One of the main tenets of our family's pledge for this year is to "de-emphasize the importance of 'stuff' in our lives."
We did that in a very real way - by selling or giving away almost everything we owned. We sold our beautiful leather couches, our dining room table for 8, our jeep and car, Tim's motorcycle, the girls' sandbox and playhouse, toys, books, clothing, knick-knacks. Almost everything to our name is in our 36-foot 5th wheel.
It's oddly liberating - living with less. We have only the things that we really want/need/use.
You would think that with a tiny RV as a home, we'd be constantly saying, "Oh, I wish I still had my..." In reality? The opposite is true. Last night, Tim & I were just talking about how we have way too much.
This morning, we gave away more STUFF - a cast iron pizza pan, a cutting board, a sweater coat, wooden blocks, and books.
They were nice things, but we won't miss them.
For the record though, we DO miss people.
How do you actively de-emphasize things in your life?
Copyright ©2024 · All Rights Reserved
This sounds like the BEST part of what you're going. I hate stuff and we have so much and I confess to buying way too much. I think I'd love the feeling of getting rid of all but the necessities. (And I love that photo at the top of the page, by the way!!)
I also think we have way too much stuff. Our son is constantly getting presents from the grandparents, and we appreciate the thought, but our house is small! We're really cognizant of what we let into our home. I also keep a donations bin next to our washer and dryer and in our closet. That way, when I see an item we don't use, I can immediately put it into the bin. We donate whenever the bin is full.
I used to hoard...but now I love getting rid of junk. When things start to get cluttered I make a trip to Goodwill...living in a very tiny space helps!
You guys are awesome! Keep up the good work!
We have felt the same way many times. What we thought was "not much left" became "all this stuff" again. It is a constant re-evaluation of the situation, which we have found applies to a lot things once you've been going for a while. It's also a lot easier to NOT buy anything new because you don't really have anywhere to put it, and I'm always thinking "do we really NEED this?". I wonder how this will all look when we eventually live in larger quarters again???
I sometimes wonder the same thing, although I'm not sure I will want to live in a BIG house after this. It's kind of cozy in a smaller space. :)
P.S. Did you sell your house...or are you renting it out?
The trunk of our car is where we keep things that we are going to be donating at some point that month. We usually take a load every month! I put the stuff in the trunk, and never miss it! I don't think I've ever taken anything back out of it!
We downsized significantly in the last year (2000 square feet to 1300 square feet) and I seriously do NOT miss all the stuff! We still have too much, I think!
I'm a recovering pack-rat. One day shortly after I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 I simply got disgusted with how much "stuff" we have and started throwing things out. I'm a long way from being finished. It's one of those projects that gets overwhelming so I stop working on it, then get disgusted and get after it again! The weather is turning nice finally and I can open the windows and we're wanting to sell our little house this year so those things are motivating me to get back after it - with gusto!
When we were getting ready to move we went through the house with bags collecting things to donate that we didn't want to move, I filled so many more than I thought I would. I kept thinking about how you guys were saying it felt good to get rid of much of that stuff, thanks for the inspiration!