minimalism

Preparing for a Move

/ rachelgoes262 / 1 Comment

Minimalism takes on new meaning when you are preparing for a move. This move is not a joyful one – it’s not happiness about a new location or some other positive attribute that prompted the move. This is a move of necessity for safety. What makes it even more precarious is that we need a new place to live. I don’t know where we are going. I just know we need to leave.

This move will need to be done as quickly and as easily as possible. To be honest, when I bought this house, I thought it was my forever home. I truly thought we would be here for the rest of our lives and never move again. Never say never.  Hopefully the move coming up this summer will be the final move. Fingers crossed. 

I’ve been on this minimalist journey for a while now, but it’s different when you are moving. Here is what’s happening:

There were a lot of items in this house from the previous owner when I purchased it. The person had passed away, family members inherited it, and they did not clean it out completely. A few years ago, I hired a junk truck to take most of the items that had been left in the basement – rusted and broken tools, and items that were decades old. I found a very interesting fire alarm circa 1950s that I tried to donate to the Historical Society. 

There are still items in this house (mainly the garage) from the prior owner. I do not want to do to the next owners of this house what was done to me and leave a bunch of junk behind.

Everything in this house will either be going with me, donated, or junked. Obviously, the preference is donation, but broken items and many of the items from the previous owner need to be junked. 

In packing for the move, I am only taking with me what is necessary. I am getting rid of a lot of stuff. Some of it is stuff I like and use but am not willing to move. A lot of things I’m getting rid of because they are associated with this house, and I do not want to take things with me that remind me of this place. Some items I would keep if we were staying in this house, but I don’t want to move them.

You don’t realize how much stuff you have until you are trying to get it down into the smallest space possible. Most of the items moving with me are winter items like blankets. Winter blankets are bulky and take up space. 

Some things that are leaving:

Teaching Supplies – I’m getting rid of all my teaching supplies. Honestly, this is hard. As you may know, many teachers purchase supplies using their own funds. While I enjoyed teaching, I lost my teaching job because no one could hear me. (No, “noise canceling headphones” did not help with the level of noise coming from vehicles here). I would like to volunteer my time to teach English as a Second Language again moving forward but now is not the time. We need to be someplace safe first.

My 23-year-old TV set – This one is hard. I have never had cable, but I have used the TV to watch DVDs. That is, when I can hear the TV. A few months ago, I thought the TV was starting to die – it had some discoloration in the bottom right corner of the screen. Then the discoloration went away, and it has acted normally. It is possible there is a tube going in the TV. At any rate, I don’t think it will survive another move. Even if it did survive another move, I don’t want to move it. I haven’t been able to enjoy my DVDs in two years now; I will go without. A TV is not something that’s important when you are leaving a bad situation. 

My under desk / walking pad treadmill. This is in the basement. I got it so I would be able to run inside. When I go outside, I have been chased and taunted by children on bicycles (they were upset my security alarm went off when they were throwing rocks at my car and they were told to stop). It has been safer to try to run inside. It works, but I have no intention of moving it with me. Wherever we go, it will be safe to walk around outside again.

Tech Waste – There is tech waste in this home that should have left sooner but has been languishing in a “tech graveyard.” My microwave broke last fall. The broken microwave needs to leave. There is a laptop from 15 years ago and a broken robot vacuum. 

A note on robot vacuums: I did enjoy the robot vacuum and felt like it helped me. However, after the robot vacuum broke, and now that I am faced with properly disposing of it, I am realizing it did not help me as much as I thought. Whether you use a traditional or a robot vacuum, you still must pick things up off the floor and move items around to be sure everything is cleaned. The robot vacuum often gets stuck on things like heat vents, so you must be alerted to rescue it. The robot vacuum was more work than it was help. It’s quicker to just use the traditional vacuum and do it yourself. 

I will be much more thoughtful moving forward before purchasing technology and small appliances. 

I am proud to say that I have minimized items enough that when I packed up CDs, DVDs and books, I only had one box each. In the case of books, the box was not even full, so I put other light items in there with the books. To be honest, DVDs and CDs are not things I have been able to enjoy the past two years here. I have been able to sit and relax with a book when things are calm. It’s been nice to get lost in a novel when things are challenging. 

I am grateful that due to my minimizing efforts over the past several years, I only have one box of Christmas items to move. I am looking forward to being able to enjoy Christmas this year in a new, safe location. 

Many things have already been downsized and donated, so in going through items now, it is truly a matter of “I don’t want to move this,” or “this is not necessary for survival in an emergency situation.” Once we get to a new location and can relax and enjoy a living space again, then I may decide that I want new items to enjoy. For now, this is about survival.

Of course, the most important part of the entire equation is keeping the cats and I together. I had bought this house to keep us together. We need a new place to live. That is the only thing that matters.

When it is time to move this summer, I currently have everything packed except for the kitchen, my clothes, and work. This entire process is stressful and disruptive. I am hoping that things come together for us to obtain new housing soon. 

I’m trying to make this move as small and as efficient as possible. I remember when we moved from the apartment to this house, the people who helped me move commented on how organized it was. Everything was moved in a day. I have always done a DIY move. This will be the first move that I am unable to DIY due to my health.

