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Minimize our carry-ons

How much stuff do we have to take with us wherever we go? Every time we leave the home we have to gather all the supplies we need for the outside world. Even if we are just going to a friends house, or the grocery store we still need to carry:

  • Keys
  • Wallet/purse/pocketbook
  • Mobile device

 

This is a lot! And all these things are likely bulkier than they need to be. How much stuff within these three areas can be purged due to lack of use.

 

Keys:

Besides the keys themselves, many people have other nick knacks, and member card tags (bar coded) on their key chain.

For starters, we can take off all the useless keys that we don’t use that often (less than weekly); put them on a separate keychain that we leave on the key hook at home (or whatever we use as a holder) for when we finally need them.

As far as knick knacks are concerned, lose em; or maybe keep one so we can identify our keys in a lineup.

Member card tags are important. Me ….. I be damned if I don’t get the benefit that membership offers me at my local grocery store. Modern mobile technology however enables us to enter these member tags into our mobile device for use. There are plenty of apps that serve this function. Boom! Just like that, member tags are gone.

 

Wallet/Purse/Pocketbook

I don’t think I need to mention the receipts, old business cards, and “Subway, Free sub after 5 subs purchased” garbage that needs to be discarded. Well I just did. Membership cards? …. see above. In the end, just like with your keys, anything that is not used at least weekly can be put in a separate area that is easily accessible when we need it. A second wallet left at home if you will. In the end all we should really have with us is our drivers license, A credit card, ATM/debit card, cash, and just a few (no more than five) commonly used items.

I do acknowledge that there are some things we have that which we don’t use often, but are there for emergency circumstances; and we always need to be prepared. Emergency cash, emergency credit card, emergency hygiene supplies. I suggest that those things be left in our vehicle. After all, wherever we are, our vehicle is not too far away. Personally I use my cars visor pouch and glove box just for that purpose.

I recently did a “carry-on minimizing” myself and realized I could combine things. This realization started with my membership tags. But when I minimized my wallet down I came to the conclusion that I could combine my wallet and Mobile device together. That is, keep my mobile in a mobile wallet where I would also store all my usual wallet items. And there we have it …. two carry-ons become one.

 

This image here now represents my total carry-on supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

Just as a side note (or reminder), keep in mind that a modern mobile device can serve as a replacement for most of the things we carry on us when we are out.

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Take full advantage of the things and resources we have.

The beauty of having a life of less clutter, a life of more time, is that we are able to get more use (and therefore more value) out of the things that remain. Without a bunch of clutter to store and maintain, and useless activity, we free up our space and time to take full advantage of our valued possessions and resources.

I find that this is a “perk” of being a minimalist. I discover more and more all the things I have access to that I did not and would not have discovered or been able to take advantage of, had I not been a minimalist.

 

 

 

Examples:

  • Through Facebook, I can get real time news feed on all current events right on my phone through pages like Fox News and CNN. This more than compensates for the fact that I don’t have cable TV. I am still informed.
  • I spend roughly $30/month on a gym membership that I have always used to do spin class during the off season (that I do not bike outside). Recently though, I have decided to get more value out of that membership by trying some other classes (Yoga, Body pump). It occurred to me that if I am already paying for membership, then I should be getting more value from that membership. I have had all this resource available to me, that has been squandered. Then it occurred to me that there are lots of people with gym memberships that take advantage of next to nothing ….. what a waste. For $30 a month, there is a lot of value to be packed in.
  • Local Parks – Where I live there are many public parks, some of which are very beautiful, and quite large. These parks can be used for any recreational activity one would like to partake in. Fit and open for parties, BBQ’s, and sports. And most are immaculately maintained. They are well maintained because our tax dollars pay for them to be well maintained. Might as well use them, or that is more money squandered. Come to think of it …… with that being said, I still don’t understand why so many people obsess over having a large yard, a large piece of property. With access to wonderful park areas that we are paying for, why would one need to own a yard?
  • On premises washer and drier – In my condo complex we have access to us laundry facilities, and what vexes me is the fact that people still insist on having their own washer/drier in their units instead of using the public ones. For starters, you have another possession to maintain. Second, it’s only a mater of a short period of time before these machines fail and need to be repaired. With the facilities machines this is less likely, as they are industrial quality. Third, one less thing taking up space.

It seems to me that humanities obsessive need to covet everything has clouded any drive toward making full use of the very things we covet. We figure that just by owning something, we must be getting full value out of it. If we truly look into and make full use of the things we own, we will be often surprised at how much we will discover that the things we coveted so much, we really don’t need; because those needs can be satisfied by the things we already own.