Wouldn't it be incredible if this was the attitude of your average American?
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Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
21–30 of 72 posts
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#22I clean out my belongings at the end of every month, and it is surprisingly refreshing to see how much unused stuff has been cleared out of my home. But I guess it's easier to live a lifestyle as a 24-year-old where I can pack up and move to a new location easily... I imagine it's more difficult for older people that have more items of sentimental value.
I'm 32 and have become less sentimental over time. I went through an aggressive cleaning spree about six months ago, and gave away about 1/3 of my belongings.
22, and remember being a kid and finding sentimental value in many, many more things than I do now. Part of it might be that the novelty of having things at all wears off over time.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#23Wouldn't it be incredible if this was the attitude of your average American?
As North America increasingly moves toward a more urban, condo lifestyle, I think this sort of attitude will become the norm. The alternative is simply impossible. There's not enough space.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#24If Marie Kondo can show me how to fold a king-size fitted sheet properly, I'll suggest that's a feat worthy of nomination for the Nobel Prize in Physics...
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, if it's my closet or the landfill (as opposed to reselling, and the associated depreciation and opportunity costs) I'm not in a rush to toss things. Unless there are circumstances like an impending move, or I am running out of space in the closet. It's kind of a difficult line to walk. I used to keep way too much stuff. But just yesterday I pulled equipment (tools, a VGA cable, a prototyping board)…
I would advise you to not completely rule out the tax that every item you own has. Even just looking at a drawer that is full of odds and ends can be stressful. With that said I am all in favor of re-selling things, then someone can get use out of them and overall waste in the system is reduced. Now I just need to sell my $300 jambox that I only used 10 times...
I imagine that how organized the unused stuff is would be a factor in how high the tax is. If you can't remember that you own it and where it is when you need it, there's no usefulness to having it. If it's getting in the way of finding other stuff, the value becomes negative.
In large quantities, stuff taxes also include how large a dwelling you need and how difficult it is to move.
Studying abroad made me more aware that there are penalties for not having stuff, too. It was mostly basic cooking implements that I missed, and also things that are just useful to have around, like tape and plastic wrap.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#26slightly OT, but I remember seeing the blog of some guy who got rid of everything he owned except for a laptop, a kindle, and some clothes, does anybody remember this person? I've always been fascinated at having as little junk as possible, especially since I've been moving very often recently.
Maybe @Levels.io?
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#27My wife and I do a full clean out every year. Our key phrase is "Be ruthless". Some things are obvious tossers, some are obvious keepers, and if it comes to a discussion usually just saying "be ruthless" to the other is enough to force the decision. It's frightening how much stuff you can collect over the year but also how much stuff you kept last year that you no longer care about.
The "ruthless" spring clean is a similar tradition in our household. Now, if only we hadn't bought all the stuff we "no longer care about" in the first place.
Want something? Bookmark it in a folder in your browser. Forget about it. Come back a couple weeks later. Still want it? Get it.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#28>For Ms. Kondo’s instruction on sorting papers is perhaps the most liberating of all her maxims: Just throw them all away....
>“There is nothing more annoying than papers,” she says firmly. “After all, they will never spark joy, no matter how carefully you keep them.”
Strongly agree with this. Scanning every document I owned, then discarding the originals (save for things like my birth certificate, social security card, etc.) was one of the most liberating things I have ever done.
Now, I scan every piece of paper I have collected over a month, then shred and recycle.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#29I clean out my belongings at the end of every month, and it is surprisingly refreshing to see how much unused stuff has been cleared out of my home. But I guess it's easier to live a lifestyle as a 24-year-old where I can pack up and move to a new location easily... I imagine it's more difficult for older people that have more items of sentimental value.
I'm 32 and have become less sentimental over time. I went through an aggressive cleaning spree about six months ago, and gave away about 1/3 of my belongings.
33, never been very sentimental and I don't own much stuff, but there are those weird little things. Sitting here in my office is the manual film camera I used during photography class in college. I've been meaning to put on eBay. It hasn't been used in many years and I could always get another camera, if I wanted one. And I wouldn't even want this model again, if I were starting from scratch. But once it's gone, I'll never have this camera again. I don't know why that matters, but it somehow does.
Re: Kissing Your Socks Goodbye
#30>For Ms. Kondo’s instruction on sorting papers is perhaps the most liberating of all her maxims: Just throw them all away.... >“There is nothing more annoying than papers,” she says firmly. “After all, they will never spark joy, no matter how carefully you keep them.” Strongly agree with this. Scanning every document I owned, then discarding the originals (save for things like my birth certificate, social security ca…
What do you do with old tax returns?