100 things, how to de-consumerize your life…
Lately All my life, I’ve had problems with stuff. I have all this stuff, and I want it to go away. I’d like to blame my kids and wife, but I love stuff. I’m except now I am inundated with it. While perusing some blogs I came across this: 100 things
Brilliant. You personally have 100 things, if you get something new, you get rid of something old. Discipline! Discipline is what I need. Is there really a reason to for any human being to have all this crap? I mean everyone talks about how simpler the “olden days” were, and those days were very much uncluttered with all the bullshit and fooferall that we’re drowning in today. It’s hard, because I like cameras, old radios, old books, trinkets, gadgets and toys. Basically I am a crow gilding my cage with shiny crap.
But 100 things? I’d have to set some rules, I live on an acre of land and own a home AND do a lot of my own car repairs. I’m not going to have my tools count against me. They’d have to be one item. They save me money. This weekend I’ll be replacing my front brakes, $40 in parts, my own labor and I’ll save hundreds over what a garage would charge. Even if I found an honest mechanic. There’s no way in hell everything in my gun cabinet is being counted separately. I’ll have to do a one in one out thing with them too though. And I have my craft box, which is full of my carving tools, my leather working stuff and what have you, that’d have to be one item. My “kits” would have to be one item. Certain things that are necessary would have to be “one thing” like my bug out bag, my gps etc.
All this starts a slippery slope of making exceptions. They key would be having to be honest with myself that I need these things aren’t just sabotaging myself.
I don’t need all this computer crap I have laying around. Seriously? I need a 2.66 ghz pentium 4? I need three crts? I need a wife and kids? It’s time to pare down my belongings (probably will keep the wife and kids), so far I’m just at the mental preparation stage, sort of psyching myself up.
Now to be fair to myself I’ve already cut down on a lot of my consumer-ism-ing. I only buy used clothes, except for socks, underwear and undershirts), buying all my tools used, my cars and everything I can I try to buy used first.
If you are tired of your stuff, you can go to Guynameddave.com he’s the guy who started this whole thing, and he started a facebook group too.
Also, if you aren’t interested in getting rid of your stuff, buy mine! I’m ebaying some of the gooder stuff.
Does my entire pc count as one thing or 50?
Depends. I’m counting my pc system as one unit.