Here is a book that I recently purchased (I have mentioned my weakness for books). It is written by Gregory Johnson who is the founder and director of resources for life.
If you choose to purchase this book, you would be supporting my blog by using the link below.
In this book Gregory covers many of the usual issues I have come across when researching living in a small home. I also believe that he has come up with some very original ways to look at things you may already be thinking about, and some things that you might not think of yourself until you were faced with it.
Thinking about living a more simple life? Thinking about living in a small apartment or house?
This book is not going to answer every question one might have, but I would suggest it is like a list of camping supplies written by someone who has camped many, many times for someone who has never camped before.
I wish to particularly praise his use of the word and concept of outsourcing. How it may have negative images, but is often overlooked on a personal basis. There are many such examples: the local library, Netflix, car sharing, public spaces such as parks, gyms, and the list goes on and on.
I found it aesthetically pleasing, enjoyable to read, and contained so many resources that I have barely begun to explore them.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1812185,00.html
The above is a link to an article that mentions both Dave (the 100 Thing Challenge guy), and Peter Walsh (the expert organizer / the Walshinator).
It’s great to see these guys getting promoted ….. they are changing lives ….. I know they are changing mine, even though I have just begun the journey.
Filed under: ----- My 100 Thing List
Here is my update …..
- Wedding ring
- Glasses
- Watch
- Eames rocker
- Buddha – small wooden
- Compaq 17″ laptop
- Kodak digital camera
- 8 G nano i-Pod
- iHome clock/alarm/charging dock/speakers/with remote
- CD collection – currently at 49 (goal to keep at 100 or less)
Filed under: ----- My 100 Thing List
Here’s my list so far as I’m ready to publish for public eyes (more updates as I go)
- Compaq 17″ laptop
- 8 G nano i-Pod
- iHome clock/alarm/charging dock/speakers/with remote
- CD collection – currently at 49 – current picture below (goal to keep at 100 or less)
I’m working on my 100 Thing List from a couple angles. I’m trying to identify what is easily and quickly seen as something I don’t need. Like 3 extra calculators that I never use – beyond the one that I do use.
Three calculators into the donate box – not worth the time trying to sell for the 25 cents I would be lucky to get for each one.
Then I am looking for overlap / reduction / best quality / lower cost (compromises will have to be made sometimes). Today my Bose SoundDock for my i-Pod, and my zen alarm clock (which my wife hates) will be prepared to go on auction on Ebay tomorrow night. The iHome will be used by both of us as an alarm (it has dual alarm). It will also be used to pop both of our i-Pods into to charge, and will serve as speakers (replacing the Bose). I have to admit that it does not come even close to the quality of the Bose, but then again, I don’t listen to my stuff very loud. Since I listen to things at a reasonable level, this is where the lower costing iHome sounds just fine.
So, I am replacing 2 alarm clocks, and a speaker system with 1 item. It will take up less space, and cost less to replace if needed.
My CD collection is reduced mostly to those that I listen to the most. Some I’m just not ready to let go of yet. I have 357 CDs for sale on Half.com (as of this writing – I listed them at prices that made sense at the time, and when I get to the point that I have pretty much everything that will end up being listed, then I will just start lowering the prices every week until they go – remember, I am trying to reduce debt as part of my simplifying my life, so getting the most I can for my stuff is important – plenty will also be donated to our local charity thrift store we go to), and have kept 49. I have actually just purchased 2 more used CDs yesterday, but do not know yet whether I will end up simply listing them, or keep them – I am pretty sure I will be keeping at least one of them.
Right now my limit on CDs will be 100, but the goal is to keep it much lower if I can. I want to have room to bring new music into my collection. Music comes and goes, and this is something I enjoy.
The reason to have a set limit is to keep myself from simply listing it as a collection that has no boundaries. It’s like others I have read using collections almost as a safety net, and completely forgetting the spirit of doing this in the first place. Can you reduce what you have/need/consume? If you think the idea is stupid, then you must be happy where you are at. If you are not happy, then this is something to think about. By the way – in many ways I am very happy with my life, but there are things I would like to change. Or more correctly put, there are priorities in my life that I need to identify, and make room for them, it’s the things that I decide don’t matter that must go!
