trashogram

While searching for a fantastic picture of Box Tops to use on my school weebly.com site, I stumbled across a very vivid and bright photo, which also included scissors (be still my teacher heart). The photo came from a site that included a little blurb, but what really caught my attention was the title:
box tops for education [trashogram]! I thought the word trashogram was fabulous and there was a word cloud/ side bar full of de-hoarding words.  I was sucked into reading more about this author's blog and her "no-retail shopping" challenge.  

She had a tidbit about Hoarders  and why she was doing the challenge, what was even more interesting to me and practical (at this point in my life) was her new challenge:
The Minimalist Challenge.  Her goal is "to maintain my downsized quantity of material possessions and continue to downsize on a regular basis".
She also included why she did it and how to do it. I love blogs that explain the process with pictures. She also points out how important it is to take ownership of your "stuff" and be accountable. This is a hard process.  When I did this a year ago I took pictures for tax purposes as I purged for 8 hours/day, 2 days in a row.  I processed a lot of items (imagine 4 tons of stuff) and was rewarded with a incredible write-off on my taxes, a huge stress burden off my back, and a feeling of succes. Yes, I miss some of my stuff, not because it is gone, but because I liked the style, purpose/ functionality and or intention I had for buying it. Someone else is enjoying these things now and treating them well.

I, too, can do this minimalist challenge by following the format she suggests and post my stuff on this blog.  If you want to take the challenge with me, check out her challenge tips here. 

Fill in the blanks and take a picture of the stuff- super simple!

[item] 

[purchase info]

[time in my possession]

[last used]

[difficulty level in getting rid of it]

[destination]

Dog and cat will not be given away...