Simplicity | Step Five: Purge/Declutter

The original post can be found here.

My next simplicity step is one that I have been doing for years, and I am sure many of you do it as well.

Organize/purge on a cycle.

When I was teaching, I would go through my room (when I was single) or house (once I was married) twice a year. The first was during Christmas break, and the second was during the summer (my two big breaks). I would go through my closets, drawers, and under my bed (I used it for storage of hope chest items), toss what was unusable, give away or sell items that were in good condition but I would not be using again, and keep only what I needed. For some, twice a year is all that is necessary. However, a husband, two children, and bigger house later, I am finding that cycle organizing is what works for me. So exactly what is that?

For me cycle organizing means that I start at one end of the house and begin the organizing/purging process one room at a time. By the time I make it all the way around the house, it has been about 4-5 months and I begin the process all over again. For me, this method keeps things from having a chance to build up around us. It also makes the next cycle of organizing and cleaning out easier because fewer things have had a chance to accumulate.

Those of you who have small children know that they outgrow clothing sometimes in about three months. It is nice to be able to go through my children's drawers and cycle out the smaller sizes and cycle in the bigger sizes. This also gives me a better picture of what my children actually have available to wear, and gives me a heads up if it is time to take them clothing shopping.

Toys are also great to cycle in and out. (Check out my post at Frugal Homeschool Family for more on that.) By cycling toys, Addie always has something new-to-her to play with and her toys get plenty of use. As she outgrows items, they are either sent to Goodwill or saved for Baby number 2 (thinking ahead...nothing more :).

Also because of the cycle, my cabinets, closets, and drawers stay neater and doing a quick purge is always possible. It also keeps me aware of what I have, so buying doubles rarely happens.


I would encourage you to clean out one drawer or cabinet today. It can be a craft drawer, clothing drawer, bathroom drawer, bathroom cabinet, kitchen cabinet, or (dare I say!) junk drawer.

Have a blast!