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.

Where to start?

I have been receiving a host of email correspondence from people wanting to embrace the 100 Item Challenge but unsure of where to start.  So here goes a easy step process

• First, take inventory.  You have to do this if you don’t, then you won't know how much to keep.
• Next, mark the must-keep stuff. There are certain things you know you’re going to keep. Your autographed Noel Edmonds picture. Your ipod. Mark those with a star, count how many those are, to see how many you have left.
• Then, the borderline stuff. What is stuff you might want to keep, but you’re not sure yet? Mark them with a circle or something, and see where your count is. If you’re over 100, you have some cutting to do. Cut until you get down to 100.
• Get rid of the rest. Everything you’re not going to keep, you should get rid of. You have some options: donate it to charity; find someone who wants it; list it on Freecycle; throw it away; sell it on eBay or a car boot sale. You could end up making some good cash on this. However you do it, get rid of it.
• Decide how to count things. It’s really up to you. Do you count books individually? Probably not — count them as one collection. How about a computer system? Your ipod and assorted gear? A good rule-of-thumb you might use: if everything goes in one case, count it as one item. If it’s all separate, count it as multiple items.

So that is a bit of a start for you all.  Keep us posted with your progress.

Saying fairwell to a collection

Funnily enough I went through big periods of collecting things, nothing unusual, just the standard stuff, CDs, DVDs and books.  I held onto these items like family members.

Before I completely embraced the 100 Item Challenge I was mid way through clearing out the books. I have kept the reference design books that I use regularly for my home staging work, however when I looked at the book shelves and the vast collection of read once paperbacks, I thought 'why am I keeping these?'  I travel a lot for work and pleasure and it has been known for me to get carried away at the airport bookstore, getting a selection of paperbacks for the journey or holiday.  I now recycle all the books amongst friends and the ones they don't show any interest (I do have a bad habit for really trashy novels) they are dropped off at the charity shop.

DVDs and CDs I thought I had a more emotional attachment to them, a movie evoked feelings that were important to me when I first saw it, or a rollicking good story.  My DVDs were heading up to the 400 mark. I had a major cull in January, selling off all the ones I'd bought in part of the 'deals' the stores offer, you know the type, 3 DVDs for £20 or 5 for £30, always very tempting, and in most cases I succumed to the offers.  After the initial cull I said to myself for the DVDs I didn't watch in 6 months I would get rid of them.  So now I am down to 5 DVDs

28. Priscilla, Queen of the desert
29. Murials Wedding
30. Balls (German Comedy, yes they do do them)
31. Queer as Folk UK Series 1
32. Queer as Folk American Box Set

These are all DVDs that I'll watch over and over again. I think you can gather I am a gay man from the collection.

I went to digital music some time ago, and now download everything, so that is handily stored on  iTunes, and backed up on hardrives and on my iPod.  For our wedding our friends got us Vouchers from John Lewis, so we put them together and got a BOSE system, which is marvelous and sounds amazing.  The old system was sold, so now we don't even own a CD player, so the CDs were sold  and yet another space is created in the home.

The only other collection I had left was my large record collection, when I was with a previous partner he had a big collection of vinyl and I felt it was something we could share together, so started buying lots of it.  I didn't spend a fortune, but each weekend we would go out and look around the various record shops in town and come back with shared finds.  I only really created the collection to have a shared interest, I do enjoy the music (but this is now digitised) and the art word on a record sleeve but I've not looked at them or played them in over 18 months.  So, I've advertised the collection for sale, and today secured a buyer.  I have sold the lot, and another wave of relief has washed over me.

The last lot of individual ebay sales has been listed this week, if they're not sold then they are going off to the charity shop.  The next cull is the wardrobe... watch this space.

Cupboard Challenge

Over the weekend I took on the challenge of clearing out a storage cupboard, over the 5 years I have lived here it has gradually become a dumping ground. Anything I didn't need was shoved in there.  So with my other half, with a sore back we set on the quest to clear it.  Uncovering spare kitchen cupboard bits from when the kitchen was replaced, old clothes maidens that had broken, an ancient desktop pc, a wide arsed TV were just the tip of the ice burg to the cupboard. 

Surprisingly everything went, nothing remained, I can now see all the walls and have a huge sense of relief.  I know in the back of my mind I've been putting off the task. 

