Feb
14
2010
14
2010
Simplify Saturday
Filed under: Contentment, Possessions, Simplifying
If you’ve ever taken steps to simplify your life or home, then you know that it’s not just a one time deal. It’s an on-going journey…one that takes diligence and commitment to maintain. There are lots of little tricks that you can implement to make it easier for you. In our family, one of the things we try to do weekly is a purge of our “extra stuff”. I’ve nicknamed it “Simplify Saturday”. You could pick your own catchy name. Like “Thrifty Thursday” or “I Want Less Wednesday”. 
Every Saturday, we get out grocery bags and we walk around the RV and grab stuff that we are not actively using or something that we know someone else will use more than us. Most of it comes from our closets. It’s amazing how few clothes a person actually wears on a daily basis from their wardrobe. You have to be brutally honest with yourself and only keep the clothes that fit these criteria:
- I wear this on a weekly or monthly basis.
- This makes me feel beautiful.
- I have to wear this for work.
Yep. That’s it. Get rid of the rest. If you don’t LOVE it, it’s gone. If it doesn’t fit you very well, it’s gone. You will feel free…like a bird. If it helps you, you can say Bella’s mantra out loud as you go: “I can give more stuff away if I just try harder”. In fact, just today she told me that she really doesn’t like hanging clothes up and she wanted to give most of her clothes away so she just had a few things to put away. I was all for that. So she went through and gave away another bag full…on top of the bag she already did yesterday! I love this girl. She’s hard core.
To make it even easier, I’ve now implemented a giveaway drawer. Everything we come across during the week that we want to giveaway goes in that drawer. Out of sight, out of mind. Even items that we think we MIGHT want to get rid of go in this drawer. On Saturday, we go through it one more time and the drawer gets emptied into a bag with the rest of the stuff. Many people have another version of this…and it’s just a box by the back door. That way, you see it when you’re walking out and you remember to take it to Goodwill or your thrift store of choice.
Keeping clutter at a minimum is the key to a less chaotic home. Clutter saps your energy! It makes you feel overwhelmed. When your home is uncluttered, so is your mind. Live clutter free and be happy.
Happy simplifying!
Posted by Sara @ 11:14 pm | Leave a Comment
15
2010
I love the idea of a giveaway drawer! Thanks for posting this…my husband and I are currently de-cluttering our house and going through our belongings to see what we use, what we don’t, etc. It’s amazing the amount of stuff we don’t use that other people may need/want.
15
2010
We need to do this. I’ve just been going through our house doing mass purges but like you said it still piles up and so quickly! It’s very hard because my DH wants to hold onto everything, or hmmms and haws over things to get rid of; where I just know I want it gone and get rid of it. I really think the once again purge he could handle though! Thanks for the great idea!
15
2010
the once a week*
15
2010
Thanks Sara! We have TOO MUCH stuff…..I need to do this EVERYDAY – for a while!
Blessings,
Sandy
15
2010
i completely agree! we do this too. i can’t tell you how many things i’ve let go recently. and it feels GOOD!
15
2010
I have been feeling SO overwhelmed with stuff lately! This is a great reminder of the action I need to take.
Have you ever though about writing a book? I would love all this info in one bound copy!
15
2010
I am always giving away things too! My mom thinks I have a little obsession. I think it’s a good thing.
15
2010
I completely agree! Love love love the idea! I leave at a small department so I do this once a year. However, I will be implementing it once a month now. So necessary and healthy! Thanks Sara. Great idea!
15
2010
My question is always,”where the heck did all this stuff come from?” I have not figured that out yet, but love to get rid of it. Here in Costa Rica you can put all your “stuff” on top of your trash on trash day and it disappears! Magical, the folks come ahead of the trash man and take anything that looks remotely valuable. It is great to see it going directly to someone in need.
15
2010
I do this every season. For the kids when their clothes start getting too small they go in the bottom drawer of their dresser and then at the end of the season everything gets packed up and taken to their appropriate places. We usually take the kids clothes to a thrift store and sell them and use the money to buy clothes for the next season. Whatever they don’t buy and our clothes (mom & dad) go to our goodwill.
15
2010
Decluttering is such a welcome task for me. I *love* doing it on a regular basis and somehow that just energizes me.
