E: It has not always been easy to give things away or sell things that were once important to us.

One thing that has really helped us let go of items is focusing on how often we use them. We have had to analyze everything that we have and ask ourselves “do I really need this?” or “am I really ever going to use this again?”.

In the beginning, we were on top of selling things and making sure we got a good price for them. Eventually, I realized it was taking too long and the clutter was making me unhappy at home. We started to fill bags and boxes of things to be given away or donated. Sometimes it was brand new clothes that we never got to wear. Other times it was an old walkman we’ve only kept in the bottom of a drawer because whenever we saw it, we would reminisce about our tweens.

J: Memories in this regard are important to who we are as people, but not what we do as people. Getting rid of the old Walkman for example, feels like a sentimental loss but you don’t ever lose the memories you had with it. Take a picture of it, and give it a new home somewhere else. Focusing on the function of the things we use has made it easier to cut ties with feelings associated with things we don’t use or need anymore, and because of this has brought value to the objects that we use and take care of all the time.

E: We did more research on minimalism and became really motivated to get rid of more and to make peace with getting rid of some of the things we were having a hard time letting go of. We went on to have a few yard sales, give some more things away, and trash a lot of junk.

I know a lot of people who have things stuffed away in closets, the garage, the basement, the shed, the cabinets, and literally anywhere else stuff fits.. and now that we’re in a minimalist mindset, I can’t help but to be overwhelmed at the massive amount of stuff everyone has.

I also know that to an extent, we are made to feel like being able to buy stuff is the reason we all work so hard, but I don’t believe that having all that stuff truly makes you happy.

At Jimmy John’s, there’s a sign that says “The gap between more and enough never closes,” and that phrase has stuck with us throughout this process. It is undeniably true that most people don’t know when enough is enough and continue to consume more and more.

I’ve seen how having too many material possessions can bring overwhelming stress and anxiety to someone, especially when they think about getting rid of it.

For this reason, I want to share some of the most helpful things about minimalism that worked for us and have brought a lot of peace to me, personally. I hope that it can help you find a starting point to your experience with minimalism.

15 Things to Get Rid of Right Now

Finding a place to start is sometimes the hardest part so let’s make it easy.

Here are 15 things you can get rid of right now:

1. Extra Mugs and Cups
2. Junk Drawer Items
3. Broken Things
4. Old Pantry Food / Expired Food
5. ‘Just In Case’ Items
6. Paper Junk / Manuals
7. Books / Magazines
8. DVDs / CDs / Cassettes
9. Old Clothes / Wrong Size Clothes
10. Worn Out Undies & Socks
11. Excess Toiletries / Old Makeup
12. Old Linens & Towels
13. Obsolete Electronics / Cables
14. Unwanted Photos / Cards
15. Extra Pens & Stationery

Before you write any one of those categories off, really think about what you have versus what you use. One of the easiest things for me to get rid of was clothes because I know what I wear and what I avoided. A tip I learned a few years ago for monitoring which clothing items you were using or not using was to reverse the direction that you hang your hangers in your closet. When you wear, wash, and return an item to your closet, return the hanger to the correct position, thus marking this item as having been worn. After a few weeks, take note of how many of your hangers are still reversed and you will have a visual of what items you haven’t been using.

Besides sentimental items, the hardest things for me to get rid of were things that I was keeping ‘Just in case’ we needed them. But then I found an interesting rule of thumb from the guys over at TheMinimalists.com and coming to this realization was the key to getting rid of so much more.

If you can replace it in under 20 minutes for under $20, then it’s not worth keeping for the one time you might need it. It’s just taking up space. Their documentary, ‘Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things’ is on Netflix and Vimeo and it is very enlightening.

Our last few days in Miami were spent organizing an indoor moving sale to sell off our larger furniture pieces, small appliances, and other valuables. To my surprise, my siblings showed up to the sale and bought a bulk of the furniture from us that we were hoping we wouldn’t have to give away including some sentimental pieces that belonged to my grandparents. We were extremely grateful to them for their support, especially knowing that they are not necessarily in a position to be spending extra money either. I love them and miss them very much.

I was also able to give my niece my stuffed animals, art supplies, books, costumes, and play jewelry so that she can play and enjoy them like I once did.

Giving things away has been a rewarding experience because I know that no matter who ends up with our stuff, they will enjoy it in a way that we weren’t able to. It has also been extremely liberating to not have the weight of our material possessions holding us back from moving forward with our bus project.

Because of the amount of things we sold and gave away, we were able to move from Florida to New Jersey in a 5’x8’ tow trailer, saving us about $1,500 in moving costs. That’s $1,500 that we can use toward our skoolie conversion in addition to what we made from our moving sales.