Claire's Random Thoughts

This is my response to David Michael Bruno’s famous 100 Thing Challenge.

My philosophy: Less clutter, less hassle moving (I live in college dorms), less waste, and more money (aren’t college students supposed to be poor?). Simple, right?

Quality over quantity. I can no longer even keep track of how much money I’ve wasted on things that I buy and never use or only use for a short period of time. If I have quality stuff, it should last me for longer, and I can waste less.

I have been known to have multiples of things that most people only have one of (laptops, cameras, cell phones, etc), and I’m trying to change this.

No more impulsive buying. If I have to get rid of something in order to get something new, this should greatly reduce if not eliminate impulsive buying urges.

I also agree with his Reduce (existing stuff), Refuse (new stuff), and Rejigger (prioritize) concept. He said he was trying this challenge to fight bad American consumerism habits, not to reduce clutter, which I disagree with. It is, however, in my best interest to reduce clutter. I’m tired of moving excess junk multiple times per year (again, I live in college dorms) and figuring out where to store everything (currently grandparents’ basement).

My rules:
1. The magical number of 42 items instead of his 100.

2. I, however, will have more exclusions.

David excludes shared and household things, books, and household tools.

I will exclude things that come with my dorm (which makes sense because I don’t actually own them), food/drink related items, apparel/accessories, and grooming items.

Quite simply, food and things related to food (pots and pans, silverware, etc) are too hard to devise a system to keep a count of. David probably counts items related to food as household items, which would also be excluded under his system anyway.

If you look at David’s list, approximately half of his items consist of clothing. He also doesn’t need as many grooming items and accessories as a female would. Since I am only allowing myself 42 items instead of 100, excluding apparel and accessories does not seem unreasonable. I am a single and job-seeking female, so I don’t wish for this challenge to compromise the way I look, dress, and smell, which is why I’m excluding apparel/accessories and grooming.

Does this mean I can just splurge in these categories? No, I am planning to pack and store things I don’t wear and avoid buying multiples of the same color/style. The idea here is to minimize but look the same way I do currently (I.e. I don’t need any more suit jackets. I have one of every color, one short-sleeved, etc. already. I only need one pair of shoes for each type of occasion/weather, so I won’t buy any more. No new make-up until it gets gross or I run out).

3. If something is only sold in a cluster, then I’m counting it as one item. Some other similar and complementary groups may also count as one (similar to David’s rule about grouping)

4. When I get new things to replace old things, I have 7 days to get rid of the old thing I’m replacing. I’m allowing this extra 7 days, because it takes time to sell stuff on eBay. Also, since I order most things from the internet, I can’t accurately anticipate exactly which day I will receive the new thing, so this prevents me from being without.

5. Gifts: I haven’t quite figured out what to do with gifts yet. I feel bad getting rid of gifts, but it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t count them either.

6. If something is in storage (currently at my grandparents’ basement) and I don’t plan to use it, then it doesn’t count. If I pack something in a paper box I am planning to store or ship out (if I sold it on eBay), then it doesn’t count either. It would be ridiculous if I had to put something in storage every time I exchange one of my 42 things.

My time frame for this? Not sure yet, but I’m going to start making a list of essentials and gauge how long it will take to get rid of everything else.

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