Kate Middleton, adopting the 100ItemChallenge?

In a recent Daily Mail article it has been publicised that Kate Middleton, the well dressed, soon to be Royal had re-worked a quite marvelous herringbone overcoat.  She’d had the coat cut down to show off her well turned ankles and shapely legs.  This is an excellent example of what we were setting out to achieve in the www.100itemchallenge.com, it’s not just economical in this particular challenging financial crisis, it’s common sense.  Buy quality and wear for a decent amount of time.

Also, I am not a royalist by any stretch of the imagination, however in fairness it’s good that someone in the public eye is re-wearing outfits, where so many (I say this loosely) ‘celebrities’ never wear the same thing once normally with body parts slipping out for the paparazzi. Hopefully a new Royal will give something for young girls to aspire to be like, unlike page 3 girls or the big brother types.

Are you not sick of seeing the high streets and pubs full of orange skinned body hugging over sized women wearing crop tops, micro skirts and crappy Primark ‘wear once before it self destructs in the washing machine’. And the relentless production line of waive like girls wearing hardly anything in the most appalling weather conditions, as their favorite ‘celebrity’ has fallen out of a stretched limo onto a red carpet event of the opening of an envelope. I certainly am.

Good on you Kate Middleton. Bring back some taste and well dressed women to Britain.

Here is the Daily Mail article.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1360259/Kate-Middletons-Royal-engagement-Prince-William-Anglesey-lifeboat-station.html

Do you really need a car?

With the VAT increase in the UK it's coming more and more expensive to run a car, we decided to get rid of one of our cars back in September when we returned from our honeymoon.  I'd come out of my responsibility towards the letting business so no longer needed a car on a day to day basis, most of my friends are in the city and easy to get to.

The large grocery orders are delivered and we pop down to the local deli, butchers, fishmongers and green grocers for those requirements as and when.  So the reasoning having two cars was diminishing.
Living in the city is expensive for keeping a car, car parking costs, insurance premiums are expensive and there are the standard running costs of having a car, MOT, Road Tax and servicing costs.  Before you allow for petrol we worked out the cost of having a car ran to £3200 per year.  My partner drove to Liverpool for work so the fuel cost ran to around £70 per week, so that was £3640 per year with VAT prices increasing this figure will go up further and it's been muted that fuel prices will be going upto £1.50 per litre by the summer!, so getting rid of one car frees up a pile of cash.  We are heading out overseas for a year out from next week so we are waving farewell to our other car.  Our good old faithful Volvo Estate.

When we return to the UK I doubt we will purchase another car, we intend to work in the city where we live and there are decent public transport links for us to use,  if we do need a car for a journey to the countryside or for a particular journey we'll rent one  I am sure the saving of £6840 per year can allow us to hire a car.  In Manchester there is a car scheme where you can rent a car on an hourly basis which is great as you can do this on short notice and for a small rental amount.

Getting rid of our car will aid us in the progress to living our lives to the ethos of the 100itemchallenge.com, this challenge has really assisted us in working out what is important to us and finding out what our own values are and where they sit.  We're going greener in an organic way and our attitudes are skirting around a more Buddhist way of life (without shaving our heads, obtaining a tamborine and wearing orange)

Spring Clean on New Years Eve 2010

Yet more stuff removed

Well, we started the 100 Item Challenge in September, however we're still clearing out.  I am genuinely surprised at how much stuff we had in the back of the built in closets in the guest room.  We're taking off for our travels to Turkey in January so want to the apartment to be clean and empty for the incoming house sitter (tenant) for while we were away.

So the Volvo Estate was jammed to capacity for the umpteenth time for a trip to the tip and the charity shop.

The apartment feels as though it is breathing clearly, and strangely enough we're feeling unburdened.

This weekend we'll be doing the inventory of our full items, so watch this space.

Wardrobe Cull

   (before the cull)

Well I did it, managed another cull of the clothes, I have taken down over 34 shirts to just 14.  It wasn't too hard to do, for some reason I had accumulated a range of shirts that resemble deck chairs! My ex's mother did have a tendency to buy them and I some how adopted them, well they now have been donated to charity or now line the bottom of a bin bag ready to be carted off with the rest of rubbish.

