I no longer keep “stuff” around; if an item is no longer utilitarian to me, I chuck it, sell it, give it away, or donate it to charity.
Anything I can’t sell for at least $20 typically either gets donated (Goodwill, the public library, rehab facilities, “free” on craigslist, etc), or chucked in the trash simply because it’s not worth my time and/or effort to try to sell it.
Or, if it’s a larger item, sometimes I’ll set it out by the street the night before trash day and see if it gets stealthily scavenged—which can be somewhat entertaining, as it mysteriously vanishes overnight…
And I try to be honest in my approach: if it’s junk, it’s junk, and “donating” it to someone else, adding to their own pile of headaches to deal with, is not truly helping anyone. If that’s the case, I chuck it instead.
If I think it’s worth twenty bucks or more, I’ll give craigslist a shot (and these days, maybe Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp or Letgo), keeping in mind that there is considerable time and effort involved in crafting a good ad, taking/editing/uploading photos, responding to inquiries, and coordinating meetups with potential buyers. I’ve determined that anything less than $20 just isn’t worth it—and that’s only if I think it’ll be a quickie.
However, if it’s something big and/or heavy, which would need to be hauled out & away, I often put it on craigslist for free, in exchange for the recipient’s removing/loading/hauling services. A good example: I recently had to get rid of my elliptical machine; I simply no longer had room for it and it needed some minor maintenance which I had no interest in doing myself, and on top of all that it was really heavy, and sitting upstairs, and would have to be hauled down a tight, turning stairwell.
So, instead of jacking with all that, I put it up for free on craigslist. “If you can haul it, you can have it. First come, first served.”
It was gone within the hour. And I didn’t have to lift a finger.
Sometimes it’s worth the hundred bucks (or even more) I’d possibly get trying to sell something, to just have it out of my house, out of my life, and out of my mind, without me having to actually lift it, move it, or haul it myself, or having to barter with potential buyers. When you take a good look at how much time, thought, and energy you’ll have wrapped up in the entire process of trying to sell it, you have to ask yourself: is it really worth it? Depending upon how busy you happen to be at the time, or how long the damn thing has been sitting there taking up space—both in your home, and in your mind—it may not be worth all the hassle to sell it. Just get rid of it. Put it up for free, most likely someone will rush over and take it off your hands for you.
In addition, some years ago I adopted a rule about items which I am tempted to discard, but which I also perceive as having some value—whether merely sentimental, or possibly utilitarian (might use it someday), or in sunk cost, or simply as an asset possessing some intrinsic value—and am not quite sure if I should get rid of it: depending on the relative value, I’ll assign it a time frame, like three to six months (usually), or sometimes as long as a year (rarely). And if, by the end of that time frame, I haven’t used it, or needed it—or (as is usually the case) even thought about it—it’s gone.
I probably don’t have to tell you what the verdict is, almost without exception…
In a recent article by Joshue Becker entitled 7 Common Problems Solved by Owning Less, published over at becomingminimalist.com, the author highlights some of the benefits of what I call “chuckfests,” such as saving money, saving time, saving space, and developing a greater appreciation for what (fewer things) we do have.
But out of the seven benefits he enumerates in his article, numbers 5 & 6—both of which refer to saving mental energy, or what I like to call “deleting data off my hard drive”—particularly resonated with me:
5. I’m too stressed.” The artist and philanthropist John Ruskin once said, “Every increased possession loads us with a new weariness.” Every increased possession weighs down our lives with new things to worry about, care for, and maintain. Our purchases have far surpassed bringing convenience and ease into our lives. In fact, they have begun to do just the opposite—they have brought new forms of stress and anxiety instead.”
“6. “I can’t decide what to wear / It’s so hard to keep up with the changing fashions.” On the surface, fashion appears to be an ever-evolving game where the rules change with each passing season. As a result, it demands astute attention (and an expansive income). But it does not have to. Instead, carry a beautiful wardrobe filled with a few timeless pieces that you truly love to wear. Once you love everything hanging in your closet, deciding what to wear will be one less problem to deal with in your morning.”
These two points in particular strike me, because I’m a strong believer in the minimalist approach to life, understanding that mental energy—or psychic energy, as psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes it in his phenomenal series of books detailing his life work on “flow,” or the psychology of optimal experience—is a limited, depletable resource, and should therefore be focused on the more important and productive areas of our lives.
I also refer to the example of Albert Einstein; it is said that Einstein owned multiple sets of the same exact outfit, which he wore every day. His explanation? He didn’t want to waste valuable mental energy trying to decide what to wear each day.
Choosing carefully where we expend our mental energy is important in optimizing our lives—and ridding our lives of as much unneeded stuff (as well toxic people, but I digress) as possible not only conserves our mental energy, but also saves us amazing amounts of time, money, and space—all of which are extremely limited resources, and all of which I highly value.
Simply put, you’d be amazed at how much of our precious mental energy you waste simply in keeping track of all that stuff—even if it’s just sitting in storage.
Hey, honey—have you seen my hammer anywhere?
So get all that worthless “stuff” out of your life, and out of your mind; clear that “hard drive space,” availing it for more important aspects of your life.
Ahhh….project time!
And one last note: try not to fall into the trap of “sunk costs” either; remember: regardless of what an item originally cost you, it will continue to tax you, in various ways, until you get rid of it. So the reality is, the longer you keep it, the more it will cost you. Chuck it now, before those “sunk costs” increase even more. You’ll be glad you did.
“Anything you cannot relinquish when it
has outlived its usefulness possesses you,
and in this materialistic age a great many
of us are possessed by our possessions.”
~ Peace Pilgrim
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