Simplify Your Life: Sentimental Items

Our lives are complicated.  Fortunately there are aspects which we are able to control.  In a mini-series called Simplify Your Life I will briefly discuss methods you can use in order to simplify your daily life.

Chances are you have a box tucked away in the corner of a closet filled with memorabilia from your life.  It is filled with years or even decades of Stuff from your past.  Love letters from your high school sweetheart, photos from Spring Break in Cancún, old diaries, locks of hair from your child’s first haircut.  All reminders of yesterday.  Each item is loaded with emotions.  You would never consider parting ways with any of the objects found in that box…until now!

Reaching a point where you are able to separate yourself from the emotional attachment and are able to let go of those old items is the hardest part.  These things are no longer simply an object, they contain real emotion.  Reading your old love letters brings back a flood of passion.  Sifting through your old photos turns into an emotional rollercoaster as you reminisce about the great times you had & the memories of loved ones passed.  Getting rid of this Stuff means forever losing those memories, those emotions.  It is like throwing out your identity, piece by piece.

How do you separate yourself from the emotional attachment these items possess?

When I was in high school I found an old cardboard box which I began filling with letters from my girlfriend.  Soon I was adding all sorts of sentimental items to the box.  There were birthday cards, small trinkets, photos of friends and from my travels.  It didn’t take long for the box to start filling up with my memories.

After dragging the box around with me for years and adding Stuff regularly, it was time for a bigger box.  As I began transferring my Stuff to its new home I realized that a few of the things contained in that old cardboard box no longer held relevance in my life.  I was able to let these things go but the majority of Stuff made it safely into the upgraded box.

It wasn’t until I began seeking a minimalist lifestyle that I dared to work up the courage to analyze the contents of that box from a more critical perspective.  I pulled the box out of its resting place in the corner of my closet and began clearing it out.  There were plenty of things that I had no problem getting rid of and there were other items that I felt like I couldn’t part with.  What I struggled with the most were the old love letters and the photos from my life.

As I sorted through the box I thought about my past, my relationship and I realized that these items were holding me back.  They were causing me to be stuck in the past.  How could I live today, love today, when my emotions were sealed inside of that box?  I tossed out all of the old love letters and separated myself from the last of the emotional strings still attached this old relationship.

The photos of my life, my family, my friends, my travels were next.  Everyone always says that photos are the most important thing in their lives, and mine included.  If I had to guess I probably had thousands of photos.  How could I possibly get rid of these?

I took the project head-on and started sorting the photos. The duplicates and photos of “nothing” were put into a pile that would ultimately find its way into the garbage.  The photos of memorable value were scanned and saved to my computer, then the majority were tossed along with the rest of the photos.  I decided to keep the photos from my childhood.  In order to protect the digital photos from being lost in case of a faulty computer, I uploaded them to an online host.  Now I still have the photos to look at and enjoy but they are not sitting in a box fading with time or at risk of being lost in a fire or other natural disaster.  I have access to them from any Internet connection.

I managed to reduce the amount of Stuff in my box to practically nothing.  I kept my Diploma & my Degree and a few random things which I was unable to part with but I managed to entirely eliminate all of the clutter and reduced the emotional baggage that box held.  It was a lot of work & I separated myself from a lot of memories, some good & some bad but in the end I feel free from my past, more able to live in the present rather than constantly clinging to the past.

Read more about How to Let Go of Possessions.

Simplify Your Life: Bank Accounts

Our lives are complicated.  Fortunately there are aspects which we are able to control.  In a mini-series called Simplify Your Life I will briefly discuss methods you can use in order to simplify your daily life.

Today’s topic will discuss how to streamline your bank accounts.  I will discuss some methods to organize your accounts and get you started with online banking.

BANK ACCOUNTS: Who Owns WHO?

As we grow older, our finances become even more complicated.  Throughout our lives we have opened numerous accounts for a variety of reasons.  We have multiple checking accounts and numerous savings accounts.  Our accounts are scattered between multiple financial establishments.  Where do we begin to sort through this mess and streamline our accounts?

The first step is to review your bank accounts and determine if you can consolidate or eliminate any of these accounts.  A person should be able to suffice with a single checking account.  If you are in a relationship with mixed expenses it makes sense to also have a joint checking account in addition to a personal checking account. The only exception for having more checking accounts would be for business accounts which should be kept separate from personal accounts.

While looking over your bank statements be sure to check how many savings accounts you have active. You should have at least two; one for short term savings for things like vacations, new furniture, down-payment for a house, etc. & another for your Emergency Fund. If you have trouble building your Emergency Fund, try using an online bank account such as ING Direct.  By using such a service you must conduct a bank transfer in order to access your money.  This transfer takes a couple of days and may help keep you from impulsive spending.  It isn’t a foolproof method, but it has helped me.

While tidying up your accounts, check into online banking.  The majority of brick and mortar banks offer free online account services where you can check your statements & activity online at your convenience instead of waiting for your monthly statements.  Signing up for e-statements reduces the amount of incoming mail each month.  Check with your bank for your options & to see if they offer any incentives for signing up for an online account.

If you are like me and prefer to itemize your accounts for a specific savings goal, ING Direct allows you to do this easily under a single account.  In addition to my Emergency Fund I also have my Vacation Fund & Opportunity Fund here.  There are no monthly statements in your mailbox as everything is on-line for your perusal at your leisure.

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Note: I do not receive compensation from the websites which I recommend.  My purpose is to help simplify the lives of my readers, not to benefit myself by earning commissions through product endorsements.

Simplify Your Life: Eliminate Junk Mail

Our lives are complicated.  Fortunately there are aspects which we are able to control.  In a mini-series called Simplify Your Life I will briefly discuss methods you can use in order to simplify your daily life.

Today’s topic will discuss how to prevent junk mail from ever reaching your mailbox.  The “secret” is simple & easy.  It will only take about 5 minutes and you will be free from junk mail for at least 5 years!

JUNK MAIL: It’s Junk!  Treat it that Way

Keeping track of the important things in your mailbox is a chore all on its own but when you have to sift through an ever increasing pile of junk mail, the task becomes almost unbearable.  “Is this important?” you ask yourself as you tear the envelope open, annoyed to find yet another pre-approved credit card offer.  As you shred the envelope and letter you wonder about the environmental impact of all this junk mail.  If only there were a way to keep from ever receiving it in the first place!

I have great news!  It is possible to stop junk mail from ever reaching your mailbox.  No longer will you have to sort through a pile of junk in order to find what you are looking for.  No, it doesn’t involve writing your congressman or baking cookies for your mail carrier.  All you have to do is fill out an online form and soon you will have enough room in your mailbox for a postcard from your Uncle Norm in Tennessee.

To eliminate unsolicited mailings, visit Opt-Out Prescreen and opt-out.

After years of being seduced by credit card companies & their constant barrage of pre-approved credit card offers I realized that these offers were not letters to make me feel good about how well I was building my credit.  They wanted my business in order to earn money with their services.  At first it was scary to think that I would no longer be receiving these offers in the mail.  What if I needed money in the future?  I wouldn’t be able to fall back on the piles of pre-approved credit card offers anymore.

It took a honest look at my financial situation before I realized that I would only be hurting myself by applying for even more credit cards.  In coming to this realization I decided to opt-out and remove myself from the mailing lists of countless companies.  That action alone has reduced the amount of mail coming through my mailbox everyday dramatically.  For more information about the opting out process, head over their FAQ page.

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Note: I do not receive compensation from the websites which I recommend.  My purpose is to help simplify the lives of my readers, not to benefit myself by earning commissions through product endorsements.