Jamie Jay The Classy Cheapskate: A MINIMALIST JOURNEY

Join us on scaling down! As a person who is tired of too many possessions, I have made the decision to become a minimalist and I'm not alone. Why would someone want to be a minimalist? In my life, I feel like things weigh me down. They take up time and of course money. It costs money to house and clean objects. It's just tiring. You know the saying, "You don't own things, things own you." When you die, you can't take it with you. I want to spend my life enjoying experiences, spending time with my family and friends. Extreme minimalists own about 100 items. A comfortable minimalist might own 150 things. I probably own a million things (maybe more). I wonder if we have to count every piece of paper. If we have to include electronic documents. I might own 2 million things. It took me 36 years to accumulate what I have. I hope it does not take that long to get rid of it. So to start this process, I am going to sell my nicer belongings on eBay and at my antique/flea market booth which does not require me to be present to make a sale (it is also free to keep the booth running – I would not pay rent for a booth). I simply need to tag an item and go. If you don't feel comfortable selling items in those ways, you can opt to hold a yard sale once or twice a year. This will require you to store things away which is something I want to avoid. I will scan or photograph paper documents to store in my computer, being sure to back everything up. I will throw out junk and donate clothing to a local charity. Any metal items will be placed in a box for recycling. To maintain progress, I will need to be careful not to buy too many items. For every item I purchase, I must get rid of one item I own. I will not apply this rule to consumable items such as food, toothpaste, or toilet paper. I am going to make a list of goals so that I stay on track. Feel free to follow along and try this out yourself. Adjust anything as necessary to suit your lifestyle and situation.

(Update: I find it easier to organize the daily tasks on my website which can be followed just like a blog. To continue your minimalist journey, please visit www.classycheapskate.wordpress.com.)

Spend 30 minutes each day going through things.
Get four boxes to help organize items throughout each week. Label the boxes as donate, booth, eBay, and recycle. Trash can be thrown in a trash can.
Items that I am going to keep will be photographed and posted on this page so that I can start inventory. They will have to be important to me if I am willing to waste my time photographing them.
Mondays - items in donation box should be dropped off at a collection box (only if box is full)
Tuesdays - scan or photograph paper items, file away in computer, back up
Wednesdays - photograph eBay items
Thursdays - if you have a large enough load, take metal items to recycling center.
Fridays - tag items in booth box, take to booth to be sold (only if box is full)
Saturdays - list eBay items
Sundays - do your 30 minutes of sorting, then rest and relish in your progress!

So, here it goes! I'm not looking to scale down to just 100 items. I think that is too drastic. My goal is to own a lot less and I know it will take time to scale back. It will be interesting to see how many items I end up with.

Set the timer for 30 minutes. Grab your camera! As you go through things, photograph the items that you are keeping. Don't photograph consumable items such as toilet paper or food as they will most likely disappear in a few days anyway. If you have excess consumables such as 40 bottles of face cream that you could never possibly use before they expire, get rid of them. Make it a goal to only purchase what you will use from now on. Consider this a learning lesson and a new start. Also, do not photograph fixtures in your home (items that would sell with the house such as ceiling lights or large appliances). If you have a home business, keep business items separate. They are not part of your personal life. However, you can go through things in the same manner being sure that you only have what is necessary to run the business. If you have children, a spouse, or a roommate; they can try this process with you. If they are not going to, you do not have to deal with their things. Just make sure they have their own allotted space and that you have yours.

Here are photos of things I am keeping: (You can keep your photos in a folder on your desktop or another convenient place.)

11/8/2014 – Notice that there are no photos! I'm doing really good so far. I did keep some pencils, but they are considered consumables. Since today is Saturday, I had better go sell anything that is in my eBay box.

11/9/2014 – Okay, I kept my first item. A pre-lit flocked tree. What a big first choice! One good thing is that it serves two purposes. Our cat uses it as a climbing toy. Climbing posts are like a hundred dollars or more at pet stores! I would never buy one. I bet the ornaments for the tree are going to add up my numbers fast. The good thing is that there are 4 people in my family. So only a quarter of the ornaments will be mine. What I really like is that the tree always has the lights on it and is easy to move. It comes apart into 3 pieces and even folds up. I got it at the end of season for about $13 at 95% off. It was originally about $260 at Target.