 I will need to pay professional movers for this one who can load a truck, drive a truck, and unload the truck for me. I can get most things packed (except for large items like furniture, microwave, vacuum cleaner and cat towers). I am not going to be able to drive a moving truck or do any loading again. My health is too precarious right now for that. 

Any tips for deciding what to move with you when planning a big move? Any items that you recommend you can do without until you get to the new location? I’m sure there are frivolous things I have packed that could have been donated. 

Packing has helped me to feel like I am doing something to move forward in a positive way. It is hard when you feel powerless in a situation. I may not know yet where we are going, but I know we need to move. 

Of course, if necessary, I will leave it all behind just to get the cats and I out of here safely to a new location. Finding a place to live is the challenge. 

This is going to be the most difficult move of my life, but it needs to be done. I am not sure where we are going, but I am preparing to leave. We need a place to live.

Sentimental Items are the Hardest

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

Sentimental items are the most difficult to declutter. I saved them until last. It was easier to go through sentimental clutter when I had gone through everything else in the house. Sentimental items are hard because they have meaning. We want to be surrounded by things we love and things that have meaning. 

Sentimental items are not bad. However, it is possible to have too many sentimental items if you place every single item into the “sentimental” category. Don’t use the sentimental category as a catch-all for things you don’t want to deal with in your decluttering journey. 

You are the only person who can answer questions about sentimental items because those items hold meaning specific to you. To someone else, that blanket may just be a blanket, something to keep warm. However, if it was a blanket your grandmother made, then for you that is a more meaningful item than just a blanket. Yes, it keeps you warm, but it has so many memories attached to it too.

The thing to remember is that we are attached to people, not things. Do you really need 10 items to remind you of your grandmother, or will 5 items do? I can’t answer that. Only you can. Decluttering sentimental items is tough for a reason. There is so much emotion involved.

When it comes to decluttering sentimental items, the only advice I have is to leave them until last. If you start out decluttering sentimental items, you will become frustrated and discouraged. Don’t go there. Minimalism is about decluttering stuff to have more room for people you love. That is what makes sentimental items so hard.

I have been going through my own process in decluttering sentimental items. For me personally, I got rid of everything from childhood. I had a very bad childhood. It’s not something I want to remember. Why keep items from that time? They just remind me of pain.

Photos are meaningful to me. I created a photo album I like to call “My greatest hits.” It is a curated collection of the best moments of my life. These are the memories and moments I want to remember when I’m on my death bed. Those are the photos in my one album of greatest hits. Only my best and most treasured life moments, events and people are in there.

There are some items that I have set aside with a note on them that they will be donated or trashed (depending on item), when I move. Some things in this house I will not take with me when I move again.

Some of those items, like my couch, I am using. The couch is over 25 years old and has been through several moves. I have decided that it is not up to another move. If I move again, the couch will not go with me. However, I am keeping the couch right now because I am using it. I am not going to bother purchasing a new one when the one I have works perfectly fine. I just won’t move house with this couch again.

Then there are items with notes on them that say “donate (or trash when move” that are not currently being used. Honestly, those are items that can probably leave now. One of those items is a small box of photo negatives. In the digital age, it Is very challenging to find a photo lab that can process prints from negatives. I already have prints from those negatives. It may be time to get rid of the negatives, since most of those photos are already in my greatest hits photo album. 

What is the point in hanging onto something like photo negatives that are not being used? It is very unlikely that I will either need to be able to make prints from them again. They are sentimental clutter and can probably leave. 

As my minimalism journey is winding down, I am coming down to things that are hard choices to make. Sentimental items are difficult. 

Don’t beat yourself up if you have a lot of sentimental items. Yes, you are still a minimalist. If those things bring you joy, there is no set number of items for people to have. As long as you have enough time for the people in your life and your stuff does not take all of your time, you are fine. 

Sentimental items are the hardest. Leave them until last. 

Minimalism: 5 Books

/ rachelgoes262 / 3 Comments

Books can be a contentious topic. There are people who guard their personal libraries fiercely and say that is the one area of their life they will not downsize. I understand that. I felt that way about my CD collection. We all have one area that we won’t touch when it comes to minimalism. That Is okay. Everyone does minimalism differently. 

For me, I was able to downsize my book collection to 5 books. Some of you may consider that extreme, but here are some of my reasons for choosing five books.

When I moved, I used boxes from the local liquor store. If you go by the liquor store in the morning, they put boxes outside for people to take that have been emptied from restocking their shelves. For me personally, empty wine boxes are the perfect size for moving. They are easy for me to carry, and you can fill them up without having them be too heavy to move.

I filled wine boxes with books for moving and the weight was just right to carry. Anyone who has moved can attest to how quickly a box of books can get heavy. While the number of books people enjoy in their personal library varies, I’m sure that everyone will agree that no one likes moving books. They get heavy fast.

For me, downsizing to 5 books is a perfect number because I can fit 5 books in a small boat and tote. I don’t have to worry about packing up boxes of books to move. All I must do is pick up my boat and tote, put the strap on my shoulder and off I go. My collection is curated to ease portability.

How did I decide on five books? For many people, books are like potato chips – there are so many that we like, it’s hard to choose just a few.

