I found an article on the Miss Minimalist blog that is timely for Halloween. It is also a great wrap up to the Great Purge of 2011! Or inspiration for purges you still have left to complete before year end.

The

I went shopping with my daughter last night for a white concert shirt. Those white shirts can be tough to find. We ended up finding a shirt at Sears for $12.50.

I paid with my debit card, but not before the sales clerk tried to convince me to apply for one of two different Sears credit cards. The incentive? The shirt would be free. A savings of over $13 once sales tax was added on.

Sears. You'll have to do better than that to convince me to apply for one of your cards. I'm not much a fan of your stores, although I love that I can find Land's End merchandise there and can return the stuff I buy online. Otherwise, your store is my last resort in shopping.

I passed up the credit card offer and paid the $13.25 for the shirt. That is a good deal on a shirt my daughter will wear three times in the next 7 months.

Would Sears have convinced you to apply for their credit card with the offer of a free item? Why or why not?

This is a long month between paychecks. It also seems to have been a bit spendy! I'm already dipping into some money I was hoping I could squirrel away for Christmas.

We have food at our house. Gas in the van. I don't think I'll do my usual fill up on Sundays. I've been filling the tank on Sundays and get a free newspaper for doing so. I know we can do without a newspaper this week.

We have our candy stash for Halloween. No one NEEDS clothes this weekend. As far as I can tell we should be able to make it through the weekend until payday.

Oh, just remembered we might need to procure a piece or two of posterboard for class projects. At least those are pretty cheap.

Did you just get paid or are you waiting until the first of the month, too? Are you looking to have a no spend weekend?

Today is the final day of the purge challenge. It's been fun and challenging. I'm glad I made the effort, but I'm ready to move on to other things. I'm sure you are ready to read other posts from me, too!

Here's the final purge list:
1 hand lotion
2 tubes expired ointment
1 clear bag
6 gift bags
1 pile of ribbon
1 set of gift tags
1 small gift box
2 rolls of gift wrap
1 pile of tissue paper and gift wrap scraps
21 pieces of paper

Again, I went above and beyond and found more than 27 items. Oops! I'm starting to wonder if that might be a point of the challenge to get you to find quite a few things, but find that you often exceed the goal. That can happen with any goal in my experience.

Thanks to all of you that have participated along with me. It was nice to have company! I'm glad I could help encourage you to purge. Will anyone continue to look for 27 items after today?

Last purge picture:

Tomorrow is the last day of this challenge. And to be honest, I'm glad. Locating 27 items per day is challenging and a bit time consuming. At least for someone like me that can be a bit obsessive compulsive!

Here's what I found for day 7:
1 map
1 brochure
1 necklace charm
1 set of ear bud covers
1 magazine
1 wooden handle extension
1 store member card
1 expired Entertainment book
1 pencil sharpener
1 rain poncho
1 can of lice spray
2 candles
1 sponge
14 pieces of paper

I believe that is 28 items. Geez. I am an overachiever. Forgive me.

I've noticed with this challenge that it is completely different that locating items for a garage sale. Most of the items I've decided to toss are insignificant, but yet excess stuff that really doesn't need to live with us in our home.

Those of you still participating are doing great! I know it is a tough challenge. Even one item a day is great in my book. Decluttering is really an ongoing process.

Do you want something for free or nearly free?

You can get two free card sets for the holidays (or another purpose)from Kodak Gallery. You do need to pay for shipping. Thus the nearly free reference. Although you might be able to pick up at a local store. Not sure.

Here's the 2 cards free

Everyday, I'm surprised at what I find to toss from our home. I actually recycle all the time, so I'm not including too many of those items. All the paper is from going through my file cabinet.

Here is today's list:
1 diet book
1 cd
1 door stop
16 pieces of paper
1 vacuum tool
2 hangers
1 package of freezer burned hot dog buns
1 package expired flax seed
2 bottles of dye
1 bottle expired vinegar
1 bolt

The total for today is 28 items! I made it. I hope I can make it for two more days. Are you finding this task challenging or is it a breeze for you? Let me know.

I found some more things to purge from our home. I'll admit this list has quite a bit of paper in it, but it all counts. It doesn't make for the best picture, but here it is:



2 used batteries
22 pieces of paper
1 used spiral notebook
1 non working flashlight
1 empty toothpaste tube
1 car air freshner (too strong)
21 recipe cards
1 used diet journal
1 pair of pantyhose
1 scarf
2 calculators

The scarf and pantyhose were in places that I had already looked, but I looked again and there they were...more items to get rid of!

The diet journal...completely filled out in 2007. It doesn't have much use other than to remind me that I did lose weight at one time and what I ate then. That will be pulled apart and recycled.