The Volvo Estate was filled to bursting point and the tip now has the content.

Clothes - Making Progress

I had a useful session this afternoon sorting through my shirts. I'm almost down to my target of 17.

I'm also now gearing myself up to tackling the guest room cupboard where most of my stuff is stored. I feel I've got some tough decisions ahead of me.

On a happier note, my first eBay auction ended today with most of the sale items going - all for more than I'd been offered by MusicMagpie. The second auction is now underway...

Items for Jonathan... so far

My wardrobe consists of, after the 4 pairs of shoes


5.  Formal Suit
6.  Blue Jeans
7.  Dark Blue Jeans
8.  Dark Blue Jeans
9.  Black Jeans
10.Pale Green Chinos
11.Tan Combats
12.Cord Jacket
13.Light Tan Leather Jacket
14.Brown Leather Jacket
15.Black Leather 1/2 length Coat
16.Set of underwear, trunks and socks
17.Hoodied Brown Top
18.Cream V Neck Baggy Jumper
19.Red sweat top
20.Red Striped Rugby Top Long Armed
21.Blue and White Rugby Top
22.Set of swimming shorts (3 of)
23.Blue Jogging shorts
24.Fabric Shorts
25.Black Combat Style Shorts
26.Tan Combat Style Shorts
27.Grey Jacket

I have yet to sort the shirts out, I have just under 40 so far, so need to choose the ones that'll be worn the most.

The 100 Item Challenge continues.

How many suits?

A reader emailed me the other day asking how many suits he should have?  He requires a suit for work and wants to stick firm about reducing the amount of items he has.  He was amazed at how easy it was to clear down his wardrobe to 17 shirts, a mixture of work, formal social and casual social.

I have just one suit, for my work I don't require formal wear, so my one suit does for any formal business meetings, social engagement, weddings and funerals etc.   However if you are wearing a suit every day, I would suggest having three, so when one is at the cleaners you have one to wear and a spare if you have a calamity and spill something down it.

I have heard people say, 'Friends will notice I am wearing the same clothes!'  well I think you would be surprised.  In America they carried out an experiment for a selection of people to only wear 6 items of clothes (excluding underwear and work uniforms) and every one commented that nobody noticed.  Read about the results from this experiment www.sixitemsorless.com  

Now I am not suggesting for the 100 Item Challenge that you reduce your wardrobe down to 6 items, this wouldn't really be practical for a modern life-style, doable, yes, but not really practical.

Pleasure from possessions?

Discussing the 100ItemChallenge with friends has revealed an interesting polarisation of opinion. It seems to be a concept that provokes a Marmite (acknowledgements to the trademake owner) reaction – you either love it or hate it. Or to be precise, you either get it or you don't.

The most extreme reaction was from one friend who utterly rejected the entire concept, stating “I like my possessions, I get pleasure from each and every one and none of them stop me from doing the things I enjoy doing”.

This has set me thinking about the pleasure that we derive from our possessions. As far as I'm concerned (for the purpose of the Challenge anyway), there is two types of pleasure – the immediate pleasure of acquisition and the ongoing pleasure of ownership. I've certainly felt the pleasure of acquisition, and I'm sure you have too. However the ongoing pleasure of ownership is a rarer beast.

A painting, a beautiful flower, or a piece of objets d'art will continue to reward the owner long after the pleasure of acquisition has faded. Other possessions must surely have a purpose in order to have a reason to keep it. For example I recently bought a new MacBook Pro, which gave me a huge thrill of excitement - particularly since there was a long time lag between deciding to buy and having the money to buy it. Do I still feel the same thrill, a few months later? No, of course not. Do I still get pleasure from it? Absolutely, as I use it every day and it makes this blog possible (curb your enthusiasm).

There are other things I use less often but still enjoy. For example my digital camera, definitely one of my 100 items, records the life experiences we're enjoying and I wouldn't be without it. But do I get pleasure from all my other possessions? Can I legitimately claim to enjoy something I haven't used for five years? For ten years? I certainly have an emotional attachment to some, but that usually manifests as guilt when I'm thinking whether to get rid of them.

Do they stop me from doing things? Not now, in any direct sense, but the money I spent on them could have been used for something else. For example the £200 I spent last year on the digital camcorder - that I used once - could have paid for a fantastic meal or a weekend away.

