"The things I consumed ended up consuming me"

An interesting and quick article about a man who realized the detrimental effects of all his "stuff" and found happiness in relationships and experiences :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html?_r=0

Do I Need This?

I just stumbled across this on the internet and felt compelled to post this. It's how I feel about pretty much all new "stuff" right now, and is pretty hilarious:

Now just replace the word "panflute" with anything at all you are tempted to buy or debating getting rid of. I've realized that, chances are, if I haven't needed it before now, and if I am even contemplating getting rid of it, I probably don't need it. This flowchart is my new de-cluttering motto :)

Buy Nothing New Vacation!

Sorry for disappearing so abruptly -- I was on vacation in Washington DC earlier this week and had a fabulous time!

Now I'm not one to go on vacation to go shopping, so my first vacation in the "buy nothing new" year wasn't too challenging, but it did make me more aware of my past vacation spending habits.

Look Familiar? These little stands seem to be everywhere in every major city in the world.

We went to several of the Smithsonians and many of the national monuments, and every single one had its own gift shop. The Smithsonians had multiple gift shops per museum, and everywhere we went these little tourist shops seemed to be full of people. 

Now I have a confession to make -- in the past, I would have been one of them. I used to (as in years ago) be a little obsessed with collecting, and convinced that I needed souvenirs to remember every cool place I'd ever been. In the last few years, I've started to get away from this as I've begun to de-clutter, but I would still find myself looking for a hat pin or postcard or some small trinket to memorialize the experience. 

Why do we feel that we need physical objects to help us remember fun experiences? Is it because we're afraid we'll forget them? Or because we're drawn to the novelty of something we can't buy anywhere else? Is it to show off to friends all the cool things we've done?

And then what happens to these trinkets? As I've been de-cluttering this year, I have come across several vacation souvenirs. It's probably the first time I've looked at many of them since the vacations they came from. Some of them are so random that I don't even remember where I got them.

And what about the souvenir-less vacations that I've taken? Are they any less special, do I remember them any less fondly because I didn't buy a little plastic Eiffel Tower, etc.? 

Okay, so maybe I had way too long to think about this on the plane, but I'm grateful that I've come to a place where I don't feel that I need physical mementos to remind me of the special times in my life. Not that there's anything wrong with a souvenir here and there, but it's nice to feel less and less connected with objects, and more connected with the memories and experiences themselves. I think this is one of my favorite side effects of my "buy nothing new" year so far. 

Freecycle!

I recently joined a freecycle group, and I am loving the generosity, thriftiness, and dedication to waste reduction of the people in these networks! For those who aren't familiar, you basically join a Freecycle network in your area and then can give and get a wide assortment of things for free. 

I don't check it daily, as I'm still trying to de-clutter, but when there is something that I'm looking for, I will definitely stop here first! I'm also planning on listing our old couch on here, so if anyone wants a free couch, check it out :)

http://www.freecycle.org/

Another great site with the same idea:

http://trashnothing.com

Which reminds me, my make-your-own-couch post will be up sometime this week! I'm excited.

De-Cluttering the Mailbox

An important part of de-cluttering for me this year has been de-cluttering my mailbox. Along with all the various envelopes for people who no longer live at my house, we also get a seemingly endless supply of magazines, catalogs, adtervisements, and coupons. These drive me a little bit crazy because a.) wow, what a waste of paper, b.) I hate going to get the mail and then realizing that there is actually nothing in that pile for me or anyone who lives here, and c.) I really don't need catalogs and coupons that encourage me to buy more "stuff" that I really don't need (How often does a really good coupon make you go out and buy something that you didn't want or need in the first place?).

So I've taken a couple of different steps to reduce the junk mail, and it's really been working really well! How did I do it?

1. I opted out of all credit card pre-screen offers Here (This site is endorsed by the US Trade Commission, so it's legit!)

2. I created an account on DMA Choice which allowed me to opt-out of all catalogs, magazines, etc. You can also use this site to just opt out of the catalogs you don't want. I've found that this site keeps you off of future mailings lists for new catalogs, but doesn't really stop the ones you are already receiving.

3. I used Catalog Choice to easily submit requests to the catalog companies that were still sending me material. This site makes it pretty simple to opt-out.

4. For any catalogs, magazines, newsletters, etc. that I was still receiving, I contacted the companies directly and asked them to remove my name from their mailing list. Most companies allow you to do this online.

5. For mail that I received not addressed to me, I marked it "Return to Sender" and put it back in the mailbox.

That may seem like a lot of steps, but it really didn't take long at all, and most of it can be done online. Finally being able to open the mailbox without being bombarded by random junk I don't need is so worth it, and by avoiding unwanted catalogs and coupons, I really haven't felt any urge at all yet to buy something new.

So the "buy nothing new" year continues and many trees are saved :)

Part Two of my Resolution

So as previously stated, my New Years' resolution is to de-clutter my life. Part one of this process is the "buy nothing new" year, which is going well so far (although I'm only 10 days in!). Part two is to de-clutter my home by getting rid of some of the random junk that I have lying around that I really don't need.

The beginnings of my Goodwill pile!

Originally I had planned to set a goal of donating a certain percentage of my current possessions, but that just seemed too arbitrary and difficult to verify. Instead, I am now going through my things and asking myself "Do I need this?" "Does this make me happy?" If the item doesn't evoke an affirmative response to either of these questions, it goes in the pile. 

It's actually been a really great and cleansing process, and I look forward to how much easier it will be to find things I'm looking for and maintain some semblance of cleanliness once the de-cluttering is finished.

I will keep you all posted as my pile grows, and possibly post some items for sale on here if I get really motivated :)

Where will my two cents go this year?

As part of my New Year's resolution to de-clutter my life, I've pledged to buy nothing new this year. (And encouraged by my friend Lisa, I'm going to write about it on this blog -- Lisa, you may be the only person who ends up reading this!)

What does this mean? How will this work? Is this even possible?

Well here is the plan:

• I will not spend any money on new items this year (but I won't refuse gifts from others, because that would just not be nice).
• If there is something I need, I will get it used or make it myself (so, as much as I love Goodwill, there will be no shopping trips just to browse).
• If, for some reason, there is really no other way to purchase something used (or if it would be really disgusting to -- i.e. underwear), I will only buy a needed item that has been made in the USA. More on the reasons for this later.

Of course every good goal has one or two exceptions, and here are mine. These are the things I will be purchasing new this year:

• Food (Yeah, going to need some of that).
• Toilet paper (Because, eew).
• Essential toiletries (Used toothbrush? No thank you).
• Medicines and other things my doctor may prescribe.
• Socks and undergarments (but only ones made in the USA).

Alright, this post is long enough, so I'll end here. I'm actually really excited for my "buy nothing new" year. Tomorrow I'll write more about my reasons for doing this, but for now -- Happy New Year! I hope you (Lisa, my only reader) have a fabulous day.