I entered about half of the recipe cards into my

I'm posting this early in the day because I actually found more things yesterday to total another 27 items. Now I'm like a day ahead. Sorry I'm really not trying to be an overachiever.

I hope my list might give you motivation today to find some things you can do without. We really need so little.

I posted a curb alert ad on craigslist yesterday and was able to dump a very worn patio set (table and 5 chairs) and a vanity light fixure I recently replaced in my bathroom. I tried to give away a car jack, but it was not of interest yesterday. If you are counting along that is 7 items!

The rest of the purge included:
3 pots worth of dead annuals
1 music cd
12 mini allen wrenches
1 plug adapter (that doesn't work)
1 miscellaneous tool
4 skewers
14 pieces of paper

That is a grand total of 43 items! Pictures below. Good luck today purging that which does not provide you with function and beauty.

I made it again...I found 27 items to purge from our home. Again, they are small things. Luckily for me, they add up!

1 gift bag
1 booklet
1 cat costume
1 bag of beads
1 jar expired yeast
1 ribbon
1 elastic casing
1 broken necklace
2 charms
1 bag of watch parts
1 spool of thread (near empty)
1 neck gaiter
1 cookbook
2 software discs
3 prs of tights
2 rebate cards
6 months of sales receipts (now shredded)

I'm still amazed that I have found this many items everyday. Glad to hear many of you are still challenging yourselves with tossing items, too. Every little bit helps keep the clutter in check.

The ironic thing is I'm about to head out shopping with the girls for some things they need. Shoes and pants. They keep growing. What can I do?!

Check in and let me know how it is going for you!

Here's the pictures:

This is going to be a hard challenge for me. I don't have big items to let go of. But I seems to have many small items!!

Today I purged:
1 costmetic bag
1 set of used razor blades
1 bag of hair ties
1 bottle of baby powder
1 set of eyeglasses
1 contact case
1 eyeglass case
1 pin
1 set of shower clips
1 screen door part (with instructions)
1 set of tire valve caps
1 otc expired medication
1 reusuable bag ( I don't like this one)
1 magnet
1 broken lipstick cap
1 key ring
1 halloween safety light
1 loose tea holder
4 liquid medicine cups
1 plastic knife/spoon
1 container of drink mix
1 box of cocoa...nearly empty
2 plastic bottles for recycling
1 old cut up debit card (received my new one yesterday)
1 pewter envelope opener

So 29 items or more if you count the hair ties and each razor blade, but I won't. I made the 27 item goal. I hope some of you have big stuff to get rid of. I find that more exciting! Here is the pictute, and yes, some items will be donated or recycled as necessary...otherwise they are trash.

Check in and let me know how you are doing on this challenge.

Okay I have my 27 items that are leaving this house. I just found the items as I was doing daily tasks this morning. As you can probably tell, these are the type of items that generally don't make the garage sale cut!!

Day 1
1 bag of freezer burned carrots (not in picture)
1 bag of freezer burned green beans
1 sponge
1 book
1 sewing machine box
8 pairs of socks
2 t shirts
5 pairs of underwear (not shown)
8 empty items to recycle

Oh look! That's 28 items. Can't wait to hear how you all do. Now here's the picture.

My mom is taking on a 9 day challenge to declutter, toss, recycle, purge 27 items each day. She started yesterday and made it to 27. I'm a little reluctant to say that I could do that many each day, but I think I'll try.

I'll be back later with an update. Maybe even a picture!

Anyone else want to join in for the next 8 days? Might helps us prepare for the upcoming holidays.

If I had to add anything to that previous list of 33 ways to reduce debt, I would suggest mail order prescriptions. Most plans offer this for ongoing prescriptions at a deep discount.

I recently just switched to mail order when I realized the price had increased again. The prescription (30 day supply) was usually $22 per month, but went up to $25. By mail order, I will get a 90 day supply for $25. Only $100 per year.

Do you realize the savings of that? I will save $200 per year by using mail order. That's huge!!

Why didn't I do this sooner? Because it seemed like a lot of work to contact the doctor for a change in prescription. This time the online site contacted my doctor for me. Easy!!

How much do you or could you save with mail order prescriptions?

A very inspiring list.

The couple referenced in

The regular payment on our truck loan posted yesterday. The principal portion reduced our loan balance to: $12,997.39!

We are under $13,000. Yipee!

In other news, I made a cover for my sewing machine. Now it doesn't have to sit in the original box from 1997! I found the idea and instructions

I mentioned last month that it would be nice to get the truck loan under $13K. With the regular payment we would be about $20 shy of meeting that mark. Today, I made a principal payment in the amount of $20. Our regular payment should post tomorrow. Until then our balance is:

$13,289.38

This is the first principal only payment I've made on this loan. It feels good, and I hope I can add more here and there in the coming months.

Stay tuned for the offical under $13K post...