For starters, I am a big fan of libraries. I love being able to borrow a book, read it, and then return it for someone else to enjoy. I do not necessarily need to keep every book I read. For many books I read, once is enough. The book can move on to bring someone else enjoyment.

If there is a book that I particularly enjoy so much that I have checked it out of the library to read twice, then it meets my criteria to purchase. If I’ve gotten it out of the library more than once, then it needs to be in my personal library. If you check the same book out of the library multiple times, it’s probably one you should own.

Of all the books I own that meet the “twice out of the library” criteria, how did I decide which ones deserved a permanent place in my set of five? I looked at how many times I have re-read the book once I own it.

If I have re-read the book three or more times, then it earns a spot in my personal curated collection. Really, if you’ve read a book three or more times, you must really enjoy it. Those novels are the keepers.

Books I have gotten rid of have been donated to either Little Free Libraries or library book sales. They can bring someone else joy. I do purchase “new” books. Books I cannot find at the library, I purchase used from a site called Thriftbooks. You can get used books on Thriftbooks for $5 or less. They are in great shape. Purchases often support libraries, as some books are library discards. I typically place an order for 5-10 books at Christmas. 

Once I have read a book, I will donate it. If I decide it is a book I may want to re-read, then I keep it. In this way, books flow in and out of my life. 

My current book collection of 5 books is not a fixed set. Some books come into your life for a season. If there is a book that has particularly resonated with me that I have read more than three times, then I will look at the collection of 5 to decide if I need to add a book and if a book has fallen out of the season of my life. 

It is possible for a book in my collection of 5 to leave. Different books speak to us at different points in life. 

The next time I move, it will be very easy to move the books. I won’t have to worry about wine boxes full of books and how heavy they are to carry. My personal book collection fits in a boat and tote that easily goes on my shoulder, leaving my hands free to carry other things. 

While 5 books may seem extreme to some, it works for me. I get plenty of exposure to books through the library. I do a Thriftbooks order every year for Christmas. I am not in want of reading material, nor am I bored with re-reading the same things. 

What criteria do you have for establishing a favorite book? How many times have you re-read your favorites? 

Media Minimalism: TV and DVDs

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

I have never had cable. As a child who grew up poor, we had a black and white TV set with bunny ears. As an adult, cable TV is a luxury I could never afford. Not to mention that working 2-3 jobs 60-70 hours per week, I didn’t have time to watch TV.

When my grandfather passed away (now over 20 years ago), I inherited his TV set. It was my first TV set in my adult life. It was my first color TV. I got bunny ears and had a few channels. I would turn the TV on when I got home from work at night just to have it on while I was getting ready for sleep. For Christmas that year, I got a DVD player. I could then watch DVDs on the TV also.

I had my grandfather’s old TV set for a few years. One day, I went to turn it on and instead of turning on, it just did this continual blinking – like it was trying to turn on but couldn’t. I called a friend who happened to work in radio at the time and asked if she could come over to fix the TV. 

It was a few weeks before my birthday. When my friend came over to “fix the TV,” she surprised me by giving me a new TV set that she said was for my birthday. That TV set is the same TV that I have today. If I remember correctly, I will say that TV is now about 17 years old. Since I had originally inherited a TV set from my grandfather and then received a new TV set for my birthday, I can honestly say I have never purchased a TV set in my life.

Over the years, I have had a few different DVD players. I have gone through at least 3 DVD players that I can think of. They don’t seem to last as long as TV sets. 

I primarily grew up on radio. I still prefer radio to TV. I would rather listen to baseball and hockey games on radio than watch them on TV. I listen to old radio shows on my cell phone. Back before TV, there were radio shows, much like those on TV, but without the visuals, obviously.

The bunny ears do not work in the house in which we now live. They don’t get reception here. I still use the TV, but only with the DVD player. Cable is too expensive. It’s a luxury item. I still prefer radio.

The past few years, I have been downsizing my DVD collection. I now have them minimized to the point where all the DVDs fit into the cabinet below the TV set. I no longer have an entire bookcase full of DVDs. Of course, they are curated so that I only kept my absolute favorites. I do have some World Series on DVD so I can watch baseball if I want to see it, in addition to listening to games on the radio. 

Given the age of my current TV set, I have decided that when this TV set breaks, I will not get another one. When this TV set dies, I will get rid of all my DVDs and just go without. Yes, I am using the TV set and DVD player since they are here. However, I do not feel it necessary to replace them when they are gone. I am just as happy listening to radio and reading. TV has never been a big focal point in my life. 

Maybe that is why I am so horrible at trivia. I miss a lot of popular culture references, as I have never had cable TV. I do not subscribe to any TV streaming services. It just doesn’t seem worth the money to me. I have so many other things I would rather do with my day than park myself in front of a screen to watch something. 

That’s not to say I don’t have my moments. I do have some favorite TV shows on DVD – Cheers, Highlander, Mash, the Golden Girls. I’m just not one to “Netflix and chill.” I listen to radio almost all day long. The TV set is not a daily habit. It’s one I can take it or leave it. 

I will enjoy the TV set and DVD player for as long as they continue to work. However, once this TV set dies, that’s it. I won’t get another one. My life does not revolve around it. 

