Cut the Crap...or 40 Bags in 40 Days

Well, I'm not Catholic and therefore don't typically practice/follow/participate in the Lent tradition...however, I am a big believer that it takes 40 days to make a habit stick!  I also do much better with a plan and a goal.  So starting today, I will be participating in the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge.  Here it is:

From March 5th-April 19th (with Sunday's off), I will clean, sort and purge from one area in our house, figuratively "filling" 40 bags/boxes/bins to trash, donate or set aside for our upcoming moving sale.  Yes, each area I clean may not fill a bag, but the idea is to purposefully clean out one area in our home everyday.

I first read about 40 Bags challenge over at White House Black Shutters and at Clover Lane.  Both blogs offer printables (and I love me a printable!) to help you divide up the house and keep you on track.

I am going to focus on my filthy car, the garage, the bins and bins of craft stuff in the basement, the monumental amount of kids toys, old teaching supplies and games, the outdoor toys that just sit in the toy box, and outgrown/torn/stained kids clothes.  With our upcoming move and our decision to downsize our home, this is the perfect challenge at the perfect time!!! We have given our landlord notice and she will be listing the house for rent this week, so I really do need to focus on cleaning up and clearing out to help show the house for her.  And really, one bag, one area a day is completely manageable and reasonable and I feel so much better when things are (rarely) clean and organized!

So here goes nothing...I'm off with my target bag to tackle the kids bathroom!