Addicted to Squirreling Part 2 (The Purge)

If I have learned one thing from watching HGTV, it’s that my house can’t be clean without getting rid of stuff. This fact is exacerbated by my other guilty TV pleasure – Hoarders on TLC. I’ve never seen an episode where the hoarder was also clean. It just doesn’t happen! No one has ever made the connection cleanliness with minimalism but it makes so much sense! 

This summer I played a mind game with myself and pretended that I was moving/the world was ending/I am renting out our home to Martha Stewart and proceeded to purge. I decided to purge before I made this blog so I didn’t have the foresight to take lots of pictures. Here are some things we’ve hung onto for YEARS because we were certain it would be useful:

Idea: Bringing this into the classroom and plugging it in so my students could listen to running water while they work quietly. Clearly I am delusional. Reality: If this was in my classroom, it would most certainly mean water fights every day. Verdict: Sunnyvale Goodwill. 

Idea:  Every time I would have guest stay over, I would place a set of amenities that I had saved from my last trip. Reality: Aint nobody got time for that. And often times these hotel shampoos don’t lather very well and they have weird scent combos like mandarin almond ginger. Great dessert idea, not so great for hair. I ended up buying full-size bottles of Garnier Fructis for the guest bath. It’s pleasant, gender-neutral and makes great suds. Verdict: Hauled my ten pound stock pile to Sunnyvale Community Services

Idea: It’s no secret that this guy has significantly changed shape in the last two years. Well both of us have a hard time letting go of our “fat” clothes because you know… what if we decide crossfit really is cuckoo and stop one day? Tim had a second closet FULL of dress shirts (this one here was a slim fit), nice jeans and sweaters. Reality: Even if we find ourselves fitting into these clothes again, we probably will have changed in our taste. Verdict: Almaden Goodwill.  

I may have to make this an S family tradition. I love purging! I ended up taking 1.5 car loads to GoodWill filled with household goods, bags, purses, clothes, shoes and board games.

Lessons Learned:

1. Purge frequently.
2. Make an effort to know what is in your house so you don’t buy things you don’t need.
3. Buy less. But if you do do buy, make sure it’s quality so it can withstand a lot of wear and tear.