13/50 Advent Clearout

First day of advent clearout

It’s that time of year again.  The Christmas lights are going up, the stockings are being hung by the fire place and the advent calendars have arrived.  Since we’re incredibly spoilt, Alan and I have two each this year (Thanks Mum and Nan) so we’ve decided to put them to more use than simply adding calories to our diet.  In the spirit of clearing out and Christmas minimalism, we have decided that we will choose something to get rid of for every day of advent.  Each day when we open the door to enjoy a chocolatey treat and maybe a poor excuse for a joke, we will also be selecting one item or collection of items to go in the basket to be cleared out.

One way or another these items will be out of our lives, be they trashed, boot saled or donated.  We’re keeping all of the items in one growing pile so that we can see vividly the amount of things which we’d happily live without.  As well as this, we’re writing the chosen item on the back of each door on the calendar so that we make sure that one item goes for every day up to Christmas.  Already, only a week in, we’ve filled up a washing basket with items which have either never been used or not touched for years.  Imagine how big the pile will be in three weeks time, once Christmas is over!

Pre-Christmas clearout

As we count down to our departure, this is such a useful exercise to really get us thinking about all of the belongings we really don’t need and that will eventually have to go when we move.  Although, I’ve been gradually throwing things away for months, this has so far been harder than I’d guessed as I’m starting to encounter the items which aren’t quite so easy to part with.  But, with our eyes on the goal of not being weighed down by our belongings, this is jump starting our clearout motors.

How do you prepare for Christmas?  Do you use your advent countdown in any imaginative way?

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