Bella is a pro already. What a girl!
15
2010
I adore this post! The fact that your little Bella is really soaking it up warms my heart! My children are the same way. On our days of simplifying I just give them each a box and explain to them that we are going to help some other families with the stuff we no longer use. They get all giddy knowing it will be going to help others and it makes it so much easier to clean. You are so right…clutter free really does make you feel *free as a bird*! love, Love, LOVE it! Have a beautiful day! Oh, and Sara…we just can’t wait to see your new travel blog…it makes us adults all giddy inside!
15
2010
We get very excited when we hear people simplifing their lives! Good for you for teaching your children that less is more!
15
2010
Thank you so much for this post! I am STILL unpacking almost 3 weeks after moving and am finding that I really haven’t touched all those things that are still packed up,so do I really need them?
15
2010
what a wonderful reminder! i have been thinking about doing this for ages, you’ve inspired me to hurry up and start!
xx
15
2010
That’s an excellent idea! I am moving and intend on giving away/selling EVERYTHING that I don’t use on a monthly basis. I did a mini-simplify before I left for my roadtrip and it feels SO good! It’s rubbing off on my boyfriend too- I inspired him to get rid of BOXES of old junk he had been keeping in his closet, untouched, for YEARS! Ideally I would like everything to fit in my car, maybe just in the trunk
15
2010
I LOVE decluttering. When things start to pile up, I feel too twitchy and overwhelemed. And I’m definitely influencing the little owls. K will give away toys/clothes when it gets too hard to keep up with them… she’d rather have LESS stuff than more stuff to put away. She says she needs fewer toys so she can really LOVE the ones she has… she’s wise for 5.
15
2010
Amen my sister! You have such wonderful ideas! Thanks for the encouragement! I have a word art on our wall that says Live Simply…it’s a sweet reminder to me. You’ve been such an inspiration and a God-send to me in my journey of de-cluttering, simplifying and living naturally. I’m still on the journey but loving it and learning lots!
Also, I’ve been meaning to tell you that we LOVE green smoothies and cloth diapering!
I love the monthly photo idea, too. Going to try to implement that.
Your family is beautiful! Would love for our paths to cross again.
Have a sweet day!
Your sister in Christ,
Heather Hanneman
15
2010
With us it’s usually Donation December, simply because we have less time to sort and more space to fill. But making a monthly purge is a great idea. Perhaps someday we will get to weekly purge status!
15
2010
I love your blog. It is such inspiration for me to get to it and start de-cluttering. I have two bags for Goodwill that have been in my apartment for about 6 months. I will start there and just keep adding. I hope this spring will be the spring that I will stick to it and just buy used clothes.
Thanks for the constant inspiration!
15
2010
First, lovely picture..so cute and warming to the soul.
I admit that decluttering and purging are listed as my hobbies in life. I like a simple surrounding with only the things I love and use. I have a bin on a shelf in the garage that I fill as I go and when it reaches overload, off it goes. Out of sight, out of mind. I recently tore my ACL in my knee, so the house is in desperate need of a purge. I can’t wait until after my surgery to start fresh. Thanks for the inspiration.
I do major declutterings in late Summer/early Fall and again, right before Spring. These are always wonderful transition times for me.
15
2010
This is a wonderful post with great ideas. Very inspiring. I’ve always been a fan of getting rid of clutter and excess so the idea of having a specific day to get rid of it is very exciting for me.
15
2010
How serendipitous! I have been trying to declutter recently and also found a feng shui book that really goes into clearing clutter. We don’t have a permanent home, and probably won’t for awhile, so each time we move we go through a huge purge. How nice it would be to actually not have to do that the next time we move…
15
2010
Clothing was a tough one for me. It took four rounds over the course of 9 months to finally get down to the small amount I have now. And I *know* I’ll still have more to toss once we’re on the road!
15
2010
I love this idea! I’ve been trying to come up with a way to simplify and declutter, and this makes so much sense. Thanks for passing it along!
15
2010
The most liberating time in my life was during my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, when I carried everything I needed for sustenance and comfort on my back. Even with only a backpack, we still routinely shed what was not loved, absolutely necessary, or in good working order.
