• Sell anything that I don’t use or need at all, and can get decent money for (old TVs, laptops, desktops, adapters, mp3 players) – use eBay, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, or a tag sale
• Donate anything that could be of use to somebody else (clothing, blankets, pillows, unused toiletries, lightly worn/unused shoes) – use Planet Aid bins; they recycle older clean undergarments and accept numerous items
• Recycle anything that just hangs around, and that can actually be recycled (cardboard boxes, beer growlers/bottles, magazines)
• Buy what I need (and sometimes what I want) – this is probably the most important thing once I’ve already minimized the amount of things…obviously treat myself to some consumables like desserts, candy/chocolates, beer, flowers for somebody, and other things that a frugal person would not buy
• Encourage relatives to donate to a charity instead of buying you gifts on special days
• Scan all needed documents into PDF files, save them locally and on an encrypted drive that you can keep in a separate location, and shred the documents afterwards (ensure that the document does not need to be retained as a hard copy first). This should help get rid of all that paper clutter and push you close to living paper-free….I tend to use my shredded paper to help burn some firewood
• Uninstall and remove any applications on your phone – if you’re on an old flip phone, you probably don’t need to do this, but this definitely helps to be clutter-free in the digital aspect

These are just some small things that I want to get done over time to be a minimalist. Obviously this doesn’t mean I’ll sacrifice the things that I love like my comic books, DVDs, and books. How do you plan to decrease the amount of things in your life?