A guest blog written by the first Simple Year blogger, Kerry — a military spouse who didn’t buy anything new for a year. And now, tries her best to keep her life simple, in a sometimes complex world.
It is time for us to move again. In the thirteen years I have been married to my Airman, this will be the seventh time we have packed and unpacked our things. In many ways, these moves are exciting, full of promise and adventure. This time we are moving from West Texas, where is was 101 F degrees today and the nearest airport is a three hour drive, to Anchorage, Alaska where it was 54 F degrees today and the road my husband will drive to work is routinely closed because someone has hit a moose.
WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?
One would think if you know you are going to have to move every two years or so, you would keep a pretty tight rein on the things you have accumulated, right? The rational part of me realizes that is the best option. But, there is another part that HATES TO BUY THINGS I HAVE ALREADY OWNED ONCE again. And, as you can see, we need different things at different duty stations and various sized houses. So, it’s the things like snow blowers, treadmill, bar stools, fireplace screens and patio furniture that I still haul around even though we don’t use them everywhere.
After loading the truck, the movers weigh our possessions, so there is hard evidence. The last big move was prior to The Simple Year and we had (I feel like I’m in a confessional), 21,000 pounds of household goods. That, my internet friends, is 3,000 pounds more than the maximum they allow (we had to pay for the overage).
My husband was not amused and I needed to go on a one and a half ton diet.
This move, I was armed with the new perspective of a year of buying nothing new. I have spent the last few months doing my best to divest. I have donated, sold, given away and recycled.
I have had some big wins, like the giant toy horse that went to a child who lost everything in a tornado. There have also been some snafus. For instance, the crystal vase wedding gift that I listed on a resale Facebook page somehow got posted on my personal page where the original giver could see I was selling it. (Check your privacy settings regularly, Facebook routinely changes the rules.)
My husband even did his part. He spent many late nights, photographing hundreds of his late mother’s awards, trophies and keepsakes, kept the photos and got rid of the actual boxes of stuff.
Does anyone else feel like sometimes it takes more effort to get rid of things than it does to acquire them?
But, our efforts paid off, because when they packed the house this time for its trip to the last frontier, we weighed in at around 17,800 pounds.
I can do better next time…
Brand new RV Owners travel the Alaska/Canada highway 3,000 miles. What can go wrong?
Congrats on losing 3200 lbs. on your diet, Kerry. I need to go on one myself….hopefully, I don’t have to move to do it.
So excited for your adventure, Kerry! The Alaska Highway – friends travelled it in their RV two summers ago when we went on our 2-week 40th birthday bash celebration cruise thingy. Note to self – make sure you have TOOLS and you check EVERY nut and bolt and tire and bumper and light at every stop you make. Not kidding. It will save you a lot of time and headache 🙂 Best happy thoughts and good vibes coming your way for your awesome adventure! Oh how I hope we can come visit you in Alaska while you’re there. I’m still envious that you get to live there and I’m not.
Kerry, I agree divesting is much more work than acquiring. I applaud your husband’s choices on his mother’s awards. We had the same issue and I’ll bet the boxes are still in my brother’s attic. (The silver plated I graves items are another story). have fun in Alaska, Denali is gorgeous and the Moises definitely go where they want. So ugly they’re cute.
Kerry, you write beautifully. And great job on shedding the weight.
That is an incredible improvement. I wish I had such hard evidence of our progress. I have also made the Facebook privacy mistake. Downsizing can sometimes hurt others in ways I never predicted before we started. We are seen by some as ungrateful and tyrannical when it comes to kids toys etc but people are starting to get used to our weird ways. We just have to keep moving forward. Alaska sounds like fun. Good luck!
Kerry… You make me laugh every time I read your writing, mostly because I am nodding my head saying “yeah me too” LOL. Do you write anywhere else, so I could get a regular dose of much needed humor in my week?