I recently had my first baby, and our family and friends lovingly showered us with gifts. Suddenly my house is full! How do you handle getting rid of things people generously gave you?
And what a blessing it is to have enough excess possessions that you can give away something every week. We’ve been working on a project with a sister church in Uganda, and many of the people we met there had only one outfit, only one pot, etc. I am often reminded of the disparity of the world when I take the time to “declutter” my abundant life…knowing full well that my thrift store donations will go to somebody who wants it, but they will not likely make it to someone who really, truly needs it.
15
2010
Hm, I think I’d add “speciality clothes that I need to keep for particular reasons” to the list. My funeral dress I don’t wear monthly (at least not lately), but yet if I get rid of it, then I’ll have to buy another one when someone else dies. My business suit I don’t wear often, but do have occasional (annual?) functions that require a suit. It would be silly to buy a new suit every year.
15
2010
humm…I love the drawer idea! I always seem to pile things in one corner in the dining room and it bothers me like crazy sitting there until we get around to taking it.
15
2010
We usually do this seasonally & truthfully, we could probably stand to do it weekly, or at least monthly. I always feel so much better after clearing out. Thanks for the reminder.
15
2010
I cannot agree with this post more! Thank you for sharing. I started decluttering sometime last year and I can’t believe the weight that leaves my shoulders each time I do it!
We have a box in the hallway for all of our donations. The only difference is we keep a spiral next to it so we can write the items down with their condition so everything is in order come tax time. Once I donate the box I attach the donation receipt with my list and into the file bin it goes!
15
2010
I’m looking for 9-12 months baby girl clothes. Your not by any chance decluttering any of that are you?
15
2010
An odd question perhaps, but : where are you getting all the stuff that goes into the Saturday bags? I’ve been putting my Trader Joe’s groceries into their wine boxes and then use the boxes to help me declutter. Filling a small wine box is so NOT overwhelming and just plain satisfying that cleaning out things is so energizing. The trick for me is to leave my donation at the door of the St. Vincent dePaul and avoiding the temptation of going in and finding any new treasures. I was in Tanzania for 3 weeks in January and it was very interesting to live in an apartment and have only 4 bowls and 4 plates, 4 mugs, 4 glasses, one skillet, a pasta pot and a saucepan and 10 tiny plastic cups. So simple :}
15
2010
An odd question perhaps, but : where are you getting all the stuff that goes into the Saturday bags? I’ve been putting my Trader Joe’s groceries into their wine boxes and then use the boxes to help me declutter. Filling a small wine box is so NOT overwhelming and just plain satisfying that cleaning out things is so energizing. The trick for me is to leave my donation at the door of the St. Vincent dePaul and avoiding the temptation of going in and finding any new treasures. I was in Tanzania for 3 weeks in January and it was very interesting to live in an apartment and have only 4 bowls and 4 plates, 4 mugs, 4 glasses, one skillet, a pasta pot and a saucepan and 10 tiny plastic cups. So simple :}
15
2010
Great post! This is why I never want a large home, no matter how large our family gets. The more space I have, the more junk I acquire. And I am not a shopper. I know for my friends who actually like to shop, it isn’t getting rid of stuff that’s a problem, its the temptation to buy more, to continue the cycle!
15
2010
Love it!! Have loved your blog for awhile now. We are preparing to move and I have been decluttering like crazy. With 4 kids there is so much stuff. And I am a thrift store lover who overbuys. I’ve been trying to pare down as much as i can before the move. Love your criteria for clothing..
16
2010
De-cluttering is one of my projects for 2010. You’ve given me some great ideas – thanks, Sara!
16
2010
We are on the same wavelength today, Sara! I just did a three round purge of my closet and was getting ready to post about it. Still to come…but it does feel so very freeing. Not only in having less stuff, but actually knowing what to wear. It is depressing sorting through all those clothes on a daily basis not feeling like you have anything to wear.
16
2010
We often find ourselves getting rid of things about once a month. When we first started doing that before moving to Central America… it was CRAZY how much stuff we had. Most were wedding gifts that I “thought” I needed to keep around. MAN! It was hard to do at first, but now I am soooo grateful that we have less stuff lying around.
Love your ideas and creativity!