As we are planing our year out next year, an elongated honeymoon, and I intend to go on a journey of weight loss and healthy living, so my wardrobe will completely change by this time next year.  Since September my wardrobe of clothes hasn't been added to, which was a habit that I knocked on the head, when we embraced the 100 Item Challenge.

I have stored away my business suit and four formal work shirts that will be popped into storage while we are away, however I am aiming at donating that to charity and treating myself to a tailor man suit when we come back in my new streamlined me.

(after the cull)

Living Life with the 100 Item Challenge

I have come across a blog site from a chap called Joshua Becker he writes for becomingminimalist.com and his hints and tips of living a minimal life are inspiring and do have parallels with our challenge.  He has a 10 point plan of living a minimal life.
Simplicity brings balance, freedom, and joy. When we begin to live simply and experience these benefits, we begin to ask the next question, “Where else in my life can i remove distraction and simply focus on the essential?”
Based on our personal journey, our conversations, and our observations, here is a list of the 10 most important things to simplify in your life today to begin living a more balanced, joyful lifestyle:

1. Your Possessions - Too many material possessions complicate our lives to a greater degree than we ever give them credit. They drain our bank account, our energy, and our attention. They keep us from the ones we love and from living a life based on our values. If you will invest the time to remove nonessential possessions from your life, you will never regret it. 
2. Your Time Commitments – Most of us have filled our days full from beginning to end with time commitments: work, home, kid’s activities, community events, religious endeavors, hobbies… the list goes on. When possible, release yourself from the time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values.
3. Your Goals – Reduce the number of goals you are intentionally striving for in your life to one or two. By reducing the number of goals that you are striving to accomplish, you will improve your focus and your success rate. Make a list of the things that you want to accomplish in your life and choose the two most important. When you finish one, add another from your list.
4. Your Negative Thoughts – Most negative emotions are completely useless. Resentment, bitterness, hate, and jealousy have never improved the quality of life for a single human being. Take responsibility for your mind. Forgive past hurts and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
5. Your Debt – If debt is holding you captive, reduce it. Start today. Do what you’ve got to do to get out from under its weight. Sacrifice luxury today to enjoy freedom tomorrow.
6. Your Words – Use fewer words. Keep your speech plain and honest. Mean what you say. Avoid gossip.
7. Your Artificial Ingredients – Avoid trans fats, refined grain (white bread), high-fructose corn syrup, and too much sodium. Minimizing these ingredients will improve your energy level in the short-term and your health in the long-term. Also, as much as possible, reduce your consumption of over-the-counter medicine – allow your body to heal itself naturally as opposed to building a dependency on substances.
8. Your Screen Time – Focusing your attention on television, movies, video games, and technology affects your life more than you think. Media rearranges your values. It begins to dominate your life. And it has a profound impact on your attitude and outlook. Unfortunately, when you live in that world on a consistent basis, you don’t even notice how it is impacting you. The only way to fully appreciate its influence in your life is to turn them off.
9. Your Connections to the World - Relationships with others are good, but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn when to power off the blackberry, log off facebook, or not read a text. Focus on the important, not the urgent. A steady flow of distractions from other people may make us feel important, needed, or wanted, but feeling important and accomplishing importance are completely different things.
10. Your Multi-Tasking - Research indicates that multi-tasking increases stress and lowers productivity. while single-tasking is becoming a lost art, learn it. Handle one task at a time. Do it well. And when it is complete, move to the next.

America is downsizing the property sizes

Due to the economic downturn and the age of austerity it has been reported in USA Today that the trend for smaller houses is on the rise. 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2010-11-14-smaller-homes_N.htm

America is known for it's oversized homes, and now even though by UK standards they are enormous, the size of new properties below 2000square foot from the median of 2300 square foot.  Perhaps our American partners are embracing a version of the 100 item challenge without making a conscious decision.  The cost of heating a large home is huge, paying the mortgage for a large home is equally disenchanting, for those who want to have a family can they afford to give up a job? can they rely on the main wage earner to keep his or her job? or alternatively with our new mobile society and not necessarily living near family that can take the responsibility of child care there is that cost to cover as well.

