Purging in the Time of Pandemic: Physical Stuff

Typically when I write about purging and provide how-to tips, I always recommend trying to sell, donate, or gift unwanted items. However, in the time of pandemic, these types of interactions are being discouraged for safety reasons. While it may be tempting to do some spring clean purging, unless you have space to store items for donating/selling later, extreme times call for a different and more adaptive approach.

So what can I purge? I’m sure some of you are thinking right now.

First of all, electronic items can be purged, organized, and “spring cleaned” any time without leaving your house or sharing anything physical with anyone. I’ll blog more about strategies to get started with electronic stuff in next week’s blog.

Regarding physical stuff, which is typically what people think about with purging, I recommend cleaning out the kitchen and bathroom. These are two areas of our house where products expire. It’s always a good idea to make sure bathroom and kitchen stuff is getting used up before it goes bad.

Since the pandemic guidelines encourage us to limit trips to the grocery stores, this is a perfect opportunity to do a full inventory of the kitchen. Now is the time to pull out those emergency cans of food and dust off the old boxes of pasta. Assess your spice collection. Get creative with what you find. The internet offers a wealth of recipes for whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Learn how to finally cook that bag of hard beans that’s been sitting in your cupboard for way too long. Consider using your available free time to master some new bean recipes. I’m a big fan of refried beans myself. And if you have an Instant Pot, hard beans can been cooked in 35 minutes.

And if cooking isn’t your thing, the bathroom is always a great place to do inventory. Go through all your bathroom stuff and assess what you have. Designate a place to put all the things you want to use up. For example, I found a number of face masks people gave me that I’ll be using for some impromptu spa days in the next few weeks. Inventorying and organizing your bathroom stuff may also save you a trip or two to the drugstore and some money.

I’ve saved lots of money since I re-organized my bathroom. Turns out I was a bathroom hoarder!

Happy purging!