This is the first post in my monthly purge project update. To find out more about the purge project and to follow along from the beginning click here.

I am not the most grateful person. I know it’s awful, but that’s the truth. I have a really hard time masking my disappointment when I receive a gift I don’t fully appreciate. It’s frustrating to me when most of our gifts go straight to the garage sale closet.

That’s how January started. When we came back from the holidays I decided that next year we will request NOT to receive gifts. I hate that it’s come to that, but I would much rather spend the holidays enjoying the company of my family and friends than lugging a bunch of stuff across the country (OK, just across two states, but whatever).

I didn’t make a lot of progress in January as far as purging the house of stuff. January was mostly spent reflecting on what I really need to be happy. I even made a list! I categorized things into three groups: absolute necessities (the bare minimum needed to survive), needs (the basics to keep me from going crazy staring at the wall), and non-essentials (not necessary for survival, but things I enjoy).

Absolute Necessities:

1. Family
2. Shelter
3. Food
4. Clothes

Needs:

1. Books
2. Laptop/Internet
3. Camera/Pictures

Non-essentials:

1. Sewing machine/fabric/thread/etc.
2. Dutch oven/basic cooking utensils

I tried really hard to come up with more things, but I honestly couldn’t.

I spent some time in January reading other minimalist blogs for ideas on how to go about the purge. Then I purged my closet. I took everything out, dumped it on the floor, sorted and counted, then got rid of what I didn’t really need. I made a pile of clothes to consign, a garage sale/donation pile, and a keep pile.

The last thing I did in January was create a plan of attack. I decided that each month would be designated to purging a certain part of the house…and thus began my purge project!

It’s funny: I started writing this on valentine’s day. Paul told me that this year he’s giving me a “day off”; I don’t have to clean or take care of T. (I’ll have to feed him of course). That’s probably one of the best gifts he’s ever given me. These are the kind of gifts I want to be a part of. The only problem is that I have to come up with something for him…

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.