30-Day Mins Game – Day 30

Whoo hoo!  It’s the last day of the 30-Day Mins Game!  It’s been particularly helpful for me because I’m preparing to move again.  Knowing that I wanted to fit all my belongings into the smallest moving truck possible helped me to look at every item I possess with a critical eye, making sure I either love it or that it adds value to my life.

This exercise has enabled me to identify things that make me accumulate or possibly even hoard things.  Here’s some of what I’ve learned:

  1. I dislike throwing things away that could be reused.
  2. Sometimes collecting things that I like crosses over to excessive accumulation.  Sometimes you can own too much Pyrex.
  3. Sometimes I save things that have zero meaning but save them because I feel like I should.
  4. It’s difficult to let go of things that other people have given me, whether I like them or not.
  5. Sometimes I’m not ready to let go of things for a variety of reasons.

mins-game-square-table

Furniture is something that’s hard to let go of.  It’s typically a higher ticket item and any money I get from selling it is far less than what I paid for it.  It’s also a big pain to sell.  My plan was to sell most of my stuff before I moved, but it never happened.  I had more stuff to move than what would fit in an SUV but my twelve foot truck isn’t filled to capacity.  And I’ve still got a long list of things to sell.  Eventually those items will find their way to new owners as well, and I will have far fewer possessions.

To be honest, I’m not sure where I’m at with the Mins Game even though it’s the last day.  Stress and fatigue led to me getting a cold and I haven’t had the energy the last two days to take many pictures or tally things up.  Once things settle a little, I will update the post to let you know how I did.  If you’ve been playing the game, what’s your finally tally?  How do you feel after letting go of so many items?  Is there anything you wish you hadn’t purged?  Please leave a comment here or on Facebook.

 

30-Day Mins Game – Day 29

A couple of years ago, after a particularly grueling project at work that required lots of long hours and Saturdays at the office, I rewarded myself with a new bike.  The bike wasn’t that expensive, but by the time I got the carrier for my car, the basket, the helmut, and various other accessories, I was a few hundred dollars into it.

the-big-hill

There are all kinds of greenways here in Nashville, you can even download an app called Nashvitality that will help you get around!   Did you know that there are mountains in Tennessee?  It’s kind of hard to see in this picture, but the path goes up to the left and up, up, up to that bridge.  These greenways are not for wimpy bikers!

biker-chick-selfie

This is me, all ready for a bike ride!

Since I got the bike in September of 2013, I have ridden it exactly three times.  It wasn’t the hills, it was the fact that I either had to remember how to put the bike rack on my car and load everything up or ride a couple of miles just to get to the trail.  In addition my tires needed air and I needed to stop at the gas station but the one closest to my house didn’t have an air pump.  There were also rumors about how some parts of the trail aren’t that safe for biking alone and since I didn’t have a biking buddy, I abandoned any more plans for bike riding.

The good news in all this is that I have someone who would like to have the bike and all it’s accessories!  I’m relieved to know that someone else will get value from this equipment instead of having it gather dust in storage.

Have you ever purchased a bunch of equipment that sat in your garage or basement unused after the initial foray into the sport?  How long did you hold onto it before you admitted that you’re probably never going to use it?

30-Day Mins Game – Day 28

What we have here is a big ol’ pile of poor financial decisions, cars and condos and boats, oh my!  The full details of my financial story will be disclosed at a future date.  As soon as I work up enough courage to write about it.

After my last day of paper purging, I did some research on how long I needed to keep documents and was thrilled to learn that much of what was filling my plastic filing bin could be discarded!

mins-game-paperwork

Unfortunately, the majority of it is stuff that needs to be shredded so the shredder has been getting a workout!  The shredding has to happen in batches as the poor thing keeps overheating!

Question – does anyone actually read every single word when they sign all the papers to purchase a house?

This is clearly more than the twenty-eight items I need for today, but there’s more!

mins-game-bucket-and-broom

The broom and dustpan are rarely used and along with this bucket, are just taking up space under the sink.

mins-game-reflective-tape

This is leftover reflective tape that I used when I made my grandson’s construction worker costume.  What’s really weird is that I found it in one of those paper bags I’d been saving . . . not sure how it got there, but hopefully someone can use it after I donate it to the local thrift store.

Construction Worker

mins-game-videos

Though I like both of these movies, I haven’t watched either one in quite some time.  Also, I’m purging my DVD player, so it doesn’t really make much sense to keep any movies!

mins-game-earrings

These are all earrings that I like and have worn in the past, but since I mostly wear black and white and don’t really have any clothing that matches these colors, there’s no point in keeping them.  How many earrings does a person need?  If I found a pair that I really, really like, would I be content to wear them and nothing else?  There are still five pairs on my dresser, plus a fancy pair I bought for my youngest son’s wedding (along with the dress, jacket, and strappy sandals that I’m also not ready to let go of yet) so we’ll see how I feel about paring down further after the game is done.

I’m not sure why I’m having trouble letting go of the outfit I wore to my son’s wedding.  It’s not because I looked particularly ravishing in it, or because it was comfortable (those shoes killed my poor feet!), I think maybe it’s because it was such a fun day, so many good memories of both of my boys, their wives, my granddaughter, and my fancied up family members.

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Me and Selah

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My Mom and Dad looking adorable

One thing I’ve learned through this exercise is that sometimes I’m not ready to let something go and that it’s okay.  It’s just not okay to hold onto 300,000 things, which according to the LA Times, is the number of items the average American owns.  Hopefully I’m well below that number at this point – this is one case when I’m more than happy to be less than average!