Comments on: What Do I REALLY Need In My Life?

By: David

David — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:58:25 +0000

emily – I agree, blogging about it will keep me accountable as well!

By: emily

emily — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:56:44 +0000

I’ve done (almost) exactly this as my new year’s resolution. In the fall we are moving home to the states from toronto, ontario, and will have an allotted two hours of elevator time to get everything out of our apartment and into the moving truck. I knew that this would be the one move that couldn’t drag out all day… no last minute sorting and tossing and “should I keep this or not?” while packing up all of those last odds & ends.

I decided that each week I’d get rid of, organize, or condense at least one thing. It’s ended up being more like a bag a week of donated goods, condensing all old photo albums into small storage boxes at one time, etc… once you start getting rid of stuff, it can become rather addictive.

Blogging my weekly task has also held me accountable

By: David

David — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:11:35 +0000

Fabric only counts as 1

By: David

David — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:40:54 +0000

I am putting my first 10 items up tomorrow morning – will make it a weekly feature! Come along

By: marci

marci — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:27:18 +0000

10 items a week…. this seems like a doable goal to me…i’ll join you.
Altho at some point I may have to up the ante cuz I don’t have enough years left to get rid of all the junk at the 10 items a week pace…that’s only 520 per year….hmmmm

Does each piece of old polyester fabric count as ‘one’ haha…. I’m a fabricaholic for sure. And its gotta go!

By: Leah

Leah — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:13:01 +0000

In my recent move, I feel like we did a good job weeding out the major clutter. Now it’s down to the hard stuff (well, I MAY need it one day) and I’ve learned to accept that it’s a slow process.

Sometimes you’re just not ready to let something go. I had to wait two years before I was ready to let my grad school stuff go, but when I was ready, it felt SO GOOD to say goodbye.

By: Chandra

Chandra — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:08:06 +0000

I have the same thing going on in my life. I’ve gotten rid of all the “clutter” and now I have a very bare and pretty organized home. Yet, I still find myself looking around and feeling boxed in by those last things that feel like necessities but I’m sure I could live without. I kinda take it day by day looking around to see what I am comfortable with getting rid of today. I like your idea of doing 10 things a week. That seems very do-able. I’m not sure I have much advice as far as getting over that whole “I may need this ______” But I guess I’d say (for my little tip) I would rather just repurchase that item (and see how long it takes me to think I even need it again) or go without it the once a year I may need it (like a ice shaver, lol) Anyway, hope that helps!
-Chandra

By: rachel

rachel — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:46:03 +0000

I too am clutter free, I recently went through and decluttered my closets and drawers. It is amazing what is not crap, but not what you need. I had a curling iron and blow dryer for example. We live in a warm place and I have not curled my hair in about 5-7 years. So they went. Frames, blankets, sheets, make up bags, clothing, ect…
All good items, maybe just not for you and your home now.
Plus now when I go to the store and want a new whatever, I ask myself…will this be really liked in 1 month, 1 year, 5 years? Most (99.9%) of the time the answer is no! I think it will be easy for you to get rid of more than 10 items a week.
good luck!

By: nan

nan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:39:39 +0000

I loved living in my truck then a motorhome. You have to pare down that way! You truly have only what you need. It’s so cool.

By: David

David — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:23:51 +0000

Ah, the perpetual “free” box – I have one too! I think if I dropped dead, people would wonder where all my stuff was. But for me, even the stuff I do have is too much!