You may recall that I decide to participate in the Reverse 100 Things Challenge, which was to eliminate 100 items by the end of 2012. I didn’t finish by the end of the year, and I didn’t quite make it to 100, but I’m going to share the list of things that have been either already removed or earmarked for removal in the near future:
- DVDs – 10 – Tarzan, Up, Wall-E, and Atlantis have all gone to my sister. Hot Fuzz, Fat-Burning Kickboxing, Mrs. Doubtfire, Moulin Rouge, Stranger than Fiction, and Too Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar are all still available for adoption.
- Personal care items – 15 – Hair flat iron (given to sister), hair dryer, zipper pouch of hair ties, small bag of Burts Bees items (counting individually would get me more points, but I just counted this as one thing), brown eyeliner (which will be thrown away), shampoo, conditioner, Noxema face cleaner, Avon acne wash, moisturizer (all thrown out), pads and tampons (given away), two brand-new Ban brand deodorants, one unopened box of bar soap, compact folding hairbrush with mirror
- Pure Romance items – 13 – I haven’t divulged this tidbit previously, but I used to sell Pure Romance products. I’ll be posting a blog on one of the major reasons I stopped soon, but in any case, I have at least 13 products, many of which are unopened. Just in case your kids are reading over your shoulder I won’t say what they are.
- Clothing – 15 – three tee shirts, one sarong, one sarong coconut-shell tie clasp, four pairs of underwear, three pairs of gently used brown trouser socks, a four-pack of unworn black trouser socks (used to be a six pack but I wore two pairs!), one pair of pink polka dot socks, one pair of huge pink fuzzy socks
- Books – 8 – “Into the Wild,” “Privilege, Power, and Difference,” “Media Psychology” (given to sister), “Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development” (unopened text book… sigh), “The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook,” “Weight Watchers Cook It Quick!” “Weight Watchers Complete Cookbook,” set of two romantic/cute fill-in-the-questions books for a couple
- Kitchen items – 2 – Plastic container for snacks with a separate compartment for dip, iced tea maker (brewer and pitcher)
- Geeky nerdy items – 5- Star Trek UNO card set, Star Trek lunch box, Bat’leth Klingon sword (stop judging me), rubik’s cube keychain, shoebox of pokemon cards
- Miscellaneous – 12 – Coupon organizer, wallet, highlighter, bumper sticker (“Enjoy life, this is not a dress rehearsal”), Willow Tree ornament, booklight, small spray bottle (plastic, never used), UNO card game, personalized (and thus pretty much useless) “Class of 2006” photo album (and several pictures of High School Caitlin), throw pillow, roll of tickets, small pink and yellow box
For a total of 79 items decluttered (or to be decluttered in the near future).
Now for the fun part – I want to incorporate some of these items into a giveaway, but I’m not sure how. I can’t ship anything very heavy or it will be prohibitively expensive. Should I offer up a select few items and have people comment for a chance to win? Should I just let my readers pick through the list and say “Oh, hey, I need a wallet!” What do you think?
Born Again Minimalist 
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