Post Things

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about wanting to own less things. I’ve found it to be a fascinating idea to explore over the last six months because it applies so widely to our modern day lives. We define ourselves so much through the items that we own and our buying power. Many of my lifestyle experiments don’t last anywhere close to six months and, even though it’s come with some ribbing from friends and even concerned backchannel questions from extended family (“Why is Sean selling all his stuff? Is he bankrupt? IS HE DYING?!”), attempting to “own less, do more” has had a profoundly positive impact on my life.

I wrote my initial post as I was finishing up a few months of travel. When I returned to SF, I had a storage unit full of things I hadn’t seen in months, and a pretty clear idea that most of it had to go. What I didn’t have was a clear idea of how to get rid of them.

So to celebrate Black Friday, I want to share the tools and services I’ve used to get rid of some stuff, organize others, and limit acquiring new things.

Selling gear

Apps: Craiglist, eBay + Shyp, and Facebook

First, I sold a ton of stuff. I started with selling of the good stuff (Macbook, nice monitor) to friends on Facebook where I was willing to cut a bit of a discount. Then I switched to Craiglist to get a larger potential market. I found it fairly useful for selling big stuff (bike), weird stuff (modified drone kit), and used stuff (camping gear). Unfortunately though, dealing with Craiglist buyers is a bigly time sink, with lots of people arguing over $5 and flaking on pick ups.

In some cases, Craigslist was the only option, but I quickly found that eBay was a better outlet for anything that falls into a “normal” product category: any sort of used electronic or anything with a UPC code has a market on eBay. I was able to sell my PS4 and a ton of games, as well as some fancy backpacks and luggage I’d acquired. eBay’s website is actually pretty finicky and I ran into number of weird posting bugs. But if you do sell on eBay, use Shyp. Their integration makes it incredibly easy to get things mailed around the country.

This has the unexpected result of encouraging me to look at buying used things rather than new when I actually do need something (more below).

Organizing clothing

Apps: Lots of used clothing apps for women, none for men; Omni for storage

Second, I donated a ton of clothes because it turns out there’s not much of a secondary market for men’s clothing (This is a totally different story for women).

My closet is now mostly basics that I can wear over and over again. Anything that was rarely in rotation has been donated. One notable effect of this is that I’ve found I wear out my clothes faster.

To be fair, there’s a couple categories of clothes that I kept that only get occasional use: formal wear, hiking gear, and winter gear. In all three cases, I got rid of duplicates that I’d collected, suits I wasn’t going to wear again, and then stored all three in bins at home. My mental math was that it’s cheaper to keep these items than spend the time and money to replace them with my proper size when I need them again.

I’m also using Omni to store a bin of clothing/items that I know I’ll only use once a year. It’s $7.50 a month per bin so I have to feel confident that I’ll still need it next year and the contents are worth more than $90/year it costs to store them.

Paper clutter

Apps: FileThis, Paperkarma, Fujitsu ScanSnap

A weirdly annoying source of clutter as I was moving has been mail. I made three big changes to make this easier to manage:

• I aggressively switched my actual accounts to eStatements. Then I use FileThis to auto import statements from those services into my Dropbox so I have them for reference.
• I use Paperkarma to aggressively unsubscribe from any marketing mail I get (I do the same thing with unsubscribe on email).
• I bought (through Amazon Warehouse deals), a portable Fujitsu ScanSnap that I can use to digitize mail that I do get and then throw it out immediately so it doesn’t pile up.

Renting

Apps: Getaround, Lastmingear, Google

It was always really easy for me to justify a big REI bill ahead of a camping trip. Instead, I’ve spent a lot more time looking at rental options before pulling the trigger and buying something myself. I’ve rented trucks and sports cars on Getaround for weekend trips, tents from Lastmin, and more. What’s amazing is just how many different mom-and-pop services there are for renting gear. That’s where Google comes in. I’m renting a Westfalia for a trip in December, something I’ve always wanted to do but explored only through craigslist for sale ads. Now I can do it for a weekend with no stress.

