Minimalism Accomplishments

I found my Marie Kondo checklist and decided to check off all the items I'd gone through since April. I've skipped around a lot and some days I feel like I've made very little progress. But as I read through these categories, I've done an awful lot! Maybe even more than half?

There are a few things I've been working on, or started, and will take me some time. I'm more than half way through 'lecture notes & handouts.' And I've made some progress with 'scrapbooks'. I've done cleaners, but I don't know how to dispose of them, so I've been trying to use them up. I've heard rumor there's a hazardous waste drop-off day but depending on where you are, it may be only once a year. I'm not sure how to find out about it locally. Google?

Today I did Skincare, Samples & Travel sizes, Soap & Body wash, and Oral hygiene. I had a huge pile of lotion products I never use because I don't like creamy-type lotions, and I called each company and determined it's expiration date. There were two large bottles that were still in date, and one small hand cream that wasn't far enough past date that I felt it needed to be chucked. So the little bottle is in the bathroom. In theory, my husband occasionally uses lotion, but I suspect he hasn't actually in years.

I also found a second stash of medicines, so I went though all my medicines again and checked dates. I have a very full grocery bag to drop off at the police station. I called around and found my city's police department takes expired medications. I've also heard that some pharmacies do. There's still quite a pile of 'expired' medicines I think I'm still keeping. It's shocking to see how quickly the dates come up on them and how little of the product I use. It's shown me that most of the time I need to purchase the smallest package possible. I think I have about 6 medications that are actually within their use by date. I probably had about 50 boxes and bottles of medications originally.

I did the home school closet and added bubbles and water balloons into it because that seemed like a better spot than the kitchen... I hope. As long as the kids don't dump it out in the closet. I also added the twin sheets into that closet because that's the only room in the house with a twin bed, and it doesn't fit in the laundry room. It's way more useful and accessible in my son's closet, especially where he's wetting the bed often. I usually lock his closet, so he doesn't get into it.