So although I respect anyone's right to disagree with me, ultimately I simply don't believe that real enduring pleasure can be derived from physical possessions. The pleasure is in the experiences, especially the shared experiences, that we create for ourselves.

Photo storage, what to do with the old ones

I was sorting through the cavernous cupboards we seem to have, I have no idea however but they do seem to hold huge amounts of 'stuff'  I am sure when they're cleared out it will be covering up the motorway to Narnia!

I was picking through a huge plastic crate filled with photographs from years back, this was just as the digital age was arriving but people were still hurtling down to boots with excitement, thoughts of what was on their undeveloped film, more often than not they had photos with lots of of thumbs and family members without heads!  For some inexplicable reason I decided to keep every one, perhaps I was thinking I'd paid a fortune for developing costs so I was going to keep everything.   Amongst the photographs I had country scenes where I had no idea where they were, pictures of random farm animals and a host of pictures of my late great aunts next door neighbours.

I decided to be ruthless again,  I commenced 'operation photo,'  if it was a bad picture-binned, random scenery-binned, any picture of a relative (be it alive or dead) was put to one side.  Soon the pile had been whittled down to 5% of what it was!  I still had a large pile of photos, various ones of me at various stages of growing up, from early pre-teen to late 20s.  Oh my, how I've changed, I did feel a mix of emotions about what I was doing at that point of life, how was I feeling?  What would I tell that 15 year old Jonathan?  Mmm perhaps not making Mrs Standway my English teacher cry..... but no, all those events are in the past and they make me who I am today.  However these photos mean something, which is good,

I discovered, in the box, an unused photograph album still in plastic wrap, so sorting through the remaining 5% I have a memory album of Jonathan past along with relatives.  I know this album counts as one item, but the wash of emotion and feeling that it creates I know to me that it is important.  I know these photos could be scanned into my computer and kept on line, but there is something about the tangibility of these photos.  I can remember excitedly opening the developing envelope in the street just after I'd collected them,  and still relive the disappointment when I kept discovering overnight I had not become David Bailey.

With the current digital age, you can keep all your pictures on-line, albeit on a hard drive or on an online gallery space, the 100 Item Challenge isn't the 100 Gigabite Challenge so you can have as many as you like.  Rob and I recently tied the knot, and we had all of our wedding pictures saved on-line and set up a gallery www.lifewith.co.uk so all our friend could have a look, and have the option to download the ones they liked.  Oh no I hear you cry, 'I'd like a photo album of the day' well we have created one, there are marvelous application where you can create a hard back book of your day with a dust cover for a few pounds, so we ordered 3 copies, one for us and one for each of the parental units.   The marvels of sharing your pictures on-line with friends is that they can actually use them for their on-line profiles. I know we felt really proud and happy when a large selection of our friends were all using pictures of our day on their facebook accounts, we feel that each time they look at that image they'll think of our important and exciting day.  And an on-line picture doesn't count for your 100 Items so it's a win win situation.

Feedback already! The 100 Item Challenge

Since we launched our website www.100itemchallenge.com we have inspired some of our readers to start clearing out their items and focusing on what is important to them.

One reader, Henry, read the first posting we made on Monday and started clearing our a cupboard, so far he's had one trip to the tip will a hatchback filled to breaking point and 3 boxes of goodies have been passed to a local charity shop.  Some old gadgets have been snapped up on ebay.  The proceeds of the sales has totally funded the train fair, theatre tickets and an overnights stay in London at the end of the month.  For a few hours toil he's creating an new life experience.

In addition he has commented, 'emptying the cupboards has been like a weightwatchers exercise for the soul'.  It had been niggling him about the state of the cupboard, and even though the door was closed, he still knew it had to be done.

Bravo Henry, we applaud you, good luck with the rest of your rooms.

Could you live with 6 items of clothes for a month?

As part of the 100 Item Challenge I have been researching for inspiration to par down the wardrobe and the number of clothes I have.

There has been an experiment in america where candidates have just 6 items of clothes to wear for a month, could you do it?, would anyone notice?

It is a achievable and the people who took part commented that nobody noticed!

www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/fashion/22SIXERS.html
www.sixitemsorless.com/the-project/

The Trouble With Stuff

One of my inspirations for the 100ItemChallenge is American productivity guru David Allen. His Getting Things Done system has been useful to me over the last few year for, well, getting things done. The key to GTD (as us aficionados describe it) is to have tools to handle "stuff".