Minimalism: Approaching Maintenance

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My minimalism journey is now entering its 12th year. That’s a long time. For those of you feeling discouraged with your decluttering efforts, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. That’s how much stuff I had to get rid of. I spent over 30 years accumulating, and over a decade trying to pare it all down.

The one area of my house that I am still working on minimizing is my CD collection. As you know from previous posts, this is the most difficult area for me due to my love of music. For the longest time, I would declutter anything in the house EXCEPT the CDs. 

My thinking now is that I only want to keep albums I truly enjoy. Those CDs where you pop them in the player and truly enjoy the entire disc. I’m not keeping a CD if there is only one or two songs on there that I like. We have YouTube for things like that. I’m not a huge fan of digital music, but I find it easier to just Youtube one song on the rare occasion I want to hear it instead of holding onto an entire CD for just one song.

One strategy that I use frequently in my decluttering efforts is that I will only keep items that fit in the space available. For example, if I don’t have enough room in the cupboard for all the coffee mugs, then it is time to declutter the coffee mugs and only keep what fits in the cabinet.

In decluttering my CDs, I have done the same thing. However, with CDs, I used to have 3 different pieces of furniture holding my CD collection. I am now downsizing my CDs to the point where there is only one piece of furniture holding my CD collection. That is two pieces of furniture I can get rid of also.

Once my CDs are minimized, I will be at maintenance minimalism. Maintenance minimalism is all about being a good gatekeeper. At this point, my goal is to only bring into my home consumables (food) and things I absolutely need.

Do I have some items that are completely unnecessary to the point they could be considered” clutter?” Yes, I do. I have 5 squishmallows. Do I need 5 squishmallows? No. They are probably considered clutter. However, they bring me joy and have use as pillows when needed. I enjoy them, so they stay. 

There is still a room full of donations upstairs. Everything in that room needs to leave and be donated. It will have to wait until spring when the weather is better and when I can find places to donate items. Some larger pieces, like the bookcase and extra outside chairs will just go out front with a “free” sign. They are too large to fight with to transport in my car to take someplace to donate. I could fit them in my car if necessary, but I don’t want to deal with it.

Apart from emptying the donation room and completing the minimizing of my CD collection, I am done. I am officially at the maintenance phase of my minimalist journey. 

There are a few random items that will be donated or trashed when I move. Some things in this house I am using now but will not take with me when I leave. However, I feel that I have now downsized this house to the point where I am either actively using everything here or the item brings me so much joy (hello, squishmallows) that they are staying.

My biggest challenge right now is going to be getting rid of everything in the donation room this spring. Donation centers in my area have closed. It is extremely difficult trying to figure out how to get rid of things, so they do not end up in the landfill. I also have a small box of electronics that I must figure out how to recycle.

While I may be approaching the maintenance phase of my minimalism journey, this blog will continue. There are always things to minimize in life including routines and digital items.

My goal with minimalism is to make this house and my surroundings as easy to care for as possible so that I can enjoy life. I don’t want to spend all my time cleaning. I want to spend my time with those I love.

That’s the true goal of minimalism – not a set number of things. The goal is to make life about love and not about stuff. 

Minimalism: Like with Like

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A basic tenant of minimalism is to put like with like. For example, if you are working on decluttering or downsizing the number of shoes you own, you should start by gathering all of your shoes together so that you can decide which pairs you are keeping and which pairs are leaving. 

Putting like with like sounds simple. It is deceiving. I’m not going to lie. Putting like with like is HARD. All these minimalism tips tell you to put like with like as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. It’s not. 

Stuff is everywhere. Your belongings are spread out and scattered all over your living space. It’s supposed to be that way. Homes are meant to be lived in. So telling someone to put like with like may sound simple in theory, but is challenging in practice. Your home is lived in, and your stuff is everywhere. 

Putting like with like may be easier for some items that others. It all depends on the person and your lifestyle. For me, personally, putting all my shoes together was easy. I don’t have many pieces of footwear. They all tend to be in the same area of my house and not spread out. 

This winter when I engage on a major decluttering project of paperwork – that was hard. I have paperwork all over the house. There was paperwork in my office, my kitchen, and at least 2 other rooms in my house. Paperwork ranged from things like appliance manuals to insurance policies to car repair receipts. Stuff was everywhere.

I could have gone through piles of paperwork in each room. Essentially, that’s what I did first. Then, I put all of the paperwork together in one room. That was the hard part. Everything was spread out. As hard as it may be to put like with like, I’m glad I did. I now have my paperwork downsized to one milk crate of papers in one room. That is the extent of my paperwork. It is no longer spread out all over the house.

Having all the paperwork together not only makes it easier for me to find things, it makes it easier for someone else to find things if something happens to me. Have you ever had to go through a loved one’s paperwork after they died? The paperwork is everywhere. You go through piles of stuff trying to figure out what is what. It is a tedious task that no one wants to do after a loved one dies. 

I downsized my paperwork so that anything extraneous was shredded and all necessary papers are together and labeled into categories – medical, insurance, car, house, etc. If something happens to me, I have one milk crate of important papers for you to go through to settle my affairs and shred.

