living with less

Selling our "gently used items" (see: "junk") via Craigslist has been (mostly) great. We have gotten rid of quite a number of things, and thus far, there haven't been too many creepers e-mailing me. We also took a bunch of books to Half Price Books and got $45... and no, I don't even want to think about how much those books cost to begin with. I'm just happy to have less. Fewer things to pack up when we move, fewer things to feel burdened by-- it's refreshing to realize that we don't just have to accumulate things over the next twenty years and eventually be buried underneath all the crap that comes along with building a home.

The biggest lesson I've learned is that there's no reason to hold on to things because we "might use them someday." When it really comes down to it, we only use maybe 20% of what we have, and there's no reason to keep holding on to things that we may or may not need 5-10-15 years from now.

And while we still have quite a bit more than we need at this point, I'm really happy we're taking steps to pare down. That way, if we ever choose to go live in another country for a period of time, we don't need to attempt the massive task of getting rid of 5-10 years' worth of junk... or pay for 3 storage units so that we can come back and say "what the hell is all this?"

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Speaking of living in a different country, check out this amazing villa in Italy--





What I wouldn't give for such simplicity...
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Seriously. I don't understand those people who have their houses, and various storage units for all the crap they're not currently using. How is there not a point where you just feel suffocated by all the stuff in your life? And think of all the money-- paying for a storage unit alone is expensive, and for what? Keeping things that you don't even know you have?!

I think I have a unique perspective on the issue of keeping things that aren't immediately necessary or useful. When we moved here in 1998, we each brought a suitcase of clothes and a stuffed animal or two. My parents had a container of some furniture shipped over, but that didn't arrive until we were here for about 6 months. Thus, prior to leaving, we literally sold or donated everything else.

That sentiment has stayed with me-- every once in a while I will purge all the non-essentials. And though I will occasionally still build up stores of things I don't use (see: junk room post-wedding), I always rediscover how much happier I am with less.