2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,400 times in 2010. That’s about 8 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 19 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 97 posts. There was 1 picture uploaded, taking a total of 39kb.

The busiest day of the year was April 28th with 377 views. The most popular post that day was Minimalism in a Nutshell.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were moreminimal.com, Google Reader, dehoardingdiary.youblog.net, becomingminimalist.com, and blog.hoardhouse.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for am i a hoarder, am i a hoarder?, bakelite doorbell, am i a horder, and why minimalism.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Minimalism in a Nutshell April 2010
2 comments

2

Am I A Compulsive Hoarder? February 2009
3 comments

3

About August 2006
2 comments

4

Does Minimalism Lead to Freedom? August 2010
2 comments

5

Storing Things for Friend A December 2009
3 comments

Minimalist Bloggers

There seems to be so many new minimalist themed blogs starting up.  I joined the one-week trial period for the recent A-List Blogging Bootcamp to check it out, and spent most my time browsing the forums.  Lots of people want to follow in Leo Babauta’s footsteps!  There were so many minimalist blogs linked to the forum avatars, all with 2-3 posts.  I wonder how many of them will stick with it.

You can also find plenty of new blogs by looking at the Daily Brainstorm meta site. Seems like every couple days I read about another blogger who has downsized to less than 100 things and is travelling the world.  And of course has an e-book for sale.

On twitter I said something like: “Am I the only minimalist who doesn’t blog about it?”  Then I remembered that I kinda do on this blog.  This blog is really about the process of getting rid of stuff, not a minimal lifestyle – although that is the goal.

This minimalist desire has been with me for a long time, probably starting around 1993.  At that time I was living in a small apartment (small on purpose) and began to realize other people were interested in this topic.  At the time it was called the “Voluntary Simplicity” movement.  Now it’s fashionable to be a minimalist.  Fashions come and go, but I am dedicated to living a simple life for the rest of my days.  Should I blog about it?  Add yet another voice to the choir?  First I need to get started on my e-book!

Update:

There was a pile building up here of things I wanted to auction off on eBay.  A couple weeks ago I finally got started listing them and had about 20 auctions going at once.  Now that’s done and most of them have already been shipped out.  Including both of my video encoder boxes, so if I want to watch TV now it has to be on Hulu or a network website.  My new rule for eBay is that I won’t bother listing it unless the estimated value is at least $15.  Cheaper garage-sale type items just aren’t worth the hassle in my opinion.

Reduction progress

Well, this was a productive weekend!

Some of my work clothes were getting a bit frayed, so I got them all together in one place and did a critical review.  I do laundry once a week so how many shirts do I need?  Decided to keep five of the best, and also mail ordered one more.

Only have one pair of work pants that fit, due to my recent weight gain.  Kept those and ordered one more pair.  The only non-work pants that fit me now are two pairs of jeans.  Kept those.  All the other pants were donated.  So, I did some serious minimizing on clothes.  When I go to work on Monday I’ll be wearing my only pair of pants that meet the dress code.  Except for my old suit, which is still too big on me, but could be worn if I ruin my pants before the new ones arrive in the mail.

Some of the jeans I donated were being kept in case I could fit into them again someday.  That’s not a good reason.  Buying too-small pants in the first place was a waste of money.

Another online purchase this weekend was a pair of eyeglasses.  I had another pair of cheap glasses I got online that were being used as reading glasses.  But after many attempts I was not able to adjust them so they fit me well.  It was just a really bad choice of frames (hard to do online).  So I put them in a bag along with all the other glasses I had stored away, and donated them all today.  Right now, for the first time in about 40 years, I have no spare glasses at all!  This is a strange feeling but okay.  My whole life I have only needed a spare about 1 or 2 times, so I’ll manage.  I bought a new pair online that hopefully will replace the ones I have now.

In addition, I finally listed my Grandmother’s old ironing board on Freecycle.  No takers.  I’ll relist in a week with the offer worded differently.  If there’s still no interest, I’ll try craigslist.  If that doesn’t work, what then?