Homes are meant to be lived in. You should have all of your belongings spread out and put in places where they are being used. However, when you are trying to declutter, it is easiest if you can put like with like so that you can see just how much you have. You may say you want to downsize your coffee mugs. Then, when you put them all together and see you have 32 of them, you can set a goal – such as 6 coffee mugs – for downsizing. You need to put like with like to get the full scope of just how much you have. 

Like with like is not an easy task. However, if you can manage to put like with like, it will make the overall process of downsizing easier. Going with coffee mugs, once you donate the 26 mugs you are not using, by all means take the 6 coffee mugs you are keeping and put them wherever you need them. Spread them out. Homes are meant to be lived in.

It may sound like an easy premise, but like with like is actually challenging. Don’t be hard on yourself if you start trying to put like with like and find it difficult. Minimalism and decluttering is not an easy process, even if people like me make it sound easy. 

Decluttering Sentimental Items

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Decluttering sentimental items is the most difficult and challenging aspect of minimalism. It is advanced minimalism, and should be undertaken last. Before attempting to declutter sentimental items, you should have experience in exercising your decluttering muscles. Downsizing categories such as clothing, the kitchen and the bathroom should be categories you have addressed well before sentimental items. 

Leaving sentimental items until last allows you to build your minimalist muscle. If you attempt to declutter sentimental items too early, you set yourself up for failure. Not only do you fail to declutter the items, but you experience all the feelings involved that make the items sentimental from the beginning. It can cause you a setback in your decluttering journey.

I have finally reached the stage where I am ready to declutter sentimental items. I have tried to declutter this category before and I failed. That’s okay. My initial sweep through the sentimental category, I downsized sentimental items from three storage bins to one storage bin. Sometimes you have to take baby steps.

If you are just starting with the sentimental item category, I do recommend taking it in steps. First, gather all of your sentimental items together. Second, try to curate your collection. I found that downsizing from three storage bins to one storage bin was a challenging, yet doable goal.

The other tip that was helpful for me was that once I downsized from three storage bins to one storage bin, I took the two storage bins that were going to be “leaving” and left them in a closet for a year. After that year, I was completely okay with the two storage bins leaving and just having the one bin of mementos. In fact, after the year, I had completely forgotten what was inside the other two bins. You can’t miss what you don’t remember, can you?

This was a few years ago that I undertook the three bins to one bin exercise. I am finally at a point in my decluttering journey where I am able to address the one bin that is left. Granted, the one bin is about 90% full of items from my childhood. I’m sure your sentimental bin may look different.

Here are reasons why I am now finding it easier to get rid of the remaining bin of sentimental items. 

  1. I had a horrible childhood. Why do I want to keep items that remind me of the most traumatic time period of my life? Did I enjoy playing with those toys? No, I did not. I lived in a state of abuse and perpetual fear. The toys in the bin were given to me by someone else in the family, who had absolutely no idea of my favorite toys as a child. They had just set aside toys that they liked or thought I would have wanted. I don’t want them. Now, some of these items are worth money. I have a pair of pristine Sonny and Cher Barbies as well as one of the original preemie Cabbage Patch dolls that came in a plain cardboard box from Sears before they started putting them in shiny, colorful packaging with a plastic “window” to see inside. I still don’t want them. They do not invoke any happy memories.
  2. I have no children. Some people keep a set of their most loved toys to pass down to their own children. I have no children to give these toys to. They are just sitting in a box, not being used, played with or loved. They are taking up space. Toys are intended to bring joy. I’m sure there are children out there who would find joy in playing with them.
  3. They are not benefitting my life. The toys are sitting in a box taking up space. I am decluttering my house in anticipation of an international move. I refuse to pay international shipping to take those items with me. What’s going to happen to them when I move again? They are going to sit in a box in the closet same as they are now. Why pay time, money and energy to move something from place to place that is going to sit unused.
  4. Swedish Death Cleaning. What will happen to this box of toys when I die? They will either be thrown out or donated. Why not get rid of them now so they have the opportunity to bring joy to some child. 
  5. Is this difficult? Yes, it is. While none of these items evoke happy memories, it is still difficult to get rid of them. Yet when I sit down and think about it, I cannot think of one good reason to keep them. Do they bring me joy? No, they do not. It is still difficult, emotional and sad to get rid of them. Don’t ask me how. Emotions are complicated that way. You know those times when you feel all the feelings. Even though they evoke negative emotions, I also have negative emotions about getting rid of pieces of my childhood even if it was bad.

In addition to the one bin of childhood toys, I have other sentimental items that will be leaving this year. My entire jewelry collection will be leaving. The only piece of jewelry I am keeping is my mother’s necklace that has Jude, Simon and Jolene’s names on a heart with their birth stones. Why do I need jewelry? It does not bring me joy. No one sees me. My mother’s necklace brings me joy. I am keeping that. 

Since the pandemic has started, life has become a story of survival. With no end to the pandemic in sight, why would I need items like jewelry? They are unnecessary baubles. They are not essential for survival. I am downsizing all my items to only those that are necessary or that bring me joy. The other jewelry pieces do not bring me joy. I would not want to take the other jewelry pieces with me on an international move.

