Over the summer I meet Ann Marie, the master mind behind 40 Bags in 40 days or the 40 Trash Bag Challenge. I had followed her blog, White House Black Shutters, but never took on the challenge she created back in 2011. As a home stager I am proud to say I do practice what I preach, well, to an extent. I try to keep the house clutter free, but, if you told me I had to sell the house tomorrow I would be up for 24 hours and still not ready. In other words, I got stuff. Stuff tucked away and hidden in places that would need to be packed up. I don’t need type “stuff”. Or the I don’t use type “stuff.” Lastly, the stuff that I don’t know where it came from kind of stuff.
Well, this year I have taken on a couple “challenges” for myself.
Wellness
Business
Family and friends
So I thought, why not take on the house. I wasn’t sure where to start or even how to begin. Then, I saw a pop up on my Facebook about the challenge. If you are wondering where the 40 comes from, it has to do with Lent. You are suppose to give up something for Lent. This is not a religious post or plug, if you know me, you know I don’t push or talk religion to anyone. It’s like going to a party and bringing up Trump. You probably won’t get invited back to that party!
Or it’s like all those people celebrating Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras. I am pretty sure a lot of those people throwing beads, have no idea that it is the final celebration of the Christian Feast of the Epiphany. Exactly. Fat Tuesday is about binging before denying yourself something for the 40 days leading up to Easter.
So, Ann Marie created this concept to give up things in your house that fill up a bag every day for 40 days.
Years later she know has over 40,000 followers and I am now one of them!
To keep me motivated there is a Facebook group to help stay on track and focused. There is also a simple spreadsheet to keep you organized so you don’t get overwhelmed. I filled mine out already! Teachers pet anyone?
Okay, so here are a couple of my own tips that I thought I share
1. Coordinate with your calendar
You can see I have a couple rooms that took over a couple days. I know they need more than one day, cause I don’t plan on spending all my free time in the space. Also, I plan on doing this around bed time, so I don’t want to be up all night. I purposely scheduled harder areas for the weekend. Like my husbands office! yikes.
Also, I worked with my planner/calendar and noticed that there were certain days already booked for Stagings/work or kids events and I simply took those days off. Though, knowing me I will probably tackle an area anyway.
2. Leave Days for Non-Tangible Bags
I saved a few days at the end for non-tangible bags, like my computer, email, photos on iphoto/phone etc. Time to spend time organizing my files, my computer folders, and more. I am sure by this point when I have the house in order I will want to naturally organize and de-cluttering my phone and computers. Delete files, organize “folders” and more.
3. Re-visit
I have a couple make-up days at the end. In which I will go back and revisit certain spaces. I live in Chicago, and right now it is cold! In 40 days it might be sunny and warm so the winter clothes will be ready to be packed up for donations. That is why I am starting with the bedrooms and closets, knowing in 40 days they will need to be revisited.
4. Drop-off & For Sale
I plan to spend the last day dropping everything off at my local Good Will store or listing it online. There are a couple great local Facebook Virtual Garage Sales in my area and if it is furniture or larger pieces, I will set those aside for sale on this day.
Okay, so who is with me? Come join the cleanse with the 40 Trash Bags in 40 Days, and lets see where we are on April 15th. I will continue to update on the blog so if you aren’t ready just come back and check in.
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robin Rue says
I need to seriously declutter my house. I JUST told my husband last night to order a dumpster in April so we can clean out our basement.
Lynn M. says
Great Challenge. As someone that is all about minimalism and decluttering I absolutely love this challenge. I can’t wait to see how it goes when you’ve done the whole 40 bags and how it feels!
Jessi says
This is great! I actually have like 4 boxes ready for donation already just sitting by my door. I have been on a massive de-clutter kick lately.
Kindness in Demand says
I’m trying so hard to become a minimalist. I need to try this challenge. I have been throwing a lot of things away but I could definitely be doing more.
Terri Steffes says
I think I will give this challenge to my husband. He follows through and it would actually get done. I love the checklist.
Reesa Lewandowski says
I am down for this challenge for sure!!!! i am going to start tonight! I have so much clutter to get rid of!
Shelby says
What a great challenge. I love how the calendar will keep you organized and allow you to track your progress. I don’t know if I could fill 40 bags, but I should do a purge of all my stuff.
amber says
We move across the country… a lot. So in our home, something kind of like it gets done before each move, and again when unpacking (because let’s face it… sometimes we have weak moments while packing and we are in disbelief when unpacking and how much STUFF we brought!). I’ve pinned this because I really like how it breaks it up into small chunks!
Ana De- Jesus says
Great way to make new changes for lent. I have 5 days to find a new place and I have a lot of stuff too. Let the challenge commence!
Jalisa Harris says
This is so useful. I’m actually moving next moving into our first home so decluttering is the first things we shall first do.
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh says
I’m a thrower awayer…so i don’t have a lot of clutter…perse. I do have places that the clutter seems to pile up, and it’s out of eyesight, so I need to do this in those few places!
Jessica says
Great challenge . I love decluttering I do a massive declutter once every few months makes me feel so good to get rid of the unnecessary stuff
Nikki says
I love this idea! I’ll never become a minimalist, but I do have a lot of stuff I need to get rid of. Breaking it down like this will really help!
Sally says
I seriously need to take the time to do this. Usually, I just end up getting frustrated and then everything goes lol Super awesome challenge.
Lydia says
Ok, I LOVE this idea. I love organizing and clean out weekly, but if I wanted to deep clean/organize, this would be the way to do it.
Amber Nelson says
we do this every spring. it is a great feeling to get rid of a bunch of stuff that we don’t use!
Tereza says
I absolutely love this – what a clever idea! Ive already printed off the sheet because I’m midst spring clean and this will definitely help. We’ve already taken 6 bags to the charity but there’s MORE haha! X
Heather says
I would love for my entire family to participate in this challenge! Our home really needs some decluttering.
Brittany says
I did this right before I moved and it was so good. I got rid of so many things and it felt great!
Heather says
I did a project similar to this a couple years ago – 31 bags in 31 days. It was really freeing. Of course I feel like I am constantly getting rid of stuff with three kids! I might have to take this on again!