Renting Apartment vs Buying Small House

Because I do not have a place of my own to live in, these two options have been given a lot of thought this past year.  I have read many “Rent vs. Own” articles and run some numbers, and have come to the conclusion that renting or owning your home is really a lifestyle choice.  It is NOT a financial investment. Why do I say that?  Because in the end, housing is an expense.  It is something you have to pay for.  Either way you go, it comes out approximately the same.

Let’s look at some real world numbers.  Now, as a single person and a minimalist, I do not need much space.  The smallest house available locally is a 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow.  There are some efficiency apartments here and there, but I’ll compare to the basic one-bedroom apartment.  For this example, let’s assume I’ll be staying in one area for five years.  Also assume I have 100K saved in the bank and will not be using a mortgage.

Renting a one bedroom apartment in my area costs about $650/month.  Add $150 for utilities, $200 for food, and $100 for internet/phone.  Round up to $1200/month or $14,400 per year.

There is a small house for sale today, close by in a good neighborhood, closer to work, for an asking price of about $90,000.  If I keep the 90K in the bank and earned an average of 1.5% interest over five years this would give me $7000.  Subtract this from apartment expenses (14400 x 5 – 7000) would be net total $65,000 spent over five years for the apartment option.

There are two big variables in the house option that I can’t predict.  One is the market value of the house.  Because housing prices have dropped over the last two years, and some experts are saying prices are not likely to rebound quickly, for our example I’ll assume that the house value stays at 90K.  This may be unlikely, but I have to pick a number so that’s what I’ll use for now.  The other variable is renovation cost.  What if the roof needs to be repaired?  The plumbing?  The driveway resurfaced?  Again, I have to choose a number so I’ll say 10K for repairs over 5 years.

So I buy the house for 90K cash.  Annual taxes are about 4K.  Monthly costs 250 utilities, 200 food, 100 internet/phone.  That’s 10600 per year for 5 years is 53K.  Add the renovation cost of 10K and we’re up to 63K.  I’d probably get insurance for a house, so that’s $3000 over 5 years.  When I sell at the end of 5 years there’s a real estate commission of 6%, or $5400.  So I pay 90K and get about 90K back, therefore value of the house comes out even.  But over the five years I paid a total of $71,400 to live there.

Granted this is a simplified/approximated example, but it shows that owning a house without a mortgage is not necessarily less expensive than renting.  In fact it could even cost more.

As a minimaist lifestyle choice, apartments are better because it’s much simpler.  No dealing with contractors or repairmen, insurance agents, real estate agents, tax collectors, etc.  You just pay your rent on time and the landlord does all that for you.  Plus you have the flexibility of moving when your annual lease is up if you want to.  Less money, more freedom.

Does Minimalism Lead to Freedom?

I have been thinking about this question lately.  My goal with the reduction project was to increase my personal freedom.  I started this because of a feeling of being trapped by all the stuff weighing me down.  The idea was that by getting rid of most of my stuff I would no longer have this anchor that prevented me from doing whatever I want.  Now that I’m getting closer to this goal I am sensing a conflict between minimalism and what I thought it would bring to me.

The thing about minimalism is that it adds limitations to your life.  Limitations that force you to make choices that otherwise would not be necessary.  These choices lead to owning things that are truly valuable to you, and doing things that have real meaning.  Without minimalism one is more likely to make a decision based on convenience.

For example, the MacBook Air is a minimalist computer with only one USB port.  With one port you cannot connect a mouse, keyboard, flash drive, external hard drive, external DVD drive, and iPod all at the same time.  Only the one device that is most important in the moment can be plugged in.

Another example – let’s say you have not worn formal clothing for years so you got rid of the suits/gowns in your wardrobe.  Then you are invited to an event with a strictly fancy dress code.  Keeping the extra clothes that are hardly ever worn would make it convenient to dress up for the event.  Having a giant wardrobe with outfits for any occasion gives one the freedom to meet any dress code at a moment’s notice.  A minimalist is less free in this situation because they must make a choice, to rent/buy new clothing or simply not go to the event.

The choices forced on a minimalist cause them to reexamine many things that otherwise may be taken for granted.   This is what fascinates me, looking at stuff and actions in a new light.  But I wonder if freedom is what I was really looking for?

Grab something and go away now!

Ran across this blog post by Everett Bogue today.  In it he poses the question: “What would you bring with you, if you had to leave now?”

