Still On the Wagon!

Updating my blog seems to be few and far between these days! Well I am still around, maybe just not feeling as inspired about blogging as I have been in the past. It doesn't feel like that much has changed, but here are some status updates:

Minimalism/De-cluttering

I got rid of a LOT of stuff during 2010. The process has slowed because I have packed up most of my belongings so they can sit in storage at the moment. My living situation is still in limbo as it relates to my recent graduation and finding a DAMN job! Everything that was packed away was carefully sorted and culled through.

This year I decided I was going to get a handle on my medical records and put my already scanned info into Google Health. Well, I got some new prescriptions a few weeks ago that I was going to log in to my Google Health account. When I logged in, I found out they are shutting down the service at the end of this year! Doh! If you know of any personal medical records services, please leave a comment.

Exercise/Health

In May I went on vacation and well, my good eating went straight out the door. I gained 10 lbs. and got rid of 5 lbs. pretty easily once back. The last 5 lbs. has been a lot harder. Throw in having a stomach virus to the mix which totally created havoc. Turns out that sick tummies don't really like hardcore protein, which is my staple when getting my weight back where it needs to be. So I stuck with noodles and broth. You better believe that I didn't feel like swinging a kettle bell or anything else that was fitness related! This morning I noticed that I am (barely) back to my pre-vacation weight and ready to work on this fat that was there prior to the trip! Yay!

Job Seeking

This area, by far, has been sucking the life out of me! I'm fortunate that I have a roof over my head and I can pay my bills (well, save for those student loans that got deferred for the time being). So many people are in the same boat as me and so it is really hard! I am working with at least 5 different staffing agencies and signed up with too many job websites to count! It has been a much slower process than I anticipated and working with recruiters is absolutely painful because, well, the field is rife with idiots. What used to be an industry of relationship building has now turned into an impersonal, high-volume and computer based mess. I know that spending a HUGE amount of time to create a flawless resume where all the formatting is lost once it is submitted into a giant database is futile. Making usernames and passwords for every site I apply at is time wasting. Slowly, but surely, I am starting to understand "the game" and how to get around it.

I am still living simply and fugally. Not having a steady income can sure get you there, but it feels like having more time and not being constantly rushed is what got me mostly on track. I don't feel like I am as quick to react when it comes to buying stuff. There is also more time to make better food choices when I am not sitting at a desk, slammed with work and so brain dead that a Coke or M&M's seems like a quick fix. There are always positives and negatives no matter what your situation is!

A Little Update

Wow. It has been over three weeks since I last wrote on my blog! I would love to tell you all that I have brainstorming some wonderful ideas, but that just isn't the case. I have been busy helping other people. A friend of mine that I have known since middle school is going through some really tough health problems. In fact, her first trip to the hospital was right after my last post and she recently had another stay last week. They think she has multiple sclerosis or neuromyelitis optica. This last flare up she had has left her unable to walk without assistance or see clearly. It also permanently damaged her optical nerve, thus taking away some of her eyesight.

I always try to extract as many life lessons as I can out of everything. Being there for my friend has humbled me in so many ways. She is so mentally strong & positive (at least outwardly). We crack jokes about her potentially going blind and her beating me with her cane when I help too much. We make the best of it and I have not witnessed one ounce of bitterness from her. She has no family in this state and she will more than likely end up moving to be closer to her family so that they can take care of her for the long haul.

This whole experience has made me more grateful. I am not grateful for the things that you might be thinking of, like that I have my health. What I am grateful for is that I could be there for her throughout this part of her life, when she needed someone the most. Most 29 year olds don't have to tackle something this big and serious, but so far, we have made a great team!

*By the way, thanks for all the new comments from readers! I appreciated all of them.

Lessons From An Estate Sale

As many of you already know, I have been assisting some family members in a series of estate sales that consisted of stuff owned by my great uncle and his sister. This last weekend was estate sale number 3. It moved a lot of stuff, but not as much as we hoped. There is now as much stuff after the third sale than most people start out with in their first estate sale! Yes, it was stressful. Yes, it was a LOT of hard work. There is some wisdom that was gained though and now I am passing it along to you!

