Operation Junk-free: Day 5

Well, here we are on day 5 of the mission, and I am still mainly getting rid of things in the kitchen/dining area. I have ventured into a few other areas as I was doing laundry, but most of the things I'm getting rid of came from the kitchen. I Ihave noticed that I keep alot of things to try and reuse or to make into something else.

I had some very good ideas for some of the things that I have been saving. Money saving ideas even. For example: I was going to make gift tags and gift bags out of the old Christmas cards. That would be cute and save money and recycle, not waste. Well, in actuality, that project did waste....my time. Do you know how long it takes to cut all of the designs out of the cards? More time than I ever found....and it has wasted the space that it has been taking up for the last 4 years. And every year around December, I would come across those poor old Christmas cards and feel guilty for not doing something with them.

That is just one example of the many items that I have tucked back in some cabinet, drawer or shelf, waiting to be transformed and made into a "useful, frugal, re-purposed item". Currently all those items are doing is junkinng up my storage space and making me feel frustrated and guilty and exasperated.
I have noticed that since I have given myself permission to get rid of things the feelings of guilt and being wasteful are gone. It has become more important to gain order and harmony withing my space (that sounds kind of "feng shui" but that's not how I meant it) than it is to try and turn every reusable piece of junk into a frugal masterpiece to brag about and show off. There are many ways to be resourceful and frugal that don't include junk.
Well, after all that, here is my list for today:


2 chipped rooster mugs (I was using them to hold "stuff".....okay, junk. I threw them away with everything in them.)

2 old books with broken spines

1 skirt

2 stained t-shirts (why oh why do I keep things that I won't wear?)

4 tubes of lip gloss.

2 old phone books

3 old bottles of spices


I found out tonight that there won't be a garage sale this weekend, so the first place I am going tomorrow is to the thrift store to drop off a few items.


Until tomorrow....