16
2010
My kids had this same epiphany the other day … if they gave away MORE of their clothes, they’d have LESS to put away each day. We do a great deal of purging (though not once a week … what an inspiration!), but this was intense. Their closets look pretty barren now, lol, I love it!
Clutter free is definitely the way to a more happy, healthy soul.
16
2010
My ten year old daughter LOVES clothing and definitely never wants to get rid of any; I indulge her more than I’d like because her stuff is mostly thrift store or hand-me-downs (although still so cute). I do have two permanent boxes in my storage room: one for our thrift shop and another for our “take it or leave it”. When they’re full I bag’em and drop’em off. Question for you Sarah: do you work at keeping your wardrobe at a certain number of outfits or number of pants/t.shirts, etc.?
16
2010
You inspired me
Finally headed to check out our on post thrift store today and so went through the house until I’d filled a bag to drop off too. We do a pretty decent job at using on a fairly regular basis the majority of what we have, but there are always extras floating around that we can pass on too. What a neat way y’all go about it though! 
Happy travels!
17
2010
What a wonderful idea, and so simple too! It’s so tempting to cling onto stuff even when it doesn’t fit anymore or we don’t really like it.
17
2010
I wish I could get rid of clothes like you do. I can do it for my daughter’s clothes, but not my own. I’m a really hard to fit size (I’m a woman 6’2″ with long ape arms, and flat chest), and each piece I own is a hard-won find. Every winter I am still wearing wool sweaters that my grandmother bought in Norway in the 1960′s, and a seemingly indestructible white blouse I wore for many orchestra performances in the 80′s. I guess I get a pass since I hardly buy any clothes compared to most people. I wear, repair, and repurpose.
20
2010
We are in the midst of a *massive* purge in preparation for a move. But I’m a bit stymied about what to do with children’s toys, etc. now that the recent CPSIA laws have taken effect, making it effectively illegal to sell *or* donate (or even give away to a friend) children’s toys. Thoughts or suggestions on this??? I hate to see all this stuff go to the landfill…
20
2010
That is a great idea to do this more often. When we do this every few months. Its such a huge job waiting this long.
20
2010
kindred decluttering-simple-living spirit here…In fact I was just culling my books down to 2 boxes and got on this site when I was done. I’ve been purging hard for several months and for someone who considers herself a simplifier I’m amazed at what I’ve gotten rid of! My big rule is NOTHING comes in except food and library books (’cause they’ll go out again). I try to find a creative solution instead of a buying solution if I need something. Just when I think I’ve plateaued out I find some other drawer or box or shelf that needs purging. I’m really trying to go with the minimalistic lifestyle.
Like Katy above, I too thru-hiked the AT (’98) and was happy as a clam with everything on my back. It was odd to come back and suddenly need all the stuff of apartment living. I may be hiking it again this season, which is part of my motivation for purging hard!
Off to find another hidden corner…
21
2010
Living in a small space makes decluttering a necessity. We also have an always present ‘go away’ bag. If something does’t fit right, is even slightly the wrong color, or for whatever reason – away it goes. We get most of our clothing from thrift stores, so we have no reason to be attached.
Before setting off in the RV, we of course has to purge most everything from our lives. I wrote a 7-step process for helping folks through the purge process – http://www.technomadia.com/2009/11/7-steps-to-get-rid-of-stuff/ .
There is nothing quite so freeing as not being owned by stuff
22
2010
This is excelente!!!!! Just the inspiration I needed.
22
2010
Just recently found your blog and gorgeous photos – what an inspiration!!
Our family is currently simplifying our lives from just about every angle. I love your ideas, they are so motivating!
And the idea of a drawer for donations – that’s just what we need – I hate the look of bags/boxes of donations that are sitting around waiting to go out and it seems like we always have some.
Read through some of the archives and can’t wait to read more. Thanks for such wonderful inspiration.
24
2010
You are a woman after my own heart. I love purging and typically do it every season. Kids and toys are the big culprits in our house. 3 sets of grandparents = lots of toys! My boys know they have to get rid of old toys before new toys come in. Luckily their b-days and Christmas are 6 months apart so we do 2 huge purges a year. I’m about to tackle my closet today…thanks for the motivation!