I started looking around my room here at the piles of stuff that I don’t know what to do with.  Very little of it is so important that I’d risk my life to save it.  If the house was on fire, I’d just grab my keys, wallet, shoes, cell phone, then get out.

Maybe it would depend on how long I have to plan for.  I can flee with the clothes on my back, because I can always get more clothes.  But I already have clothing I have bought in the past that fits me.  So with a few minutes to put an overnight bag together, I’ll pack a couple outfits.  If I think ahead to being comfortable the next time I sleep, maybe I’ll grab a blanket.  If I don’t know where I’ll be eating my next meal, I can pack a cup, knife and spoon.  This all seems to be survival gear, like what you’d take to go camping.  Tools for a temporary situation.

It seems to me that the question assumes that at some point you will return.  If not to the exact same place, you’ll eventually replace all that you left behind in your new location.

An example – There is a box here that stores my dishware set.  It would be left behind in an emergency without a second thought.  But when the day comes that I have my own kitchen, I will definitely want that box.  If I had to buy replacement dishware I think I’d miss this special set that means something to me.

However this can lead to dangerous “what if” thinking.  Keeping extra things around because they might be needed someday.  Nobody can predict the future, so there are lots of things you “might” need.  I guess that’s the challenge – to have the confidence to believe that you will be able to have what you need in the future when the time comes.

Everett’s point was that if all your stuff fits in a backpack, you are free to set off on an adventure at any time.  I do value freedom, and also comfort.  Caught here in the middle with a bakelite doorbell.

Rethinking Junk

Stuff should be there to USE, not to keep for its potential!

Felt inspired by an article on zenhabits called “The Clean-Slate Guide to Simplicity”.  It was about putting everything away in boxes, and only taking something back out when you really need it.  The idea is to minimize using a strategy of addition instead of subtraction.  I wanted to try this on the junk in my desk.

I opened all the drawers in my desk, looked at every little thing in there.  Put some things in a cardboard box, then one by one put it all back.  There’s so much stuffed in there that I don’t have any place to put it when it’s not in the desk.  So… strategy didn’t work this time.

For example I have three full boxes of staples.  I hardly ever attach paper together with a stapler anymore, so this is more than a lifetime supply.  But what should I do with extra stuff like this – brand new in box products.  Toss it?  If I somehow run out of staples I can spend $2 to get more.  Or rethink my need to staple things.  I use less paper today than I used to, and mostly use paper clips.  Do I need to have a stapler at all?

Much of this uncertainty comes from the temporary nature of my living situation – renting a room.  I don’t have a kitchen, so all my most treasured kitchen tools and dishware are packed in boxes, unused and out of sight.  I’m pretty sure that at some point in the future I’ll have my own place with a kitchen.  But I don’t know when that will be.  So would it be better from a minimalist viewpoint to get rid of everything I’m not using, and replace it with new things if/when they are needed someday?  Or just continue to keep the boxes with me so my potential future kitchen will have a few special homey items?  Much of that stuff is already gone, I kept only things with strong memories attached.  Rethinking the need for these is harder than office supplies because I’m fond of them.

Recent Accumulation Phase

I have a bad habit of browsing eBay to look at gadgets that I’m kind of interested in but really do not need to own.  Then I put in a low bid, much lower than what it’s worth according to completed auctions for similar stuff.  Once in a while I win them because no-one else bids!   My rationale is that I can try out the gadget for a while, then re-sell it with a better auction description and make a little money.  But it turns out that buying stuff on eBay is a lot easier than writing and posting auctions, so I tend to have a growing pile of things to list on eBay.

Unfortunately I’ve accumulated some extra body weight as well, gained back about 15 pounds.  I lost 90 pounds a couple years ago and since then have managed to keep my weight steady.  Lately though the old habits have started to come back.  Probably due to stress and a feeling of losing control over other areas of my life.

At my job I’ve taken on some new responsibilities, in addition to all the old ones.  The company is asking people to do more instead of hiring additional people.  The good part of that is I can be promoted and earn a bit more money.  But I’ll be busy and more tired every day.

So in general my life has been about gaining “more” so far this year.  As a minimalist I feel in my gut that this is not the right direction.  How should I reverse this trend?  One small step at a time, but which step?

