On living a clutter-free lifestyle

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I just read the Brazen Careerist post today entitled “5 steps to taming materialism, from an accidental expert.” If you haven’t read it yet, take 5 minutes and go read it now.

I love this post. In it, Penelope echoes many of my own feelings on owning possessions and clutter. Those of you who know me well know that I enjoy a tasteful setup, but am very sparse on “stuff.” I conduct frequent purges and give away/throw away stuff I’m not using. I pick up after myself several times throughout the day, too. Maybe it’s a reaction to a little bit much clutter in my room and in my parents’ house growing up. I dunno, but I like living “clutter free.”

Here are a couple quotes from her post that stuck out to me in particular:

When I was making a lot of money, I had great work clothes and a BMW (hey, I lived in LA), but that was about it, in terms of splurging. I kept an inexpensive apartment, and people used to tell me I was nuts to live there when I had so much money. They told me I was uncomfortable with success, and I worried they were right, but I stayed there. In hindsight, I realize it felt safe to live somewhere I could afford if my company went bankrupt. Which it did.

I’m still dreaming about that beamer. But I do selectively buy nice things (nice clothes are one thing I enjoy in particular), and I never buy on credit. In June, I bought a new MacBook Pro and some accessories with cash by putting money away for several months beforehand. For dress shirts, I hit up Banana Republic or Jos. A. Bank on clearance sales, and have even had great success finding dressy-casual like-new shirts and jeans at Plato’s Closet. I’m just a teeny bit proud that I have a slowly growing high-end business/casual wardrobe at a fraction of retail price.

When I moved from Los Angeles to New York City my husband and I rented a 500-square-foot apartment. We told ourselves we’d only be there for a year, until we got more settled in the city. So we put all our books in storage, most of our furniture, clothes that were not in season and everything we wouldn’t be using in the next three or four months.

I have a garage at my apartment. The only reason I go in there is to get my bike. Among the things I keep there are boxes for computer equipment, an unfinished bookshelf, and some winter clothes including scarves and sweaters.

The bad thing about stuff is you have to move it. When I went away for my freshman year of college, my parents towed their box trailer behind the car, full of stuff. 80% of that stuff stayed packed underneath my jacked-up bed frame and was never used. I moved home to commute locally after my freshman year, and a lot of that stuff stayed in storage at my grandparents’ house in New Hampshire until I could bring it back. That experience alone taught me the value of living, and moving lightly. Now, as I prep to move apartments this weekend, I’m happy that I live the low-clutter life that I do.

People think that what’s holding them back from taking risk is some big financial idea of stability and well being, but it’s really fear of losing your comfortable material life, whatever that is.

Now that’s something to ponder. I’ll add to that: You don’t take it with you when you die.