Life as a minimalist
I am a minimalist. I keep things simple. I am uncluttered and that puts my mind into a state of Zen-like calm. I have everything I need and pretty much nothing I don't.
A few years ago after a move between apartments I realized how annoying it was to move so many things around, especially when I hardly ever used or even liked most of my stuff. As a travel-minded person who wants to experience living in many different environments, I set on a mission to get rid of stuff. I dealt with the job in sections, such as movies or books, so as not to overwhelm myself. I got rid of about 80% of my stuff in a couple weeks.
Ideas like "The more I own, the more I'm worth" and "I might need this someday" no longer made any sense to me. I now felt a new kind of lightweight freedom. Things occupying my space now had to pass the test of worthiness according to me. Decisions to get rid of things were hard at first but became easier the more I made them. If I didn't ever use something, I got rid of it, and if I didn't enjoy using something, I got rid of it.
I separated stuff I didn't want into things to give away, things to recycle, and things to throw away. Things to give away I either gave away on Craigslist, or gave to Goodwill. The larger things I listed on Craigslist, and said that if anyone could pick them up, they could have them. A surprising amount of people responded immediately to the free Craigslist ads. People love to hoard free stuff.
My laptop
I got my first laptop a few years ago and will never go back to a desktop computer again. Laptop living gives me freedom to compute wherever I want while conserving electricity and space. I enjoy the freedom of being able to use it anywhere at home and take it with me on the go. Accessories I sometimes use are my mouse, Wacom tablet, headphones, and external hard drives.
I'd like to eventually upgrade my laptop, and possibly to a tablet PC because it would be like having a Wacom tablet built right in, allowing me to draw directly on the screen. Pretty cool.
My movie and music collection
I went through my DVDs and CDs and only kept stuff that I actually liked and would watch or listen to again. I sold a lot of the stuff I didn't want on Amazon, which is really easy to do. Just search for what you want to sell, and if you can find it, you can sell it. They don't charge you fees until you sell something, whereupon they take a small percentage of your sales price. They also give you a shipping credit to put towards shipping costs. I list my stuff so I have the lowest price to sell quickly, and didn't sell anything that was already being sold under $2. I shipped everything at the post office in bubble mailers from Walmart. In total, I made about 60 dollars profit selling about 20 CDs and DVDs. Everything I didn't sell I donated to the library.
My audio CDs are all in mp3 form and burned to DVDs, which conserves a LOT of space, and allowed me to sell the original CDs except for my favorite ones that I keep for nostalgic value. I store my discs in paper envelopes that I make myself, which go inside a CD box. This takes up very little room, but is much easier to organize than a CD wallet. The paper sleeves protect the discs from scratches and can be written on to label them. I make them myself because it is cheap and I can make them wide enough to easily slide a disc in and out. I made a template on a piece of 8.5"x11" printer paper, which you can print out and use if you want. I'd cut about 10 sheets at a time, and repeat this until I had a big stack of them, then fold them all with a sharp crease on the edges. Then I'd glue all the sides down with a gluestick and put them in a stack with a book on top to dry. It resulted in some really nice, not-homemade-looking envelopes.
I gave all the empty CD and DVD cases to my local library, and kept all the cover-art in an 9"x12" envelope. When I burn DVDs, I use Taiyo Yuden DVD+Rs, which are made in Japan and generally thought of as the best brand by DVD enthusiasts. I also only write on discs with a CD safe marker, not a regular Sharpie.
My photos
I keep all my photos in digital form to look at on my laptop and share on Flickr. I converted my print photos to digital with this CanoScan scanner, which also scans slides and negatives. I take new photos with my little pocketsize Canon Powershot. I back my photos up on a DVD to be safe. I also make sure I go through my photos and weed out the lower quality ones. If there are a lot of similar pictures, I pick the best one or two and get rid of the others. I also tend to get rid of blurry or poorly lit photos. And if I don't feel anything when I look at a photo, I get rid of it, because the whole point of looking at photos is to feel a fuzzy memory.
I organize my photos by editing the embedded EXIF and IPTC information in JPEG files. This information can store date, tags, description, etc. If the photo was taken with a digital camera, it will already have some information embedded, such as camera info and date (if the date was set properly in your camera when the photo was taken). I use Adobe Bridge to tag and date the photos, then name the files based on date. Then I just separate the images into folders by year, which I can search using tags or just browse through.
My important documents
Most people assume that they need a file cabinet to keep important papers organized. What people don't realize is that having a file cabinet encourages paper-hoarding. I assumed I needed one to organize my stuff. I had a two drawer file cabinet filled with bill statements, old leases, receipts, college papers, owner's manuals, and various other paperstuffs. I went through my receipts and only kept ones that had nostalgic memories tied to them. I didn't keep any owner's manuals because they could all be accessed online in the rare occasion that I should need one. I got rid of about 90% in total.
Things with private information got shredded in my little mini shredder, and everything else got recycled. I gave away my file cabinet on Craigslist, and I now have a small plastic expanding folder which I keep truly important papers in. I periodically go through it and get rid of the papers that have since become unimportant.
Coffee and cupcakes
I don't drink coffee very often, but even if I did, I wouldn't need a coffee maker; they take up too much room and are annoying to clean. I prefer to microwave some water then add a coffee bag or pod. Same way I make tea.
Also, something I do that probably isn't often done by others, is I make muffins and cupcakes without a muffin pan. I just use a regular cookie pan and put paper disposable muffin cups on it and pour the batter into those. I always assumed you couldn't do that because the paper would collapse, but it works as long as you don't fill them too full.
My books
I used to have a bookshelf full of books and other stuff. Half the stuff on it was there just because I had extra room on the bookshelf. With my actual books, I asked myself if I would ever want to read them again. And then I asked myself if I would be okay with checking the book out at the library, or reading a digital version of the book. Now I don't have a bookshelf; just a small box of my favorite books.
As for how I got rid of the books, I first saw if I could sell them on Amazon, just like I do with CDs and DVDs. If a book sells, I just put it in a bubble mailer and ship it media mail at the post office, or if the buyer got expedited shipping I ship priority. The rest I give to the library.
My tools
I like using this multitool, which is like a big Swiss army knife of pliers, wire cutters, knives, saw, files, scissors, and screwdrivers. I also have a little Swiss army knife that has come in handy many times over the years, and is small enough that I keep it on my keychain. I also have a 5 foot retractable flexible tape measure that I use to measure stuff.
Space saving bags
I always thought that those space bags that are shown on TV are a neat idea. They are plastic bags with a place to attach a vacuum hose to suck all the air out and shrink the bag. But the reviews say they often leak. A much cheaper and more reliable method is to put stuff in a big trashbag and sit on it to squeeze the air out. You can also hold the opening of the bag around a vacuum hose and it sucks the air out. Shake the bag to get the wrinkles out and tie it as far down as possible. Tie it really well so it doesn't pop open when it starts inflating again.
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