I’ve been into minimalism for a long time now. Writing about it though takes the concept to a whole new level though. Suddenly, I feel even more accountable. I’ve always said that the number one thing to do in order to improve something is to do an honest, accurate self-assessment that should be followed by massive action plan. Think about it for a second? How many people would you consider to be wealthy? How many of those do you think would be able to give you an accurate picture of their finances as well as their plan or objectives for the next few years? I would argue that those who do get around to doing this exercise are much better off in almost any sphere of life than those that just move along.
Better Plan = Better Results
How Much Stuff Do I Own?
I wish I could say that I have a lot less stuff than 1 year ago. The reality is that I have a bit more. Shocking? Maybe. Remember though that I moved into a new townhouse with more space which provided its bunch of challenges. Having a ladder, some tools, etc.
The Good
I don’t think I got anything that I didn’t need. That being said, I have more stuff than a year ago. Almost everything I got was out of some degree of necessity. Sure, you could say that I could find a better way to moe my lawn but the reality is that buying a lawn mower was the best alternative. I don’t think I fell into the trap though. I did not buy stuff that I thought I needed only to find out a year later that I had not used it.
The Bad
Unfortunately, that isn’t enough. I still have more “stuff” than a year ago. What kind of stuff?
-More furniture (tables, a couch, etf)
-More electronic gadgets (my wife has a MacBook Air but we still have the older laptop for example)
-More paper (all of these bills, etc)
-Tons of photos (you know the physical ones that we used to print all the time?)
-Garage full of “stuff”: The old owner left a lot of different things, some useful, but many are not
-Clothes and shoes (not any big excesses but certainly some items that I have not been wearing in years)
The other worrying part is that as I wrote last week, with our first kid on the way, it’s likely that a lot of different stuff will start entering the room. I have read some excellent pieces of advice regarding minimizing the impact but there are just so many different things that we need to get (crib, new clothes, etc)
My Massive Action Plan
For now, with the baby being rather new, I’ll simply try to keep in mind not buying “useless” stuff but will not focus on it too much to start off. Rather, my priorities are:
-Reducing paper (receiving all bills electronically when possible, scanning or getting rid of older papers)
-Cleaning the garage (overdue, I will easily be able throw away a lot of stuff)
-Moving To The Clouds: I want to move as many files, photos, music to the “clouds” to make my life easier with less clutter
I will certainly keep you updated on how things go for me. I would love to hear how much “stuff” you own compared to a year ago and how you plan on evolving in that sense in the near future!
