Forum challenge: Lets play the minimalists' game

[WingsOnFire]

So I have put nearly everything in their places at our new home.
I actually was able to cull an embarrassing 75 more things. That's three Ikea bags of stuff. And there is still at least some more that I haven't counted... I will put everything in my car except a few items I'm going to try to sell. I'll list here by the weeks though, and also still try to find new items. For example, I have a box of thread in a rainbow of colors, which is excessive to the the amount of sewing I do these days. I could probably get rid of half of them. And if I am in danger of running out of things to declutter, I will just go through my button tin I think I will save that for last..


Here are my items for

WEEK 15

3 Postcards
1 Set of curtains
1 Copper pan
1 Jam jar used as a drinking glass
4 Spice jars
1 Opened bag of moisture absorber packets
1 Coffee measuring spoon/bag closer thingy
1 Electronic knit de-piller (blades get stuck with lint and need to be cleaned multiple times while using, eh.)
1 Vase (sold for 70 € -very cute but can't use it for flowers as cats tip it over..)
1 Large copper jug (used for watering but I plan to use a large watering can I still have at the house, for both indoor plants and patio plants)

Total: 264 items / 1378 items

[jacob]

Week 14:

The city had its annual day of free electronic "recycling", so we walked over to the park with the cardboard box that's been acting as a temporary holding place for this kind of waste for years and years. They took it all. The hosting politician was impressed that we walked there(!)

1 Asus eee laptop
3 smartphones
1 iPad
2 12V batteries
1 collection of dead button batteries
1 bottle of dried out glue
5 books

Week fourteen also means having passed the cumulative 100 item mark which is more than what hardcore minimalists own in the first place. Here I notice that some of my [book] shelves actually look a bit leaner now. Still, there's a long way to go.

[IlliniDave]

I haven't been doing a good job keeping up with this. But I no longer have any socks with holes in them, so about 6 pairs gone that I only used when for whatever reason I wanted to double up. I've cut up and recycled about 30 cardboard boxes from my stash, thrown out about 13 gallons of non recyclable packing material, and recycles 2-3 times that much recyclable packing material. I shredded all my tax returns that were more than three years old (after ensuring I had electronic copies). I finally got around to disposing of or shredding all statements and other things I'd been sent in the mail and kept from 2023 and 2024. Most stuff I do electronically now, but I still get the stray mailing from banks, insurance companies, tax assessment offices, and the like. None of that clears a lot of usable space, but even hidden clutter has a cost.

[Kipling]

I have just discovered this thread. Great challenge! I have some catching up to do. It’s really motivating to see the efforts others are going to to pare down their existences.

While I have been focussing on my mother’s house and garden for the past couple of years (22 skips = circa 44 tonnes of useless and broken things, conservatively 200,000 items) I have been somewhat neglecting the keeping in order of my own house. Since we will need to move out around year end for a refurbishment, it is a great time to get stuck in to the decluttering. Bank holiday weekend here in UK and we have finished the bits of interim decorating that have been hanging around for months so now we can start throwing away spent material and clearing out drawers. Started this morning, already up to week eight, report to follow when I have caught up entirely.

[Stasher]

Good Morning and Happy Monday on the start of a new week, let's look at last weeks efforts to reduce.

As mentioned last week, DW joined in and tackled the kitchen finding a bunch of things tucked away that were never used anymore, hanging onto for nostalgia or gifts that we never really needed. That gave me so many items that I completed last weeks 14 and gave me this weeks 15 items. Of course we were busy in the yard prepping the garden and then I took the initiative to clean up junk bits hiding around the yard that make it out of the house and end up not getting dealt with like old broken plant pots or garbage cans or scrap metal. I also cleaned up all the scrap wood and sorted my pile of salvaged bits, getting rid of wood that was rotten and/or I wouldn't use, this has my next weeks 16 list items already accounted for.

For Week 15 on April 14-20 I rounded up the following 15 items
1 - Whiskey Flask (thrift store)
1 - Vegetable Grater (thrift store)
2 - Ziploc Storage Containers (thrift store)
3 - Wine Glasses (thrift store)
1 - Charcuterie Board (thrift store)
2 - Brass Mule Mugs (thrift store)
5 - Unfinished bottles of supplements we don't use anymore (recycled)

We certainly have a whole lotta stuff, when i think we are doing good @Jacob reminds us what being minimal really is. "Week fourteen also means having passed the cumulative 100 item mark which is more than what hardcore minimalists own in the first place. Here I notice that some of my [book] shelves actually look a bit leaner now. Still, there's a long way to go."

