07 July 2010

Having Less Stuff

Ya know how good it feels to clean out your closet/drawer/desk and get rid of a bunch of stuff you don't need anymore?

Well, I'm pretty OK at getting rid of the junk I don't need. But what to do with the stuff I have some ridiculous emotional attachment to? Like the 300 t-shirts I own? I went through a year ago and got rid of a whole bunch... but now I'm down to the shirts I really like (and still wear a fair amount). Like the 2001 Wisconsin State Track Meet shirt, or the Washington, DC one I got when I was there in 2005, or the Sweetwater Surf Shop shirt from Wilmington Beach, NC that I got on Spring Break in 2003? I'm kind of in love with all of these shirts.

I went through about 6 months ago and got rid of all of my notebooks from college. Apparently at one point in my life, I thought that I'd need (no really, need) to reference my Meteorology 101 notes, and my Business Stats notes, just to name a few. I have taken these treasures (?) to 2 post-college abodes with me. I got yelled at really bad by the friend who offered to carry the box of notebooks up the stairs for me (in my defense, I was fully willing to carry these myself). Well, the notebooks have long since been recycled, but I still keep a few shelves worth of books that I've read. I enjoy lending them out to folks (ok I've done that like twice), and there's that accomplished feeling of having a shelf full of books that I can lay claim to. But... do I need them? Related: Have you seen this amazing site? (That might have something to do with my problem...) Also related: My new blog background is A BOOKSHELF. I might have to admit defeat on this one.

I finally got a (working) paper shredder, and about 3 years ago I switched all of my mail/bills/statements to electronic delivery so now I just get emails instead of phone/internet/credit card bills, but I still have SO MUCH PAPER sitting around my apartment! I don't know where it comes from! It's just always there! I go through everything and throw out tons of stuff at a time, and then the next day, it just comes back. I have two portable file things for important stuff like school loan documents, health insurance and 401(k) info and car insurance stuff, but what the heck? Theoretically that's all the stuff I would really need, but still! So much paper!

Does anyone have any tips for clutter/stuff control? Or for getting rid of t-shirts because I have an entire massive drawer full of them? Or for just being more awesome in general?

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