Why Less Stuff is Freeing

With each big move we’ve made in our marriage (and we’ve made 3), Cameron and I have gotten ride of stuff, junk, things, possessions, treasures, whatever you want to call it. This last move was definitely “The Great Purge” that stands out the most in my mind. Maybe that’s because it’s the most recent, but I also think it was the most challenging in a lot of ways. Other than a little bit of things stored, we packed all of our family’s worldly possessions into and on top of your Honda CRV. I don’t know how many times we sorted through things, but I can tell you this:

We had 2 garage sales, plus we sold some things online.

We threw a lot of things in the trash.

We gave away a few things.

We took many trips we took to Goodwill!

Even though it wasn’t easy saying good-bye to my whirly-popper, extra colander, ect…, ect… Once I got ride of those things, I actually felt free! There’s something about driving around with all of your possessions (well almost all) sitting right there with you in a car! I believe this free feeling comes for several reasons:

• Less stuff to pack, unpack and find a place for every time you move. Now I know this may not be an issue for most people, who live in the same house for most of their adult life, but for the life my little family is living, it applies very much! I have almost no decorations up in our new home and for now don’t plan on getting any. Sure, it might look better with some paintings and knick-knacks, but in just a year and a half I’ll have to take them down, decide what to do with them, get ride of them or pack them, then unpack them again. For me, it’s more work than it’s worth.
• Less stuff to maintain. The less things we have, the less there is to make sure it’s working right.
• Less to find a place for. The little bit we do have stored we’ve been able to store for free, but if we did have to rent a storage shed, that would be money out of our pockets every month.

• Your house looks less cluttered. When Gracia has fewer toys,there’s less to clean up. When we have fewer books on our shelf, it’s easier to neatly fit them all. When I have less dishes, I’m more likely to wash more frequently, keeping my counters tidier. Now that I have less Tupperware dishes, it’s easier to fit them all in the cupboard.
•  You appreciate and use what you do have more. Gracia has fewer books now, but that doesn’t mean she looks at them less, it just means the ones that she does still have get used more frequently.
  
• And lastly, this probably doesn’t apply to most of  you, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about, the less I’m used to living with now, the less of a shock to my system it will be if we live in a remote area with even less.