Here is how Allen defines "stuff": "...anything you have allowed into your psychological or physical world that doesn’t belong where it is, but for which you haven’t yet determined the desired outcome and the next action step." This amorphous "stuff" is one of the causes of the stress and anxiety that many of us suffer from on a daily basis.

The GTD system is a bit too complex to really do justice to here, but the basics are:

1. identify all the stuff in your life that isn’t in the right place (close all open loops)
2. get rid of the stuff that isn’t yours or you don’t need right now
3. create a right place that you trust and that supports your working style and values
4. put your stuff in the right place, consistently
5. do your stuff in a way that respects your time, your energy, and the context of any given moment
6. iterate and refactor mercilessly

So how does this tie in with the 100ItemChallenge? Quite neatly as it happens. David Allen recognises that untamed stuff saps energy and is damaging to mental and physical health. In the 100ItemChallenge we're saying that all the unnecessary stuff we have around us is equally draining, both emotionally and financially. By taming our stuff we can release both energy and money, to invest in life experience rather than material possessions.

Interestingly, one of Allen's tips has been very useful recently - he suggests that if you see something that you want to buy then you should delay purchase for a month. After a month, if you still want it, you should go ahead and buy it. However 80% of the time the desire will have left you and you'll save a bit of money (which you could put into your savings account). Using this technique stopped me from buying an iPad (and yes, the money I've saved has gone into the savings account.)

100 Item Challenge, what it's about

100 Item Challenge, is just what it says, 100 Items that you chose to have in your life.  The 100 Item Challenge is being introduced to the UK by Jonathan Welford and Rob Hardy, they had their attention grabbed by American Dave Bruno, who set about the Challenge in the USA and wrote a best selling book on the subject.

Jonathan and Rob, looked around their home and decided they had too much 'stuff,' wardrobes filled to capacity with clothes that were never worn.  it is a fact that 20% of your wardrobe is worn 80% of the time, so they decided to start on that.  In honesty a man only really needs 17 shirts, a combination of work wear and casual wear, Rob's was hitting over 50! some of which had never been worn.  By setting the challenge, they are now wearing clothes that were allocated for best and disposed and re-homed the worn or unloved items.  The 100 Item Challenge is not a principle to stop spending money on expensive items, in fairness it would be better to spend more on something that will be used and will last a few seasons rather than cheap clothes that are worn a couple of times and relegated to the back of the wardrobe because it has lost the shape or look.

Jonathan admitted he was a previous shop-aholic, every time he went out he wanted to have something to come back with, along the lines of the caveman 'hunter and gatherer' instinct.  Shopping had become a hobby, instead of spending times with friends and family, a trip around the shops was a replacement, the heady trip of picking, taking to the counter and getting a new bag with your purchase replaced other more wholesome pursuits.   Since embracing the challenge Jonathan commented 'In Mainland Europe the shops are closed on Sundays, and yet the streets are full of people meeting up with friends and family and enjoy time together, I want to get back to that type of feeling'

They have not included kitchen equipment and furniture in the challenge, as these items are used daily and they are not resolving to live like monks, far from it!  Although some of the useful 'must have' gadgets and complicated coffee machine that requires a Phd to use it have been re-homed.  The 100 items challenge is the personal possessions, DVDs, CDs, Books and clothes.  The boxes of endless photographs have been scanned in and digitally stored.  The creator of the 100 Thing Challenge works for a university and uses his books frequently and it was a passion, so the books were classed as one, a library.  Some people may think this is cheating, however the purpose of the 100 Item Challenge is to set priorities to your consumerism.  Jonathan and Rob have focused their attention on spending time with friends and family, so much so in September they are booked up every weekend with activities with friends and family up until Christmas.  Rob says 'It's made me realise that the best thing to spend money on is experiences and shared experiences at that, a trip to the theatre, a walk in the countryside with friends.  Even kicking back in a coffee shop with friends chatting together, I am feeling so much more full-filled'

Jonathan and Rob have set up a website 100itemchallenge.com to chart their progress through this experiment, so far so good, they have written about issues about sorting through a box of items belonging to a Grandparent that passed away, the items had sentimental value to the grandparent, but a year later looking at the china and other knick knacks the question had to be asked 'Will I use or display any of this in my home?'  the answer was no, and the decision to either keep a boxed sealed in a cupboard all their life or find a new home for it.  It's an emotional journey, but a thought provoking one.

