Getting Rid of 2012 Things: Update

Because of my impending baby's arrival, I have been trying to accelerate my 2012 things process and get the whole project done before this baby graces us with its presence (or at least be so close that it's really easy to hit 2012 by the end of the year). Currently, I stand at 1797 things out of my house this year. Just last week I gave away almost 200 things to a local charity, which gave me a nice big satisfying jump in numbers.

Recently out of the house:

• Several coffee mugs. I had too many, I only drink out of, oh, 3 on a regular basis (and never coffee!), I had too many to fit into my cupboard and some I really didn't like. Life's too short to keep coffee mugs you never use or that annoy you. So I got rid of some of my uglier ones. Now everything fits better in my cupboard, too. Bonus!
• Scrap paper. We are approaching the bottom of one pile of scrap paper and this is a zone where I once was less picky about what I kept. Now that I have cleared out my PhD literature review, I have tonnes of scrap paper, so the yuckier stuff is going.
• Gift bags - about 25. I had a lot of gift bags. I still have a lot of gift bags. But at least they all fit better in my gift bag box. I could easily go through the bags again and get rid of more, but I was trying to ease myself into it.
• Old toys. Kid 1 went through her extensive stuffed animal collection and chose to get rid of many of them. We still have lots, but they fit better into their storage container now, and I was really proud of the number she did choose to get rid of. I also sifted through the bottom of their toy baskets and got rid of some junky toys.
• Sheet music. I have mentioned before that I moved into my great aunts' house. There is still stuff of theirs lying around. When we were in the basement one day I picked up a box of their old choir music and got rid of the whole shebang. I kept the page protectors and got rid of all the paper and the binders. One less box sitting in the basement, yay!

Other things that have left the house this year:

• 111 pieces of tissue paper. I am not kidding. I tried and tried to overstuff gifts from our house with tissue paper, but to no avail. So 111 pieces of the stuff went to the children's museum as art supplies. I also donated two boxes of packing peanuts, a bunch of CDs/DVDs and a few puzzles to the museum.
• Books. I am at the point in my life where I don't see the point of keeping books I'm never going to read again. Why should I waste storage space on them? Out they go! This included a pile of paperbacks and a bunch of The Husband's old textbooks. As he pointed out, the accounting rules have changed since he was in school anyway. And the information in his Management Information Systems textbook was laughably out of date. I got rid of a few of my old textbooks but I feel justified in keeping most of them because if I ever become a professor or serious consultant I will need a whole shelf of textbooks that make me look smart. Let me note that destroying textbooks is very therapeutic, even if they aren't yours.
• Old technology. We finally got rid of the two computers in our office that we never used. Oh, so much more space on and under our desks! Also out are a bunch of computer/other cables, and an old TV. I have no idea why we still have one or two VCRs in our basement.
• Personal products and cosmetics. I do not know why I feel compelled to take shampoos and conditioners provided by hotels, but I do. Then I end up with piles of little bottles - which are really annoying, by the way! We used them all up. Even better, I resisted the urge to take the majority of the shampoo and conditioner that crossed my path on our most recent vacation. See? This 2000 things is a form of therapy, I'm growing as a person! I also went through our medicine cabinet and storage area and got rid of or used up a bunch of products that were just sitting around.
• PhD-related reading. As part of my post-PhD recovery process, I went through all of the literature I had organized into files. I kept the most relevant articles, my computer code, and other important documents. I sorted through the literature review articles, and I got rid of all the stapled and/or two-side printed papers. The rest I kept for scrap paper. In one pile, it is a tower a foot high (yup, 12 inches - seriously, I took pictures)! I realize that is crazy, we probably don't need a pile that tall, but it's really good paper and I want to see how much we go through over a couple of months before I commit to getting rid of some of it. I also realize how crazy my literature review was. No wonder it took me so long to finish my PhD!

I'm pretty proud of my progress. I cannot tell you how motivating it is to see those tick marks. It seems stupid to keep track, I know, but setting a goal like 2012 things and then seeing the tick marks add up contributes to my sense of accomplishment and motivates me to keep going. Because honestly, it doesn't look like there is any less stuff in my house. At least this way I know that I have achieved something, even though there is a lot more to be done.

The Year I Don't Buy Anything

It's time to face facts. I have a lot of crap. I have junk. I have stuff in my house left over from the 40s - AND I WASN'T ALIVE IN THE 40s. My MOTHER was barely alive in the 40s. But yet I have 40s memorabilia. This is what happens when you move into your great aunt's house, you know. But that's not all. I have kid clothes up the ying-yang, from size newborn to size 8. I don't even need the size 8 stuff yet (my oldest kid is in mostly size 5 right now) but I find things cheap and I buy them. But it's getting ridiculous. No one needs this much crap. I quit buying my kid size 6 stuff because I knew I had quite a bit so I moved up to size 8. Seriously. Seriously???

