One Year of Rarely Leaving my House

Like many people, over the past year, I’ve rarely left my house. There is the occasional grocery store run and obviously spending time outside for my daily dose of vitamin D, but other than that, almost all of my time has been spent in my house.

With all my stuff.

And I finally realized back in December, that 75% of the stuff I own goes untouched and unused on a regular basis.

Like not even used at all. It just sits there collecting dust and cat hair.

I’ve had on my to do list for a while to start going through each space in my home purging stuff.

Over the past few years, I would always bag up 3-5 bags of stuff that just accumulated in my home and donate it to the Salvation Army.

I started working on that at the end of February. But then had a little inkling that maybe I should try to sell some of my stuff on Facebook Marketplace.

Wow!

That has yielded some amazing results just listing these items on Facebook Marketplace. Besides the fact that the GPS units take my buyers to a completely different address, and the occasional buyer who refuses to read my entire description, it has been very lucrative to list my stuff in the marketplace.

I’ve made quite a bit of extra cash. Yes, I did end up spending a lot more cash on this stuff when I bought it originally, but when I donate things to the Salvation Army, I don’t get any cash.

And the biggest result, I have more wide open space in my home. I don’t have things just taking up space and collecting dust.

I used to think that I needed my stuff. I couldn’t get rid of all the things. They meant something to me.

But being in my home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the past year, has proven that to be a lie. I didn’t touch my stuff. I had a few select items that I used on a daily basis, everything else just sat around.

I also had a box of computer cables. Completely random cables. I couldn’t throw it away though. What if one day I suddenly needed one of the cables that were in that box?

I finally threw that box away though. It was just taking up space.

I also don’t have that bag full of plastic bags or a junk drawer anymore. There is no need for a junk drawer. It doesn’t have a purpose. If things aren’t used, they are either being sold or donated.

Whenever I look for a place to rent, wide open spaces is one of my requirements. Little did I know that things feel much more wide open, even when you have small spaces when you have less stuff.

Growing up (and still to this day), my dad refused to throw things away, even things that were broken and had no way to be fixed and used again.

Now I have always thrown away the broken stuff, but I learned to just keep stuff. “Maybe one day I’ll find a need for that. I already have it now, so I’ll save money on buying a new one in the future.”

Kinda like the whole “does it spark joy?” thing from Marie Kondo, does having stuff just sitting around not being used and collecting dust really help you live a better life?

For me, the more wide open space and less stuff I have has actually sparked a lot more joy for me.

Plus having less stuff, actually means more money for me.

For a long time, buying myself something new, no matter what it was, was a coping mechanism for me. It made me feel better in the moment when I bought myself something new, especially after a hard day at work.

But that’s just the thing, it made me feel better in the moment, then that feeling good dissipated. Stuff, whether it be items, books, movies, music, food, etc. is just a coping mechanism for not feeling and facing the real problems.

That’s the other big thing that has helped me with getting rid of my stuff - feeling the emotions and problems that made me actually want to buy the things.

So now, when I want to buy something, I actually stop myself and see what I’m trying to cover or numb by buying myself something. I’m also still working on my decluttering project and selling the stuff that I no longer really need in my life or my home. Whatever doesn’t sell, I will be donating because I just don’t need the stuff that takes up space anymore.

While this may mean that I’m more on a journey towards minimalism, I see it more as a journey to the real me. The one who doesn’t need stuff to define who I am or numb my feelings about something happening in my life.

What have you learned from a year of possibly rarely leaving your house?

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