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Today I am sharing the monthly decluttering strategy I implemented in 2023 that helped me remove over 350 items from my house.

Are you overwhelmed by your home? Looking to reduce clutter? Want to live more minimally but not sure where to start? This decluttering strategy is for you. I implemented it in 2023 and am continuing it this year, too, because I love it so much. These are my monthly decluttering tips!

If you have done any research into decluttering or organization, you probably have heard of the strategy where for one month you get rid of the same number of items as day of the month. So if it’s the first of the month, you get rid of one item. On the tenth of the month, you get rid of ten items. The twentieth day of the month you get rid of twenty items. So on and so forth. This is a wonderful strategy and I think it can work great for people. However, it doesn’t work perfectly for me. I start out the month super motivated, ready to go, and successfully complete the first week or so of the challenge. But then day fifteen rolls around and I just can’t find 15 items. Or on day 3 I am cleaning out my medicine cabinet and find 20 things to get rid of and then get confused because it’s not the right day. Or, I'm just burnt out by day 20 because I've been doing this for 20 days! The strategy is useful, because by day fifteen I have gotten rid of over a hundred items. But it doesn’t fit my life perfectly. It also isn't perfect for me because it is an intense decluttering in one month... but it doesn't keep decluttering at the front of your mind for months on end.

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If you've felt the same, my monthly decluttering challenge is for you. I hope it works for you to keep your home maintained! During the last weekend of the month, I get rid of the same number of items as days in that month. In January, I get rid of 31 items. In February, I get rid of 28 items. (29 this year for leap year!) In November, I will get rid of 30 items. You get the picture! This is so easy and attainable. This also helps with not having to keep track of something daily. This is also something I’m able to accomplish in one day/one weekend, as opposed to something I have to remembe each day of the month. It doesn’t take too long and I’m able to get the things I no longer want out of my house in a timely manner. By the end of the year, I will have removed more than 350 items from my home. This monthly strategy is a great way to declutter your home and live a more minimalist lifestyle.

When I've shared this strategy with friends/family in the past I've been met with varied opinions. Some people think it's amazing, and others are questioning how I find the time every month or how I always find enough items. In terms of time, if its important to you, you will make time. Only needing to find around 30 items means it is usually a quick task. (An hour or two at most per month.)

Finding the items is another story. I have two young kids so we are constantly growing out of clothes or toys. If I lived alone, it might be harder to meet the number every month if I only had my belongings to go through. Some months it is very easy to find things to get rid of as we've moved up a size in clothes. Other times, it is a little harder and I have to go clean out beauty samples or throw out bad pens in the junk drawer. However, I am always able to meet the monthly requirement.

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Another reason I love this monthly decluttering strategy, is it helps me give the the items the proper second life. Only having around 30 items or so a month I'm getting rid of means I can donate, sell, trash, recycle, etc. as appropriate. Think about it -- if you go through your house and come up with 50 items worth selling will you take the time to take pictures, post, and sell them? Probably not! If you go through your house and find 30 items to get rid of total, 10 of which are worth selling? You'll probably take the time. You can donate, sell, recycle properly, or trash the items when there are less to go through at any given time.

Additionally, there are a lot of recycle programs in each city but if you are going through your entire house you might not take the time to go to those various places to recycle things and it will just be more stuff in an landfill. Here is an example of this for me personally. I have been saving old mascara wands so that I can send them in to a wand recycling program that uses them for animals. I have probably 7 saved. How long would I hold on to those before I finally decided I had enough!? When I cleaned out my vanity I finally took the time to research where to send them, and dispose of them appropriately. If I was going thorugh my entire house coming up with hundreds of items to get rid of at once, there is a good chance I would have said “I don’t have the time for recycling these”. Although they were saved with good intentions, it would have probably resulted in them being thrown away. Not ideal for anyone! Looking at your items monthly really helps get your items where you are intending them to go.

I’m a realist and I know that despite your (or my) best effort, the house will fill up again. We are human – it happens. You buy a new face product and the company includes 5 new samples with your purchase, your child has a birthday, heck – you have a birthday! When this happens, take a deep breath, and know that at the end of the month you'll have another chance to declutter.

My sister and I have a standing phone date every Thursday night after our kids go to bed. It always makes me laugh how often we talk about cleaning out our homes. No matter how often we go through things, a few weeks later there is already more than we want in our homes. It’s truly a never-ending effort in a busy household! This is why this monthly decluttering strategy is amazing. It makes cleaning and organizing a habit. At the end of the day, the best organizing strategy to maintain all your hardwork is the one you will actually do! If you're looking for a decluttering calendar for 2024, consider this monthly decluttering challenge to keep your home organized in 2024.

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organization - Wednesday, January 17, 2024

The Best Monthly Decluttering Strategy | Remove More Than 350 Items From Your Home This Year

Links with an * at the end are affiliate links and I may earn commission. Thank you for supporting my blog! T oday I am sharing the monthl...

Links with an * at the end are affiliate links and I will earn commission from purchases made. Thanks for supporting my blog!

If you're wondering what the best planner is for organizing your busy life, today's post is for you!

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If one of your goals for 2024 is to get more organized, or you're looking for a new planner to use in 2024... look no further than the Bloom Vision Planner*. This is the best planner to use in 2024.

