Cut the Fluff 30-Day Challenge
Every time you move to a new place, there's always the opportunity to re-examine your possessions.
You have to/get to buy new stuff if the new place warrants it, or if something you have now doesn't survive the move.
And you get to get rid of stuff. Because it won't fit in the new place. Or because you really don't want or need it and you want to save yourself the trouble of moving it. Sometimes you're in a hurry and you box it up and move it anyway. At which point it will then still need to be thrown or given away, or it will sit in boxes, unpacked, likely until the next time you move. Or forever.
I'm giving up my apartment and moving into Missy's house. I'm practically already living in Missy's house. Without the vast majority of my stuff. It has impressed upon me just how much I don't want or need most of what I have. I also have the luxury of moving gradually over the next couple months.
Hence the 30-day challenge. Every day, for 30 days (which began on Monday, October 1) we are required to pick something to give or throw away, which we will photograph before we toss them or set them aside to be given away en masse.
I'm embarking on this journey for the reasons given above. Missy's embarking on this journey because it was easier for me if she did it, too. And because she has about 15 boxes of stuff in the garage that she could probably toss without ever even looking at again.
Hopefully, by then, I will have significantly lightened my load, both literally and figuratively. While tossing things, I'll also be packing the rest. Once the remaining furniture items get moved, I can call in someone to clean it for me. I am so unwilling to clean it myself, it is definitely worth the money to me to pay someone to clean up my empty apartment before the security deposit monsters get in there.
I feel lighter already!
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Congrats and good for you! We're about to begin our quarterly purge n' re-org of the house this weekend. Good times!
What a great idea!
What are you going to do with the photos, though?
My partner and I just moved from Minneapolis to Northfield, MN. (My commute to work from Apple Valley by bus is going well!) We took the opportunity and gave away things, and are really wanting to simplify too!
Good for you, and congrats on your move!
-Scott
What are you going to do with the photos, though?
They'll all go in a flickr set. I'll probably post them here periodically (weekly?).
The photos are the primary method of accountability, but if folks want to see what we're getting rid of, that's cool, too. ;)
In my defense, there are probably only 12 boxes of my stuff in the garage and I WOULD look in them before cutting them free. All in all I am finding it liberating to not feel the need to keep something just because someone gave it to me. Especially if the giver was someone I haven't seen in at least a decade and will probably never see again. Anyway, I am glad to have a buddy in this!
Oh, yeah, the best part is that you are coming to live with me! Yippee!!
Especially if the giver was someone I haven't seen in at least a decade and will probably never see again.
Okay, but what about your mom? ;)
I'm pleased with the results so far. Last night I turned up three items with relative ease. And with glee! That march to the dumpster was fun. I've already mentally set aside the next couple items.
Getting rid of things feels good. We ended up donating or throwing away many carloads of pure "stuff" before we moved and I miss the rush.
So if it's such a rush to get rid of stuff, how does that compare to the rush of getting stuff?
Clearly, there are lots of things that are foist upon us by gift-givers with good (or careless) intentions. Or free stuff just turns up. Or something we thought might be useful/interesting/valuable turns out not to be. But there's a rush in procuring new toys, too. I guess that's where things like "come back in a week and if you still want it, get it" and "only buy with cash" and all sorts of rationalization comes in.
Congrats to you and Missy, of course! It's SO good to purge and I'm certainly ready to start on this massive task in our household. I think we could prob drop a dozen or more items a day at this point. We just have too much stuff! And now comes the time to pull out the winter clothes too. Perhaps October should just be the De-fluff month for us all! ;)