The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Minimalism in 90 Days Update – What was Unpacked During Week 5

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    Ruth Carter

    I still have a suitcase filled with clothes I haven't worn yet.
    I still have a suitcase filled with clothes I haven’t worn yet.

    I am over a month into my variation of Ryan Nicodemus’(of The Minimalists) “packing party” and I have yet to go a day without unpacking something. On most days I unpack only a few items. I expect that day will come soon, but I also expect days where I’ll be unpacking a lot more. I’m starting to think about what items are going to survive the final clean out even if I don’t use them on a regular basis – like the keys to my parents’ house in California or the Ziploc back of spare change I haven’t unpacked yet. If I think of those items and I know they’re going to be spared, then I’ll unpack them. Likewise, the moment I know an item isn’t going to survive the final clean out, it will go into the pile of things to be donated to charity.

    Here’s what I unpacked during the last week:

    Day 29

    • Crockpot and pan
    • DVD

    Day 30

    • DVD
    • Towel set
    • Handout and magnets (to attach it to the fridge)

    Day 31

    • Sweatshirt (It’s finally cold enough that I want a sweatshirt instead of a zippy to walk Rosie in the morning)

    Day 32

    • Antibiotic ointment
    • DVD
    • Replacement tube of Rosie’s toothpaste (I have several replacements for toiletries I currently use that are still in a box. I might unpack all of those because they will be used. Don’t worry – I only have 1 replacement for each item at most. I’m not like an extreme couponer who has 100 bottles of shampoo.)

    Day 33

    • Dress
    • Cassette

    Day 34

    • Music stand and sheet music
    • Donation to charity: unused travel size toiletries

    Day 35

    • Aztec sun (I’m storing this on the wall for now)
    • Birthday card for brother-in-law (bought it during Independents Week sale)
    • Stage manager bag of pens, highlighters, velcro, and safety pins (to work at Ignite Phoenix event)
    • Vinyl pants, FMBs, and pasties (to wear at Ignite Phoenix event)
    • Mascara, foundation, lip liner, eyeliner, shimmer powder, and lipstick case
    • KT Tape (for my sore leg), alcohol pads, and knee socks (to sleep in my KT Tape)
    • Music binder

    The list on this post goes through last Friday, but I usually shoot the weekly video on Sunday so I’ll be talking about a few things that you won’t see on the what-I-unpacked list until next week. I’m definitely trying to treat my condo more and more like a home. I don’t want a lot a knick knacks – just a few sentimental items that make me smile.

    Other updates from the Minimalism in 90 Days project:
    What was Unpacked During Week 1
    What was Unpacked During Week 2
    What was Unpacked During Week 3
    What was Unpacked During Week 4

  • Minimalism in 90 Days Update – 4 Weeks into this Adventure

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    Ruth Carter

    Minimalism Boxes 11-9-2014
    My Minimalism Boxes – November 9, 2014

    Rosie and I have been in our condo for four weeks so that means we’ve been doing our own version of Ryan Nicodemus’ “packing party” for just over a month. (I closed on the condo on September 29th so the official start of the project was October 1st even though we didn’t move in until October 11th.)

    Ryan’s “party” ended after 21 days. I’m giving myself 90, though I’m starting to wonder how much more I’m really going to unpack. I have yet to go a day without unpacking something and I expect to unpack more wintery things as it gets colder but the low right now is only in the 50s. (Ah the joys of living in the desert.)

    When I got my first apartment, my mom took my shopping for my kitchen basics – dishes, glasses, cooking supplies, etc. When I moved to Phoenix, the house was fully furnished, so my kitchen gear mostly lived in the garage for 10 years except for a few specialty items. Now I’m rediscovering my cooking supplies and seeing what I actually need and use. I suspect I’ll keep a handful of basics that I barely use – like my hand mixer and my casserole dish – just so I won’t have to replace them when a rarely-used recipe requires one of them.

    Here’s what I unpacked in the last week.

    Day 22

    • Rosie’s flea treatment (she gets this once a month) and doggie bags
    • Toaster and plate
    • DVD
    • T-shirt

    Day 23

    • T-shirt
    • Plate
    • DVD
    • Hairbrush (that I’m using this as a microphone to practice for an upcoming speech. I’ve always used a brush for this.)

