braintreebrat: blog 
braintreebrat's blog
the 100 thing challenge
Published Jun. 14, 2008
I love the ads on TV for storage buildings and garages: One of their main sellng points is that buyers get extra space to store things. Then, I noticed that each newly developed residential area in the state seems to have its own mini-storage area. And now, every life-style page I see has a decorator's page dedicated to 'eliminating clutter.' Is it just me, or do Americans have too much stuff?
Surprise! It's not just me!
Tme Magazine (excerpt)
"Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we're no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe free; we're huddled masses yearning to free up space on a countertop. Which is why people are so intrigued by the 100 Thing Challenge, a grass-roots movement in which otherwise seemingly normal folks are pledging to whittle down their possessions to a mere 100 items
."'Stuff starts to overwhelm you," says Dave Bruno, 37, an online entrepreneur who looked around his San Diego home one day last summer and realized how much his family's belongings were weighing him down. Thus began what he calls the 100 Thing Challenge. (Apparently, Bruno is so averse to excess he can't refer to 100 things in the plural.) In a country where clutter has given rise not only to professional organizers but also to professional organizers with their own reality series (TLC's Clean Sweep), Bruno's online musings about his slow and steady purge have developed something of a cult following online, inspiring others to launch their own countdown to clutter-free living.
"Bruno keeps a running tally on his blog, guynameddave.com of what he has decided to hold on to and what he is preparing to sell or donate. For instance, as of early June, he was down to five dress shirts and one necktie but uncertain about parting with one of his three pairs of jeans. "Are two pairs of jeans enough?!," he asked in a recent posting.
"That's not the only dilemma faced by this new wave of goal-oriented minimalists. One of the trickier questions is what counts as an item. Bruno considers a pair of shoes to be a single entity, which seems sensible but still pretty hard-core when you're trying to jettison all but 100 personal possessions. Cait Simmons, 27, a waitress in Chicago, takes a different approach. Although she has pared down her footwear collection from 35 to 20 pairs, she says, "All my shoes count as one item."
read the entire article at TIME.COM...
I say, hooray for the 100 Thing Challenge! I understand there would have to be ground rules. For example, the house would have to 100 things for itself; stove, frig, lawnmower, washer, dryer, etc. But for each person - 100 things! Think what it would mean for your kids, your music or video collection, and for special occcasions like birthdays, CHRISTMAS!
And think what it would mean in terms of time spent in housekeeping!
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Take tools. 40 years ago, all you needed to fix things around the house were a claw hammer, flat head screwdriver, a five piece wrench set, a hand saw, a wood chisel, a metal file, maybe a pipe wrench, and a couple of other simple tools. Now you need half of the Sears Craftsman section just to start a simple project.
And with specialization came "modernization." A can opener fit in a draw, Now an electric one needs its own counter space. Along wtih a dozen convenience saving gadgets that line the back of your kithen countertop, but which used to fit in one third of s single drawer. Bread was made in an oven by hand, not in a bread machine that takes up 1.5 sq. ft. of counter space.
Collecting things also expands to fill up all available surfaces. Used to be that not many people had the money to collect stuff. Now a lot of people have collections that rival older museums.
GOLO member since July 3, 2007
June 14, 2008 10:36 a.m.
I have WAY too much stuff. I'm a pack rat and I know it. Maybe I could get rid of 100 things (easily), but I know I couldn't get down to 100 things.
GOLO member since July 28, 2007
June 14, 2008 9:59 a.m.
GOLO member since April 10, 2008
June 14, 2008 9:53 a.m.
bwa ha ha
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June 14, 2008 9:41 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:23 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:18 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:12 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:10 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:04 a.m.
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June 14, 2008 9:02 a.m.
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