The 30 days, 30 items challenge

 So, here's the deal.  I am challenging myself to get rid of 1 item from the basement every day.  That means a minimum of 1 item goes out the door every day. I am hoping this will be an easy way to motivate myself without getting overwhelmed. 

The rules:

1. It must actually leave the basement that day.

2. It must leave the house by the end of the week. 

3. If something from the basement sells that day, it can be counted as 1 item for the day.

Here's how it went:

Day 1 - a stack of Captain Underpants books. Not sure why these are still in the house.  Took them to the little free library in town.

Day 2 - 5 college textbooks, 3 college coursepacks, and 1 old metal box that was probably meant for a gun. I have bagged on my husband about saving old textbooks so I was embarrassed to find I still had some. The gun box was something I planned to spray paint and turn into a treasure box to keep little prizes for my students. 25 years, never did it.

Day 3 - old whiteboard hidden behind a set of shelves.  Too nasty to salvage. a bunch of games from my teaching days. Listed them online and then got a text from a friend who wants all of them.  a stack of kids books that I kept but never actually used. Now I have 2 large empty bins.

Day 4 - And here it is...After a rough day, I didn't get around to going into the basement. Fortunately, I have gotten rid of more than one item on all of the other days so I think I'm good.

Day 5 - One old set of color forms (remember those) that were so old they weren't even sticky anymore.  2 kids books that I know I won't use went off to the free library.  

Day 6- 1 set of press on letters from the early 90's.  Posted them for free online and one of my neighbors claimed them. A rug.  Yes, an IKEA rug that I hung onto because it was going to cost me $15 for my garbage service to haul it away.  My new garbage service will take on large item per quarter for free.  Last quarter I threw out the other nasty old rug.  Also unearthed 5 more college textbooks.  I swear I got rid of those ages ago but, there they were.  Also out with the trash, a broken kids fishing pole.  I then recycled several binders full of papers and classroom activities that I haven't looked at in 10 years.  

Day 7 - 2 knight helmets and a plastic shield that had been languishing on Facebook marketplace for a few weeks. One chest piece from the knight stuff and one shield went into the garbage as they were both cracked and not useable. Also got rid of a big stack of easy readers and emptied another bin.

All in all, a good week on the purging front.  I have something like 4 empty bins right now and some stuff on my table that I still don't know what to do with.  It's definitely getting harder as I go along.  I have a feeling that once I am done with the teaching shelves, I will have to go back through them in another 6 months and do a second purge of that stuff.  I can't even imagine what I will be getting rid of 3 weeks from now.  I am hoping that there will really be a difference by then.