It’s that time of year again at the Hussey Household! We have about a month left until our lease is up on our apartment and it’s time to move on to new adventures.
If you’ve ever experienced moving out before, you know that it is both very exciting and very stressful. It’s exciting because you’re moving forth in your journey, and it’s time for something different, something new. On the flip side, it’s very stressful because you realize how much crap you really own. I never cease to amaze myself with the amount of junk I’m able to accumulate over the course of a year.
A Strong Desire for Less
Over the past year, both Laura and I have been embracing minimalism more & more, but lately we’ve both been noticing our strong desire for less: less stuff, less junk, less clothing, less tables, less drawers, less bedding, less storage space, less, less, less!
We’ve been asking questions like:
“Can we sell that?”
“Let’s donate that.”
“This is trash. Get rid of it.”
“Why do we still own this? The last time we used it was 4 years ago.”
Our filters have been removed, and we no longer use the famous “I might use this later” excuse.
Making Minimalism a Mindset
At one point for me, minimalism was more of a challenge; a way to be different. But lately, I have noticed that I am no longer embracing minimalism just to be different, or to take on a challenge — I am doing it because it just doesn’t make sense otherwise!
Why do I need to own so much clothing? Why do I have 4 winter jackets? Why does my baby need 40 sleepers?
It’s always an awful source of stress when we have to pack up all of our junk, shove it in a U-Haul, and then try to find more space in our new home for useless stuff we never (or rarely) use.
So this time, it’s going to be different, because I don’t want to pack up a bunch of useless stuff and store it in the next place, only to repeat the cycle again another year or so down the road.
Donate, Sell, Trash
Everything you own (other than the stuff you want/need to keep) can be organized into three categories (or piles, if you literally want to throw everything you own into the middle of a room and play):
Donate
It’s always better to give to somebody less fortunate than yourself than to try and make a profit on something you no longer need. You should be donating generously.
Sell
If you can’t—or don’t want to—donate something, sell it! Put an ad up on Kijiji, Craigslist, your local classifieds, Facebook, have a Garage/Yard sale, etc. There’s an abundance of ways you can sell your stuff. You would be surprised at how much money you can make from stuff you don’t need anymore. I’ve made an art out of selling stuff on Kijiji, and over the course of a few weeks, we’ve made almost $500 off of the stuff that’s taking up space in our closets and cupboards.
Trash
If you can’t donate it, and you can’t sell it…trash it.
It’s liberating getting rid of stuff! In our Western Society, we are very excessive and own way too much stuff. It’s refreshing to own less. You feel lighter when you own less. You don’t stress about moving as much when you own less.
Challenge Yourself
Even if you aren’t moving any time soon, challenge yourself this next week and shed yourself of some excess. You’ll feel amazing.
I know we certainly feel amazing. This time around, the moving process will be much “lighter”.