HOUR#30-49 : MOVING OUT

“Every time you spend money you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”
Anna Lappé

I'm knackered.

Moving home will do that to you.

The big stuff is easy (furniture, framed pictures, filing cabinet etc), it's the little stuff which when aggregated becomes a minimalists nightmare. This is stuff you didn't know you had and can't believe you bought in the first place and makes you wonder :

• why did I have three kettles?
• Is seven bed sets too much?
• When did I ever need seventeen mugs?

For the next couple of weeks I'll be at my folks, sifting through every box of my life (about 20 of various shapes and sizes) with the aim to end up with two large suitcases to take to NZ plus a filing cabinet full of important stuff (financials, photos, precious other things etc).

Well that's the aim.

Hour #5 : Post / Paper

I hate post.

80% is junk and the other 15% just needs to be filed and saved, leaving the last 5% (at most) which needs to be actioned (most of which can be sorted through an email or a phone call rather than killing a tree).

I just spent a best part of an hour sorting through a couple of months worth of post (I told you I hate it) and here's what I have left:

A. Shred—notifications from banks about rate changes, stuff with my name and address on etc

B. File (work stuff)—bank/VAT and other work-related statements, contracts with clients etc

C. File (personal bank statements)—maybe I shouldn't bother as I access my account online

D. Read (then recycle)—newsletters from organisations I'm a member of etc

E. Recycle—junk mail, stuff that comes in your bills informing you of other offers etc

F. File (household bills)—gas, electricity, water etc

The trick is to deal with each item of post as soon as it arrives plus having a filing system which is easy and on hand.

The other side of it is to see if I can receive certain publications via email and also cancel receiving certain bank statements.