Sunday, September 25, 2011

Possession Free Lifestyle

The ruthless culling of our belongings continues. My wife has filled up a truckload of boxes for donations (clothes, books, misc. junk) and almost another truckload worth of just general garbage.

This brings to mind the question: How did we ever accumulate all of this? Are we abnormal in our packrat mentality, or is this how much junk fills the average modern home?

8 comments:

Patrice said...

I think most modern homes are filled to overflow capacity with "stuff". I'm afraid to admit mine is bursting at the seams and I just can't imagine having to trucking all this stuff anywhere.

Dyson said...

Same question here... As I prepare for the coming reality and my off-grid existence I find way too much "stuff"...

Perhaps I can donate or sell some of it, yard sales, ebay etc. but it' got to go... Thinking like a pioneer I'm trying to get to a wagon load of essentials...

Amanda Becker said...

Ughhh- I am glad I am not alone- when We moved the last time my Husband told me it was a 2 for 1 move- 1 things comes with us for every 2 things I throw out or give away... which ever was more appropriate!... Good Luck purging! Find good homes for everything! Maybe craigslist or freecycle?

Kathy Jo DeVore said...

There's also the fact that we haven't completely unpacked in the last decade of moves. :-} Some of the stuff in the basement had me scratching my head and saying, "What the hell?"

Sawmill Jim said...

Yep i got two houses full and a shed .You run low drop by I'll restock you

Jess (Ozark Momma) said...

Um, yeah...should I mention that a year ago (when we moved to Germany) everything we owned could be boxed up and put in just the living room of our 3 bdrm apartment? Now, not so much!

The purge has been happening here as well, though not with the beloved books (we like the crack of the spine, the smell of the page and the feel of the paper). It's insane the amount of 'stuff' we've acquired in a year.

Bluesgal said...

I have a rule when moving.. if you haven't opened the box for 2 moves... you don't need it.. On the other hand, I have stuff that I wouldn't unpack because I somehow knew I wouldn't be there too long (i.e. my grandmothers crystal).

When I moved from NYC to AZ the cost was .55 per lb. that motivated me to not take alot of things. Funny.. I don't seem to miss any of it.

I can't seem to get rid of clothes though. I a closet worth of stuff I should just donate... don't know why that is so hard.

Best of luck with your journey and please keep us informed! (and let us know if there is anything you want to sell that might be useful)

Freeholder said...

I've been trying to thin down for when this place sells and we move clear across the country...I know I need to toss/give away/sell more stuff, but it's getting down to the stuff that's really hard to part with. Either it's useful at least part of the year, or I know it will be useful sometime in the future -- hard to know what to take and what to plan on replacing.

Kathleen