r/extrememinimalism

\*\*TLDR: There’s no feasible way for me to take most of my belongings with me so I need to find some kind of psychological strategy for letting go of them. It’s extra hard because I haven’t had much income for a while and I think I’m dealing with a scarcity mindset where I’m convinced I’ll never be able to buy/thrift new things if I get rid of the old ones.

I could really, really use advice from someone who’s been there before. The hardest things to accept that I can’t take with me are, in order:

\-Books: Extremely heavy. I think I’ll only be able to carry \~3 with me at most but I have a bunch with sentimental value.

\-Journals: I have \~10 notebooks, I think it goes without saying that the idea of parting with the only documentation of the past few years of my life is pretty painful.

\- Some pieces of clothing I don’t wear that have personal history attached to them, I.e. I bought them during a significant time or were given them as gifts. I feel especially bad about some hand me down cashmere sweaters a family member gave me. I might ask if she wants them back.

\-Apart from those I feel pretty OK about getting rid of most excess clothes and knickknacks. The getting rid of books and notebooks is the most challenging. To put it delicately, I have a difficult relationship with my parents and often get the impression that they treat me like I won’t amount to anything, and so having items related to my intelligence feel like proof that I have an inner life and am my own person.

Everything i own is in a 26sq ft bedroom.

I have roughly 160 items which doesn't seem like alot but alot of what i have is excessive redundancy such as 15 bags when i only use 2.

And it's not like what i own is expensive in terms of branded items as i don't have the money or care for anything like that.

But here i am with all this junk in such a tiny space.

I don't mind the number of things i own, it doesn't really mean much wheather you have 10,000 items or 1 item, what matters is your quality of life and well being.

For some they may see 160 items and say i wish i only had that much, which is valid, but when it comes to 50% of the 160 items being junk in excess that is when i start to look at my possessions with fustration because it isn't anything that brings me joy or purpose, instead these items are just that of a hoarder because they were just purchased to fill an unfillable void which items where never meant to fill in life.

So i plan to sell/donate atleast 80 items so that i am free of the excess, because having so much of one thing is not fulfilling its purpose and is just collecting dust.

As a junk hauler, I see something most people never see.
I see where the stuff goes.
The consumer says, “I need more.”
The minimalist asks, “Do I really need this?”
One keeps bringing things into the house. The other keeps asking what deserves to stay.
And eventually, both have to face the same question:
How much of the stuff we bought actually made our lives better?
I’ve hauled away entire homes filled with things that once seemed important, exciting, or necessary.
Maybe the goal isn’t to own nothing.
Maybe it’s to own what matters and stop letting our possessions own us.
Less stuff. Less clutter. Less maintenance.
More room for life.

I have a preference and I'm curious if others share it or if there's a name for it.

I like having no visible text in my house. No books left in sight (or just a meaningful one), no brand names or logos on appliances, no product packaging on display. Anything with words on it either gets stored away or debranded.

It's more about the visual quiet. Text pulls at my attention, books especially. So a room with no words in it just feels calmer to me, and I find deep focus much easier to reach there, for creative work.

Is this a thing for anyone else? And is there an actual term for this?

I'm still not satisfied I only own 153 items and still don't feel happy I want to declutter more but idk what else I could sell