[Kipling]

Have caught up to end of week 13 and done some of 14 -

1- delivery slip from Post Office (recycling);
2 - pair of running shorts with holes in, random bit of elastic;
3 - shaver manual for an electric shaver I've never owned, must have been my father's (recycling), sticking plaster of size not ever used;
4 - sticking plaster of size not ever used, x 4 more;
5 - sticking plaster of size not ever used, x 5 more;
6 - sticking plaster of size not ever used x 5 more, time-expired throat sweets;
7 - paint charts x 7;
8 - paint charts x 7 more [we were beset by indecision in deciding on the colour scheme for each room], paint sample pot;
9 - paint sample pot x 9 more;
10 - paint sample pot x 10 more;
11 - paint sample pot x 11 more;
12 - paint sample pot x 5 more [as noted above, we were beset by indecision in deciding on the colour scheme for each room], expired paint brushes x 7;
13 - expired paint brushes x 10 more [it is not that we have ruined 18 of them in doing the decoration, simply that they seem to breed, and some of these were two houses old], plastic dust door, empty large paint tins x 2;
14 - empty large paint tin x 1 more, bag of small rubble, empty wine boxes x 2 (recycling), cardboard delivery boxes x 2 (recycling). Items 7-14 still to do.
15 - to do

All these went to waste /disposal facility save where noted. We still have a good supply of decorating materials. Home decoration has the potential to be a phenomenal creator of rubbish.

Have also listed for sale on ebay an amplifier and a pair of bookshelf speakers.

Need to start doing an audit of drawers in the kitchen (there are 28 of them!) and also boxes of DIY materials in utility room.

[jacob]

Week 15:

1 jack plane
3 tape dispensers
10 "green parmesan"-lids to turn mason jars into spice dispensers
1 broken carabiner


Also, I updated the list of books to give away for the price of shipping:
viewtopic.php?p=301689#p301689

[WingsOnFire]

Week 16:

1 Annoyingly small watering can (sold for 30 e)
1 Cutting board
1 Knife holder block (have magnetic strip here which I prefer to use, don't like having stuff on the counter)
1 Tea towel
5 Pieces of fabric
1 Roll of soft elastic (used to use this for DD’s leggings that I made when she was younger)
2 Small cheapo hobby grade canvases
1 Small painting (not mine) (trying to sell this first before donating)
1 Travel jewelry case, DD’s which she gave to me, thought about keeping but no, don’t need
1 Old notebook
1 B-day card from DD

Items decluttered: 280/1378

[Kipling]

@WingsOnFire - selling that watering can must have been particularly sweet - not only do you not now have a thing that was annoying you, you also do have an extra 30 euros...

14 - Empty paint tin x 1 more, bag of small rubble, empty wine boxes x 2 (recycling), Cardboard delivery boxes x 2 (recycling), wine bottle stopper x 3, wine sample container x 5 (recycled)
15 - Wine sample container x 5 more (recycled), 3 empty screw cap wine bottles kept 'just in case' (of what?) (recycled), broken tile, 2 broken wine glasses, small bulb vases x 3 (recycled), time-expired jar of tahini
16 - Time expired bottle of HP sauce (best before October 2017!), time expired jar of Branston pickle, 3 cardboard boxes that originally contained screws (recycled), 11 of 16 still to do

[Saltation]

Week 25

17 tomato cages (metal recycling)
7 tomato stakes (landfill)
1 bottle Irish whisky (sold)

[Stasher]

We are still benefiting from the hard effort 2 weeks ago to put together a big pile of things to purge from the house. I am able to use those efforts towards this weeks and next weeks challenge items.

For Week 16 on April 21-27 I rounded up the following 16 items
1 - cable bike lock (thrift store)
1 - reusable squeeze bottle (thrift store)
1 - landscaping rake (set out for free on our curbside)
4 - outdoor plastic plant pots (set out for free on our curbside)
1 - rubbermaid storage tote (set out for free on our curbside)
2 - oil/vinegar bottle dispenser (thrift store)
1 - old damaged jeep skidplate (garbage depot)
2 - old plastic waste bins (garbage depot)
2 - buckets full of scrap wood from yard (recycled)
1 - bucket of asstd scrap metal pieces (recycled)

[WingsOnFire]

@Kipling - yes, it is always nice when I go through the hassle of selling something and make some money back. I've done really well with many items, selling them for what I originally paid for, or at least about 90%. Of course many only sell for a small fraction and I've given away a lot too.

I'm thinking of allowing myself to keep one box (volume is 13 gallons) of things to sell. For now. I want to come to a point where I don't have to do that anymore.

