One of the first things I did after becoming a minimalist is to pare down my stuff.
It’s the easiest to deal with first than, say, your
schedule, your office workspace, your inbox, or your home.
By the first year of my minimalist journey, I’ve
pared down my possessions to less than a hundred things. After nine months, it
was down to 60. And as of today, I only have 56 personal stuff.
Okay, yes I do agree, minimalism is not about who
owns the least amount of stuff, this is not competition. I’m not saying that
I’m better than you, or that you should copy what I did, or I’m more
enlightened and all that crap.
It’s just that these 56 things are my essentials,
and I’m perfectly happy with just them in my ownership. And one day, who knows,
they may be up again at 60 or 70, or I may even have even less. In fact, if not
for my day job, it will be much less.
The important question to consider when paring down is
“What are my essentials?” Then you can start from there.
For the record, as of January 8, 2013, here’s my
inventory:
My Personal Inventory
1.
Dell Latitude w/ mouse + charger
2.
WD 1 TB external hard drive
3.
Nokia cell phone + charger
4.
Pocket Bible NIV
5.
Notebook + pen
6.
Personal kit (IDs, keys, wedding ring)
7.
Hygiene kit (toothbrush, comb, deodorant)
8.
Black leather belt
9.
Wallet (driver's license, economic cards)
10.
Water bottle
11.
Watch
12.
2 x flip flops, brown and black
13.
Hush Puppies black leather shoes
14.
Adidas Furamo white running shoes
15.
Jordan CP3 basketball shoes
16.
Nike Lunar Hypergamer low basketball shoes
17.
Nike Kobe Zoom VII low basketball shoes
18.
Ryder black sandals
19.
Black slacks
20.
Black slacks
21.
Cream slacks
22.
Blue jeans
23.
Black jeans
24.
Dark gray casual shorts
25.
Khaki green casual shorts
26.
Black workout shorts
27.
Basketball shorts
28.
2 x Bedtime shorts
29.
Black corporate jacket
30.
Black rain jacket
31.
2 x Barong Tagalog (office uniform)
32.
2 x Shirt jack (office uniform)
33.
TEAM white polo shirt (office uniform)
34.
Aboitiz gray polo shirt (office uniform)
35.
4 x Plain white shirt
36.
Basketball jersey gold
37.
Basketball jersey white
38.
2 x Plain white undershirt
39.
Black button down polo
40.
Gray polo shirt
41.
Brown polo shirt
42.
Black polo shirt
43.
Plain black tshirt
44.
Plain black vneck tshirt
45.
Plain dark blue vneck tshirt
46.
Plain brown vneck tshirt
47.
Christian Dad gold tshirt
48.
Jah Warriors white tshirt
49.
Jah Warriors black tshirt
50.
Iron Man red tshirt
51.
7 x Bedtime shirts
52.
10 x underwear
53.
2 x supporters
54.
11 x socks
55.
11 x handkerchiefs/hand towels
56.
3 x bath towels
I let go of my Adidas backpack because it’s now used as a baby bag for
my 9-month old son, Rafa. I’ve also given away most of my sports jerseys and
shorts, and gotten rid of old clothes for new ones.
There are actually several things added in my inventory because of
Christmas gifts I’ve received. It’s alright because I do believe that it’s okay for a minimalist to have more of his favorite stuff.
More on that in my next post.