Hence, I bring you my new mission: the year I don't buy anything. Now, I'm not going to go all anti-consumerism and all that jazz, a la that lady whose book I read a few years ago (actually quite an interesting read: Not Buying It by Judith Levine). Nor is this a statement about saving money, because while I probably will, I'm one of those annoying people who pays her credit card off in full every month. That's right. Every. Single. Month. (Yes, I'm bragging about that a little.) My spending is in control. I can afford the face wash I buy so I'm going to keep buying it. What's ridiculous is the amount of STUFF I've got. So I'm not buying anything that isn't consumable. NO. MORE. STUFF. I am not buying any more kid clothes until someone actually needs an article of clothing. I will not shop at thrift stores, because they just make me want to buy more (it's so cheap!) and I'm avoiding sales. I will continue to read books from the library. I will keep buying caramel macchiatos from Starbucks because I like the sugar. I will go on vacation this year and spend a bucketload of change on said vacation. But I will not buy any stuff.

This goes in tandem with my other mission, which is ridding my house of 2012 things for 2012. I made an admirable dent towards 2011 things for 2011 but got sidetracked at the end of the year by my stupid thesis (which is done, yay!). So yes, my office is still a disaster - no, you may not see it, close the door please! But work will continue. And you know what is really funny? My cousin started throwing away stuff, too. And she started blogging about it. She what happens when you start with a crazy goal? Other people go crazy too! I'm contagious!

 I will keep you posted.

PS: I wrote this post a while ago but only just got around to publishing it. Small update: I have done really well following this don't buy anything thing. One thing has tripped me up: I find it easy to justify buying ANYTHING in preparation for vacation. Also, I didn't know I was pregnant when I wrote this (so yeah, I wrote this more than 4 months ago) and since getting knocked up and finishing my thesis, my taste for caramel macch's has gone to nil. I substitute with Chai Lattes occasionally (they seem to soothe my very angry pregnant digestive system) but my visits to Starbucks are fewer and farther between.

PPS: Really, I would LOVE to try out what Judith Levine did. I'm not sure I have the intestinal fortitude, mind you. And I have yet to reconcile how to deal with children's birthday parties, both my kids and others, and the mission. Yes, those are excuses. But I don't want to start something with obvious loopholes in it. So I'm starting with not buying crap, since really, that's my point.

PPSS: Also in the gap between writing and publishing this post, my older daughter has grown! Suddenly some of her pants fit more like clamdiggers, and her tummy is poking out of some shirts. But I haven't bought her any clothes! Because she sooooo still doesn't need any.

PPPSS: When we go on vacation, we are going to buy lots of souvenirs. I know this. I will have to find a balance between letting my kids have some mementoes from their trip while not going overboard.

PPPSSS: Back the birthday party thing. I don't find it all that hard not to buy my own kids birthday presents. Really, they get enough stuff from others. Another temptation is to host a No Gifts party. I would love that. Teaching children that birthdays are all about presents is not the message I want to send to my children. But how do you show up at someone else's house without a present? I guess you could set parameters about paying for experiences instead of STUFF. That's a pretty fine line to walk, though. I'm not sure how to reconcile this. And I do realize that some people cannot afford to buy presents and that they struggle with this life on a daily basis. I acknowledge that my "problems" are rooted in being fortunate enough to have enough money that I can worry about other things.

PPPPSSS: OK, I'm done now.

Things to do when I finish my thesis

I've been working furiously on my dissertation for the past few weeks. I am sick of the library. To get myself through the last few weeks, I've been daydreaming about things I could do once I finish this thing. Here's the list in no particular order, and probably not all of these things will happen (see: Procrastination Queen lifestyle):

1. Make a Dr. Pepper slush in my ice cream maker.
2. Make ice cream in my ice cream maker.
3. Fly to Australia (a certain person just did this and I'm jealous!).
4. Have a baby. Seems a bit drastic, though. Kind of an out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire sort of reaction.
5. Read fiction besides Harry Potter. I cannot read fiction when I am studying. My whole system is based on working for 45 minutes and reading for 15. Rinse, repeat, all day. If I'm reading something interesting, the system falls apart because I can't stop reading. Must turn page!!! This is why I'm on my third reading of the HP series in the past year. (At least I think it's been three read-throughs. Could be four.) I know what happens so I don't have to rush ahead and read the next chapter. At the same time I do enjoy Harry. However, I'm looking forward to reading something else just for fun. No equations allowed!
6. Watch the entire set of Harry Potter movies in a row. (Hey, I said I was a bit tired of reading the series, watching it is a whole other story! And yes, I'm weird, I know.)
7. Cross-stitch. I'd been cross-stitching late at night for a while but my eyes have been very tired lately.

I'm looking forward to the Dr. Pepper slush adventure, personally. I've got the ice cream maker freezer part sitting in a bag on the deck, waiting.