I can only wear one necklace at a time. Ok, ok, I’m sure you can wear two or three necklaces at a time. However, that just makes me think of some cheesy 80s rapper concerned with their bling. I personally prefer to wear one necklace at a time. My mother’s necklace is the only one that is meaningful and brings me joy, so it stays. Every other piece of jewelry I have is not irrelevant. 

When life is reduced to survival, you really take stock of what is important in life.

There are some sentimental items that are still in the gradual reduction process. There are some items that are too difficult emotionally to leave. I have put those in a box for a year. We will see how I feel at the end of the year. Will I pull items out of the box because I want to look at them or keep them? Will I even remember what is in the box at the end of the year.

To clarify, I do not have a life devoid of meaning. I do have sentimental items I have kept such as my mother’s necklace. I have curated a photo album of my greatest hits / best memories which I take out often and look through fondly. I have some sentimental items that are either in use or on display in my home. I’m not saying to life a life without meaning or sentiment. I am saying to curate what you have. If you love it, display it. Leaving toys in a box for 30 years and shuttling them around from place to place – those are the types of items you really need to question about leaving. 

What tips do you have for decluttering sentimental items? 

Vacation Allure

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

We all like vacation. At least, I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t. Vacation is when we get to relax, unwind and have fun. We get to explore new places and experiences. Even if you stay home for a staycation, it’s nice to simply have the break from the workday. 

One of the allures of vacation is empty spaces. Who doesn’t love a hotel room /Airbnb /other accommodation not your own home? Part of the love of hotel rooms come from the fact that they are practically a blank slate. A hotel room has the essentials – a bed, a bath, maybe a coffee maker. The only belongings you have in the hotel room to personalize it are those items that you really need for the length of your stay. That may be a bag of clothing and some toiletry items.

You drop your bag off at your hotel room and go out the door. You are free to explore without being weighed down by your earthly belongings. You feel free. Vacation is very enticing.

Minimalism allows us to create that same allure of vacation at home. You can curate your surroundings and your belongings to ensure that you are only surrounded by what you need and what you love. This is not to say that your walls should be barren and your cupboards empty. I’m just saying that if you get rid of the CLUTTER at home, you can capture that vacation feeling every day.

I say this, but even as a minimalist, I am not perfect. I have my weak spots. For me personally, the area of my home most likely to become cluttered, remain cluttered, and attract clutter quickly is my kitchen counter. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, and mine is command central. It’s always been that way for me. 

When I was working on my degrees, the kitchen was where I would do all my schoolwork. It was where I would write my 20-page papers and where I wrote both my masters’ thesis. My kitchen table is where I wrote my first novella and continue working on my second. I often put things on my kitchen counter that are in “transition.” For example, if I plan to make zucchini bread in the morning, I put all the ingredients on the kitchen counter the night before so everything is ready to go the next day. 

It seems my kitchen counter is always in use. There is always something on it. It is always cluttered.

Last week I had a plumbing emergency in my kitchen that necessitated me completely emptying my kitchen counter. The experience was mind blowing. It took emptying the kitchen counter for me to realize just how much clutter was on the counter.

Once the plumbing issue was fixed, I did not want to return to the cluttered kitchen counter that had existed before the plumbing emergency. I was much more mindful of what I put back on the kitchen counter. 

If it did not need to be on the kitchen counter, I set it aside. I have an entire basket of items that used to be on my kitchen counter that now need to be relocated. I do not want my kitchen counters to reach that level of clutter again.

They say when trying to declutter you should completely empty a space and then only put back what you absolutely need or love. It definitely works. I did not fully realize how absolutely cluttered my kitchen counters were until I completely emptied them.

If you are stuck in a rut on your minimalist journey, I highly recommend completely emptying a space. Only put things back that you need or truly love. All the things that don’t make the cut need to either leave or find a new place within your home. 

The allure of vacation is that we get to stay in an uncluttered hotel room. You can capture the vacation feeling at home by reducing your clutter. It does not mean nothing. It means curating your space mindfully. 

Minimalism – How It Started

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

There are hints that I have always been a minimalist from a young age. It’s possible it comes from a childhood and youth of homelessness or from living with a mother who is a hoarder or both. Research is evolving that says that responses to homelessness can be either extreme of hoarding or minimalism. Many people tend towards hoarding. I tend towards minimalism.

My childhood was rough, and there were many times when I had to move someplace or flee with only what I could fit in a single backpack. You learn fast how to make decisions and what is important or not important to take with you when you are given 20 minutes to pack a single backpack.

As an example, we will flash back to the year 1994. I had been tossed around homes and foster home situations due to abuse. I had a law guardian. The “child welfare system” worked a lot differently in the 80s and early 90s than it does now. To make a long story short, I was in abusive home in 1994 and was reporting the abuse to my law guardian. The school I was attending was reporting it too.

In the mornings, I was left home alone for roughly 30 minutes. The abusers I was living with went to work. I was left standing in the driveway waiting to be picked up for school. On one April morning about 10 minutes after the abusers left, the phone rang three times and then stopped ringing. I was never allowed to answer the phone. However, I knew that three rings that stopped was my signal that someone was coming for me and it was time to flee.

