march monthly challenge: decluttering.

This year, I decided to expand my capabilities and embark on little monthly challenges. Some of them are financed-based, some are fitness-based and some are just for fun. I really have no rhyme or reason for the challenges, I just wanted something to focus on for each month.

The challenge:
For March, the challenge was to declutter.

The parameters:
Specifically, I wanted to declutter/get rid of 100 items in my apartment. When I moved last year, I noticed that I was packing up things that I hadn’t even touched in the 8 years I lived in my previous apartment. And when I was unpacking, I was coming across items that I kept asking myself, why do I have this? I still have piles of stuff around my apartment that I look at and wonder why I have it.

How did I do?
I ended up decluttering/getting rid of over 100 items in my apartment! Some things I took to the thrift store, some I recycled, and some I threw away because they were trash or not appropriate for the thrift store. I took my books to the thrift store, gave them to friends, or dropped them off at a little free library.

Here is a list of all the items I decluttered:

Bedroom:
3 pairs of shoes
1 hat
1 purse
2 old sports bras
5 scarves
1 sweater
2 pairs of jeans
11 tank tops
9 shirts
4 empty shoe boxes

Kitchen:
2 novelty cups
2 mugs
6 cookbooks
5 empty jars (recycled)

Bathroom:
15 pieces of makeup/makeup brushes

Misc:
7 old magazines
17 books
1 business card holder
1 plastic bin
2 old canvases
5 mirrors
4 old wall calendars
Batteries (recycled)
Old business cards (shredded)
5 pounds of paper to shred/recycle

Lessons learned:
Originally, I was going to try to declutter a set number of items per day, but after a week or so, that quickly fell by the wayside. I ended up decluttering mostly on the weekends when I had more time. Some things were easy to declutter, like my clothes. Books were easy too, because I could quickly go through my bookshelf and pull out books I wasn’t interested in reading anymore. I also had a lot of books from the 2024 holiday season that I needed to donate and just hadn’t taken the chance. I finally took the opportunity to clean out my makeup bag as well. I went through and threw out a bunch of old makeup, brushes, and things that I don’t use.

Items that were challenging were things like all my “papers” and magazines. I love reading magazines but I rarely finish them, and I always tell myself I’m going to finish reading so I never want to get rid of any of them. I had to take a hard look and ask myself if I was really going to read the entire magazine and make a decision. It’s the same with my papers. I have so many paper souvenirs like maps of places I’ve visited or Broadway programs and I saved them because I was always going to do something with them. I had to take a look at them and tell myself, you’ve had this for 10 years and you’ve never done anything with this so you need to get rid of and recycle it. These items were just taking up space, sitting in a pile, that I would look at every day and it drove me crazy. I figure, if I want another map of a place, I can just visit again.

I still have so many things left to get rid of. I only skimmed the surface of my dresser drawers and closet and I know there are probably at least 30 or more clothing items I can get rid of. I only tackled one of the areas on my desk and I have more piles to go through. I just look around my apartment and I have so many things that I don’t use and I find myself asking myself, why do you have so much stuff?

I’ll be back next month with a new challenge.

2025 Monthly challenges:
January: Food budgeting
February: Sit-ups
March: Decluttering