of the summer bin.

These bins are now BOTH all summer clothes, I added some of my NEW finds from the clothing exchange.

Now that I don’t have as much stuff in my closet, I had room to add this shelf that was in the basement. I have my jeans and pants on the top shelf, some shoes in the pink bins (the rest are in storage under my bed), boots and sweater boots on the next shelf, and some exercise stuff in an old crate on the bottom.

I have nails in the back of the closet where I hang purses I’m not using, and some hooks near the front on either side of the door. The left side holds my scarves, the right side holds my slings and baby carriers.

 

Now that the closet was done, it was time for my dresser. Deep breath. Does anyone else have random crap in their dresser? I didn’t realize how bad I was at this, but it seemed like all the things I try to hide from the kids, I would put in here. Don’t judge! 😉 Here’s what it looks like now, again, remember that I have a TON of laundry. Doug was all nervous that I got rid of everything when I showed him these in person, haha!

This drawer was filled with crap! I found a pair of shoes, an alarm clock, some ribbon, and a hair brush... why? I don’t know what I’m going to put in here, maybe keep it empty?

My tank tops, now all nicely sorted! I got rid of a few raggedy ones and ones I never wore.

This was my shorts, leggings, and comfy pants drawer. I got rid of a few pairs that were too big and put all the shorts in my summer bin. (Plenty of room now for the clean stuff.)

I sorted through Adam’s clothes and put the too small ones in a bin. He DOES have clothes, more than enough actually, I promise! They are clean and waiting to be put in here.

So for Day 1 & 2 I have 1 bag to Goodwill, a half bag of garbage, and 3 bags that I’ve already cleared out. Do those count? I say yes. 4 ½ bags – gone! YAY – that’s motivation right there!

My project for today is sorting through Adam’s drawer of clothes. Ben was born in June so a lot of the clothes I have in his size are summery. I need to put those back in the bin since we won’t be using ‘em.

This week, I’d like you to link up any posts you have on 40 BAGS IN 40 DAYS from this year! If you are participating, please like us on facebook and share your progress. I love having accountability and the community on our page is awesome. I’ve made a lot of friends and I love it!

Feel free to post on our wall with your progress, insight, or any photos that you have of your projects! If you want to post them to YOUR page or profile, please tag us in your pics! 🙂

I’d love it if you linked back so I could feature you, either with a simple text link, or this fancy button:

<a href=http://whitehouseblackshutters.com target="_blank" title="join me for 40 bags in 40 days!"><img src="https://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/smaller.png"border="0" /></a>

 

and if you don’t have the printable game plan and want to participate, it’s not too late!