Whoa!

So, we called the sale and packed the car with the leftovers to donate somewhere.  I got a shower and then sat down with my notebook to tally up my notes on how many things I managed to purge this weekend for my 365 less spreadsheet.  Basically, I counted everything I had set out at the beginning of the sale, and subtracted the few things I brought back into the house at the end.  For the record, I did NOT count any of the things my husband put out for the sale.  This is my goal, so only things that I'm responsible for count.  I entered all the numbers into my spreadsheet and... (drum roll)...

I stand at a net loss of 375(!) personal possessions right now at the sixth month point in my goal.  I hit my goal in six months!

The game is not over though.  What matters is the number I have at the very end of the year.  I can't very well go filling my house back up with stuff at this point. 

I am thinking that since I managed to hit -365 in only half a year, I'm going to go ahead and shoot for double that: -730.  I don't know if I'll be able to hit that, but it's certainly something to shoot for, and as long as I keep going, my original goal is a sure thing at the very least.  Yeah, I'm going to shoot for -730 now.  As long as I maintain the -365 for the end of the year, I'll still be thrilled regardless.

It's really amazing to me to think of all we've purged, that quite a few things weren't even counted because they were Craig's and not mine, and yet I still feel like I have too much stuff.  How much crap we accumulate, and never really think twice about stock-piling!  And I do mean crap, because so far, parting with these things hasn't been painful at all.  I don't feel like it's that much a difference, but then I think back to the first of the year, the piles of stuff in the corners, the magazine collection, the books I wasn't going to read and clothes I no longer wore, ...and I realize that I have pared down a hell of a lot, and I sure as hell don't want to go back to the state of things at the beginning of this project.

All in all, this project is definitely a success, and I feel quite safe saying that with still six months still to go!