Clearing out and restocking 2019/2020

[kathryn]

Anyone else clearing out the old, and perhaps selectively replacing as the year* comes to an end?

Personally, I have put a ton of shoes into the donation box, and replaced a couple of them.

I'm really only directly replacing two. I had a slip-on pair of Onitsuka Tigers that were cute, but not great for my narrow feet, so I bought a pair with laces instead. Super light, super comfy, and IMO retro-stylish. I'm also getting rid of a pair of wedge booties, replacing with some flat booties from Born instead. The flats are lighter, and I am getting to the point in my life where heels, however comfortable, seem like too much trouble. Then there are a bunch I'm donating without replacing, as I need to thin out my shoe collection, even more than my bag collection.

I've added a couple of cashmere sweaters to my wardrobe, after traveling with one in Ireland in October. I wish I'd done this sooner, because the weight and warmth are hard to beat--year-end sales made the financial bite less painful. I will donate some sweaters I own already, so as not to add to my overall number of clothes.

The main purge on the clothing front is jeans: yikes! I hadn't realized how many pairs I'd accumulated. Going down to one black, one dark wash, and one grey.

My grandma gifted me a Kelly green London Fog trench that she's had forever (we still need to see if we can find the zip-in lining somewhere in her house) which made me realize that there are so many beautiful clothes out there that are going unused. So, in the new year, I am making a commitment to myself to shop consignment and second-hand stores whenever possible. Looking at my dresser, closet and the armoire holding my shoes, I am feeling bad about the environmental and economic impact of all of it.

*technically, NOT the decade, but, "nobody likes a math geek, Scully"

[flitcraft]

As you were typing this, I was in the process of clearing out two closets to find shoes to take to Goodwill. I'm no Imelda Marcos, but it was still shocking how many pairs of shoes I'd accumulated over the past two decades. And even more shocking was how many were still in good condition, but I hadn't worn in ages. So...the closets are neater, and hopefully soon there will be a few better-shod folks in the area!

[Bogiesan]

When Mari Kondo hit the big time two years ago, I had already seen her stuff from Japan three years earlier so I'm a five-year Kondo ninja. Whenever something comes into the house, two similar items must go out. Keeping it sane is an ongoing, everyday process but it's easy. Just don't let it get away form you.

[G42]

I seem to move (cities, apartments, jobs, whatever) fairly frequently so I am frequently sorting/purging to ensure I'm not moving stuff I don't need. This summer I downsized to a one bedroom apartment for the first time in 20+ years, so a more serious effort was needed. A few friends and I tried the month thing where it's one item on the 1st, two on the 2nd, etc. I ended up stopping around the 23rd of the month because I left town on work trips.

There's still stuff left to be 'looked at'... I have a twenty year beading/jewelry making hobby and I'm slooowwwwly going through all the bins and weeding out the items that I will just never use (though I get distracted and end up making lots of earrings along the way).
Since the smaller place has less wall space, I have some hard decisions to make about what artwork will stay on the walls, what will stay in reserve to rotate on, and what just needs to go...

For whatever reason, my accumulation problems are only usually around antiques, art, etc - not clothes or shoes, though it did take me several years to donate the LLBean rainboots. They're great boots but we don't get a lot of rain in California vs when I lived in downtown Philly.

I'm trying to ensure that I simply don't bring much into my life that isn't a 'consumable'... TB being the exception, but even there I try to rehome the stuff that I don't seem to use frequently.

[bchaplin]

I spent the last few days re-painting the upper floor of my condo (from a gloomy blue to an airy off-white). I cleared all the small stuff out of the room first. When I was done, some pieces of furniture or tchochkes never made it back. Either I thought they looked better elsewhere, or I preferred keeping the room uncluttered. Ditto with my living room, which I've also been rearranging. It's amazing how much energy you can bring into a space by taking everything out and then deciding whether or not it belongs. Otherwise the forces of inertia just allow things to remain, and of course, accumulate.

Though I would not want to do this exercise every day; it's a @&#!*$ of work!

[xyppy]

This is the time of the year when I usually have 10-12 days off from work. (I work at a college.) So it's this time of year that I try to go through everything in my apartment, closets, files, drawers, cupboards, etc. and throw away things that I haven't used and won't use in the near future. I have 4 really nice radios that I've not used in about 5 years but I can't part with them yet. Maybe I'll be able to next year.

Shoes? Harumph. I can't go there. I'm losing the battle of keeping them under control.

