Forced to be a minimalist
I don’t like clutter in general (I only have mental clutter, but that’s kind of the kink of this blog) but I do have a lot of stuff. However, since my husband and I are moving half way across the globe, I am forced to be a minimalist.
Some background
At the start of May, I got married to my husband. Since we are saving up money to immigrate, we decided that it would be best for us to live with his parents, and not spend a bunch of money on an apartment. There is a lot more space here than at my parent’s house, not to mention fast internet.
The day after the wedding we just quickly went to my parents’ house and picked up the essentials. I was super busy at the time with teaching practice and work, so I couldn’t be bothered to pack more.
Now that things have calmed down a bit, I’m making it a point to pack up a little of my stuff every day. Boy oh boy, do I have a lot of stuff.
The experience thus far
I didn’t realise how much stuff I had until I was forced to decide what would go with us and what wouldn’t. I have given away three garbage bags full of old clothing – that is insane. So far, I have also thrown away two and a half garbage bags worth of nonsense. So again, I’m not a minimalist as such.
On the one hand, it’s quite liberating getting rid of old things that I don’t need. Also, the people who received the old clothing seemed to be quite happy about it, so that’s also nice.
However, I’m still in that mentality of “what if I need this?” Then I just need to take a deep breath and realise that shit is going to happen whether I like it or not, and taking along a bunch of stuff will not prevent that.
Containers
We’re still deciding whether we’re going to take a container. It’s super expensive, but I feel like it’s worth it.
There are many things that are heirlooms that I don’t want to just leave here. But the downside is that it will take three months to get to us in Australia.
If we don’t take a container, then I have to pack up my life in two suitcases, and to be honest, it’s really freaking me out just to think about it. I don’t know what anything costs in Australia, and even if I did, I don’t know if it is considered expensive or not.
So, the point is, I am planning on packing up all my things this coming week because after that we’re going away (well, it’s not really a holiday) and then it’s work and teaching practice again. Basically, after next week I might not have time to do it again.
Wish me luck.
Lastly
Have you ever been forced to get rid of a lot of your stuff? What was the situation?
Michelle
P.S. If you’d like to contact me, feel free to comment below, send an email to thatmichelleperson@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @M_ClutterBox.
Helen
Yeah, it’s hard to get rid of stuff. I am often faced with that mentality of ” what if I need it?” I think the trick is to just look at it objectively. If you haven’t used it in the past three or six months or so, then odds are you probably won’t need it. That is what I had to do recently when I decluttered my closet recently. It was hard because I kept asking myself that same question… but I haven’t worn xyz in sooo long and realistically don’t see myself wearing it again.
That Michelle Person
It so hard to get rid of stuff, especially when I don’t know what I will need in Australia and how much it will cost. But clearing up clutter is better than holding on to things you don’t use 🙂