Here is my

WEEK 17:

4 Sketch and watercolour pads
1 Pair of Birkenstocks -my feet hate them
1 Old re-wired Murano glass pendant lamp (trying to sell this)
2 Duvet covers
1 Pair of high heels (I have one pair left. It should be enough as I hardly ever wear high heels.)
1 Pair of cowboy boots
1 Headscarf
1 Pair of jeans
1 sheepskin
1 Extension cord
1 Largish rug (sold for 80 e - I liked it a lot but its was a pain to vacuum.. cats... hair....)
1 Small rug from entrance, trashed by cats who liked to scratch it (thrown away)
1 Wedding invitation (marked in calendar)

Items decluttered: 297/1378

[7Wannabe5]

WEEKS 14, 15, 16, and 17

Sold my Smart Car and also ridded myself of almost all of its contents including a few large bags full of returnable bottles ($1608.40) So, well over the 62 items required to catch up with game through this week. I'm actually quite geeked to be car-free again. Likely because I believe dumping the car will auto-magically get me back into the much better physical shape I was in when I bought the car in 2019. At that juncture, I had been car-free for the previous 6 years. I broke down and bought the car, because I was living with partner near his place of employment in a suburban area with almost zero walkability, and my DD33 was getting married at a rural destination, so I had a ton of medium-distance errands to run over the course of several months.

However, since my previous rough minimalization goal was "fit all belongings into Smart Car", I will have to come up with a different visualization or rule-of-thumb.

[jacob]

Week 16:

16 extra clock parts for a clock I've already built. It's unlikely, I'm going to (re)make an identical clock.

[Stasher]

The final easy week for me of listing items from our big roundup last month. Next week will be challenging as I get back to digging through drawers, closets and the shed clearing away more items.

For Week 17 on April 28-May4 I rounded up the following 17 items
4 - expired old bottles pet medication (garbage/recycled)
3 - reusable food storage grocery bags (thrift store)
1 - food tongs (thrift store)
1 - nutcracker (thrift store)
1 - wood reuseable stra (thrift store)
1 - wood honey scoop (thrift store)
4 - tea/kitchen storage containers (thrift store)
1 - xmas stencil kit (thrift store)
1 - strawberry stem remover (thrift store)

Nice work selling the car 7Wannabe5.

[theanimal]

I fell behind the curve in Weeks 14-16 and have largely hit the point of diminishing returns where it becomes very challenging for me to come close to hitting the totals for each week. I rid ourselves of 10 more items last week.

Sold
9 pieces of foam board

Gifted to friend
Swivel post for dog pole

[jacob]

[...] where it becomes very challenging for me to come close to hitting the totals for each week.

I'm likely going to fail out either next week or the following week, after which I'll restart with Season 2: Week 1 (1 item) again.

[loutfard]

My modest start. Weeks 1, 2 and 3. No idea how long I will be able to keep this up.

thrown out
- snowman shaped candle
- broken Canon lens
- broken ear plug headphones - rubbish quality and bad for my ears anyway
- self carved wooden spoon - into the bio degradable waste of course

for sale
- click pedal cycling shoes

giveaway
- software defined radio usb stick - to the local hackerspace

update: I had a bit of unexpected spare time, so I cleaned up some more mess:

thrown out
- four(!) non-functional cheap consumer cameras. These went to electronics waste recycling. I have two more cheap consumer cameras left. Those I'll keep. They're very good ones powered by AA batteries and storing to SD cards.
- lots of small bits and bobs that had accumulated in the drawers of our main desk.

for sale
- prosumer camera with lens. My wife switched to her smartphone.
- prosumer camera without lens. A cheap consumer one is a better fit for me.
- old women's bicycle
- an expensive recumbent bicycle. I love it, but I don't use it enough. It works, but it needs a minor fix before I can list it and expect to fetch a very good price.

Now triaging a pile of usb sticks, sd cards, hdd's, ssd's and cd-r's. My backups were not perfect in the past, so that will take a while...

[Saltation]

@7w5
A car has to be worth more than a single item.....


Week 26 (going slower through the challenge, but not giving up)

4 broken tomato cage rods
2 large pieces of plastic wrap
1 damaged tarp
3 toys
6 trampoline pieces
1 empty bottle of mouthwash (no longer purchasing)
1 couch
1 tarp ice shanty (didn't even know I had this, from previous owner of house 5 years ago)
1 dead houseplant
3 couch covers
2 damaged treated fence boards

Everything went to the landfill.

[jacob]

@7w5
A car has to be worth more than a single item.....

Measuring by counting things is indeed quite arbitrary. It could be more practical to do the challenge by weight or volume. One pound the first week, two pounds the second, ...