After reading “Everything That Remains” I became inspired to reduce the number of items in my house. “Everything That Remains” chronicles the journey the authors, Joshua and Ryan, made to becoming minimalists. It’s not a “how to” book but more of a “why” to book.
On their website there are some examples of the things they tried when making the transition, like canceling the internet at home and NOT buying anything for a period of time. At the beginning of February I noticed the Minimalist Game, in which one item gets purged on the first of the month, two things get purged on the second of the month, and so on, until the last day of the month when, in the case of February, 28 things go. It adds up to over 400 by the end of the month.
I’m keeping a journal as I go, noting the things that get tossed in the bin for a garage sale (planned for June 6 and 7) or that I toss or recycle. From the journal it’s easy to tell where I was targeting. For example,
“February 7: Seven wooden spoons”
“February 12: Twelve vases”
“February 15: Fifteen articles of clothing, mostly scarves”
“February 17: Seventeen cords (USB to something!)”
“February 22: Slips, bras, thigh highs, nylons, camisoles, bathing suits”
“February 23: rain jackets, fleece, mittens, winter hats, scarves, headbands, rain poncho (still in a packet)”
Although February is soon coming to an end, I’ll carry on the game in March. Stay tuned for a progress update!
Shaker box that was full of nylons.
I got this at a garage sale and never used it.