Donation made in October. Those gold lamps are the ones that were on our dresser before I found THESE lamps to replace them.
I keep a large moving box, that we call The Donation Box, in an out-of-the-way corner of our living room. Any time I move something, put away laundry, rearrange a cupboard or closet, I subject the items to a simple test ... Is this item useful and does it bring me joy? Answer "Yes", and the item is kept, put to use, or stored away till it's time to use it. Answer "No", and it get dropped into The Donation Box.
When The Donation Box is full, I catalog the items, load them up, and take them away. My most favorite place to donate things is to Re-Tail, a thrift shop on the other side of town, whose proceeds benefit an all-breed animal sanctuary.
This is what The Donation Box looks like right now.
Today is New Year's Eve, the 365th day of 2015. Without including the items that are currently in The Donation Box, which will probably go to the thrift store next week or later, 374 items left our house and went to outlets that support causes that benefit people and animals in our community! 374 isn't a huge number, considering how much extra stuff we still have to deal with. But, it's a start ... and that lofty goal that I set for for 2015 has led to a habit and a system that will allow us to continue to make progress toward living with WAY less stuff in the future.