    Day 24

    • Hat and yoga pants (Yay! It’s finally cold enough for yoga pants!)
    • Two knives

    Day 25

    • Slacks, blouse, and t-shirt
    • Clipboard and notebook
    • Anniversary card (which I bought on sale in July)
    • Knife
    • Glow-in-the-dark ball (for Rosie)

    Day 26

    • T-shirt
    • Cookbook (to help me make my shopping list), knife, and plate
    • Heating pad and 2 Styrofoam cups (to make an ice cup)
    • Lip balm (I have no problem admitting I’m addicted to lip balm.)
    • DVD (because I think you’re obligated to watch V for Vendetta on 11/5)

    Day 27

    • Socks and tank top

    Day 28

    • Hiking boots and socks
    • Caffeine pills

    After the end of Week 4, I took some time to go through and combine several half-empty boxes. I’ve gotten rid of at least 4 boxes since my last video. It makes a big difference in the amount of free space I have and has me thinking about how I want to use it going forward.

    Other updates from the Minimalism in 90 Days project:
    What was Unpacked During Week 1
    What was Unpacked During Week 2
    What was Unpacked During Week 3

  • Minimalism in 90 Days Update – What Got Unpacked During Week 3

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    Ruth Carter

    The Minimalism Pile at the End of Week 3
    The Minimalism Pile at the End of Week 3

    Rosie and I have been in the condo long enough that we’re starting establish day-to-day patterns so most of what we need is already unpacked – and yet there are still 21 banker boxes and other boxes and bags that I haven’t unpacked. Now I know some of these things will be unpacked – like the rest of my dishes. My dish set only came with 8 plates (4 big, 4 medium). Keeping all of these is not excessive. As the weather gets colder I’m going to unpack my warmer sheets, blankets, and my crock pot.

    I have yet to go a day without packing something, but the number of things I unpack each day has dropped significantly.

    I’ve started adding some commentary to this what-I-unpacked-list, not because I need to justify why I kept what I kept, but to share why certain things are valuable.

    Day 15

    Day 16

    • Hair dye shirt (the t-shirt I wear when I dye my hair and do messy projects), hair dye, small bottle for extra developer (as a short-haired person, I get 2 dye jobs out of each box)
    • Towel set (I told myself I can keep both sets of towels I own)
    • T-shirt, shorts, Crocs (makes it easier to work at my standing desk)
    • Vacuum
    • DVD
    • Rosie’s nail clippers
    • Everything That Remains book (love this book and I wanted to remember when Ryan Nicodemus had his first day without unpacking something – Day 10 for him)
    • Family calendar (yes, my family creates a calendar every year with photos from the previous year) and a tack to hang it up
    • Ibuprofen

    Day 17

    • Mixing bowls (I used the small bowl to make tuna salad so the whole set got unpacked)
    • Plunger

    Day 18

    • T-shirt and sweater
    • Lint roller
    • Floss

    Day 19

    • Hair trimming scissors (my bangs were getting too long)
    • Pants, dress socks, dress shirt, neck tie, and boots
    • Law books (I had a TV interview at my home about the law and Airbnb so I put them out to give my office more of a lawyerish look, including copies of my books)
    • Jason Surfrapp’s Creativity for Sale (I got out my extra copy to send to a friend)

    Day 20

    • Dress
    • Fork
    • DVD

    Day 21

    • T-shirt (I could have gone without unpacking anything if it wasn’t Halloween and I didn’t want to wear my Coroner shirt to work)

    I wouldn’t be surprised if I go a day without packing something next week.

    With the number of things I unpacked this week, I was able to decrease the number of boxes in the “minimalism pile” but there’s a lot of stuff left. It makes me wonder if I should make a pass through them and start clearing out some things before the end of the year.

    In this video I make my standard pass through the condo but I gave you preview of what I expect to add in the next six months. Please tell me what you think of my ideas!

    Other updates from the Minimalism in 90 Days project:
    What was Unpacked During Week 1
    What was Unpacked During Week 2