How to simplify your stuff in two steps

From a minimalist standpoint, past year has been a radical change for me. I've gotten rid of so much stuff and now I would dread having to go back to a stuff accumulated lifestyle (I did not see that one coming). Getting rid of your things is one of the most freeing experiences you can imagine. The caveat is that it can also very emotion laden.

Many times I would hesitate, holding an object in my hand, just trying to rationalize and find some pseudo-excuse to keep it. This process was long and arduous, but most fell by way of the donation bin.

Here are the guidelines I've used to boil down to what I need:
Before you start clearing up your clutter, have two bins: a trash bin and a donate/sell bin.

1) Trash the obvious. We see those scraps of papers lying around, wrappers of what-not's, things that clearly should be in the trash can but are not. These things are the easiest to get rid of.

2) Out with the old. You ever had that article of clothing that just took up space under the delusion that you might where it? I have these neon orange vest, which keeps me so warm during the winter time. I've had it for three years and have worn it about 10 times. I had to be honest with myself and placed it in the donation bin.

A good rule of thumb is to think "will I use this within three months?"
If not, get rid of it. Sell it or donate it.

The key to this is that you have to be ruthless. There is no "what if's," "maybe's," or "just in case's." Either you use it or you don't.

From these two steps, it's just a matter of pushing your comfort zone and seeing what is really "necessary." This process is really great if you plan on any extended traveling.

This may seem easy, but it is a tough cookie. I'm still in the midst of culling what I own. Good luck and congrats to any aspiring minimalists who are willing to take first steps

Battle clutter, be more organized, free your space

Whenever I think of space, I think of Star Wars, the Space Oddesey or some futuristic Sci-fi movie. This just could be because I'm a dork at heart. Regardless, it is an important subject that I feel is worth discussing.

One thing that we take for granted is that space is finite. You only have a finite amount of space in your home. We always think that it's okay if maybe a few things move to the living room or on the counter of the bathroom. Next thing we know, there's a pile of clothes on the floor of the bathroom and a litter of papers all over the desk. This is actually an issue that I'm currently addressing with my life.

Confession time: Let me first say that I've had a very comfortable childhood. My mother would always clean after me and as I grew older, I had this magical ability to remember where everything is, despite my room looking like a pig sty. Both of these caused my room to be in a constant mess. Despite my mother telling me the room was disorganized, I was able to grab anything from my room that she asked for in a moment's notice. My system was perfect.

Enter college. My first semester at college, I didn't have a roommate. I had two. Suffice it to say, my skills of organization or lack there of lead me to organization issues with one of my roommates, who was OCD (at least in my mind he was). In addition to that, the tumultuous nature of college (read: partying and alcohol) led me to hit rock bottom in the realm of organization. It came to a point that the only way to move around the room was to jump around between patches of cleared ground. I learned a lot about organization in the past few years, with the help and prodding of my roommates.

My all of years of actively learning how to organize, the MOST effective way of being organized is simply having less stuff. By having less stuff, it is easier to organize and you'll be more likely to know where it is. Less stuff means one or two things: less clutter or less energy maintaining your things...possibly both.

A common thought is "I already have it, might as well keep it...there's no point in tossing it...it's not doing any harm."

This is how I thought for a while, but I've realized we only have a finite amount of space and while excess stuff is collecting dust, it is also taking up space for something else and even hinder that sense of freedom and free space.

the size of the average American house as doubled since the 1950's. Think about how much extra stuff we have. The storage industry rakes in 20 billion dollars (that's $20,000,000,000, which is a lot of zeros) in revenue.

There's so many benefits to being minimalist:
less clutter
more spending money on things you really care about
more time, since you no longer are looking for stuff
a sense of freedom
a more calming environment
and so much more

I leave this post with a challenge. I challenge you to try the minimalist lifestyle just to see what it's like. If it's not your cup of tea, totally fine. You can't live like you did before previously. I tried it as an experiment and have been hooked ever since.

Just in Case...Always around the Corner

Whenever i pack to go somewhere, I always think to myself, "I suppose I'll bring this...just in case." It's the same everywhere I go, there's this nagging Just-In-Case monkey hanging on my back. When I buy something, I think, "Just in case..." When I am hesitant on tossing or giving something away, I think, "Just in case..."

How often do we think, "I'm glad I saved that?" If you're anything like me, it happens once in a while, but what if we compare it to all the times we think, "just in case?" Chances are there's a lot of things you have and a very few things you end up using.

Taking an neutral perspective on things, we seem to have more things than we actually need. The thing about being minimalist is that you must be ruthless. The cost of clutter, being disorganized, and things taking up space simply do not outweigh the benefits these rare occurrences in which you might need this one item.

Isn't the cost of buying something that you will probably use once or twice (and it'd be cheaper and more environmental if you bought it used!) worth the amount of space it would free up in your life? that's just one less thing to worry about.

Minimalism

For the past few months, I have been working hard on becoming minimalist. The major catalyst for occurred last summer, when I subletting with a friend. Moving from my apartment to my friend's place, I had access to two cars (Mine and my friends). This short summer opened my eyes to a lot of things. I read this amazing book on personal finance called "I Will Teach You to be Rich," which snowballed into an epic battle for my financial freedom.

During the summer of 2009, I made it a point to get rid of things that would weigh me down; I got rid of half of my clothes, as well as a multitude of accessories that I realized I was simply lugging around.

This was an emotionally tough thing to do. I identified myself with so much of my stuff; I can still remember how sad I was when i gave away my speakers (although now I never miss it). Yet through this trying period, I felt so much more free. By the end of the summer, I used only my car to move everything that I owned back to my campus apartment.

One of the best things about moving is that you always leave stuff behind. I savor the shedding of an old skin. It is like almost becoming a new person and it kind of it when you look at it. Your things help differentiate you from other people. By having a different set of things, you are creating a different "identity."

Since then I've been in a constant uphill battle: a minimalist rebel in a consumerism society. I invite you to try a different type of living: a life where one accumulates not things, but experiences. A minimalist lifestyle