Last weekend I had enough. I stood in my kitchen staring at a counter top covered in stuff, then I looked over to my living room, which was covered in stuff. Every flat surge of my house... stuff.

And I just lost it. I asked Jason if he was a frustrated as I was and he said yes. Where did it all come from? You might remember we purchased our home at the tail end of 2014 and before we moved we got rid of half our stuff. Literally. Half our stuff.

And then we managed to get it all back plus some... Part of it is because my monthly purging sessions went by the wayside. And part of it was because I had people bringing things to my house for my kids. Boxes and boxes of things, and for a long time I felt like I had to keep them because if I didn't I was being rude. But then I got over it.

Guilt should never be a reason we hold on to things. We only have so much space in our home and our lives- shouldn't we fill it with things that bring us joy instead of things that bring us stress?

So I've decided to take my house back one black trash bag at a time.

Today I wanted to share a list of things I am donating or tossing.

1. Clothes that don’t fit (consider donating to Schoola)

2. Clothes that don’t flatter

3. Old stained and holey towels (your local animal shelter might take them)

4. Old books you aren’t going to read again

5. Magazines

6. Broken toys

7. Board games with missing pieces

8. Extra headphones that came with your old cell phones

9. Serving bowls (you only need a few)

10. Socks without matches

11. DVDs for shows now streaming

12. Low-quality children’s books – this means books that are based on TV or movie characters example books about Elmo purchased from the Dollar Tree. Focus instead on a collection of good quality children’s books. Quality over quantity

13. Cookbooks you haven’t used in six months

14. Old CDs (upload them to your computer)

15. Out of date or dried out makeup

16. Broken or out of date jewelry

17. Purses you haven’t used in a few seasons

18. Candles that no longer have a burning wick (Turn them into wax melts- perfect for gifts.)

19. Undergarments that no longer flatter or support ;)

20. Shoes that pinch your toes or shoes you just don’t like

21. Old nail polish

22. Expired medication

23. Expired coupons

24. Empty jars you’re not going to use for canning

25. Old sheets (I am firm believer you only need two sets of sheets for each bed)

26. Plastic containers with no lids or stained sandwich containers

27. Old or broken technology

28. Casserole dishes you haven’t used in a while

29. Plastic grocery bags

30. Old calendars

31. Promotional t-shirts (these make GREAT rags)

32. Clothes your children have outgrown (if you’re saving for future children or younger siblings only save things you absolutely love)

33. Free samples (donate!!)

34. School bags no longer in use

35. Old spices

36. Gift bags or gift wrap that is not in good condition

37. Children’s artwork that isn’t special. (I keep my children’s artwork in a three ring binder and look through it often. I keep things they painted or things that are their hand or footprints. But I don’t color sheets, doodles or precut crafts.)

38. Emory boards

39. Duplicate kitchen items like wooden spoons or oven mitts

40. Junk mail

41. Bills you’ve already paid

42. Old boxes (recycle!)

43. Old sippy cups that are grimy

44. Dried out paint

45. Extra cords and cables

46. Extra blankets

47. Stuffed animals

48. Old notebooks

49. Dried out pens