My first thought as I unpacked my Corolla’s-worth of belongings from the summer and piled them into the middle of my room, looking over all the stuff I’d left behind and done perfectly well without, was this: “I own too much stuff.”

In the past few years, I’ve often made notes about the purging of stuff, how I’d like to own less, how I need to get rid of things I don’t use, and the like. But this being my final year of school, I’ve decided that I need to take action in order to rid myself of excess belongings.

My goal this year is to get rid of at least one thing each weekend, be it big or small, thrown away or donated, or whatever. Some things will be easy (my old desk, for example, will be easy to disassemble, set out in a box on my porch and say to craigslist, “Free desk, first pickup gets it.” Other things, however, will prove tricky to get rid of.

I have, for example, a large number of art supplies crated up in the basement. This is everything from oil paints to casting materials for mask-making. Part of me wants to keep it, as art supplies are an expensive start-up and generally last pretty long. But another part of me looks at the last time I was able to devote time to an art project (in undergrad, really) and thinks that perhaps it would do better as a donation to someone who has chosen an artsier path in life.

I’ve gotten better about detaching myself from sentimental belongings, and before the summer I did manage to gather up a good number of old stuffed animals for donation. But I have, for example, a dresser given to me when I was young and a couch that once belonged to Nancy. These things, I suppose, I should hang onto. My bed, however, I could probably do away with, having found that I can sleep perfectly well on a Japanese-style futon. And let’s not even get into my kitchen stuff, yeesh!

If anyone has tips or advice for getting rid of belongings, please share!