If there ever was a good time to do a nice big purge it’s right before Christmas in anticipation of new things coming in and a large need for community donations.
First though, let’s recap the list of tasks we’ve checked off so far:
Task #1: Set up gift planner app and budget
Task #2: Find and organize gift storage space
Task #3: Set up a holiday planner
Task #4: Giftster Wish List app
Task #5: Christmas cards
Task #6: Organizing and cleaning
Task #7: Gift Wrap Supplies & Organization
Task #8: Decorating the House
Assignment #9: Pre-Christmas Purge
This pre-Christmas purge doesn’t have to be complicated or strategic, it just needs to rid your house of excess things. And by excess things I mean anything in your home that hasn’t been loved or used in the last year or anything you don’t have the space to store. Some places to start:
- Christmas decorations (that didn’t go up this year)
- Dishes busting out of cupboards
- Books and magazines stacked on tables
- Bedding, towels and other linens piled high
- Clothes and footwear squished into closets
- Toys overflowing
- Winter clothing not being used
- Toiletries collecting dust
- Pantry foods expired
- Craft supplies abandoned
- Cookbooks neglected
- Broken items or things missing parts
- Multiples of the same thing
- etc.
This Week’s To Do List:
Get the family involved:
Gather your family together and tell them that you are going to set a timer for 15 minutes and everyone will race to find X amount of things to donate or trash. Blast some Christmas music and get ready. On your mark, get set, go!
Move quickly:
A speed purge should be about quickly moving around the room and the house gathering things you know don’t belong. You will be amazed at what can get done and collected in a short amount of time!
If you need some guidance, reference the list above to guide you but don’t get bogged down by indecision. If you really can’t decide on something, move on. If your kids are having trouble, remind them that their toys will help bless another child this Christmas, someone who might not have many toys at all to play with. This could be said about our stuff as well, not just the kids. Local women’s shelters often accept donations of dishes, clothes, toys, books and unused toiletries.
Sit back and smile:
Times up! You will feel great when it’s done. You might even feel motivated to continue. But first enjoy what you’ve just accomplished. High fives all around and maybe celebrate with some eggnog and cookies. You earned it, way to go! 🙂
Merry Christmas!
You might also like:
Teaching Your Kids to Organize
How to Make Weekly Household Purges Happen
Cheryl says
Great list! Found a few things in most categories. Quick way to get a trunk load of things no longer needed.
Laura Wittmann says
Thanks Cheryl! So glad you found it to be helpful!
MelanieL says
I’m really enjoying this series! I tackled my son’s room last weekend and plan to tackle my daughter’s room this weekend. We had 2 trash bags of broken/mismatched toys, 1 trash bag of tattered clothing, 2 large toy donations and 1 clothing bag donation. This was more of a “set the timer for two hours” type of purging but it felt so great! I may need 4 hours for my daughter’s room…wish me luck!
Laura Wittmann says
So happy to hear this, I let out a “whoot” as I read it 🙂 You go girl!!