For those of you wanting to dive right into having a minimalist lifestyle, I have a challenge for you, it’s called the 30 Day Minimalism Challenge.
I know there are other challenges out there so I wanted to create something new and different. I love finding ways to save money and becoming a minimalist is one of the best ways to do that.
Related Article: What Is Minimalism? Minimalist Lifestyle Definition
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Getting rid of things can be a daunting and overwhelming experience. One of the best ways to explore becoming minimalist is to first purge the obvious excess clutter in your life and see how you feel. To get you started, I created a 30-day minimalism challenge that you can begin anytime you feel you’re ready.
This challenge will hopefully inspire you in continuing to declutter your life and home after it is completed. I think you find this experience to be very liberating. Once you free yourself from the excess clutter in your life you will find you have less to worry about and more time to do the things you feel are important.
Why don’t you encourage someone to take the 30-day minimalism challenge with you? Pass it along to a friend or relative. I included a printable PDF at the bottom of the article for you to keep somewhere in plain sight. I believe you can do this, good luck!
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Start The 30 Day Minimalism Challenge Today
Day 1 – Toss Out Old Socks
I’m going to go easy on you starting on day one. Go through your sock drawer and get rid of old socks. We tend to hang onto that one lonely sock that is missing his partner. Well I have news for you, it got sucked into the black hole in the dryer and you’ll probably never find it again. Seriously, I don’t know how this happens but it does.
Day 2 – Clean Out Your Junk Drawer
Why does everyone have a junk drawer in their kitchen? It’s like the catch-all for miscellaneous garbage that we will never use.
Day 3 – Declutter Your Digital Life
Time to go through your cell phone. Do you have apps on your phone you don’t use anymore? If so, delete them. Next, go through your contacts. Anyone’s number that you have stored that you never talked to and will never call? It’s probably safe to delete those too.
Day 4 – Throw Out Old Makeup
Were you aware that all makeup expires after a certain amount of time? It is different for each cosmetic, but the shelf life isn’t as long as you probably expected. Old makeup can carry bacteria (yuck). You don’t want to get a weird rash or infection from this.
Day 5 – Clean Out Your Refrigerator
I took it easy on you up until the 5th day. You’re doing good so far, so it’s time for a bigger task. It’s time to throw away that science experiment you have in the back of your fridge. Don’t forget to look through your condiments and get rid of anything old as well.
Day 6 – Get Rid Of Those Greeting Cards
I hate to be a scrooge but I am not a fan of greeting cards. They are so expensive nowadays, to me it’s such a horrible waste of money. If you have these laying around and they don’t hold any sentimental value then it’s time to put these in the trash.
Day 7 – Clean Out Your Purse
Ladies, how much junk do we carry in our purses? The answer is a lot! Evaluate what you need to bring with you. I bet it’s a lot less than you think.
Day 8 – Donate Or Sell Jewelry You Don’t Wear
Thankfully I was never a fan of wearing jewelry. If you are, chances are you have some sitting in your jewelry box that you never wear anymore. You may even have broken jewelry that you never fixed. Time to donate or sell what you’re not using and toss the broken stuff.
Day 9 – Clean Out Your Nightstand
This tends to be another place where we store junk. Evaluate everything your storing in there and see what you can get rid of.
Day 10 – Purge Your Wardrobe
Every single one of us has clothes in our closet we don’t wear anymore, maybe even items with the price tags still on. Donate or sell the stuff you are willing to part with.
Day 11-Take A Day To Rest Your Deserve It
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations you a one-third of the way through. How does it feel so far? Pretty good I bet! Take this day to reflect on all you have accomplished in the past ten days. Try out meditation if you don’t practice already. Also, I would like you to watch a
Day 12- Ditch The Stack Of Take-Out Menus
Let’s ease back into things today. Are you one of those people that have a stack of take-out menus stuffed in a drawer? Chances are your favorite restaurants have a website with their menus on it. Looks like these can go in the recycle bin.
Day 13 – Your Stash Of Condiment Packets Need To Go
Why do we save these? I use to keep these in the bottom drawer in my refrigerator. After I put them in there they would never see the light of day again. No point in saving these, they don’t come with expiration dates printed on them so there’s a good chance that ketchup packet your hanging on to is from 2013. Yuck!
Day 14 – Are You Saving Old Paint?