I quickly dumped all the books out of my school backpack and ran around cramming everything in it that I thought it was important to have to leave. I walked out the door, same as any other morning and stood in the driveway to be picked up. However, instead of being picked up to go to school, I was going to be picked up to be taken to a safe place – and it all had to be done before the person arrived to pick me up for school so nothing would seem amiss. The person picking me up for school would simply notice I was not outside and assume I was home sick for the day.

The car tore into the driveway. I jumped in the back seat and laid down on the floor behind the front seats with my single backpack. I was covered with a blanket to hide me. We tore out of the city. I had to stay hidden in the backseat with my backpack covered with a blanket until we were a safe distance away for me to be able to sit up and move around in the backseat properly. 

This is a true story and it is how I escaped one of many abusive situations in my lifetime. 

That one backpack held a few changes of clothes and some keepsakes. When I arrived at my safe destination, they took me shopping for more clothes so I would have more than two or three outfits. I did not pick out many clothes. I didn’t think I needed that many. I don’t like being responsible for lots of things in case I need to leave quickly due to an emergency situation.

Many months after my exodus from that abusive situation, all of my belongings that I had left behind were brought to me on a small tow-behind trailer. My books, the rest of my clothes, the music I had left behind, was all returned. At that time, I didn’t feel like I needed any of it. I had left it all behind and lived without it for many months. It was all creature comforts. None of it was needed to survive. What I needed was to be in a safe place, free from abuse.

At times in my life when I have been in safe places, free from abuse, I have accumulated things. I have accumulated LOTS of things. Most of this accumulation of things has been the result of convenience. When I was working 80 hours a week at three jobs, it was easier to have duplicates of items because I couldn’t find something or was too tired to wash or clean an item for reuse. In a nutshell, it was laziness.

My first big foray into the minimalism journey I am now on started about in 2010. I wanted to move. I had been wanting to move for a decade. You see, I moved from Massachusetts to New York in the late 90s. I had said I regretted the move and wanted to go back to Massachusetts. I knew that to go back I would have to downsize from a 2-bedroom apartment to a single room. Rent in Massachusetts is about 9 times higher than rent in New York.

My initial declutter into minimalism was with the goal of a move in mind. That, and I had been in a safe place free of abuse for a few years and had accumulated a lot of stuff. Honestly, it was making me anxious to be surrounded by so much stuff. What if I needed to leave? Yes, I know what I would grab to take with me. What about all the crap left behind? Besides, now that I am an adult, there is more responsibility than when you are a child.

I started downsizing with an inter-state move in mind. The move never happened, as I was not financially able to find a job that would pay me enough to even rent one room in Massachusetts. I’m still in New York. While I do not want to be in New York, I have no regrets about my failed attempt to return to Massachusetts.

I digress.

I have been on this minimalist journey for about a decade. Each burst of minimalism or decluttering has basically been a response to some traumatic life event. I decluttered A LOT when I moved from the apartment to the house. We were literally 3 hours away from being homeless when I bought the house. I knew we had to leave the apartment. I knew we were moving. I just didn’t know where we were moving to. I was prepared to live in the car with the cats until the house actually came through. That is how close we were to homelessness at the time.

In the pandemic, I am staring down the real possibility of death. Everyone around me has died. I will die eventually too. No one is going to want to go through my crap when I’m dead. I’m going through it now. On a more positive note, I would like to move internationally. I like to think I am now downsizing with an international move in mind. We will see if my wish to move internationally becomes a reality or a pipe dream. For now, that is what I am planning to do.

Combine my wish for an international move with the reality that I do not feel safe in this house due to the neighbors, and I am in the perfect situation to declutter. I am not in a safe space. I need as few items as possible. I need to know exactly what needs to go with me if we need to flee from here for safety. I don’t want to be responsible for a bunch of crap left behind.

To be honest, being surrounded by fewer things reduces me anxiety. I have enough to worry about taking care of the cats and keeping all of us together. I don’t want to have to worry about or be responsible for an entire house full of stuff too. So, I am getting rid of the stuff. I am only keeping what I use or what truly makes me happy. I am trying to reduce my things to only what is necessary so that I can focus on what is truly important in life.

I don’t want to spend hours cleaning this house or all of the stuff in it. I want to spend my time enjoying my life with the cats, as my life and their lives are so very short. 

I’m pretty sure I have always been a minimalist since I was a child, but I did not have the vocabulary to express it at the time. When you grow up poor, you only have a few items because you can’t afford to buy things. However, the longer you are alive, the more stuff you accumulate. If you are in a safe place, you tend to accumulate stuff as well. 

If you have lived through multiple emergency life situations such as I have, then you realize that you just can’t be responsible for a boatload of stuff. You need the necessities and that is all. 

Before I started minimalism, I had a lot of clothes. Taking after my hoarder mother, I had 3 closets and 5 dressers full of clothes. Now that I am a minimalist, I have one dresser and 10 hangers of clothes. That’s it. I have everything I need for 4 season of weather conditions. 

Some people marvel at how much I am able to pare down, however, this did not happen overnight. It has been a journey of stops and starts well over a decade. It all depends on where I am in life. 