1. More than likely, your stuff isn't worth as much as you think.
Did any of catch that episode of Hoarders recently with Sir Patrick who collected art, antiques and dolls? He thought he would net at least $50k at an auction of his stuff. Turns out he received about $7k instead. I think there is a tendency to overvalue our possessions. It definitely stings when we know how much hard earned money we fork over for stuff and yet it is often worthless or close to worthless in a short amount of time.
If you are holding on to many possessions in hopes of them being valuable one day, is the cost of storing them in-line with the potential profit? For example, say you are holding on to a box of magazines and the only place you have to store them is in a garage. Variables such as weather and insects will probably destroy any potential profit over the years.
The remedy: Ask yourself with purchasing something if you are okay with the value rapidly declining. Only buy things when you can live with that outcome.

2. If you own a lot of things or are disorganized, it will inevitably cause stress for someone when you die.
The death of a loved one is hard! Factor in legal issues like guardianship, wills and probate, it quickly becomes overload! Some people take the easy way and just let their loved ones deal with the entire burden AFTER their death. I personally believe that is a cop out. What better of a gesture to your survivors than to have an organized plan of action? I happen to think that my great uncle would have done things differently if he would have known that we were STILL working on his estate close to two years after the fact.
The remedy: Don't put off envisioning your legacy. None of us know when we will die. We are in control of how we live though. Have the hard conversations even if they are uncomfortable. Make an action plan and start moving on it.

3. Don't let possessions tear up your family.
For so many people, the passing of a loved one can cause huge family rifts. Relatives can become preoccupied with their need of physical items in order to hold on to memories associated with them. It can be a part of the grieving process, yet there is damage caused to relationships with the living. Is being "in the right" worth it?
The remedy: I think those of us that take up a life of simplicity have quite an advantage in this area over others. Leading a life that doesn't revolve around the attachment of possessions is quite liberating. There have been times when I caught myself miffed about how another relative laid claim to a table or something similar without asking anyone else. I reminded myself that my relationship with the deceased took precedence over anything else. When you rise above, the rest doesn't really matter.

I hope you are inspired to take some action by envisioning your legacy. It is definitely on my project list now. I will blog about the steps I take to make the lives of the people I love a little easier should anything ever happen to me.

Time For Something New

I spent the past 31 days documenting the possessions that I was parting with. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes too, like finishing school and helping other people declutter their spaces. I can honestly say that a lot more than 31 things have left, but more importantly, I took the next step with this blog. Renouncement had been in and out of dormancy and had practically no readers (save for the one character who called me a "b00b" regarding my posting on the state of the economy... yeah, deleted). Now I have a handful of regulars and I am really grateful for that.

My true passion is for writing longer and better articles. In order to do that, my personal Thing a Day Challenge is officially over. Several great pieces are on the way, so stay tuned!

Here is list of the rest of the things I parted with:
-4 purses
-3 scarves
-2 belts
-3 tank tops
-box of party invitations
-3 very small stuffed animals
-dream catcher
-pair of gym shorts
-Halloween wig
-several keychains
-two small jewelry boxes, one jewelry pouch
-various types of jewelry
-several binders
-old eyeliner pencils
-candle plate
-pair of cropped pants
-2 old craft projects
-framed art piece
-leather business case
-notepads
-many pounds of paper after digitizing more of my personal documents

Not too shabby, eh?

Day 31 - Cord Organizers

These didn't exactly live up to my expectations for cord management. They were an inexpensive find at Ikea, but I didn't like how there was no way of stopping the cords from unraveling from it. A twistie tie would have actually worked better. Live and learn!

Making Connections

There is no lack of inspiration these days for striving to live a more minimal and simplistic existence. The internet has lots of websites, blogs and articles devoted to such topics. There are talk shows with dedicated topics on the issue as well as television shows dedicated to scare people straight from the tendency to hoard clutter! Occasionally though, inspiration can be found in seemingly strange places. One such place for me was reading a book entitled Beyond Backpacking: Ray Jardine's Guide to Lightweight Hiking.

This book dives deep into the subject of going to what some would call "extreme measures" to lighten up your pack weight when going backpacking. When Jardine first started writing about this subject, he was considered crazy! The tradition among backpackers was to carry huge packs that could easily weigh 60 pounds, not including food or water. "Sturdy" (think heavy) boots were touted as a necessity in the backpacking world. Outdoor equipment marketers mostly sold their wares by instilling fear that mother nature would rip you to shreds unless you bought their products. Ray Jardine made waves and enemies by renouncing traditional methods and ideas. Jardine and his wife got their base pack weight under 10 pounds each and then wrote about the methods in his books. This marked the beginning of a more widespread awareness and adoption of what is now known as "ultralight backpacking".

