I’ve read about the 100 Thing Challenge before, and found the idea intriguing. Recently I’ve been thinking about it again, this time with more interest in giving it a try. Unlike Dave, the originator of the idea, I am not interested in selling all but 100 of my personal possessions. However, I think that I could happily live for an extended period of time while limiting myself to 100 personal items. So, as an extension of the Minimalist Experiment, I’m going to pack away almost everything that I own and give it a try for one month.
The Basic Concept
The Goal: Live for with only 100 personal things for the entire month of October, 2010.
The Rules
- “Personal Things” means things that are entirely or mostly mine. Shared objects (like the bed) are not personal and thus won’t be counted.
- A few things are counted in groups. For example: the power cord, mouse and earbuds always go with the computer, so together they are a system: one item. In the original rules, like items could be clumped together: underwear, 1 item; socks, 1 item. I may do that, once I determine how many items I will be using.
- I won’t be throwing things away, or getting rid of them. I will simply be storing them away for the month’s experiment. After the experiment, I may decide to get rid of some of them, or not.
I’ve got a couple of weeks to prepare for this experiment. I’ve been thinking about what I use on a daily basis and made a tentative list of the 100 things I’ll need to keep out. Over the next few days I’ll pay more attention to what I use day to day so that I can tweak my list before the month starts.
My 100 Things
-
Clothes
- jeans
- jeans
- jeans
- khakis
- gym shorts
- swim trunks
- shorts
- track pants
- pj pants, silk
- pj pants, cotton
- pj pants, fleece
- running shoes
- sanuks
- dress shoes, brown sketchers
- dress shoes, brown other
- belt, leather
- belt, leather, 2-sided
- belt, fabric
- tie
- watch
- bandanna
- handkerchief, white
- handkerchief, blue
- suit
- underwear, group counted as 1 item
- socks, group counted as 1 item
- dress shirt
- dress shirt
- dress shirt
- dress shirt
- button shirt
- button shirt
- button shirt
- polo shirt
- polo shirt
- polo shirt
- t-shirt
- t-shirt
- t-shirt
- t-shirt
- running shirt, black
- running shirt, gray
- rain jacket
- sweater
- sweater
- hoodie
- glasses, prescription
- wedding ring
- desk chair
- pillow
- pillow case
- wallet
- pocket knife
- chapstick
- keys
- sticky-note pad
- cell phone (incl: charger)
- razor (incl: brush, soap, stand)
- washcloth
- towel
- deodorant
- toothbrush
- electric clippers
- backpack
- laptop (incl: mouse, power cord, headphones)
- camera (incl: case, charger, mini-tripod)
- Moleskine planner
- fountain pen (incl: bottle of ink, needle for refill)
- 3-ring binder
- misc. writing instruments
- books, 2
- sketchbooks, 2
- cardboard tube – for transporting work from home to school on motorcycle
- art supplies, drawing
- art supplies, painting
- motorcycle
- helmet
- boots, slip-on
- boots, lace-up
- doo rag, skulls
- doo rag, American flag
- jacket, leather flight
- jacket, textile motorcycle
- gloves, leather
- bowl
- plate
- mug
- glass
- fork
- spoon
- knife
- stainless steel water bottle
- books in library
- tools
- camping gear
Daily Use
Hygiene
Work
School
Transportation
Eat
Other
As you can see, I still have some extra items that I could hold on to. I’m leaving the slots open so that I can easily see where I am at.
I went ahead and included the dishes that I use on a regular basis. Since I’m thinking about limiting myself to only a single set, I will have to wash them after eating every meal. I may quickly tire of having to do dishes after every meal, but I think it will also add an interesting twist to the experiment. They may not make it to the final list, replaced as I pack away the rest of my items and discover that I have overlooked a few things that I will need.
We’ll see how it goes. It is, after all, only the preliminary stages of an experiment.
I think those items on items 27-40 are more than what you need in a weekly cycle. You can have 5 work shirts and 2 white shirts (probably as undershirts) to cover a work week.
Let’s see the results of this. This sounds very exciting. I hope to see pictures along the way.
Good luck!
I certainly agree that I don’t need all of those shirts on a weekly basis. However, as a college student, not a full-time worker, I don’t have a 5-day work week rotation.
The tshirts are for casual wear and to school. The button shirts are for school. The polos and dress shirts are for work and church.
This is something that I find frustrating about my chosen degree program: as an art student, I am frequently getting my clothes dirty while in class. So I frequently wear two sets of clothes a day, which doubles the amount of clothes that I need/wear a week. (I could get by with less, but then I’d have to do laundry more often. A few extra items is worth the trade-off to me.
I will certainly be posting some pictures, once I get underway.
My husband is the same way about more than one set of clothes. Each job requires a different “uniform.”
You’ll find that doing the dishes after each meal keeps the kitchen much cleaner, and if you and your wife moved into an RV that would be a good habit to be in anyway. There isn’t much room for dirty dishes.
Are toothpaste/mouthwash, shampoo, and soap grouped with any of those hygiene items? Or that’s probably stuff that you share with your wife.
It would be interesting to hear some of what you pack away, especially any second thoughts as you seal the boxes.
The dishes are taken care of after each meal. The pots/pans are washed, dried, and put away. The plates/silverware are rinsed and put in the dishwasher. However, it would be a good habit to get back into before moving into an RV. (Since our first two apartments didn’t have dishwashers, it’s certainly enjoyable to have one now, though.)
Toothpaste, shampoo, and soap are shared items, so I’m not listing those.
I’ll be at least photographing everything that I pack away, if not making lists. I’ll have to see how long that would take to write down before I commit to listing everything.
Love the challenge man, got me thinking about doing something similar too. I want to see if I will take action on this. I guess we’ll see.
Do it! It’s well worth testing out. I’m surprised at what I’ve found out through this process.