Did you paint some rooms in your home many years ago? Maybe you had a tiny bit of paint left in the can and decided to save it just in case you’ll need it. Well, you never needed it and probably won’t in the future. If the paint is still good, you could donate it to someone in need or maybe a place like Habitat For Humanity, local schools or theaters. If you are disposing of the cans make sure you follow proper procedures in your area.
Day 15 – Do You Have Monsters Living Under Your Bed?
Your half way there, keep going! Are you that person who stores stuff under your bed? If you are storing stuff chances are you probably don’t need to keep it. Go through these items and donate or sell what you don’t need.
Your home is living space, not storage space. Click To Tweet
Day 16 – Donate Or Sell Your Books/C.D.’s/D.V.D’s
We are in the age of technology. There is no need to hang on to any physical items that are available in digital form. If you want to try to make some cash check out decluttr.com. This is probably one of the easiest ways to sell these items. I’ve used them before with lots of luck!
Day 17 – Recycle Those Old Magazines And Newspapers
You’ll probably never read them again so why keep them. Recycle or see if you can donate the magazines to local schools to use for art projects.
Day 18 – Why Are You Keeping All Those Manuals?
It would be a rare occasion that you would ever need to look at that dryer manual, but for some reason you saved it. No need to save these anymore, everything you need is on the internet now.
Day 19 – How Many Coffee Mugs Do You Really Need?
You only use one mug at a time to drink from so why do you have twenty? Unless you have a huge family that all drinks coffee at the same time every morning, I think it’s safe to donate part of your collection.
Day 20 – Time To Tackle The Pantry
This is another big project but is probably much needed. Time to toss out any expired food you have sitting in your cabinets. Assess what you do have and see what you can use up in the coming weeks. Or if you have items that your not going to use you can donate them to your local food pantry.
Day 21 – You’ve Come A Long Way, Time To Take A Break
You’re two-thirds of the way to completing this challenge. You’re doing great! By now, you should have an idea of what minimalism is all about. Take some time today for yourself to meditate. I also want you to think about any purchases you made in the last couple weeks. Was it a necessity? Or was it something you think you could live without? Part of being a minimalist is being mindful of all our purchases. Stay inspired, read some more of my blog post on Minimalism.
Day 22 – Tupperware With Missing Lids Can Go In The Garbage
Seriously, how does this even happen? It’s like the mysterious missing sock. They are hiding somewhere together, I just know it!
Day 23 – Go Through Your Medicine Cabinet
You may have medication, vitamins, and supplements you don’t take any more that are just taking up space. Before disposing of any old medication, please read the FDA website on how to safely dispose of medicines.
Day 24 – Clean Out Your Wallet
Feeling overwhelmed yet or are you doing okay? Here is a very simple task that will only take a minute or so. Clean out your wallet and toss out any old receipts, used gift cards, and store loyalty cards you will never use.
Day 25 – Lessen The Amount Of Mail You Get
By switching over to paperless billing you will reduce the amount of mail you receive. Almost all your utilities and credit cards companies have the option of paperless billing. Save a tree, make the switch!
Day 26 – Lessen The Amount Of Email You Get
Time to go through your emails you receive and unsubscribe from all the store advertisements. All they do is clutter up your inbox and waste your time reading them. It’s all just a marketing ploy anyways to entice you into buying more, more, more. But we are doing the minimalism challenge which is all about less, less, less.
Day 27 – Why Are You Hoarding Shopping Bags?
Anyone else have a bag that’s filled with other bags? I sure did! No point in hanging on to these. You can recycle the paper bags and most groceries stores recycle the plastic ones.
Day 28 – Time To Get Rid Of Those Games And Puzzles With Missing Pieces
Just like your child’s homework, the dog probably ate the missing pieces too. If you been hanging on to these for a while in hope’s of finding the missing pieces so you can use them again it’s a safe bet you probably won’t find them.
Day 29 – Clean Out Your Car
Your car is not a garbage can! (That is what I tell my daughter.) Seriously though, why do have so much stuff in your car? Get rid of it!
Day 30 – Do You Need To Keep All Those Vases?
Wrapping up the 30-day minimalism challenge with a simple task. Are you that person who has about ten flower vases sitting in your cabinet? I was that person too. Unless someone is buying you fresh flowers on a daily basis, you only probably need one vase, maybe two at the most. Donate or sell the rest.
30 Day Minimalism Challenge Printable PDF
Final Thoughts
Did you take my 30-day minimalism challenge yet? If so, how did you do? Let me know in the comments below!
If you are new to my blog, my main focus here is to help you make and save more money. Becoming a minimalist is an amazing way to save a ton of money.
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