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by Angela
We are in week 2 of the MinsgameBOSS. It’s been so encouraging to have the company of many other bloggers and participants in the Facebook Group as we shed the things that we no longer need or use in our homes together.
The goal for the challenge is to shed 465 items within 30 days. My personal goal is to involve all 5 family members and shed 2,325 items (or as close as we can to that number) by November 30. Ambitious? Yes.
How’s the Family Doing?
I’ve been surprised by how involved the children have been. My middle son tends to want to hold on to everything. It has been great to see him enthusiastically gather the number of items for the day. Most of the time the items that he gathers are pieces of paper that need to be recycled, or pieces of trash. I count that as a win because those are things that he would have ignored without this game. He is looking around daily and noticing things that should be picked up and taken care of.
My husband has been enthusiastic on the days that he participates. He has enthusiastically come to call his (what I would call) “clutter” a term called “cruft.” Cruft is defined asanything that is left over, redundant and getting in the way. It is used particularly for superseded and unused technical and electronic hardware and useless, superfluous or dysfunctional elements in computer software.
Do you have cruft in your home? Share on X
My husband has always flinched at the word clutter. He refused to view or call his items clutter. Cruft is appealing to him because items that were once useful at the time he acquired them, are no longer useful and currently “redundant and getting in the way.” It doesn’t necessarily devalue the items, they just no longer serve his particular needs anymore. It’s been easier for him to look at his stuff from that perspective and gather things for this challenge. It took him just a few minutes to gather the daily required items when he participated last week.
How Am I Doing?
I have been decluttering since February. I have donated, recycled, and thrown out bags and bags of stuff since then. This month-long game is challenging me to look at areas that I have already decluttered with a more critical eye.
Coming back to an area that has already been decluttered a couple of times has forced me to look at the things I’ve kept and question again whether it truly needs to stay. The first time I declutter an area, there is usually a lot of trash that can be thrown out. The second time I usually have lots of rationalizations for why I should keep something. The third and fourth time I’m finding that I finally address those items that I have keptbut still never wear or use.
The continual challenge for me is to declutter from a place of enough and to declutter with the present in mind (not the past or the future). It’s easy to want to hold onto an item because of the sentimental past (“Oh, I used to play this game as a child”) or hopes for the future (“I might wear this someday”). I have to continually speak gently to my rationalizations and reassure myself that I am blessed and have more than enough. I do not have to hold onto items out of fear or a scarcity mindset.
The continual challenge to declutter from a place of enough and the present Share on X
The Next 3 Weeks
I anticipate the challenge getting more difficult as my kids could potentially lose interest. I am personally committing to go through the whole challenge, and will invite my kids and husband to contribute when they can. I’m posting daily pictures on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook if you’re curious what we are getting out of the house.
It’s also not too late to join! Use the hashtag #minsgameBOSSon social media so we can all encourage and follow each other’s journey!
Are you participating? What’s your biggest challenge while decluttering?
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About Angela
Wife. Mom to three boys. Writer. Reader. Aspiring Minimalist. Lover of chocolate and fitness. She loves blogging about the ways she is finding success in simplifying life one step at a time. Her mantra is "Progress, not Perfection."
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Comments
That is really great that the whole family is participating still! Good luck on the rest of the month! I really need to get my husband to tackle our closet…
Angela saysThanks Alexandra!
- Laura VZ says
I love what you say about holding onto things from the past or about thinking of the future. That’s such a great way to look at it. And it’s so great that it’s affecting your son – garbage is the best thing to get rid of, after all. 🙂
- Liz Laramee says
Love the update! Can’t wait to continue to hear about how it’s going. Good on you all!
Thank you for introducing me to the term “cruft”! This is exactly what I was working on in the early stages of my minimalism journey! I love how you’re including your family in the game…thank you for sharing your experience!
- emma simmons says
I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks and find it very satisfying. I joined the minsgameboss decluttering challenge on day 2 and have been participating daily. Like you, I’ve been working on decluttering for quite a while. I’ve eliminated a lot of STUFF but haven’t dug deeply into either my closets or my psyche. The November challenge has refined my thinking and I’m looking forward to greater results. Losing clutter is similar to losing weight: we have to change our lifestyle rather than counting on a temporary diet. So glad I found your blog! …Cruft – how clever! Sounds much better than ‘crap’, the word I have been using!
- Angela says
Hi Emma – good for you! It sounds like you are doing a great job decluttering stuff and your psyche. I agree that decluttering is much more than shedding the physical items. We are trying to be more mindful of actually bringing items into our home in the first place. I think in the long run that is going to be key to maintaining a clutter free home.
- Sara says
I love this post so much. Especially this whole paragraph:
“The continual challenge for me is to declutter from a place of enough and to declutter with the present in mind (not the past or the future). It’s easy to want to hold onto an item because of the sentimental past (“Oh, I used to play this game as a child”) or hopes for the future (“I might wear this someday”). I have to continually speak gently to my rationalizations and reassure myself that I am blessed and have more than enough. I do not have to hold onto items out of fear or a scarcity mindset.”
SO POWERFUL. Really made me think. Thank you so much for sharing. (I wish I was able to tweet the whole paragraph. I love it so so much.)
Oh! And I love the idea of “cruft!” 🙂
- Angela says
Thank you so much Sara!
- Stella Lee@ Purfylle says
Sara pretty much said word for word my thoughts too. It’s the best feeling when the family gets onboard.
- Angela says
Thanks Stella. I love that my family has been involved so far
- Eva says
Cruft! I love it! I also wince when my stuff is referred to as clutter, this is a perfect term to acknowledge that the things once had good use.
Like you, I have been majorly decluttering (decrufting?) for a while now and am in a new home, so it’s a challenging process going through things I thought I had done with clearing out and trying to find more to let go of. Challenging but rewarding as I feel lighter by the day.
- Angela says
That’s wonderful Eva. We still have a lot to choose from! I like “decrufting “
- Abby says
I’m interested to see how this plays out as the month goes on!
- Angela says
Me too! ?
Haha, I think I can identify with “cruft.” Some stuff is just really hard for me to get rid of like junky free things I got somewhere, but don’t recycle so I feel guilty tossing it! Definitely an area I need to work on. I’m glad your family has been on board so far, it’s hard, but so worth it. Keep up the good work!
- Angela says
Thanks for your encouragement Hannah. It’s funny the areas that we each individually struggle with. Thanks for following along!
- Audrey says
Oh boy do I need to do some decluttering. I love the word “cruft”! Thanks for sharing on the #HomeMattersParty . I hope you will join us again next week.
- Angela says
Hi Audrey! I love it too – I’m glad my husband is participating on his own terms.
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