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.

[Owlie]

I'm a packrat. I'm slowly getting rid of the books I haven't read (and won't get around to reading). Clothes, likewise. Most of my problem is that my dressy clothes are a lot of the ones that I haven't worn for a year, and I know that if I get rid of them, there will be a panic the next time I need nice clothes. (I hate clothes shopping, you see.) I have some bike stuff I don't wear I need to sell.

There's a non-zero chance I will be moving into a studio in August. 1 room to absorb 3 rooms of stuff. My parents are hanging on to some of my furniture and kitchen supplies on the grounds my sister may need it, or I might need it if I move into a larger apartment for the second year. (Helps that not all of it is actually mine.) I don't know how I accumulated so much crap in four years of college...

[Tri Girl]

It feels SO cathartic to purge my unnecessary stuff!!
I'm not the problem in my house, tho. My hubs is a bit of a pack-rat, so it's hard for him to give up things. For example, we have the 1969 Encyclopedia Brittanica set his mom got when she graduated high school. He won't get rid of it.... Egads, man! I purge things when he's at work or not looking- things I know he'll never need/use/miss. We have two sets of couches (one set is in the sun room and gathers junk) because we "might need it on day." It's maddening.

BUT- I do purge things and donate regularly to charities (once a month I have them come pick up some boxes).

I've been following this blog lately (and on FB) and I'm leaning more towards his thinking. We have too much stuff and are super-consumers in America. I want to live simpler. It's the 100 Thing Challenge. The challenge is to only have 100 things in your home at one time. When something comes in, something goes out. Trying to get people to scale back what they have and need.
http://guynameddave.com/about-the-100-thing-challenge/

[malkin]

If you are getting down to 100 things, are you going to count each component on your bike or does the bike only count as one?

[Tri Girl]

a bike counts as one thing- at least in my house- otherwise all I'd own are bike parts. and underwear.
I don't have 100 things. I'm quite certain I have close to 800. really, I have no idea. I just try to live by his mantra of:

reduce (get rid of some of your stuff)
refuse (to get more new stuff)
rejigger (your priorities)

When something new comes in, something old must go out.
When I buy something new, it's usually just "new to me" from the thrift store. I haven't shopped in a regular store in a long time (again, except for underwear).

[Pax]

Tri Girl - I'm in the same boat, I live very simply and with minimal clutter... my SO is a pack rat. She's gotten much better over the years but it's still an issue for us.

We're prepping for our next transition and have been inventorying everything we own, I'll suggest selling the chairs in the living room and she'll agree (we won't have room when we move), then she backtracks and suggests we put them in storage. As you said, it's maddening.

[Tri Girl]

Tri Girl - I'm in the same boat, I live very simply and with minimal clutter... my SO is a pack rat. She's gotten much better over the years but it's still an issue for us.

We're prepping for our next transition and have been inventorying everything we own, I'll suggest selling the chairs in the living room and she'll agree (we won't have room when we move), then she backtracks and suggests we put them in storage. As you said, it's maddening.

Comforting to know I'm not alone. Frustrating to say the least, eh?
If it were up to me, we'd have enough furniture to fill 2 of the 5 rooms in our house and be done with it. Then I'd move to a condo and downsize. That's not going to happen, tho. I swear, those dadgum encyclopedias are going to accidentally catch on fire one day... and Big Junk day is coming up and that couch and loveseat are on the chopping block!

[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.