A few weeks ago I shared my fifteen day minimalism challenge and every single point on the list was tested by me, and it not only works, but it also makes you feel really good after finishing it. Now it’s the time to let you know a bit more of my experience with each one of these challenge points.
Starting with cleaning out your closet. This might be one of the most difficult points for a lot of people, but there’s a way of making it easier.
First of all it’s important that you reserve a full day to go through your wardrobe piece-by-piece and get rid of anything that you haven’t worn in years or even months.
One of the benefits of getting rid of all the clothes that I didn’t need is that now it’s so much easier to find an outfit in the morning before going to work! I know exactly what I have in my wardrobe so, for example, when I get invited somewhere, I immediately know which dress to wear and it made my life so much easier.
One of my biggest issues when deciding to give away my clothes was thinking that I spent money on it and now I was giving it away for free. But I quickly realise that keeping something just because I spent money on it, but I actually never wear it, it’s just a waste of my time and space at home.
I adopted a few options that you might consider adopting too.
Give it to charity.
The fact that your clothes will go to someone who needs them way more than you do is enough to make you want give them away. There are great charities with amazing causes everywhere in the world. I chose Cancer Research UK and Fundação do Gil to give away more than 12 bags of clothing that I haven’t worn in years, but has always been there in the back of my closet waiting for the perfect occasion.
Give it to a friend or family.
You know how your friends always compliment your outfits or your stylish choices? You might think they’re just being nice, but most of them really like what you wear and would love to have it. I put together a few bags of clothes that I offered to people closer to me and if they didn’t like it, then I would put it into charity bags. A lot of people were looking at buying something similar and I just made their life easier. And mine, of course!
Recycle it.
Pinterest is the best place to find creative ideas of recycling your clothes. You can turn t-shirts into bags to go grocery shopping, dresses into pillow cases, etc. This summer my mom was able to turn old jeans into a beach umbrella bag. Pretty clever!
Sell it.
There are websites such as Depop where you can sell old items. But you also have Facebook groups where you can sell second-handed clothing for a good price.
Think before buying more.
If you’re going to get rid of clothes to go and buy more, please don’t even go through the trouble. It’s important to buy with a purpose. Don’t just buy something because you have the money or the time. Buy something because you need it and you don’t have something similar at home.
Once someone told me that we spent a lot of money on clothes for special occasions, but we only wear it once or twice. Then when it comes to daily clothing we tend to buy the cheapest. And it should be the other way around. We should invest more in clothes that we are going to wear more often, so they last and we feel good every day when we wear them.
If you’ve tried this challenge before I would love to read your experience on the comments’ section.
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