Rob a self confessed 'gadget boy' who always loves to have the new technology has taken a look at his boxes of goodies that he bought, played with for a weekend and then boxed up again, never to been seen again.  A camcorder bought out and used once and then relegated to the box again.  Rob was impressed and had the gut feel 'must have' for the new ipad, however he held off, calendared the thought for a month and then went back to it, after a play with it in a shop he decided against it as he's just replaced his laptop and it did the same job.  This is the key principle to the 100 Item Challenge, it allows you to think 'do I want it?' or  'do I need it?'  Conversely if you have not used something for a year and it's been boxed away not touched or even thought about, it's time to chuck it out or find a new home for it.

Jonathan and Rob have been ruthless, DVDs and CDs have been sold on, there are websites out there that will buy them off you and even collect from your home.  Gadgets have been pared down and sold on.  However charity shops are crying out for items to sell on, so with Christmas just around the corner embrace the 100 Item Challenge, donate unwanted items to Charity.  They are actively asking Charity shops to display the 100 Item Challenge in their windows to raise awareness and increase donations.  Take on the 100 Item Challenge, change your life and make other lives benefit by donating unwanted items.

www.100ItemChallenge.com

A must have read.

I have recently read up on the subject and came across a book written by New York Times best selling author, Julie Morgenstern, titled 'When Organizing Isn't Enough, SHED Your Stuff, Change your Life'  It is a practical guide on how to live with less and psychological benefits.

An amazing read and well worth a trip down to your local library, unless of course you wish to add the book into your 100 items.

Recycling Computers

Tonight it was the turn of Jonathan's old Windows laptop to come under the scrutiny of the 100ItemChallenge. Jonathan switched to Mac some time ago (I've been a Mac user for a million years, ever since my days in graphic design) and the laptop is surplus to requirements, so it's time for it to go.

Before disposing of a piece of computer hardware it is important to remove any sensitive information from the hard drive (like shredding documents before putting them into the bin) otherwise personal information could fall into the hands of identity thieves.

It is easier said than done, as simply putting files into the Recycle Bin isn't good enough, as it is very easy to recover files deleted in this way. Reformatting the drive (permanently erasing all the data) isn't foolproof either, as there are commercially available "unformatting" utilities that can potentially recover data.

The best thing to do is use "military strength" data destruction software that will securely overwrite all the data on a disk. PCWorld offer the service for £30, but I opted to use Active Kill Disk Hard Drive Eraser. This utility (a free download) overwrites all of the data with zeros, leaving a drive free of personal data. It takes a little time, but if a computer is being left out for the dustmen, given to charity, or being sold, it's time worth investing to save a whole load of hassle.

Specialist charities will often erase all the data using professional software before refurbing equipment.

Anyway, one less item in the 100 item inventory!

Family items, learning to let go

Well tonight I have gone through an emotional journey, my grandmother passed away at the start of 2009, we had a very close relationship, more along the lines of Mother and Son.  So clearing out her home was quite distressing.  I held back a few items of furniture, two carver chairs and a floor lamp my grandfather bought for her as their first gift when they set up home together.  These have been remodeled and have a prime position in my home.  The small amount of photographs have been scanned into my hard drive for prosperity.  I have a plastic box of small ornaments and knick knacks that were personal to my grandmother. 

I have gone through this box and have kept back the Rabbit Money Box, but all the other Royal China, commemorating the Royal events like the coronation and the silver jubilee are going.

I still have fond memories of my grandmother, but these are now just items.  There is no attachment to them any more.  It reminds me of a business guru, he came up with the concept if you see something you want, put the idea in a diary system and if a month later you still want it then it may be the right thing to get.  My principle is similar, if you are not sure if you still need an item, put it in a box and a year later if you have not used it, looked at it or done anything at all with it, then time to chuck it out or sell it on.

So tonight there are a few more items on ebay.

100 Item Challenge inspires

Today I was chatting to my good pal, Emma, she has admitted to embracing the 100 Item Challenge without even realising it.