[melminimalist]

I also work for a school and have off about 10 days. I have been working on cleaning out, in the midst of everything I have also realized that my travel style has once again evolved and am changing up some of those items as well. Re-watched Minimalism Documentary again on netflix to inspire me, also read Tynan’s new gear post for 2020.


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[xyppy]

I noticed I wrote "throw away" in my post above. I really try not to throw things out. I take things to Goodwill or other places that can recycle/reuse.

[Shortie]

Since every office I've ever worked at is quiet around the holidays I always take a week or two off and spend some of that time decluttering. Even though I have considered myself a minimalist for over ten years stuff does still accumulate, although at a much slower pace than it used to. I go through every drawer and cabinet and sell or donate all unused items. I set up my budget for the new year too. And this year I've made it a goal to keep up a bullet journal so I'm setting that up this week as well.

[Traveltech]

Same situation here, but I think it’s important not to toss things just to be minimalistic. If you’ve already purchased an item, use it or donate it somewhere it will be used. Goodwill and other charities can’t always recycle those clothes. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-...b0071a6e092352

[organicfarmer]

I am finding the end of the year every year to be more and more the same. My year goal doesn't skew far from the previous year's goal. Always something about an uncomplicated life and make money efficiently. My results don't skew far from my year goal, but they are never perfectly met in some way. Some years I drift and buy more things, some years I make a little more or less money from a low probability event occuring. I am not sure if time goes faster as the years go by because it really seems the beginning and end of year are not as far apart as they once were so that leaves less time to skew from the objectives. I'm thinking I do much of the same that my brain deletes the identical temp files and smaller data package translates to less sense of time.

So what is my additions and subtraction list. Adding some better quality items in place of cheaper ones nearly worn out: chef's knife, jeans, socks. Subtracting some items to streamline them: organizing tool boxes for less boxes and less duplicate tools, sorting and selling some TB items I no longer use or were a speculative ebay purchases, and the strange one is anything that doesn't fit into my style of "I am not moving anytime in the next decades, but an item has less clutter if it is easier to move"

My mind seems to sort my life into boxes, it only seems like too much if its assigned mental box is overflowing.

In 2020 I am looking to add something else to my plan. I want to be a local tourist. I want to see the local sites I hadn't seen since I was a kid or have driven past multiple times, but never went. Last year I stopped into a historical landmark that I drove past twice a year for many years. It was an exceptional hour tour with wonderful tour guide in a slow part of the year so I was the only one on the tour. The guide even said "we normally only get middle schooler trips or over 65 year olds almost none in between in age" Learned a lot at something inches from my travel route.

Reflecting on past 10 years, small changes could have helped. I am learning to buy the better quality versus buying cheaper then later buying the better version. I had bought basic insulated water bottles, now I buy yeti water bottles. 20% better for twice the price, but the brand has staying power, thinks about little design features, and better compatibility across bottle line. In the 10 years I am happy to watch what I buy and how it fills my life. I still have 1800 square feet of my house with nothing in it. I am thankful I don't like clutter and generally don't buy things I don't need.

[theswiftbiker]

I want to spread the word of the buy nothing community! It's a great way to help declutter and in turn also help people in your community.

https://buynothingproject.org/about/

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[aedifica]

I want to spread the word of the buy nothing community! It's a great way to help declutter and in turn also help people in your community.

https://buynothingproject.org/about/

I'll second this. I don't remember how I heard of them, but I joined my local Buy Nothing group on Facebook a few months ago. I like it! For instance, I had a Halloween wig that didn't work for me (but I couldn't return it) and it was nice to be able to give it to someone who could use it.

[GoStanford]

I've been checking out library books on organization and storage to get ideas from the photos. Right now our common space is full of books, holiday cards, Legos, magazines to donate, and more. But the photos in those books provide some calming imagery. I am a big fan of Marie Kondo's books and I am on the waiting list for her upcoming collaboration, a book called Joy at Work.

ETA: I can't find the original thread for recipes, but here is a super-casual version of the vegan chocolate-chip cookies for which the recipe is given on the main website (Factory Showroom Cookies: https://www.tombihn.com/blogs/main/c...ctory-showroom)

I used wheat flour and decided to press out the dough so that we can break it up into pieces when it's cool. Early wishes from California for a Happy New Year!

[GrussGott]

I want to spread the word of the buy nothing community! It's a great way to help declutter and in turn also help people in your community.

https://buynothingproject.org/about/

Love the idea, but it's Facebook, so non-starter for us. bummer! I hope they consider doing a web version ...