Empty Storage Unit

Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet, but this monumental day is finally here.  Last weekend I moved the last few boxes out of my rented storage unit and handed in the key.  My key ring now has 3 keys instead of 4, and I notice it every time I pick them up.  May not fully realize it until after July 1st when I don’t send in the monthly rent check.

The storage unit was originally rented in August 1998 when I was forced by economics to leave my last apartment.  It was just supposed to be for a few months while I got established in a new place.  That was during my “down and out” period and it was the beginning of being semi-homeless.  At the time I believed that “my life” was packed away in storage, and that my “life” would be on hold until I put all that stuff into another apartment.  That’s bullshit of course, but ten years ago it seemed very real.  It was a dark time, and since I have climbed up out of that darkness the storage unit has been a connection to my past, a reminder of how I’m not really free.

After the great purge of 2008, the space was being used primarily to store boxes for a friend.  One idea to clear the storage space was to buy a vinyl garden shed and erect it inside the barn here at the house where I’m staying.  I didn’t do that because they are expensive and I couldn’t find one the right size.  So I kept sending those rent checks every month, not knowing what to do.

A few weeks ago I got fed up with the situation and decided to move the stuff into the barn without a vinyl container.  I was going to build a platform out of 2x4s and plywood sheets and stack the boxes on top.  Before I bought the wood for the platform, I was in a hardware store just to get some window screen patches.  Outside the store was a stack of wood pallets, free for the taking.  I took two and put them in my car.  I then organized the stuff in the barn to make space on the floor and put the pallets down.

I knew that some of the boxes had mold growing in them.  If I started sorting through the boxes, trying to decide what to keep, I’d get caught in the same trap as last time – not knowing which objects were more important than other objects.  So my approach this time was to open each box and look.  If there was mold inside, the whole box got thrown away.  If it was just musty smelling, it passed.  Decide on a per-box level based only on condition, not importance.  I did this at the unit and tossed the bad boxes in the dumpster at the storage facility.  Five boxes were tossed, about 10% of the total.

Over the next two weeks I made many trips hauling stuff back to the house.  A staging area was set up in the garage.  There each box was wrapped in a new plastic garbage bag and then carried back to the barn to be stacked on a pallet.  The last boxes were moved out last weekend.

It is crazy that I’m still holding onto stuff for my friend while he wanders out in the desert. But at least now I’m not paying extra money each month to do it.  And more importantly, now I am free of the connection to that unfortunate time in my past.

Coins

Back when I was down and out, trying to sell stuff to fund my semi-homeless lifestyle, I was a scavenger of coins.  I would look for and collect coins from wherever possible.  Phone booths, vending machines, coins received in change, loose change in my storage boxes or lying in the street.  Any coin money I found would be collected together.  Then I’d go out and spend them on food.  I remember many times I’d go to the local Burger King, to get whatever $2.00 meal special they had for lunch, paid for in quarters and dimes.  Sometimes this coin gathering behavior made the difference between eating and skipping meals.

When I started working full-time in 2003 and no longer had to watch every nickel, this behavior continued.  At first I just collected the quarters that I received in change, and spent the nickels and dimes in vending machines for snacks.  I saved pennies too for a while but at one point they were taken to a grocery store coin-counting machine and converted to store credit (minus 10% fee).  After that I started saving pennies too.  Now I have plenty of quarters (more than a full cigar box), so when I have some from my change they get spent in the coffee machine at work.  Over the last year or so I’ve been keeping all of the dimes and nickels I get.  And dollar coins of course, there is quite a collection of the presidential golden dollar coins here.

If I had to estimate the value of all these coins — maybe a few hundred dollars?  Really hard to tell without getting out all my little boxes, jars, bags and counting them.

Even though I have more money saved in the bank, that is just a number printed on a monthly statement.  The coins give me a sense of security because they are physical objects that I keep with me.  Also because of my history with relying on pocket change for food, there is a feeling that as long as I have a box of quarters, I’ll be okay.

One day I may just take them to a bank and cash them in, but I’m not there yet.  I tell myself that hoarding money is healthier than hoarding other small things that don’t have real value. Do you agree?