My purpose for this path is to find some freedom. Freedom from all this stuff that gets paid for by trading hours of my life for them. Freedom from spending time looking for lost/misplaced stuff. Freedom from the extra housework time because there is so much STUFF everywhere. Every person must decide for themselves what their rules are, but it is important to remain honest with yourself.
How many possessions do you have? Do you have stuff you don’t need or really even like? Do you have 10 can openers in your kitchen, or 4 calculators like I did? Have you ever wished you could turn many of the items in your home into the original money you paid for them?
Join me ~ let’s share ideas ~ what’s working for you? what’s challenging you?
Filed under: ----- My 100 Thing List
I am ready to start posting my 100 thing list, which will be headed with the same title every post. This way you can simply select the category “my 100 thing list”, and see my most recent update to my list, as well as view the lists as they were in chronological order.
I will also add photos as I go along. They will be included to give a visual of what I currently have, and to show what I have stripped away.
I encourage anyone who is doing something similar to let me know. Let’s create links to each other, share ideas, and create a community of simplicity.
How do you live a simple life? What I know right now, is that you start by getting rid of all the stuff that doesn’t serve you. Sell, give, donate or throw away everything that holds you hostage. Read “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh, and Walsh that stuff right out of your house. Also, I would recommend “Walden”. Thoreau tells us to simplify, simplify, simplify. I will butcher this, but in Walden he writes about having a few stones on his desk, which he realized created more work for dusting his home, and that would not do when he still had so much dust in his head. Focus on what is important, and get rid of everything else you can.
I started this blog for a couple reasons.
1. To journal my path to a more simple life.
2. To connect with others that have similar goals, and to share ideas.
On the downside, I really haven’t been as regular with posting as I would like, and the process will continue to march slowly. And I have had very few visitors.
On the upside, I had one of my posts commented on by Peter Walsh. It was a complete honor to both myself and my wife. He is a guru to us, and I’m sure we will continue to read his book throughout this entire process, and thereafter to keep us in line from time to time. His book “It’s All Too Much!” has earned a permanent place in my library, and will be recommended often.
On my original quest to find others who are trying to strip down their lives (and I do mean strip down), I came across two people that made me quite curious.
The first was David Michael Bruno and his 100 Thing Challenge. He was doing exactly what I wanted to do. To really know what he had, and eliminate what he didn’t need. My only complaint was that I wished to have more updates from him on this. The good news is that he has started a new page for this, and appears to have posted a few times since I last checked. Here’s the link …..
http://www.guynameddave.com/100-thing-challenge.html
The second was a mention of the “Rucksack Guy”. Every link I found kept leading to a dead end. The concept was he has 101 possessions that could all be carried in a rucksack in a single load. What was even better, was that he was said to have photographed all his possessions. Well, I finally found a site that had his list and photos. Very cool, and inspirational. I wish I could actually make contact with him, and have the opportunity to ask questions. He would be a most interesting person to interview. Here’s the site I found …..
http://mcshug.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
Just scroll down a bit if you don’t see it.
So, there are some updates on what is inspiring me.
Now, how am I doing with this challenge? I have been going back over my CD collection, and I think I finally broke through some barrier in my mind.
I used to have hundreds of CDs, and my collection has always been in flux. I will trade in CDs, and then get new CDs. My wife likes to laugh when I end up buying a CD that I had gotten rid of. The great news is that really doesn’t happen a lot, and it hasn’t been that big of a deal to replace something. I think for some people getting rid of stuff really triggers a fear response. In some ways I think that is what happens with me as well.
It’s bad enough to realize you will only get 10 cents on the dollar (sometimes if you are lucky), but then to think you may need to buy it back later is a very discouraging thought. My solution is to be far more careful when buying something in the first place. Works pretty well for me, but sometimes those impulses are mighty powerful.
I am revisiting my CDs, and now have them down to 71 at last count. While I am close to done, I still have a bit to go. Then I will of course move on to something else.
In my list of 100 things, I will count my CD collection as one thing (but MUST maintain at 100 or less). I know from reading other posts that many people either wish to criticize this, or abuse it. For me it is just what it is. I like books, CDs and DVDs a LOT. I have had over a couple thousand possessions at a time if you would have counted them at that time. For me, it is a great accomplishment to keep each of those categories under 100, and have them as 3 items on my list of 100.
I still wish I knew how many books David has on his 100 Thing Challenge. I am horribly curious.
Toodle Pip