Obvious parallels between ultralight backpacking and what could be considered ultralight lifestyles (voluntary simplicity & minimalism) can be found with a bit of effort. To paraphrase Ray's philosophy, if I need it and I don't have it, I don't need it. I am guessing that many of you reading this are not backpackers, but most of us can resonate with that philosophy in some way within everyday life. I am not suggesting that everyone should run right out to get their hands on a copy of this book, but what I am suggesting is that we all keep an open mind. Having an open mind allows us to find interconnectedness among seemingly non-connected areas in life.

(The pic is one I took on a backpacking trip to the Guadalupe Mountains.)

Day 30 - Jewelry Crafts

I have invested so much money over the years in acquiring craft supplies! Jewelry making has been something I have been interested since I was a kid. I thought at one time that I would make a living out of it, but it is too hard to compete out there in the market. There is plenty of competition from others trying to do the same, as well as the super cheap mass produced stuff coming out of China. I have had this box for years of stuff that I had made, yet I had no clue where to sell it or how to set pricing for it. I let my cousin pick out what she wanted and then donated the rest. While I did enjoy making jewelry, I haven't picked up any of my tools in sometime to create more. The supplies may be next!

Day 29 - Concert T-shirt

I did actually go to this concert and even got a t-shirt. I must be very picky about my t-shirts though since this one feels bulky and a little snug in the neckline. Living in a hot and humid climate makes it hard to want to wear it! Fortunately I have some great digital memories from the concert to hold on to.

Sometimes you just get what you need...

I really do believe the world works in mysterious ways. I took a big bag of stuff to a charity the other day, but I didn't feel good about it like I normally do. The more I thought about it, the more it came to me why that was the case. You see, my process is like an onion or a series of concentric circles.
Getting past the first layers were easy, in fact, I do them everyday with junk mail. The next couple layers were increasingly more difficult. "I have the space to keep lots of items and it even looks aesthetically appealing." That is the old me. To dig deeper is so hard because I am shedding the mid layer of non-essentials, but these are items that weren't cheap! My inner cheapskate was now in a struggle with my inner minimalist (for lack of a better word). It was a bloody mental battle!!! I then realized that my bedroom is the staging area for the accumulation and processing of this stuff I had been sitting on the fence about. I missed my clear physical space and I missed my clear mental space. So I bagged up 99% of this "potentially valuable" stuff and donated it. I felt sick to my stomach.
In a wonderful stroke of serendipity though, Zen Habits had just the blog entry I was needing to read today. I feel better about the big purge already. What's funny is that I would give the same advice to someone else, anytime and anywhere! Sometimes we just need to hear it from someone different than ourselves when it is our own onion we are peeling.

Day 28 - Spiral Candles

These were purchased from a candle chain that was going out of business. I know I have come a long way over the years because I used to buy things just because they were cheap and cool looking, not because I had an actual need. Hanging out at the mall is no longer fun for me. The act of going to the mall makes me more anxious than anything these days. It reminds me of the deeply unfulfilled life that I once had. Shopping was the only bandage that seemed effective at the time. Things are different now and I am immensely grateful for that!

Day 27 - Postage Stamp Pins

I think I might have already mentioned that a stamp collection was started for me when I was a child. Well it didn't include only actual stamps! I had puzzles, necklaces, books and these stamp pins to go along with my stamps. I never wore these and would never in the future (maybe because of my hatred of the USPS). So bon voyage stamp pins, I hope someone loves you out there.

Day 26 - Over-The-Door Hooks

These were totally a "just in case" item. I prefer not to have anything hanging on the backs of my doors, although I do from time to time. By not having these, hopefully it won't bring anymore encouragement! I believe this was a principle I read about in Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston which is a really good book for those of you who haven't read it.

Day 25 - Photography Supplies

Ever take a class that changes your life? Photography was life changing for me! This wasn't the easy kind where one would snap a digital picture and Photoshop it to perfection! This class was very difficult because there was so much attention to detail (that is even one of my strengths). I learned how to cut and roll my own film in bulk. I painstakingly had to load it on to a spool to put in the developing canister and then go through the entire chemical process of developing it. After that comes using an enlarger to print your pictures... by hand! It is extremely tedious and time consuming, but perhaps something you can only truly appreciate if you have done it all the hard way. I feel incredibly grateful when I see photographic work now that is done in the traditional process because that person put in so much hard work in creating it.

With that said, I was very fortunate to attend a school that had a well stocked photography department. To recreate even a small lab would be quite an investment. I purchased the materials in the picture for class and this was some of what was leftover. I decided to donate it to the school that I went to. Hopefully these tools can help change someone else's life too.

