Simplifying My Belongings
COVID-19 has brought a lot of unexpected changes to our lives, but one major area I am trying to take advantage of is the ability to slow down and enjoy the smaller things. As I’m getting older, my priorities and interests are shifting. I told my husband how much I wish I could live a minimal lifestyle, to which he responded with laughing because I am far from it. As much as I would love to be more minimal, I admit that I enjoy materialistic things and understand that I will always have things. I also tend to be quite sentimentally attached to items and cannot easily let things go.
A big part of it is that because I’m sentimentally attached to my products I can’t just toss it in the garbage. I’d rather prefer to donate items or sell it second-hand to give it another purpose and life.
In general over the past 5 years, I have truly shifted how I buy things - particularly clothes and fashion. While I’ve always been in the camp of investing with handbags, I’ve been slowly working on investing in long-term pieces with my clothes and shoes. I’ve had a hard time of getting rid of clothes for multiple reasons. I’m always thinking something will come back in style and I’ll want to wear it. I’ll admit that this has rarely happened in recent years and more often than not, I’d probably want to buy a newer version anyways. I actually feel so much better and lighter when I swap something out in my collection to make room for something new.
T and I moved to a new apartment in August and while it is still a 2 bedroom apartment, it has significantly less storage space than our last place. With that has come the obvious need to simplify my belongings. Along with COVID, I really don’t have a use for a lot of things so it makes it easier to let things go. I’m also about to turn 30 in a few months so do I really still need those “clubbing” dresses from my early 20s when I went to Vegas? It’s gonna be hard pass for me lol.
Aside from that, while I have been working on rotating in better quality pieces in the last few years, I don’t necessarily fit a lot of pieces that I bought in my early 20s. While my weight has mostly stayed the same, proportions just aren’t there lol. A lot more weight has moved down into my hips and thighs (not really complaining) but a lot of skirts and dresses are shorter than they used to be. I’m not as confident in lower cut tops these days so I also am working on passing those along.
My mindset is that after COVID ends, going out again is going to give major “back to school” vibes. Just like when we were growing up, the summer was a time to grow where you may not have seen all your friends or a lot of other schoolmates. That was your time to pick up a whole new wardrobe and switch things up. That’s how I plan on picking things up post-COVID.
The saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure is very accurate. I’ve been selling online since I was in high school through Craigslist. In college I moved on to Poshmark where I’ve been selling for over eight years. I recently started using Mercari and am kicking myself a little bit for not creating an account there earlier. I’d say that Mercari moves much faster than Poshmark and you can sell so much on there. I’ve cleared out so much recently and it makes me feel so much lighter and free-er. Since COVID started, I’ve sold items and profited ~$300 from Poshmark and ~$550 from Mercari, which is crazy to think about. It also frees up some “budget” to pick up some newer pieces to be loved and enjoyed.
If you’re looking to let go of some of your things, the places I recommend to sell things online are:
Poshmark / use code CHIY and you’ll get $10 (i’ll get $10 after you make your first purchase)
Mercari | Save $10 off your first order & Earn $20 when you sell your first $100
Depop
If you’re not looking to sell but just donate, a lot of your local donation centers may still be backed up from all the cleaning everyone’s been doing while home. I recently came across Give Back Box which lets you reuse boxes from their partners (or any box) to ship back your donations, free. While I do try to sell a lot of items, I have learned to put more of a time limit on certain products. If it takes too long to sell or isn’t really getting much engagement, it goes in the donation box. As soon as a box is full, we’ll drop it off at UPS/USPS/FedEx (wherever our label tells us to go) while we’re out running errands. It has helped so much and we’re slowly working through all our belongings (lol but really it’s just mine cause I’m a pack-rat and T is actually a minimalist).
Let me know if you’re working on simplifying your belongings or if you’re just making room in your closet and Tetris-fitting all your items in?