Emma recently moved and in her new house has converted the attached garage to turn it into a play room for her two sons, well more of a teenagers as a chill out room for the TV, Playstation etc.  She had to clear all the boxes that held 'stuff', she had automatically kept the boxes of 'stuff' because she always had, but now she had no where to put it, the thought of trekking all the boxes to the small attic space was not a prospect she wanted to consider.  So she was forced to go through the contents, needlessly to say, 3 car boot sales and a raft of small ads later, she has money in her purse and no boxes to cart around.  Emma stated 'It was time consuming, and I dreaded doing it.  But, now it's done I feel somewhat lighter in mind and cash in my pocket.'

She has focused her sons mind about what is important, the youngest at 10 years old is into lego and has that is his main toy and is really into computer games, her oldest at 14 years old is just interested in computer games, so that is great for having clear bedrooms.  Her boys are happy with their lives and enjoy many school run activites that keeps them busy, they have the clothes they like and wear and have fulfilling lives which involves friends and not just accumulating toys and whims.

Emma is a property specialist, and with the housing decline she has noticed the change in lifestyle changes, clients of hers were remortgaging and spending money on expensive accessories and luxury items they didn't really use, just show off to friends to impress.  Now people don't have the money to spend and are using what they have, focusing their attention on improving themselves and living life rather than striving for something bigger, better and more expensive.

Has the economy made us reflect on what is important to us?  Are we focusing our minds on how we live?  Will we be going back to the days of family life like 'Little House on the Prairy' or the 'Waltons'

G'night John Boy!

How many shirts?

How many shirts should a man have? I suppose the obvious answer is how many shirts do I wear a week? And how often do we do laundry?

I need work shirts and casual shirts, and we obviously don't want to be washing and ironing every other day!

Thomas Fink, in The Man's Book suggests that the number of shirts required for any specific purpose is equal to the square root of the number of days involved. That would mean 19 shirts in total. 15 would be work shirts, and as I change when I get home that would mean 34 shirts in total - eeek! But I don't necessarily put on a clean shirt every day (is that bad?) as I work in an air conditioned office, so maybe I can get away with 7 work shirts, and 10 casual shirts?

At least trousers are simpler...

Wardrobe task could be daunting...

Well I have just come back from lunch and a peruse around the shops with my best friend, Paul, I have really surprised myself by not buying anything.  I was explaining the 100 Items challenge to my pal, and he was nodding and then perked up by saying that he already lives like that, he only buys quality clothes and wears them until then need replacing.   He's a librarian, so music is borrowed from the library, he's got a vast collection on hard drives. His weakness is books, he's always bringing books home from the library but he does go a bit crazy in the book shops.  We did venture into Waterstones so I could get some tickets to the Armistead Maupin book reading in November, but even Paul who was sorely tempted with a few of the new releases held himself at bay.  So I may well have a convert.

I've taken a look at the wardrobe and it's going to need a bit of a cull, we both have a substantial amount of clothes.  Photos attached, inventory to follow.

Shoes the big clear out

Right, first phase of the 100 Item Challenge,  my shoes, when we moved back into our apartment I had a clear out before I escaped from the suburbs back to the city.  But I still bought some items that I didn't need and had been boxed up since... well forever.

So the inventory

1. Brown Pair of size 11 (45) Prada leisure shoes
2. Cream Pair of size 11 (45) Prada leisure shoes
3. Blue Pair of size 10.5 (44) Blue Harbour leisure shoes
4. Black Pair of size 11 (45) Firetrap trainers
5. Black Pair of size 11 (45) suede slip on shoes
6. Silver Pair of size 11 (45) Nike Trainers (disco shoes)
7. White Pair of size 11 (45) Nike running trainers
8.  Black pair of size 11 (45) leather leisure shoes
9.  Black pair of size 11 (45) Leather Business shoes
10.Black pair of size 11 (45) German Leather Army Boots

Okay now what to get rid of.... I think both pairs of Prada shoes can go, I had an ill faited romance with a Romanian Cancer Surgeon, and went on a designer brand spending spree, spending around £4000 in one month on designer clothes and shoes that I didn't really need or want.  The German Leather Army Boots can go, another story about an ex there... I went out with a German Teacher and he was into the leather & rubber gear and that whole scene, I have a leather shirt and a couple of harnesses kicking around (which can also be disposed of)  I am spotting a theme here, I went on shopping sprees to buy the accessories to impress a partner, perhaps now I have found my true soul mate I can actually live the life I determine and not trying to become someone else to please others.  Any how I am rambling, so I am down three pairs of shoes. 