Things I’ve kept

I’ve kept some very nice things that are important to me and I use frequently.

For example, I’ve kept a small wooden desk I had built a few years ago. It’s really the only piece of furniture that I own and will take with me when I move again. It means a lot to me and I’ve improved it over time. I also kept a high-end Sony digital camera because I get a ton of enjoyment out of the photos I can take with it. But rather than messing with a pile of lenses, I’ve stuck with a single, multi-purpose lens and have been very happy not having to haul a kit around.

But not everything I’ve kept is high end. This process has made me think more critically about the things I do keep. I’ve got rid of some fancy luggage I bought in favor of some cheap REI bags that serve the same purpose (and don’t need to be babied).

Minimalists will hate this but I’ve also kept most of the boxes for the electronics I still have, simply for resale. This takes up a nontrivial amount of space but I believe it does help me sell things faster, if not necessarily for higher value.

Things I still need to get rid of

Of course, there’s still more work to be done on this front

• I got rid of a ton of books and new ones I’m buying are mostly on Kindle. But the odd one is only available in physical form and the collection has started to grow slightly again. Need to do a better job of finishing them (or at least recognizing I’m not going to finish them!), and donating them.
• I’ve still bought the odd thing I didn’t need. I bought a dutch oven after getting interested in baking bread again. Haven’t actually done that. Either need to use it or get rid of it.
• I’ve got a big collection of whiskey and wine. I kindly request you have a party so I can bring it and share it with everyone.
• I still have a few stacks of papers around immigration and previous company financials. I’d love to have a safe place to put them that isn’t my house. Most can be digitized but some need to remain physical. Safety deposit box?
• I’ve still got 25 vinyl LPs I can’t bring myself to part with even though I listen to Spotify entirely now. This is super weird as I know it’s just taking up space.

Downsides I didn’t expect

Of course there are downsides to this approach.

For example, a minimalist mindset becomes very blurry with disposable, and I don’t really like that. In many cases, you can’t simply opt out of buying something you need for an event, party, or task, and not everything is rental-friendly. In those cases, you end up buying things and then throwing them away after a single use. This has pushed me to be more aggressive on renting, but I wish there was a better way to check if friends have items they can lend.

My roommate (who thankfully is a similar mindset) and I have also been very slow to purchase furniture. For a long time, our living room was just a collection of folding camping chairs. I’m actually quite comfortable with this arrangement. The problem with lack of furniture is the outward appearance. I’ve often had to play the “we just moved in” with guests to avoid the common reaction of “you look like a serial killer”.

In a similar vein, it’s hard to explain to my parents that I don’t want any gifts for Christmas/Birthday and that they shouldn’t feel bad for not getting me anything. In this case, I’ve found consumables (wine, coffee) to be an acceptable substitute for them. I just need to consume them fast so it doesn’t pile up.

The bigger win

But like I said at the beginning, it’s had some profound and long term impacts on my life: despite buying less things, I do more and I’m happier with the stuff I have. It’s not one change but a pile of small mindset shifts that came from that single original idea of “own less, do more”:

• It’s caused me to focus less on getting the perfect object and be happy with the one that does the job. This is the well understood decision-making tradeoff of maximizer/satisficer and I’ve historically been a maximizer. Thinking about owning less has let me be more satisfied with the good enough option.
• I’ve become a lot less stressed about being disorganized.
• I’ve been a lot happier about sharing the things I do have with others, not being so worried about being without them if something breaks, gets lost, or drank.
• I’ve cut my personal burn rate over this year to about half of what it was. That’s not entirely just cutting my old budget for spending money on things, so much as applying a lot of the same thoughtfulness about what I do spend money on.
• Despite spending less, I’ve been able to do a lot more. Part of that comes from renting. Part of that comes being freed of looking for the optimal plan.

I’m not the most strong willed person and that’s historically made it very hard to experiment with lifestyle changes that I rationally understand will improve my quality of life. This idea here, is different. It paid dividends almost immediately and continues to months later. There’s more work for me to do, but I have a tangible feeling of what it’s worth doing it.