Stuff

I have not always been the minimalist that I am today. The Coach sorta forced me into that role when, shortly after we married, he inadvertantly threw away several boxes of keepsake things (old piano awards, an entire box of piano music, yearbooks, etc) and even broke my mom's childhood piggy bank. I know it sounds really bad, but I must admit that nearly 10 yrs later I really haven't missed that stuff at all. Mainly, because that is what it was...stuff.


I was quite pleased with the fact that we are minimalists (by my definition anyway) everytime we've had to move and again last night. We needed a new couch for the living room since our IKEA futon/couch thingy was showing it's age and, frankly, horribly uncomfortable. The Coach was to bring home a new 45-degree sectional and I had to empty the living room all. by. myself. I've never been so happy to only have one cabinet full of stuff. Ok, there's that word again! Stuff.


Inspired by Megan's conviction (I'm still in denial regarding my stuff...because did I tell you? I'm a minimalist!) and Meredith's cheerful frugality, I searched Craig's List for days and found several pieces I'd love to have in my home, but not for the low-low price of 2K! But look what a couple of coaches brought to my house last night!



I was so excited about this piece for many reasons...1) it cost us $150 + $30 for the coach's gas and 2) it was re-upholstered in the last year and steamed cleaned before we picked it up.


Alright, stranger-friends I must admit that I'm feeling pretty good about buying a secondhand sofa. :) I didn't contribute to the consumerism conspiracy and I've kept a very large item from a landfill near you!


From The Story of Stuff...


"Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production."


"The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one! "