30 day get chucked challenge – the 2017 Edition

- Claire
30 day get chucked challenge

If anyone can explain to me how it’s November on Wednesday I am all ears! How did that happen? I feel like November is a good time for a declutter. With Christmas almost here it’s time to rid our house of some stuff. And November has 30 days, which is perfect for a 30 day get chucked challenge. In 30 days I’ll get rid of 465 things!

How does the 30 day get chucked challenge work?

The 30 day get chucked challenge is simple! It really requires almost no planning. On the first day of the challenge you throw out one possession. Then two possessions on the second day, three things on the third day, you get the drift. Eventually you’ll be free of 465 things.

I first did a 30 day get chucked challenge in May 2015 (read about it here). We’ve got a lot more stuff since then! Even though we moved house I don’t think that reduced the clutter.

Let’s get started

Obviously not every possession you decide to rid your house of needs to literally be chucked out. There’s three categories of stuff, those that you want to sell, those to donate and those to throw out. This time around I’m going to have two boxes ready, one for donations and one with items to sell.
That’s the extent of my planning! The first week or so should be fairly simple. It does get tougher as the challenge goes along. If you do join in, you will be surprised about where junk is lurking. Bathroom cabinets hold out of date items, wardrobes have clothes that no longer fit and kids have toys that are broken.

465 possessions sounds like a lot but don’t be intimidated by that number. Day one, one possession, start there and see how it does! If you want tips for a 30 day get chucked challenge, read this post. A quote I love when decluttering is ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’. It’s a good reminder when I am feeing indecisive!

If you discover a disaster zone of your house (say the third draw with the odd chopsticks) and you’re on a roll, you can of course kept going. Let’s say you find 15 items to throw out on day 11, simply add those items to the next day’s target.

Want to play along?

If ridding yourself of 465 items sounds appealing, why not play along? I’m convinced life is simpler when there is less stuff in your house. After all, the more things you own, the more they own you.

This is not the blog for advice on how to be an organised house wife! I do however promise to let you know where I find my items to throw out and share that with you. Follow Life on Wallace on Facebook and I’ll thrill you with where the junk hides in my house.

Tell me you’re in? It’s more fun decluttering with a buddy for support!

27 thoughts on “30 day get chucked challenge – the 2017 Edition”

  2. I played this Minimalism Game in February, a) because I had a lot of stuff to chuck and b) because it was the shortest month! It’s so liberating. I didn’t post pics of what I threw out because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, incase they saw a much loved gift getting it’s marching orders 🙂 This post has made me want to have another go – maybe it will my annual February tradition?!

    1. What’s the minimalism game? I am intrigued. I hadn’t thought about the whole ‘photos of discarded gifts’ thing, I better be careful.

  5. Holy, moly, that is a LOT of stuff to get rid of! Perfect timing for us though as we are not long off moving. Not sure i can get to those numbers, but will play an altered version here too.

    1. It sounds like a lot of stuff but it’s surprisingly achievable! I’d love to hear how your altered version goes Nicole.

  6. I don’t think I’d be able to do it incrementally! I’m too all or nothing. Of course that often lends me to leaving a pile of stuff on the floor because I run out of enthusiasm when things need to be put back, but we’ll ignore that part 🙂

    1. I totally hear you! The thing with me is I don’t have big chunks of time to do proper clean outs, so doing it in increments works for me. Plus, I have a terrible attention span, so I know I just have to focus on finding x number of items on the specific day.

  8. I read this last night and pondered your challenge. I may do a version of it. I thought I culled when we moved in early 2015. And then again, in late 2015 but here’s the thing for me. I still like some of my items of memories and nostalgia and so I know I would regret getting rid of too much. The biggest thing for me was my teaching resources and the many items I had bought for our grandkids over the years. What I kept from teaching was zilch as I donated it and sold it to new teachers. As for the grandkids that was hard. They got to choose what they would like as a memory of playing with it at our house but I was also conscious not to pile stuff for their parents. I did sell some of my quality things on FB groups. What I have kept here is the F&P dolls house that both boys and girls have liked (got it when the 20 yo GD was 2 so everyone has played with it) and because I had more money than I do now I bought every accessory and person for it. Those bits are stored in an under bed box and I am happy that I still have it.
    Denyse #teamIBOT

    1. It is lovely to hang on to those sentimental items! We just seem to accumulate so much stuff that really isn’t worth keeping.

  9. I really, really love this idea! I am going to put a reminder in my phone to do this (although the days I’m working I may cheat and throw out that days stuff the day before or the day after). Tell me, does cleaning off my desk and chucking out all of the crappy paperwork (thing billions of notes from school/preschool) count as one item or many? I’m going to count it as one item, simply “paperwork” and get it all in the recycling today! I’m pretty sure I won’t have any problems getting rid of stuff, we have so much! I’m going to save the bathrooms & “junk room” (yep, we don’t just have a junk drawer we have a whole junk room!) for the end of the month because I know the bathroom alone will yield heaps of stuff! I might do an IG story and tag you each day with what I’m chucking!
    #teamIBOT

      1. That is a lot of clothes to count as one item Shari, but I love your declutter attitude! Thanks for playing along xx

    2. I think you’re right that a pile of paper work counts as one item! I’m with you on keeping the ‘big ticket’ spots for the end of the month. I figure it’s a good way of warming up to it.

  11. I’m in! I did get rid of seven bags of clothes today for the donation bin (but that is because I knew that I was driving past the bin on the way to the park). I have found my items for day 2 and day 3! The thing is, I like my set of chopsticks in the third draw – and we actually use them.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!