Jack and I are 14 days away from the big move! Every week we go back through our ever-shrinking list of possessions, weeding out more and more that we don’t need. We’ve made some great headway, but we’re hoping to get the number down even further before the 30th.
One category of items we have found ourselves keeping are things that we have termed “consumables.” Anything that can get used up and replaced on a fairly regular basis is considered a consumable. As a rule, we don’t count these items as possessions. But recently we’ve struggled to decide what fits into this category. Shampoo is obviously a consumable, but what about the loofah? Paper towels make the list, but what about sponges?
One major thing I’ve struggled with is this:
Yep. As embarrassing as it is for this minimalist, I do tend to hang on to drawing/coloring tools. Love me some office supplies!
As I look in this bag, I can mentally find a hypothetical use for every item. I use the pencils to make lists. The colored pencils are for sketching new sewing patterns. Dry-erase markers are for reminders on the bathroom mirror, and the sharpies are for charts and the calendar. Everything in this bag has been used in the last year, and I know that eventually these items will run out or be used up and I’ll have to spend money on new ones. Theoretically.
But if I dramatically downsized this bag, how much of it would I realistically miss? How much would I actually need to replace in the near future? When was the last time I threw away a pen because it was out of ink? When was the last time I used a Sharpie dry? How many times have I bought new pens or markers because I lost my old ones?
Maybe I don’t need to keep so many backups. Maybe I just need to keep better track of my stuff!
What do you think? How far do you think I can reasonable downsize this bag? I’ll post an update with “after” pictures soon!
Filed under: Apartment