Day 24 - Craft Supplies

My rollaway craft cabinet has seen quite a bit of decluttering lately! This collection included acrylic pants, blank cards, ribbon, foam stamps, lots of scrapbook paper and other odds & ends. I know an art teacher and so I gave these supplies to him so that the kids in his class could make good use out of it. It was great timing too since the school year is about to begin again. I held on to the two actual scrapbooks that are pictured since they wouldn't need them for art class. They are going to either be given away or sold. It was one heavy box by the time it was full! That is at least 20lbs. of stuff that is gone!

A New Habit

I wasn't forced to do much as a child. It was a mostly carefree existence when it came to chores. That was probably due to the fact that I liked to clean and organize stuff! One thing that seemed rather pointless to me was making my bed though. I even had a daybed which makes the process so much easier! It seemed like a waste of my time to fix something that I was going to turn around and unfix in a matter of hours! I recently changed that though. It could be that because I don't have a regular job and spend a lot more time at home that it started to bother me. One day I got tired of looking at the mess of pillows and sheets and decided to make it. Whenever I walked into the room, I noticed that I perceived it differently. Then I did it again the next day and so on for about three weeks now. If I haven't accomplished anything in a day, at least my bed looks good. Over time, I think it has actually made me more productive. A mess of a bed has an inviting appearance. It begs to be laid it for a quick break which can turn into a longer nap period. I also spray some lavender scent in between the sheet so that when I turn them down for the night there is an instant relaxation boost.

Who knew that making my bed could actually be GOOD for me!

Day 23 - Even MORE Books!

I have been diligently culling through my books as of lately. There were a couple that seemed pointless to have after I finished school and there were others that I found for free in an eBook format online. I sold at least 8 and one set at the used bookstore yesterday for $9. It doesn't seem like much but I really wasn't expecting that they would even be worth that much! I also lucked out and sold my last textbook online very quickly! I am now down to 75 books as keepers. Not bad at all!

In This Moment...

A few years ago, it was a really rough time for my family. We lost my mother, great uncle and great aunt (brother & sister). There was also a dearly beloved family pet that had to be put to sleep. While the deaths were all very sad, nothing compares to the ongoing stress of dealing with the possessions that are inevitably left behind. My sister is dealing with our mother's estate. The process is much more in-depth and emotional for her since she was there and completely involved at the time. I live in another state and I was involved with the great aunt & uncle. They were older and so sickness that is fatal isn't as shocking. They were raised during the Great Depression... I am sure I don't need to elaborate much more about their living styles after stating that.

I have volunteered to help the family clear out the estate. There have been TWO estate sales and we are planning more. There was a packed garage, two sheds in the back and oh yeah, ANOTHER HOUSE! I must say that this is completely overwhelming. I really only got fully invested in this project after the first estate sale happened and yet there was still so much leftover. There are piles of books, multiple sets of dishes, several VCRs and so much more! It is several lifetimes worth of stuff. Right now I am sitting in the dining room that has 3 tables in it covered in glassware and knick knacks.

Maybe this is part of the reason why I keep striving, no matter what, to make my life more simplified. I don't want to ever leave this kind of legacy for my loved ones. I would rather people focus on the good memories rather than the turmoil of dividing and disposing of possessions. Time to get back to work...

Day 22 - Bluetooth Headset

Laws are popping up everywhere for safe driving with a cell phone and rightly so. This was purchased for my last phone which was great because they used the same charger! Now I have an iPhone and it came with the corded handsfree earphones. I am satisfied with that option since the earphones/handsfree speaker are multi-tasking. I always carry a pair of earphones in my purse and don't have to worry about my handsfree device dying or the need to have an additional charger with me... very simple and easy!

Day 21 - Wallet Sized Tip Chart

My high school business teacher gave everyone in the class one of these little cards. I think it was supposed to help us save face at business lunches or something so we wouldn't under tip. It bothers me more to think if I am paying for a meal that someone is watching me fill out that section of the receipt! I usually calculate tips in my head which doesn't seem very hard and I am extremely math averse! If I were still struggling, I would use the calculator on my cell phone.

Day 20 - Travel Spirograph

I had a Spirograph at my grandparents house that I used to spend hours and hours playing with. This definitely reminded me of those memories and I am sure that is what inspired me to buy a travel version. I haven't used it in years though. It seems like it would be a fun thing to keep in a desk drawer at an office, but I think I will just let this one go.