The 100 item challenge has, for us allowed us flexibility and mobility.  Our modest 1100square foot loft apartment in Manchester adequately provides us with a home and plenty of storage for our 100 items.  We have sold off items to get down to our 100 items, and being in the fortunate situation of having no debt, not even a mortgage we have provided enough money from reducing our possessions down to allow for a year off in 2011.  We have taken an apartment in Turkey for 10 months and plan to travel around Thailand and America with the proceeds of decluttings.

We have downsized our life and been in the fortunate situation to provide ourselves with an exciting lifestyle, so the ethos of the challenge has worked, 'getting less hung up on possessions in your life and start living it'

Shopping on a Saturday! Urgh!

So today we went out to a shopping mall, the Trafford Centre in Manchester, we were given some vouchers for a department store and we'd decided our elderly streamer that had been limping on by for months needed replacing. 

Off we trundled, snaking the Volvo through the back streets that are a quicker alternative to taking the supposedly direct route on the motorway, where you normally queue to get off any off the 3 slip roads that link to the Trafford Centre, we parked up near the entrance to the store, and went into the store.  The store was laid out with all the glamorous Autumn ranges of clothing, very tempting for the consumer, I was even quite taken with a jumper and shirt combo.  A month or so ago, I would have picked it up and bought it, but with a deep breath moved upto the kitchen appliance department.  The desired steamer was there, gleaming in all it's stainless steel finery next to equally gorgeous other appliances, as I stroked the delectable much desired Dualit four slice toast, I resisted temptation and we made our purchase.  Feeling very virtuous we decided to have a wander through the mall and grab a refreshment. 

The Trafford Centre is a very glamorous building, grand high ceilings with roman like statues around, water fountains, miles of marble floors and shining lights, large shop windows with designer clothes and 'must have' temptations at every step.  We've been there plenty of times for a couple of hours of retail therapy and treat ourselves.  What we entered definitely gave us cause for therapy, but not of the shopping variety!

The Mall was jammed, parents had bought their children out to scream and be told off in public, over weight families were chugging along in those electric disabled carts with decidedly rocky looking suspension and bowed wheels straining under the demands.  Gangs of wannabe Wags were busy with their one up-man-ship conversations and caked in make up, under the impression it was making them attractive to the celebrity pop-idol like stars, when infact the only attention they were getting was from a gang of spotty track suited youths wearing their trousers around their knees and attempting to walk without looking like they'd had a toilet accident.

We looked at each other and the realisation that since we have embraced the 100 item challenge we've not really hung around the shops, unless we've needed something, which apart from food, we haven't done.  It really isn't a pleasant experience.  Previously we'd have mooched around, none the wiser, focusing on making ourselves happy ringing up sales and being burdened with large carriers.  I suppose it's like an alcoholic working in a club watching people get wasted and acting stupid, it puts you on the outside.  We've been spending quality time with friends and families and this hasn't been near the shops, now we're seeing it in a new light.  Complete converts to the 100 Item Challenge and now against vapid consumerism.

Robert, my husband, who is mild mannered and cool headed all the time, was getting close to rage, when I say rage, it's more along the lines of rolling eyes and tutting, but this is rage for him.  This happened after yet another lumbering fat woman in a top two sizes too small, just walked straight across him bumping into him and not saying a sorry, or even offering an apologetic glance.... there must have been a sale on at the tent shop, there was probably a two man tent that could she could wear as a nice evening dress!

We left shortly after that for the peace and tranquility of our loft apartment in central Manchester, that, even though there is the buzz of the bars, restaurants and the cackle of drunken laughter it's still home without heat seeking shoppers with their blinkered approach to life.  Being a convert to the 100 Item Challenge has opened up our eyes and allowing us to stop shopping and see what is going on around us.