Right now, in the pandemic, I am acutely aware of how short and precarious life is. I am more ruthless at this point in my minimalist journey than I have been in the past. Whether I die or actually achieve my dream of moving internationally, I am going to go someplace. I know that there is no one on this Earth who is willing or able to go through my crap after I’m gone, so I’m going through it now. You can’t take it with you, whether that’s in death or to some other country.

That is how my minimalist journey started. I started this blog to keep myself accountable along the way. I don’t want to go in the opposite direction of my hoarder mother who literally has her house packed full wall-to-wall and ceiling to floor of just STUFF. Her house is so full, you can hardly breathe in there. 

I want more time to spend with the cats and enjoy my life. I do not want to spend the little precious time I have here on Earth cleaning my house or taking care of my stuff.

What was your prompt to start minimalism and what does it mean to you?

Power of One: One Subscription

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

The cost of living is rising all over the world and many people are adjusting their budgets. The pandemic has seen a rise in the use of subscription services as people seek entertainment options at home instead of going out. 

For me, going out to a movie has always been a treat. I only went to see a movie on the big screen if it was something I really wanted to see. If I had to guess, I would say I saw a movie in the theatre maybe once or twice a year. Often, I wait for movies to come out on DVD and check them out of the local library.

My entire workday is spent sitting at a computer. When I am off work, I do not want to spend my personal time in front of a computer as well. I need a break. I have never gotten into streaming services for this reason. For me to sit at the laptop and watch a movie for 2 hours feels too much like work when I just spent 8 hours at the laptop for my paid employment.

Television was a luxury growing up. We never had cable. We always had bunny ears. The TV set got maybe three or five channels. I grew up on radio. Radio was free. It was everywhere. It was a constant companion. I love music. I always have music playing in my house and in my life when I am not working. 

As an adult, I have never paid for cable TV either. I just don’t have the money for it. I grew up poor and as an adult am working poor. I don’t have money for TV. For years when I was in the apartment, I got 10 channels for free on bunny ears. The TV was nice to turn on for an hour or so when I got home from work at night to watch something funny or brainless before going to sleep.

When I moved to the house, the bunny ears for the TV set do not work. There are too many hills and this is a rural area. We cannot pick up any television signals here. Even the radio signals are limited to just two stations. 

The past few years in the house has left me with using my DVD player with the TV set since I cannot get any channels by antenna. I still do not feel like subscribing to any TV or movie streaming services. I would not use it enough to justify the cost. There are too many things going on in my life as a homeowner with a disability. I don’t have hours a day to watch a streaming service.

However, I do still listen to a lot of music. I can listen to music as I go about the house doing my chores and what needs to be done. Only being able to reception for two radio stations is quite frustrating. I like both of them, but sometimes I just want to change the dial. I do enjoy my CDs.

Last fall, I needed to do something to break up the monotony in my life and wanted to treat myself. I decided to totally splurge and get a subscription service – to radio. I downloaded and subscribed to Sirius XM on my phone.

Sirius is the only subscription service I have. It was one of the best treats I have ever decided to splurge on. I use it every day and it is a constant source of entertainment while still allowing me to do what I need to do in my daily life. 

At first, I subscribed because I wanted to listen to radio without being subjected to all the fake news about COVID I was hearing. By subscribing to satellite radio, I can listen to music with no commercials and no fake news. There are no news breaks. I do not have to hear about how COVID is “over” when I am mourning yet another fully vaccinated friend with no pre-existing condition who just died of COVID.

If I do want to hear news, there are news stations I can listen to so I can hear what Is going on in the world. When I have had enough of the news, I can change the channel back to one that plays music only with no news. Satellite radio allows me more variety and more control over what I hear. When I have had enough of the gloom and doom news, I can choose to just hear music.

Satellite radio is also amazing because I can use it to hear sports. I hear baseball, hockey, and soccer/football games on the radio. I can hear all of the games without the market or blackout restrictions they put on TV sports. Even streaming TV sports has restrictions and the packages are very expensive. By listening to games on the radio, it saves me money. I also have access to international games that are not available with TV packages.

While the news tells of people tightening their budgets and cutting back on streaming services, my life is simple. I have one subscription service. For my lifestyle, subscription radio gives me more enjoyment and more bang for my buck than a subscription movie or TV service would. 

If it happens that I need to decrease my expenses drastically, I would only have one subscription service to cancel. I could go back to the two radio stations that are available here and my CDs. However, I get so much enjoyment from satellite radio that I think the $12 per month cost is worth the service. It is my only subscription and is the biggest splurge in my everyday life.

If you could only have one subscription service in your life, which one would it be? I hear of households that have 4-5 subscription services that are now trying to cut down to save on money each month. Would you be able to cut down to just one? Would you be able to live with no subscription services?

For me, my one subscription service is a luxury. I have never had a cable bill in my name. I’m pretty sure this is the first time in my life I have a monthly bill that is purely for pleasure and not a necessity like the mortgage, electric, phone, etc. For me to cut back my expenses due to the cost of living increase, I would cut my subscription service. Beyond that, I would be cutting necessities like food or utilities. 

As many of us are looking to reduce expenses right now, what can you decrease or cut? What one subscription service would you keep if you cancel the rest? Find your one.