Decluttering 2,024 in 2024 [Decluttering Challenge]

I have not always been a minimalist. 

Or even a tidy person!

I moved out on my own in 1995, and from 1995 until 2008, I collected everything. That’s 13 years of living in clutter, raising my children, and being very depressed.

In 2008, I was expecting my 5th child, and I decided I had had enough. I HAD to declutter.

I found a yearly challenge – to eliminate the same number of items as that year- and I ran with it! My husband created a chart for me to keep track of all the outgoing items and it motivated me to see the chart filling up.

I continued for several years, removing over 2000 items each year.

By 2012, I realized that less stuff was easier to care for, but if I wanted a home that was stupid-easy to maintain, I needed to go deeper and embrace minimalism.

That’s when I started this blog and started sharing my yearly decluttering chart with anyone who wanted to join me.

And now, every year, he makes a chart that I can share with my community:

The RULES:

Please keep in mind that these are basic guidelines. There is no perfect, no cheating, and no doing it wrong.

This chart is simply a tool to help you stay motivated and consistently declutter to the extent YOU want to.

• For each item you declutter, check one box ❌ ✅
• Count items you wouldn’t usually get rid of (don’t count everyday trash)
• Count every single thing OR estimate a number.
• Give yourself more credit for things that were difficult to get rid of.
• Use colors (if you want) to represent different rooms of the house, the months you work, or the different people working on decluttering with you.
• Get kids involved – they love counting and marking off the boxes.
• Give yourself a reward when you reach large amounts: plan something fun to do after you get rid of 500 things, 1000 things, and 2024 things.

Staying motivated is often the most challenging part of decluttering. Along with the decluttering chart, I also have a free online community that is the most amazing, supportive decluttering community a person could ask for. Click here to join. (You will need to answer the questions to join.)