Yesterday was my first day of living by the “one in, two out” rule. Rather, it was the first day where I had to apply it.
It felt good.
I bought a small hook to hang my oven mitts on the side of the fridge. At first, I wasn’t going to count this item as part of the rule, but then decided that I should. So out went a DVD and a small glass.
Later, when I was dropping off the sweaters that I mentioned yesterday, I picked up a flower pot and a tray to go underneath it. There was a whole box of them—offered up for free—beside the clothes donation bin.
I counted the pot and the tray as separate items, even though I probably could have justified treating them as a single item on account of being a “set” that goes together. Out went 4 more small glasses that I never use anyway.
It really felt good to purge these items (which are now in a box that, when full, will be dropped off at Value Village).
Now, it may be that getting rid of those items felt good because I was purging things that I don’t use and “replacing” them with things that I want. But, since it’s not a one-to-one replacement, it still results in progress toward simplifying my life.
I may not yet have broken free from the bonds of consumerism, but at least I’m slowly making my life more simple and my apartment just a little less cluttered.
PS: The DVD in question is Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. It became an “extra” copy a few months back when I bought a boxed set of all 3 Python movies. If you would like it, before I take it to VV, please let me know.