simplifying your life
 

Over the past few years I've pondered ways to "simplify." I certainly had to do so when I moved out of the house for the divorce, and have done fairly well at keeping things fairly simple since then. But when I look at my bills and the boxes of crap that I still have yet to unpack, I figure that there still is a ways to go.

So what have you "gone without" that you no longer miss, and what things have left a hole? For instance I'm about ready to ditch the home phone (verizon charges me for LOCAL calls...bastards) and just keep DSL. Pondering getting rid of DirecTV and just watching DVDs. I recently upgraded my video/audio so that is staying as it is a passion and a work-related thing.

The garage will get a cleaning (a few Porsche parts that need to go and some other bits), keeping the motorcycle, road bicycle and mtn bike. Boxes of old electronic gadgets long since forgotten will be given away and old floppy disks and cds will be destroyed (like I'm ever going to go through them).

I did order another camera today, but it has a specific purpose, and I've pared down to a dslr with 4 lenses and now 2 different point and shoots. I also have the SD video camera. Have my basic music setup covered (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, fretted and fretless basses, guitar and bass amp).

Could use more kitchen stuff but have the basics. Also have basic furniture...could have more but everything works. The art on the walls is now mostly my photographs so that is covered.

Now I have about 15 boxes from my old office at work to go through. Going to be giving away a lot of books I never read and throwing out old files and papers that I'll never look at.

If I haven't needed something put away in a box for the last three years, odds are I never will. I'm tired of having "stuff' sitting around. TIme for it to go to the cornfields...

I so desperately want to be rid of my Blackberry/Cellphone stupid thing makes me crazy, my life would be simple without it.

I still have a good 15 boxes left full of stuff from my move. Anyone of them I'd look at and say I can't live without that stuff. But it's been packed up for a few mos. now and maybe once a week I have to root around in one of them for something I need. I won't throw out the porn, but I could lose a lot of this junk and not miss it.

Before making any purchase, I ask myself : "Will this make my car go faster?" If no, then I don't need it. ;)

I tried explaining to the wife that new wood floors do not make the car go faster, but you can imagine how that turned out. Simplifying is easier when you're single, I think.

Best thing I have RE simplifying was to throw my Blackberry in a drawer. It's been in there 6 mos. and I don't miss it one bit.

We bought a top floor condo in the city that has a private rooftop terrace and one underground parking space. We gave up suburbia, 1.5 hr. daily commutes each way to/from the city, yard work, 3000 sq. ft. of unneeded living space, lots of miscellaneous crap around the house, one of our cars, and the land line telephone (no junk calls!!). None of this mattered. What has been a shortcoming of simplifying our lives is that I no longer have a personal garage to work on cars and other projects. The 911 lives in an enclosed storage garage space near one of the Metro rail stops, where I can do some light maintenence work. I also miss my compressor and air tools. Oh well.

Overall, this has been a great change for us.

When our 2000 sq. ft. house flooded April 16 we were moved into a 1000 ft. furnished condo courtesey of State Farm. 95% of our stuff is still at the house... we've done fine with the 5% we have for over a month... really makes you think.

The Audi tt, the house on the gulf coast...these are the things I miss the most...