Downsizing

One of the things I have been most concerned about with regard to homesteading is how to prepare. I'm not worried about gardening or milking cows or eating duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. I'm not worried about living off the grid.

What I'm worried about is STUFF.

With no disrespect to my boyfriend, he has borderline hoarder tendencies. Not the kind of hoarder tendencies you see on TV. He doesn't collect crap just to collect crap, doesn't let trash pile up, and doesn't have hoards of stuff that threatens the integrity of the building he's living in. When I say borderline hoarder tendencies, I am talking about his unwillingness to part with what he does have, his emotional ties to inanimate objects, and having a relationship with the items given to him by people he loves. 

For instance, a kitschy souvenir candle that he's never lit, and will never light, is just as important to him as the person who gave it to him. 

Since I moved in with him over a year ago, it has been a constant struggle to get rid of things that are not used, not needed, and make no sense to keep. Little by little, he has been working on it, but change is not Doug's strong point. I have lost my patience with him a few times, but with Doug, I have to have patience. And to his credit, he really, honestly tries to push himself beyond what's comfortable when it comes to paring down. 

Moving into our current place, a 3rd floor walkup, was a nightmare. We had movers for several hours, and still had to make our friends help for several more hours. Doug was so worn out his legs would not take him up and down the stairs even one more time. 

I think that nightmare was a wake-up call to him, that we have WAY too much stuff. When we move onto the homestead, we'll be living in a Tiny Home.

Tumbleweed Tiny Home

An enormous departure from "normal" living, going from 1200sqft to just over 160sqft of living space would be one of the biggest changes that will ever happen in our lives. With Doug's aversion to change, we've agreed that slowly stepping down in size over the next few years will be the best way to accomplish the paring down of our things. 

The first step starts now: we are going to have a moving sale on May 18 & 19! Anything not sold will be picked up by a local thrift store. It's not even coming back inside the house. It will hang out on the driveway until the thrift store truck comes. 

The goal is to pare down by 75%.

Wish us luck!