A friend once told me of a plan to reduce the build up around their house by picking a month each year and making a rule that any time he/she left the house that month they had to take something that required two hands to carry out of the house with them. I can’t recall whose idea this was or I’d give them credit for it. I also recall when Cory was moving from LA to London he had a policy not to take any new physical items into his possession and just about anyone who visited he and Alice walked out with something they’d given them. Of course his plan was he didn’t want to move anything extra across the world, but it was interesting none the less.

I’m still trying to reduce things myself an the other day while selling back a box of DVD’s to Amoeba came up with this idea. For June I’m going to practice a morphed combo of the two practices above. Of course I can’t be as cut and dry but my plan is as follows: For the entire month I’m not going to acquire any new physical objects with a few noted exceptions. Anything I’ve bought previously but hasn’t yet been delivered (amazon preordered books for example) don’t count because they are out of my control. Additionally, consolidation is a step in the right direction even if it required new things to replace the old – however the new thing must take up less space than the old, and can only be bought with funds obtained by selling the old stuff. For example if I had 5 jackets and sold them each for $50, and replaced them with a new jacket that cost $100 this would be OK as the end result would be 4 less jackets than I previously had, as well as extra cash from the reduction.

Admittedly this is going to be hard, but I’m committed to it and really want to put a dent in my stuff by the end of the month and for some accountability I’m going to post the results here as I go. Starting with the thing that sparked the idea.

SOLD: 25 DVDs