Stopping the Accumulation of Stuff

One of the biggest shifts that I’ve noticed in myself is a move away from accumulating stuff.  Several years ago, I would shop as a hobby, purchase books, CDs, DVDs and other things without thinking twice and stock up at the store when items (like paper towels or certain canned goods) were on sale.  I’ve noticed that a big part of my shift into living a simpler, more ecologically friendly lifestyle has been a shift away from wanting more stuff and collecting junk.  I’ve also noticed that old habits sort of die hard and despite efforts to be more minimalist, I need to actively work at this.  Here are some things I am planning over the next couple of weeks:

–Take an inventory of items, at least twice a year — after re-buying some vitamin supplements and CFL light bulbs, I discovered that I had more than adequate supplies of both lurking in the hallway storage closet (they had fallen in the back on an upper shelf, and I’m short, although that’s not an excuse).  I plan to do this inventory in various places: the pantry, freezer, medicine cabinet, and storage areas, at least twice a year.

--Designate specific months to use up accumulated items — For the first 3 weeks in July, I had designated as eat out of the pantry and freezer, to use up a number of items that were accumulating.  During the time, I only purchased fresh foods such as vegetables and dairy and our food bills are about 40% the usual.  You can see some of my other posts on pantry meal ideas.

–Sell items where that is practical and can earn some money — I tend to sell back books via cash4books.  Occasionally I will list things on e-Bay or Craigslist, but as I tend to buy less, this is becoming less frequent.

–Donate items — I am making use of donation boxes, paying attention to items that I haven’t used in a while and clothes that I don’t wear.  This is an embarassingly large part of my wardrobe.

–Discourage gifts of stuff — this can be a bit tricky, but I have managed to convince most friends and family not to send us stuff as gifts.  We love receiving photos and postcards, and encourage donations to a charity in lieu of gifts.

–Shift as many things virtually as possible — these days with laptops, digital photos, kindles, etc… it becomes a lot less necessary to have the physical compared to the digital versions of things.  I still enjoy flipping through paper magazines, but have shifted a lot of things to the digital form.

shared at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance