Living With Less.

How I got rid of 75% of my stuff, in 1 semester.

Do you keep misplacing objects that you use everyday? Ever have trouble finding that one little thing right when you need? Sometimes, our stuff begins to take over our lives, and it can become more of an annoyance than a blessing; but what can you do about it?

The concept of ‘decluttering’ seems to be widely accepted by most of society as an easy way to regulate what you own and refine your belongings down to what matters most. But how do you start? That’s everyone’s #1 question, ‘I don’t know how to start throwing away my things, where do I begin?’ A common grievance from many people, and a reasonable one at that! There are always the things that you ‘will need someday,’ or the useless knickknacks that ‘my old best friend gave me.’ So let’s get past that. I’m going to let you in on 2 secrets that will kick-start your quest for cleanliness.

First, get a box. Actually, get many boxes. Put everything you own in them. Yes, everything. Anything from shoes to chargers to shampoo to the little dolls from your childhood, it all goes in a box. After you’ve done that, you’re done! This is the first secret to cleaning up your crap: box it.

Here’s the thinking behind it: Whenever you need to use something: a t-shirt, a notebook, socks, etc., just take it out of the box and use it. Simple! The trick is you’re only allowed to take things out of the box as you need them.

By taking out only what you need, you’re actually leaving everything you have no use for in the box. Own what you use, nothing more.

Moving forward, pick an ‘expiry date.’ It can range from 2 weeks to 2 months, but after your expiry date hits, anything left in those boxes is OUTTA HERE! In theory, everything that you use on a daily basis should already be out of the boxes by the time your expiry date hits, and everything left in the boxes are goods and possessions you either don’t value as much, or don’t use as often. Much like taking off a Band-Aid, don’t sit around and ruminate on what’s in these boxes, simply realize that they’ve ‘expired’ for you, and be gone with them! Actually, our second secret will give you something to do with all these newly ‘expired’ possessions.

For the second secret, you’ll need another box. But only 1 this time, as this is your free box. What is your free box, you’re probably asking? Well, good question. Your free box is a place that holds all of your expired possessions, and your job is to tell everyone you know or meet that you have a box full of free stuff!

One mans trash is another mans treasure, right?

Just because you no longer find use in some of your goods, doesn’t mean that other people won’t. The real secret trick of the free box is to be constantly adding to it; I recommend adding at least 1 thing a day. If none of your friends want your stuff, put the box out on your front steps with a free sign, and guaranteed it only hangs around 10 minutes out there. Do this everyday until you can’t stand to get rid of any more things! Then get rid of 10 more.

Let’s recap what we did to get rid of some stuff. We put all of our belongings (yes, all of them) into boxes, and took out only the things we needed to use day by day. After a certain amount of time, we decided that everything left in the boxes wasn’t being used enough, and so we tossed it all in our free box. After the big purge, we kept it going by trying to add 1 thing a day, and to make sure the box was being emptied by other people. After a couple months, why not trying boxing all your stuff again? And repeat! You can add things to your free box until you reach a level of stuff you’re content with, there’s no competition here. It’s all about whatever makes you most comfortable.

There’s nothing wrong with having a lot of things, it’s just that our possessions are becoming more important than our friends, our family, our fun, and our futures. So if you want to start getting rid of some of your stuff, take 5 minutes a day, and add things to your free box. You won’t regret it, and your friends will love the new stuff they get!