The ones I definitely need to keep are the Business Shoes, essential for formal meetings, no matter how rare they're needed.  I am normally found in jeans, polo shirt and trainers.  The casual leather shoes need to stay, they're just so comfortable and a bargain buy from my last visit to Florida in December.  The white trainers need to be kept, just for the rare trip to the gym or if I decide to pound the streets jogging at some ungodly hour in the morning. 

The disco silver sneakers are fab, but I very much doubt I will wear them again, so ebay will have a new visitor.  The firetrap trainers and suede slip on shoes can be set free too, they're getting a bit ragged.  I think it's wise to have another pair of shoes so the Blue Harbour leisure shoes it will be.

So what I am keeping is

1. White Pair of size 11 (45) Nike running trainers
2.  Black pair of size 11 (45) leather leisure shoes

3.  Black pair of size 11 (45) Leather Business shoes
4.  Blue Pair of size 10.5 (44) Blue Harbour leisure shoes

This is the first logged 4 items, in my 100 Item Challenge

Jonathan

Down to one car.

We're now a one car family. Hurrah!

Recently I was bought out of a Letting Company that I was a partner of, so now it's only Rob that requires a car to commute to work in Liverpool.  He'd happily get public transport, however his workplace is not ideally situated for an easy commute without having over a 2 hours commute each way.   I don't particularly need a car, I write a weekly column for Urban Life and a variety of lifestyle and property magazines in the UK.  Any time I will require the car for a client visit then I'll either drop Rob at work and then go onto my appointment or alternatively use the www.citycarclub.com where I can hire a car for £3.96 per hour (available at most large cities across the UK), they use one of the parking bays across the city and the nearest to us is just behind our building.   If anyone joins to get 4 free hours type in promotional code 'FRIEND Jonathan Welford' while completing the on line application.  There is an annual fee of £50 and there are a variety of car choices you can choose from, if you are moving home, you can have a van, hatchbacks for a quick journey, even the eco family car the Prius Hybrid.

As we live in the city centre of Manchester we are easily catered for food shopping, we get our heavy essentials delivered from a choice of chain supermarkets, and all our entertainment is on the door stop or within a quick rail journey.  Our apartment doesn't come with a parking space so we have let our next door neighbor take over one of our rented car parking spaces saving us £1080 per year, and around £2000 in running costs (insurance, tax and servicing).  This cash saving can be invested in more worthwhile life experiences, travel plans are afoot.

Choosing the car to go wasn't a difficult choice, we kept the newest one with the lowest mileage, so the family car is an old faithful 2003 Volvo Estate, the 2002 Ford Focus with a zillion miles on the clock was sold off.  We thought about advertising privately however in the end went with the new on line service www.webuyanycar.com, so long as you have all your documentation, you simply input the car details into their website, mileage, MOT length, license plate and condition etc and they will give you an offer there and then.  If you are happy with this then you just make an appoint to take it in.  We did just that, within 30 minutes the car was assessed by one of their chaps and we were driving away in the last car left. Job Done!

With the money we have made from the car sale we are investing in doing a TEFL course, this is a course to Teach English as a Foreign Language, we are investing in ourselves and for our future, plus it looks like a fun weekend course.  Now booked for October, and fortunately it's being held 3 minutes walk from where we live in a local hotel.

DVDs on Ebay

I've been looking through my DVD collection, which although not large contains a number of titles that I'm unlikely to ever watch again (and a couple still in the shrink-wrap).

So the most valuable of them (courtesy of a search on Amazon) are now on Ebay. The rest (and any that don't sell) will be off to MusicMagpie before you can say "declutter".

My Ebay name is obba2020 if you are interested!

The Start

Well this is the start, my husband and I are about to set about the 100 Item Challenge.

We are Jonathan and Rob, a recently married gay couple from Manchester in the UK.

Our philosophy for the '100 Item Challenge' was that our lives were being ruled by our possessions and this was slowing us down, we wanted to create more life experiences and by reducing the burden of owning possessions and setting a priority of what is actually important to us.   We are reducing our possessions down to 100 item each (this is excluding furniture and kitchen equipment, we're not Monks by any stretch of the imagination!)

This has been inspired by Dave Bruno the American creator of '100 Thing Challenge'