I realize this is about much more than eliminating possessions. It is about eliminating the attachments too. The latter can be the hardest part, but also the most rewarding.

Every thing we have has several costs. One is the cost to acquire (buy, make, carry, whatever). There are also costs to keep a thing- such as maintenance, storage, cleaning, dusting, depreciation. Finally there are costs to get rid of it: the effort to sell it, or to break it apart and stuff it in the trash, or to haul it to the dump, etc.

Over its life cycle, these other costs may be the most egregious. Yet we rarely think of them when making a purchase. 5 days ago

I’m doing some rearranging in my apartment and it is beginning to seem impossible to find places for things. I don’t think my apartment is too small so that must mean I have too much stuff. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at letting go of things I don’t need, but there must be more that can go because I can’t possibly be that attached to this much stuff. Time to get serious about letting go! 1 month ago

I just removed two more small boxes of junk from my house. Woohoo! Even better than that, we cleaned out our storage room at the dance studio and we have Salvation Army coming to pick up more than 10 boxes of stuff this week. I love getting rid of clutter!! 2 months ago

As I started packing up clothes and shoes I went through my closet piece by piece to get rid of things I don’t wear anymore. I got rid of 8 pairs of shoes, either garbage if they were old and worn out or set aside for donation. I also pulled out three good size piles of clothes for donation/resale. 9 months ago

I’ll be moving again on August 1st, looking forward to another round of cleaning and picking out items for donation. I’m really hoping to condense a lot with this next move. 11 months ago

I did a closet clean out to kick off the new year and took two bags of clothes to Goodwill. Less clutter for me, more clothes for others! 16 months ago

I put out a call for help from all my teacher friends to help me get rid of all my books and teaching supplies. I had one great friend who picked up just about everything I had. Several people expressed an interest, but when it came to picking it up, only one actually did. I also took a big bag to an old co-worker for her 11 year old daughter – the books were never actually in my classroom, so they were pretty pristine. Her daughter LOVED them, and I think she took a few out to save for Christmas gifts. I’m so glad I could give them to her, I know her daughter will read each one of them and appreciate them, they found a great home.
I also got rid of some of the books for teachers by selling them on Amazon, so I made a little money there too, which is great.
Next up, I’m going to go through my closet again, and pick out some stuff for goodwill! 18 months ago

I can’t part with anything. Somehow everything has sentiment to it! But by the same token I hate clutter. So I try to hide my junk in the limited space of the closet. I have clothes I have not worn in years…..SHOE BOXES, SHOPPING BAGS just incase they should come in handy….for god knows what.
I made some progress in that I have removed alot of old clothes from the wardrobe, but I cannot bring myself to give them away yet. Small steps… 18 months ago

Because my dad has moved home, and I’ve moved here and there several times, and changed careers, we’re finding that we have more things than we care to/can store. I opened up a bunch of boxes from Kansas, and it’s ALL teaching things that I don’t want anymore. So I’ve put out a call to my teacher friends, if this stuff isn’t gone by Saturday I’m getting rid of it…to goodwill, a bonfire, I don’t care, I just want it gone! This has really made me go through other things, like my closet, and take an honest look at things – do I really need this much garbage?? 19 months ago

I’m moved into my new apartment now and in the process of moving I managed to donate quite a bit or throw out anything that couldn’t be donated. I think I downsized quite a bit and I’m hoping to get rid of more as I unpack in my new place. 21 months ago

Made a drop-off at Goodwill today! It felt good to get some more clutter out of my life. Starting a new donation pile while I continue to pack for my move in a few weeks. 21 months ago

For some reason I had started to collect issues of magazines that I thought were worth saving but I went through them again today and threw out almost all of them. Now I’m down to one small magazine file and there is a huge stack in the recycling bin. Feels good to purge! 22 months ago

I’ll be moving to a new apartment in a few months and until then I want to work on getting rid of as much stuff as possible. It’ll make the move easier and keep the new apartment much more organized. 2 years ago