First, I’m not into counting things. I don’t believe minimalism is a contest or a race. For me, minimalism is a tool to do the things I want to do.
That said, I signed up for Courtney Carver’s Project 333 to get my wardrobe in order. I need to get my small closet spruced up and – confession – reduce my number of hoodie with yoga pants days. The life of a mostly stay at home mother can be a slippery slope of frumpy dressing. Look good, feel good, do good is a motto I believe in.
Project 333 is a three month wardrobe commitment to wear 33 items. Here are the details:
- What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear and shoes.
- What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring, underwear, sleep, in-home lounge wear, and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)
- How: outline your 33 items, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of site.
- What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. If you purchase items for project 333, stick with the one in, two out approach. Consider the essentials and stick to 33.
If you want to know more check out the Facebook group or have a read of this recent article on Courtney’s project.
I’ll be documenting my 33 pieces in a later post but, shocking, at the moment I don’t even have 33 things in my wardrobe. I’ll be doing some careful and thoughtful purchasing of a few new items this month.
Anyone want to join in?
********************************************************************
We were prepared for a larger transportation budget this month. Family visits and holiday parties meant a car would be in order for a few days.
Then something bad happened: we all got sick. We sent our regrets and hunkered down with a feverish baby and sniffles and coughs for all. We scaled back to just family events on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
We would still need a car for getting around and it would be spendy but, as we said from the beginning, we still wanted to visit and do the things we did before life without a car. The rental rates double over the holidays and tack on gas and we were looking at about $200 for a two day rental. We decided to use Zip Car instead because we would stay under their daily mileage limit (200km) and gas was included in the $79+tax day rate. We made a reservation and it was settled.
Then something awesome happened: my sister-in-law offered us her car for the week. Sweet! They were also extra accommodating about the drop off and pick up and made it so easy for us. They have a younger child and left a car seat perfectly installed for Henry. Even better. Installing car seats is not my forte.
We took the car through the car wash and left it with the tank full as a small token of appreciation. Beyond the money saving and convenience, I was also really touched by their generosity. Three cheers for awesome family.
Bonus: our parking stall was rented a week into the month. We received $50 for December and will get $75 for January. Nice.
For full budget details click here.
********************************************************************
FREE e-book just released by Faith Janes at Minimalist at Home (formerly Minimalist Moms): the Minimalist Within.
Faith sent me a copy right before it launched and I highly recommend popping over to download this gem. It’s about accessible minimalism and tailoring it to your life. Faith kick starts you on a mission to less and gets you to ask some tough questions of yourself.
We still received a bounty of gifts (mostly from my very generous mother-in-law) this Christmas and I need to do some closet thinning to find homes for them. Most of it will be Henry’s toys and clothes but I am feeling some burn out. I just spent most of my fall getting rid of things. Reading The Minimalist Within yesterday gave me a second wind. Hope it motivates you as well.
Click here to visit Minimalist at Home for your free download of The Minimalist Within.
Rachel, I found your blog and I love it! I am reading in chronological order until I catch up! I felt that I wanted to ask you something: My mom passed away 4 years ago and I still have some of her jewelry, which she loved!!! I am not a jewelry person and also try to apply some minimalism concepts. Gold right now is selling at a very good price, should I sell and forget about the sentimental value of her jewelry? I don’t know what to do, I would love to hear your opinion!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Lina,
Thank you for your kind words about this blog. I really do love writing here and the readers/commenters have been a tremendous support system as we pared down and made lifestyle change.
So sorry for the loss of your mom. Personally, I have held onto a few small collections of sentimental items. Some from my days as an athlete and others that are family related (like my baby ID bracelet from the hospital when I was born).
That’s a tough decision about your mom’s jewellery. The good thing about jewellery is that it is small so easy to store without much fuss. I would ask myself a few questions and give myself some time before selling it. Are you in a financial bind and is the money that you could get for it really needed right now? Are there any pieces that are very dear to you? I would think about all your options for a while before selling any of them.
I have a recommendation on the car seat once/if your little one is old enough. We have the Saftey 1st Hybrid Convertible. It has a higher weight limit than most 5-point harnesses but it does not have a rigid back. It is ideal for switching in and out of cars, particularly in a rental/zipcar/taxi situation because it folds up into a carrying case and the LATCH clips clip and release like a regular seat belt -there are just 3 of them. I have installed it securely (Highway Patrol brother checked it once) in about a minute. Not completely foolproof but darn close.
I am checking out the P333!
Thanks! That car seat sounds great. Ours is a very nice one that was a gift. Excellent quality but pretty heavy. It does fold in half which can make it easier to carry.
Thanks, R. I need to get creative with my wardrobe!! Hoping this helps. And yes, her blog looks really good. Wonder if she does style consults? Maybe she would take me on as a charity project =)
I’m doing P333, so am definitely joining you! I am also a little concerned that when I come to do the count that I won’t have 33 things… is that good or bad? I was surprised that underwear counted as ‘1’ – I was hoping I’d scored highly (or lowly) on that one, as my undies draw is almost bare. I won’t go into too much detail but one necessary item I am now down to 1 and am washing and wearing, I lost the other one – no idea where – very bizarre!
I’m down to 2 of the necessary item and need to replace both!
haha – mine need replacing too… purchased just over 5 years ago. It’s so much fun being a minimalist when it comes to underwear, I did the comedy action of pulling my stretched and very slightly discoloured bra-strap way too far out of the top of my dress on a night out to demonstrate to Big Sis. Priceless!
Project 333 sounds a lot like fashion blogger Kendi Everyday’s 30 for 30: http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/p/30-for-30-remixes.html
She picked out 30 items, and wore only those for 30 days (with unlimited accessories). Kendi’s done this 3 times now, and most recently a couple hundred fashion bloggers participated: http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/p/remixers.html
If you want some inspiration, I highly recommend checking out Kendi’s posts on the 30 for 30 and the blogs of the other participants.
Thanks! I checked it out and there is good inspiration there and a nice catalogue of ‘looks’ as they say.
Will definitely be taking a look as well, although if it’s fashion based I may feel inferior – I don’t think I own anything that would be classed as an accessory 🙂 I’ve always kind of worked on necessity with my wardrobe – even before I reduced my stuff I really lacked imagination… perhaps this will inspire!
We were glad to help with the car over the holidays 😉
And thanks for the clean and full car-still running on that tank now.
Your car is fun to drive. Thank you again – it was great!
That “in home lounge-wear” category leaves a lot open to interpretation.
I agree. That’s why I am including my yoga pants and hooded sweatshirt in my 33 items.
I think Project 333 is a good start and easier to get into than, say, wearing six items for a month.
Loving the car budget. Make sure you aren’t holding yourself back. Then publish this to the world, or at least to everyone living in a city the size of Vancouver or bigger. It is a damn shame the amount of wasted money in insurance, car payments, parking fees and such that people put into lashing themselves to the idea of freedom. Keep up the good work.
Thanks. I couldn’t agree more. I know people living downtown that have two cars and neither are needed to commute to work. Crazy!
We are getting creative. Chris took skytrain out to Lougheed, met his mom for lunch, and then used her car for a quick errand. He also took Henry with him. What a guy!
Not holding back at all. I’m considering a trip to Seattle this month.
Thanks so much for sharing the book, Rachel.
The holidays have a way of sabotaging a minimalist’s effort to live with less, don’t they? We’ve got some cleaning out to do after receiving gifts from family and friends too.
Thanks for writing it =)