I have used a paper planner pretty much every year since 7th grade. I love having a written list of things I need to do and important dates to remember. I've gone from using cheap planners, to paying close to $70 for my planner. About six years ago I stumbled across Bloom Vision Planner* and never looked back. This is the PERFECT planner and is right around $30. Trust me, once you see it... you won't want to buy anything else ever again. They come out with new cover designs each year, so even though I'm repurchasing each year it still feels new.

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Today I use my planner for everything: mom life tasks I need to remember, my daily to-do list at work, cleaning tasks that aren't repeated weekly (like cleaning the oven, for example), important dates, meal planning, etc. The Bloom Vision Planner* gives me the space for all of that and more.

The thing that first caught my eye about the Bloom Vision Planner* was the fact that the days are vertical. Planners with sideways rectanges for the day never made sense to me. It didn't work for a to do list as tasks or items to remember were just randomly placed in the box. A vertical box made the most sense sequentially-- especially since I treat my planner as a way to keep track of my to-do list at work! Surprisngly, there are very few planners out there with veritcal days.

Although the vertical days are what drew me to the Bloom Vision Planner*. there are so many more amazing features that really sets this apart from other planners.

Below are the top 6 features I love in my Bloom Vision Planner*.

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1. LIFE COACH PAGES: The Bloom Vision Planner* truly lives up to its name of vision planner. The start of each planner has multiple pages dedicated to writing out your vision for the year ahead. (They call them "Life Coach" pages.) I love the pages where you can set your top 5 goals for the year, things you want to look forward to, things you want to try, books to read, places to visit, things to improve on, and things to be grateful for. It is truly setting you up to have your best year ahead! In addition to the over-arching vision planning, the start of the planner also includes monthly habit tracking, a way to track what you want to do more of in the year ahead, what you want to do less of, pages to set out your ideal week, and more. I could go on and on about how amazing the start of this planner is. If you are looking for a planner that does more than keep track of your to-do list... you need to check this out. I have never seen another planner that does more to set you up for success in the year ahead. These pages make the Bloom Vision Planner* the best planner for goal setting.

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2. HEALTHY HABITS TRACKING: Each month in the Bloom Vision Planner*. starts with a full calendar view of the month ahead before you get a weekly view. The weekly view is where you can track those daily tasks. The healthy habit tracking is one of my favorite aspects of the week view. If you set a goal to do something X amount of times a week, you can track it here. For example, if your goal is to go to the gym 4 times a week. You can write that on the line and then fill in a circle each time you go to the gym. This visual representation will help you achieve your goals! (If you're setting more of a monthly goal ("I will move X amount of money to my high yield savings account each month"), the monthly habit tracking in the life coach pages might be a better place to track this. You'll have to play around with the planner to see what works best for you!) Again, another feature that makes Bloom Vision Planner* the best planner for tracking goals. The screenshots above show both the habit tracking in the weekly view and in the life coach pages.

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3. WEEKLY TOP PRIORITES: Another favorite feature of the weekly view in the Bloom Vision Planner*, is the "Top Priorities". Let's be real - there are always a thousand things to do each week. And sometimes you may be able to get to them all, and other times you're lucky to get 1 thing done. I love that the planner gives a space to call out the top 3 things you want to do in the week. That way, there is direction and clarity as you try to figure out your week. Anything after those three tasks is a bonus! (I usually use the side column of "notes, ideas, and to dos" for anything after those top 3 weekly tasks. which can be seen in the pictures above "Healthy Habits Tracking".)

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4. MONTHLY GOALS: True to it's name, before each month calendar view, the Bloom Vision Planner*, gives you a place to set monthly goals. They provide a few sample categories (or you can make up your own) such as personal growth, finances, fun and adventure, health and fitness, etc. The planner guides you to set the goal and then provide actionable steps you can do to make each vision a reality. This is a great planner for goal setting and goal tracking.

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5. QUOTES: A small aspect of the planner, but something I love is that every month kicks off what a quote. I love quotes so this is something I look forward to each month. Each monthly view in the Bloom Vision Planner* also includes a quote, as does the weekly view. This is something small they've added to the planner when you compare it against all the vision planning tools they give you. However, quotes really do a lot to provide motivation and inspire you -- so I love that they include these!

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6. REFLECTION: I wasn't originally planning to include this since I thought 6 was an odd number to end on, however I feel this is important to mention. The Bloom Vision Planner* not only gives you the tools for the year, but also gives you a chance to look back at the year once complete AND start planning for the year ahead. When you get to the end of the planner, there is a chance for you to fill out your monthly highlights and reflect on how you did on the goals you set at the beginning of the year. It asks for lessons learned and things you want to improve in the year ahead. It also has a page to give you a spot to write important dates for next year. I particularly love this feature as I will start to have things I need to remember in January/February/March (events at my kids schools, vacations, concerts, etc.) that I find out about in October/November. Having this dedicated page at the end of the planner gives me a way to write them down so I don't forget. Then, once I start filling in next year's planner, I can reference this page to make sure I don't forget anything! It is so nice to have a way to look back at the year and start planning for the year ahead!

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If you need a new planner for 2024 please look into the Bloom Vision Planner*. If you are looking for help setting goals in 2024 or need to get more organized, please check it out. Some other features I didn't even touch on are tracking your monthly expenses and tracking days your bills are due.

Bloom* has a lot of other product offerings that can help you make 2024 your most organized year yet. Planner stickets, notepads, wall calendars, file folders.. you name it. I've included some of my favorites in the graphic below.