2011 in 2011

I am decluttering! Last year I read about the 2010 in 2010 challenge online and I was intrigued but I wanted to start the project with a full year ahead of me. 2011 in 2011 is officially underway. The idea is to get rid of 2011 things by the end of the year. Or you can do 2011 pounds of junk, or 2011 minutes of decluttering through the year, or whatever else works for you. The point is to eliminate the physical clutter that is weighing us down.

I have decided to get rid of 2011 items. That breaks down to about 5.5 items each day, 39 per week, and 168 in a month. Those numbers sound small and manageable, but you add them all up and 2011 is daunting. While I clearly have lots of junk I don't like, need, or want, it's not like I'm a hoarder. I can walk all through my house, park both cars in the garage, and my shower and oven are not used for storage. I'm going to have to dig deep.

Tonight I started with a giant pile o' crap that's been accumulating in my bedroom for a few weeks. It's from cleaning out the guest bedroom and Henry's closet, primarily. I thought it would make a huge dent in my 2011 items, but it put me just over 10%. It was stuff like a couple of old bookcases, books, toys and baby items not worth saving for the next one, a handful of my clothes, a bunch of cheap picture frames (saved the prints), and I don't know what else. It's funny that I can't even think of everything when I just finished packing it up and loading it in the car. I broke it up into several batches: Goodwill, Kid to Kid, Half Price Books, trash, and one bookshelf that ended up sitting on the curb because it wouldn't fit in the van without taking the seats out. I predict it will be gone by the time I take Henry to school in the morning.

Also, there were 5 items I had set aside to give away but kept after all. One Barefoot Contessa cookbook with chocolate cake recipe I think I need (you know, for emergencies), an iPod Shuffle I can repurpose for Henry, a $20 cable that connects Husband's phone to the TV (crucial equipment for modern life, he swears), and two junky toys that I kept because they are dump trucks so I can put them out at Henry's upcoming birthday party.

I feel lighter already, but also overwhelmed by how much I have left to go. Final count:
Trash: 36
Goodwill: 125
Half Price Books: 46
Kid to Kid: 17
On the curb, free to passsers by: 1
Total: 225, 1786 (!) left to go

UPDATE:
Kid to Kid isn't buying today so I have to revise my total down to 208. It raises a good question about decluttering: do you choose to just get the stuff out of your house however you can or do you put forth the time and effort to make some money/find it the best home? Everyone's answer will be different based on how much time and money she has. I'm trying to figure out my answer. I can drop that big box off at Goodwill this afternoon, take it back to Kid to Kid next week, or make more money if I wait a few months for the next Mama Cents sale. Hmm.