Unnecessary Stuff

[Jen12]

Do you ever look around your home and realize how much Crap You Don't Need is around? Seriously? About a year ago I started thinking what if I were to move, and how much of a hassle it would be to move some of this stuff. I feel like I've been downsizing forever. I've gotten rid of shoes I don't wear, clothes that don't fit and load after load of books have gone to the used bookstore. I'm about to dump a CD player that is very tempermental and works intermittently since I can play CDs through the computer and/or the DVD player. I've also gotten rid of random stuff on ebay, that for some reason, other people deem worth money. And I backtrack and wonder how much larger my bank account would be if I didn't have so much STUFF. I have no doubt that in a year or two I'll be looking for something or other that I got rid of, but, oh well...

Yet, there still seems like so much! Worse yet, whenever I'm in a store, this or that seems like a good idea...oy!

Does anyone else get in a purge frenzy at times?

[smilingcat]

Yes when I recently moved to Oregon. "STUFF"made me miserable!!

Someway, I want to get rid of the pottery equipment: electric kilns, wheels, extruder, all the kiln furniture, posts and shelves... to glaze supplies and about a ton of clay. Then I also have commercial cooking equipment like a 30qt Hobard mixer, a cooling rack, a KingKong Cookie dropper with about 4 dies... then there are mountain of books. I really am thinking seriously about going over to e-books and get rid of all that pulp.

I haven't gotten around to getting rid of cloth no longer in fashion nor cloth I can't reasonably fit in to age inappropriate cloth (too old).

YES! Travelling light is the way to go!!

[grey]

I have been getting rid of stuff for a year, and I still feel surrounded by STUFF! But, I have a small house and a lot of interests, so does the hubs. I make a lot of things way ahead of time for Christmas presents, so that takes up space. I'm at the point where I ask myself what my favorite things are, and try to note anything that doesn't get used and set it aside for a few months. If I don't miss it, out it goes. So far I have missed a few things, but there's always something else that can fill in the gap.

[VeganBikeChick]

I have never felt so happy as when I purged all of my "unnecessaries". I try to live pretty light these days but occasionally still feel the urge to splurge. I live in a studio with a daybed that also functions as my couch, my dresser is also my tv stand. I just got rid of my internet (why pay when I can use my building's wifi for free?), and only watch antenna tv. Any shows I can't see on antenna I can catch on hulu or the network's site on my computer.

My big weakness is kitchen gadgets (don't think about touching my food processor!) but I love to cook and so I rationalize that I spend far less on cooking my own meals than eating out.

I currently don't have a car and commute everywhere by bicycle/bus/walking, and that helps a lot too. I thought I would "miss" all of my nonessentials, but it's actually quite freeing. And by not having a car, it really limits my necessary purchases.

[westtexas]

When I moved a couple of months ago, I downsized from a 3/2 with 1200 sq ft and a 2 car garage to a 1/1 with 700 sq ft and a 1 car garage I have to walk to. I had to get rid of a lot of stuff. And what I found out it that I didn't get rid of enough! Packing all that junk and having to pay someone to schlepp it across the state was no fun (especially the unpacking). I definitely wish I had less stuff. Donating most of my old furniture and clothing and other gently used items to charity (lots of yard care stuff since I don't have a yard anymore) was really satisfying and now I have more than a thousand dollars in tax write offs for next year.

I like the George Carlin sketch on "stuff". First you get some stuff. And then you need a place for your stuff. And then your house fills up with stuff so you need a storage place. And you gotta keep your stuff safe... etc. etc. Hilarious, but true.

[colorisnt]

I try to live light as well. I am cleaning up the house for my best friend's annual visit to the states. I have a 2bdrm 1 bath that has the second bdrm as an office/guest room. I had way too much crap in my kitchen. I was glad to be rid of it all TBH.

It's why I am selling the trainer I never use. It was just taking up space in my "office".

When I moved to England, I brought 3 suitcases for a year. I needed 3 because my meds took up an entire suitcase! In that year, I accumulated a LOT of crap.

[shootingstar]

Hey TriGirl, I was trying understand if 100 items, meant that does having 1 type of item constitute 1 or counting individual copies..?

Anyway, if 1 counts all my tops, and 1 counts all my 6 spoons, etc. then 1 would have be under 100 types of items/material possessions. At least here in Calgary. Yes, absolutely one can live simply. Some of us do remember what life was like at university/college.

But still in Vancovuer, I have a ton of stuff. I actually forgot to comb through it to discard some stuff since I was too busy enjoying my time there recently.

[malkin]

I'll count things collectively...

I know, I'll keep only one thing: "Stuff I like" then I can get rid of everything else, which will all be "stuff I don't like."

Somehow, that doesn't seem as cool and blogworthy as only having 100 things.