Week 1 of minimalist living

The drive to Massachusetts went well. Thanks to Stephanie for giving me two lunch items so I didn’t buy any highway rest stop food en route. I listened to a 4-hour meeting with other new employees at my job, which drowned out some of the cat opera singing (aka objecting to being in a cat carrier for so many hours). 

 

Gloucester, MA

My first purchases in the new location were grocery basics, such as eggs, yogurt, fruit, and veggies. It makes me happy to have a bowl of fruit on the counter, ready to eat, and I have never been so thrilled as to find my favorite frying pan and knife to prepare fresh vegetables for dinner (along with a protein and a gluten free carb).

 

I got one non-consumable item: a dustpan. I brought a vacuum cleaner and a full-sized broom, but really needed to be able to sweep up stray pieces of cat litter efficiently. The local health food store had one with a wood handle on the mini broom. I have used it every day since buying it, so that makes sense as far as I’m concerned. I also gassed up the car, though I guess that’s a consumable purchase, too!

Beverly, MA

I received one non-consumable item as a gift in the mail from a friend who wanted to encourage me on this new journey in life! Thanks to Nicole for bringing a tear to my eye with kind words and a heartfelt gesture on a day when I was feeling sad. One nice way I can pass along encouragement and meet my challenge is to use the large amount of stationery I own to send snail mail to others!

So far I have emptied 20 regular packing boxes and all the cardboard around framed posters/art. I’m getting my exercise by carrying the empty boxes down the stairs to the recycling bin and then walking back up the stairs. 

Salem, MA

Donations/tossing to report: I threw away a cassette tape that I was affectionately listening to on my ancient stereo that I mentioned when I unpacked it previously. In the olden days, we would have used a pencil to fix the cassette tape spool, but this malfunction provided a good excuse to start the "tossing" report.